Salin, Huff fired up for Finland's do-or-die showdown with Swiss

HELSINKI (Finland) - Finland are walking a fine line in their bid to make it to a fifth consecutive FIBA EuroBasket. 

The Susijengi wrap up their FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers campaign this week. They have an all important, do-or-die showdown with Switzerland on Friday before taking on Georgia on Sunday.

A win in Group E over the Swiss, or a loss of five points or less, will be enough for Henrik Dettmann's team to clinch their place at FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

Huff was three of five from behind the arc in Finland's last game, a hard fought defeat to Serbia

The Finns' prospects, veteran sharpshooter Sasu Salin says, are good.

"I think for the upcoming games, we're going to have a good group (of players) and we're going to take care of business," he said. "But they're very good and when we played the first game a year ago, we didn't have anything easy."

That's an understatement.

Finland won that contest on February 23, 2020, in Fribourg, 69-64, but they had to come back from a 45-27 deficit midway through the third quarter.

"We had a really tough battle and got the win," Salin said. "Now the next game is going to be decisive. We really need to be focused and ready to play."

The last two games will be in the Tbilisi bubble at the Sports Palace. Finland want to avoid a second consecutive major disappointment after coming up short of making it to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.

"EUROPEAN BASKETBALL IS SO COMPETITIVE. SOMETIMES, MAKING IT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP OR GETTING OUT OF THE GROUP STAGE, IT'S ONE OR TWO POSSESSIONS."- Finland captain Shawn Huff

Finland captain Shawn Huff, however, put that setback into perspective.

"I love the fact where we have gotten to the point where we're not qualified for the World Cup by one game and there is disappointment because when I started with the national team, that wasn't the case," he said.

"It was just a pipe dream to make it to the European Championship. To get to this point, where we didn't make it to the World Cup, it's a huge leap in just one generation. I don't even know if our goal back then was to even reach the European Championship. It was probably to make it to Division A when they had that. That brings perspective."

Alexander Madsen of Finland is one of the big high-fliers in Europe

Making it to the EuroBasket is very important and for different reasons.

It would help keep the sport in the limelight and fuel the passion of the fans and make it easier for basketball to generate revenue through ticket sales for national team friendlies, television deals and advertising.

That is all money that would go back into the sport.

"PRESSURE IS GOOD BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU ACTUALLY CARE…YOU'RE METICULOUS WITH PREPARATION, AND WHEN THE BALL IS TIPPED OFF, YOU'RE READY…"- Huff

With a thin margin for error, there is undoubtedly pressure on Huff, Salin and the other players in the Finland national team.

"Pressure is good because it means you actually care," Huff said. "It means it's something that's important to you. It's what do you do to alleviate the pressure. What you do is you prepare, you're meticulous with preparation, and when the ball is tipped off, you're ready. You just go out and play."

One indisputable fact about this Qualifiers campaign is that Finland will have a bigger squad. A lot of younger players have gained experience. While Finland missed Petteri Koponen in the last window when the veteran combo guard was ruled out after a COVID-19 test, youngsters played a lot of minutes.

Finland battled but Georgia won their game, 91-85, and Serbia defeated them, 75-66.

"I can go back and just the depth of guys, how many good guys we have (now)," Huff said. "When I started, we had a national team full of guys that were really good that if everyone showed up and was healthy, we were good. Right now, in the qualifications, we can be missing main guys but we're still competitive."

"It's been a little bit tough," Salin said. "I think up to this point, we've always counted on the guys that played abroad and we needed everyone to be healthy and be available for the national team. That was the key.

"Now, in a couple of more years, I think we're going to have more and more guys that are ready to play and it's not just going to be about (Finnish legend) Hanno Mottola being available or Petteri Koponen. It's going to be better. But still, now, we need all the guys to be healthy and be there to win games."

Salin leads Finland in scoring at 14.3 points per game in the EuroBasket Qualifiers

Huff, who is 36, is optimistic about the games coming up, but also about the long-term future of the program.

"Our grassroots level, bringing in new guys that are really good and competitive is evident," he said. "We had a camp last summer and the fact that we can go almost twenty, thirty deep with high-level players, it's something that has changed.

"To be able to sustain this level of play , it's a testament to our work on the court but also behind the scenes to build up Finnish basketball and make it a force for years to come."

The immediate focus is on the game against Switzerland and Huff is gearing up for a battle.

"European basketball is so competitive," he said. "Sometimes, making it to the Championship or getting out of the Group Stage, it's one or two possessions. You can look at our history in the World Cup (Qualifiers) or the EuroBasket, a lot of times, we have one or two crazy moments at the end of games and it helps us get out of the group stage."

FIBA