Finald beat Georgia 93-79 to advance to the semifinals of EuroBasket 2025. There was a lot of intensity to this match, Georgia let their emotions get the best of them, and Finald prevailed.
Mikael Jantunen, who is the Finnish Andrés Nocioni if you ask me, scored the most for Finland, but when they needed timely baskets, the guy with the answer was Sasu Salin. Salin is a problem coming off of down screens, when he gets a sliver of daylight, he balances up and is lethal from beyond the arc.
Sasu not only made shots, he got hyped about his performance. Dapping up his teammates, and imploring the Finnish fans in Riga to get behind them, it was a fun watch.
Finald closed quarters better than Georgia, only being beaten by Georgia in the last two minutes of the third. Overall Finald was a +4 in the last two minutes of quarters, which helps build momentum.
Georgia is a more top heavy team than Finald, but their downfall was in part how they responded to the game. They were down 20 at one point, but they came back, and made it a six point game in the fourth. Goga Bitadze, one of their NBA players, got an unsportsmanlike foul in the fourth, which combined with his fouls and technical he picked up ejected him from the game.
Watching the comeback Georgia made me a believer. They wanted it more-they hustled, scored, made Finland use all of the shot clock (Miro Little hit one crazy three at the end of the shot clock), and gave themselves a chance. Finald fought back but Georgia needed to keep their eyes on the prize and not on the mistakes they made.
Tornike Shengelia was also disqualified for Georgia late in the fourth (here’s what he said after the game). He was the third leading scorer for Georgia, and they can play better, sure, but they can also respond better to the game. They’re a fiery bunch, and that’s great, it means they want to win, but how you channel and use that energy makes or breaks you.
Finald’s next opponent is being determined as I type. It’ll be Germany or Slovenia against them in the quarterfinal. Whoever Finland gets will be a handful. Lauri, Sasu, and crew have to bring their best performance yet. Let’s hope they make it a game to remember!