By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Riga, Latvia – 14 years ago, Finland was beating Georgia at FIBA EuroBasket 2011, but neither of the countries could have ever imagined that they would eventually, one day, fight for a Semi-Final spot.
Sasu Salin was there in 2011 and was here in Riga in 2025, witnessing in person and on the court one of the greatest wins ever in Finnish basketball.
“It’s been a kind of dream to reach everything like this, but I could never have imagined 14 years ago that we’re going to be in this kind of situation. The guys have gotten better, we’ve been improving every year, so I’m just so happy for the country,” he said to Eurohoops after the win.
“It feels awesome, of course,” the experienced shooter said about reaching the EuroBasket Semi-Finals.
“After beating Serbia, I think we felt like we did something big, but now making history by reaching the Top 4 for the first time is absolutely amazing,” he added.
Obviously, preparing for this game right after winning against Serbia in one of the biggest basketball national-team upsets ever was a tough mental challenge. “It requires a lot of pressure handling,” he said.
“We were close at EuroBasket 2022. We lost against a great team like Spain. The experience that we have together really helped us today: we knew what we had to do to win today,” Salina added.
As Hanno Mottola told Eurohoops on the game’s eve, Finnish players’ freedom is prioritized.
“The coaching staff has been doing a great job. We have a very good understanding of what kind of team we are and what they want from us. Every time we go to work, we do our work very well,” he said.
“Even though our preparation time was shorter for like comparing to the other team, it’s been very smart. Communication between players and coaches has been great, and that helps a lot.”
Now, it’s either Germany or Slovenia up next. “[We’re entering the Semi-Finals] with the same mentality: we’re going to win the game,” Sasu Salin commented on the team’s mental attitude.
“We’re going to prepare as well as we can, and we’re gonna do the adjustments; it doesn’t matter if it’s Germany or Slovenia. Then, we go to the game like we’re gonna walk out as winners.”
Against Georgia, Sasu Salin went up against one of his best basketball friends and former teammates in Tenerife, Giorgi Shermadini. “Gio is one of my best friends. I have so many friends from Georgia. I played with a lot of them, so I really love the guys,” he said.
“I felt kind of bad for Gio that they lost today, but basketball is all about somebody winning and somebody else losing. Today was our day.”
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA