Finland national basketball team

Finland
FIBA ranking	32
Joined FIBA	1939
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Finnish Basketball Association
Coach	Henrik Dettmann
Nickname(s)	Susijengi (The Wolf Pack)
Olympic Games
Appearances	2
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	1
EuroBasket
Appearances	16
Uniforms
Light Dark

The Finnish national basketball team (Finnish: Suomen koripallomaajoukkue, Swedish: Finlands herrlandslag i basket) represents Finland in international basketball.

It played at 13 EuroBasket tournaments, its best finish being 6th in 1967 on home soil. Finland made its FIBA World Cup debut in the 2014 edition.

History

Early years

Finnish national team during the EuroBasket 1939 in Lithuania.

Finland first competed at the European championship at its third installment, the EuroBasket 1939. In the round-robin, they initially struggled and lost to each of the other seven teams and finished with a 70–541 overall point differential.

1950s

Finland playing against Mexico at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics

Gerald Lee Jr. in 2010

Finland's next European competition was 12 years later, at the EuroBasket 1951 in Paris. Overall, they fared much better and split their four preliminary round games and finished at third place in the group at 2–2 but were eliminated from championship contention. They had success after that, winning all three of their classification round 1 games and both round 2 games to finish in 9th place of the 18 teams.

In 1952, by virtue of hosting the games in Helsinki, Finland played at the Olympic basketball competition for the first time. The team finished at the bottom of its first-round Group B with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Mexico, losing all of its games and scoring 147-178.^[1]

Finland used this international experience when they competed again at the EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow. In the preliminary round, they finished with 1 win and 3 losses for 4th place of the 5 teams in the group. They fared significantly better in the first classification round, winning 3 and losing only 1 to finish in the middle of a three-way tie in the group. They lost both the 9–12 and 11/12 classification games, however, taking 12th place of 17 overall.

At the next event, Finland had some difficulty in the preliminary round of EuroBasket 1955. They lost all three early games in Budapest and were relegated to the classification round. Once again, not faced with the world elite opponents anymore, the Fins shone in the classification round and won all four of the pool play games. They won their classification 9–12 match as well, but lost to France in the 9/10 final to finish 10th of 18 in the tournament.

In Sofia, at the EuroBasket 1957, the Finns finished third in their preliminary group after going 1–2. They moved to the 9–16 classification pool and won five games there with only one loss. They took 11th place overall in the tournament.

Modern era

At the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, Finland finished 13th.

Finland qualified for the EuroBasket 2011. The tournament berth was the first for Finland in 16 years. There they finished third out of six teams in EuroBasket 2011 Group C and defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 92–64 and Montenegro 71–65. This allowed them to they qualify for the EuroBasket 2011 Group F. In their first match they were easily defeated by Russia but afterwards they defeated Georgia, before losing to Slovenia in their final match of the tournament. Despite not making it to the best of 8 tournament, Finland ended up making it to their first ever FIBA World Cup as a Wild Card team alongside Greece, Turkey, and Brazil.

Competitive record

EuroBasket EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1935–1937 Did not qualify 1939 8th 7 0 7 1946–1949 Did not qualify 1951 9th 9 7 2 1953 12th 10 4 6 1955 10th 9 5 4 1957 11th 10 6 4 1959 13th 7 2 5 1961 14th 7 3 4 1963 14th 9 2 7 Directly qualified 1965 12th 9 3 6 1967 6th 9 6 3 1969 Did not qualify 4 0 4 1971 4 1 3 1973 7 2 5 1975 Did not enter Did not enter 1977 10th 7 1 6 5 3 2 1979 Did not qualify 10 3 7 1981 5 2 3 1983 12 2 10 1985 12 4 8 1987 12 3 9 1989 9 3 6 1991 3 0 3 1993 4 2 2 1995 14th 6 0 6 12 9 3 1997 Did not qualify 10 3 7 1999 3 2 1 2001 16 10 6 2003 6 3 3 2005 Division B 6 3 3 2007 Division B 10 8 2 2009 Did not qualify 12 5 7 2011 9th 8 3 5 12 5 7 2013 9th 8 5 3 8 6 2 2015 16th 6 2 4 Directly qualified 2017 Qualified Total 16/40 121 49 72

Olympic Games Olympic Games Year Position Pld W L 1952 9th Place 3 0 3 1964 11th Place 9 4 5 2020 To be determined Total!!12!!4!!8 FIBA World Cup World Cup Year Position Pld W L 2014 22nd place 5 1 4 2019 To be determined Total!!5!!1!!4

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2015.^[2]

Finland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
} Pos. # Name Age – Date of birth Ht. Club Ctr. SG 4 Koivisto, Mikko 28 – 18 April 1987 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Kauhajoen Karhu SF 7 Huff, Shawn (C) 31 – 5 May 1984 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Le Portel C 8 Lee, Gerald 27 – 23 November 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) CSA Steaua București SG 9 Salin, Sasu 24 – 11 June 1991 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) CB Gran Canaria F/C 10 Kotti, Tuukka 34 – 18 March 1981 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Crailsheim Merlins PG 11 Koponen, Petteri 27 – 13 April 1988 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Barcelona SF 12 Nuutinen, Matti 25 – 6 May 1990 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Arkadikos PF 21 Kaunisto, Ville 33 – 19 March 1982 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Kouvot PF 24 Cavén, Joonas 22 – 12 January 1993 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Pyrintö PG 30 Ahonen, Roope 25 – 12 June 1990 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Kolossos Rodou PG 31 Wilson, Jamar 31 – 22 February 1984 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) CB Estudiantes PF 33 Murphy, Erik 24 – 26 October 1990 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Strasbourg	Head coach Henrik Dettmann Assistant coach(es) Pekka Salminen Jukka Toijala Lassi Tuovi Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 5 September 2015

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Bench
C	Gerald Lee	Tuukka Kotti	Alexander Madsen
PF	Erik Murphy	Lauri Markkanen	Alex Murphy
SF	Shawn Huff	Matti Nuutinen	Juho Nenonen
SG	Sasu Salin	Mikko Koivisto	Shawn Hopkins
PG	Petteri Koponen	Jamar Wilson	Roope Ahonen

Other notable players

• PF/C - Drew Gooden (Washington Wizards): has a possibility to represent Finland due to his mother being Finnish.^[3]

Head coach position

• Henrik Dettmann – 95-96, 2004-now

Past rosters

Scroll down to see more.

1939 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 8 teams

Kalevi Ihalainen, Pauli Sarkkula, Erkki Lindén, Ilkka Törrönen, Erkki Saurala, Pentti Vuollekoski, Vladi Marmo, Martti Salminen, Reino Valtonen, Alo Suurna, Heinonen (Coach: Osmo Kupiainen)

1951 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 17 teams

Kalevi Heinänen, Pentti Laaksonen, Raimo Lindholm, Pertti Mutru, Tapio Pöyhönen, Timo Suviranta, Kalevi Sylander, Oiva Virtanen, Olli Arppe, Kaj Gustafsson, Arto Koivisto, Juhani Kyöstilä, Raine Nuutinen, Allan Pietarinen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1952 Olympic Games: finished 15th among 23 teams

Kalevi Heinänen, Pentti Laaksonen, Juhani Kyöstilä, Raimo Lindholm, Pertti Mutru, Tapio Pöyhönen, Eero Salonen, Timo Suviranta, Kalevi Sylander, Oiva Virtanen, Raine Nuutinen, Olavi Lahtinen, Tuomo Ristola, Esko Karhunen

1953 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 17 teams

Kalevi Heinänen, Pentti Laaksonen, Pertti Mutru, Allan Pietarinen, Raimo Lindholm, Timo Suviranta, Timo Lampen, Raine Nuutinen, Keijo Hynninen, Oiva Virtanen, Eero Salonen, Kaj Gustafsson (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 18 teams

Kalevi Heinänen, Kalevi Sylander, Pertti Mutru, Oiva Virtanen, Timo Lampén, Taisto Ravantti, Seppo Kuusela, Timo Suviranta, Raine Nuutinen, Eero Salonen, Kalevi Tuominen, Asko Jokinen, Raimo Lindholm (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

Timo Lampén, Arto Koivisto, Pertti Mutru, Raine Nuutinen, Eero Salonen, Seppo Kuusela, Arvo Jantunen, Juhani Kala, Paavo Suhonen, Raimo Lindholm, Timo Suviranta, Kalevi Sylander (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 17 teams

Timo Lampén, Raimo Lindholm, Seppo Kuusela, Arvo Jantunen, Juhani Kala, Matti Nenonen, Raine Nuutinen, Eero Salonen, Raimo Vartia, Matti Köli, Kyösti Rousti, Pentti Palkoaho (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 19 teams

Martti Liimo, Kari Liimo, Raimo Lindholm, Timo Lampén, Raimo Vartia, Pertti Laanti, Tony Bärlund, Arvo Jantunen, Uolevi Manninen, Lauri Nurma, Seppo Kuusela, Rauno Ailus (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

Martti Liimo, Kari Liimo, Jorma Pilkevaara, Timo Lampén, Pertti Laanti, Raimo Vartia, Uolevi Manninen, Antero Siljola, Juha Harjula, Seppo Kuusela, Rauno Ailus, Kauko Kauppinen (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 16 teams

Martti Liimo, Jorma Pilkevaara, Kari Liimo, Raimo Vartia, Pertti Laanti, Timo Lampén, Risto Kala, Kauko Kauppinen, Raimo Lindholm, Teijo Finneman, Uolevi Manninen, Juha Harjula (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

Martti Liimo, Kari Liimo, Jorma Pilkevaara, Kari Lahti, Pertti Laanti, Timo Lampén, Uolevi Manninen, Jyrki Immonen, Hannu Paananen, Lars Karell, Kari Rönnholm, Teijo Finneman (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

Veikko Vainio, Jorma Pilkevaara, Martti Liimo, Kari Liimo, Pertti Laanti, Kari Lahti, Uolevi Manninen, Teijo Finneman, Jyrki Immonen, Lars Karell, Olavi Ahonen, Kari Rönnholm (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1977 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

Heikki Taponen, Tapio Sten, Jarmo Laitinen, Erkki Saaristo, Antti Zitting, Mikko Koskinen, Klaus Mahlamäki, Risto Lignell, Raimo Mäntynen, Anssi Rauramo, Kalevi Sarkalahti, Heikki Kasko (Coach: Robert Petersen)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams

Hanno Möttölä, Martti Kuisma, Kari-Pekka Klinga, Petri Niiranen, Juha Luhtanen, Jyri Lehtonen, Pekka Markkanen, Sakari Pehkonen, Markku Larkio, Mika-Matti Tahvanainen, Riku Marttinen, Jarkko Tuomala (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2013 Eurobasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

Mikko Koivisto, Antti Nikkilä, Kimmo Muurinen, Shawn Huff, Gerald Lee, Sasu Salin, Tuukka Kotti, Petteri Koponen, Samuel Haanpää, Hanno Möttölä, Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 22nd among 24 teams

Mikko Koivisto, Erik Murphy, Kimmo Muurinen, Shawn Huff, Gerald Lee, Sasu Salin, Tuukka Kotti, Petteri Koponen, Matti Nuutinen, Hanno Möttölä, Antero Lehto, Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2015 Eurobasket: finished 16th among 24 teams

Mikko Koivisto, Shawn Huff, Gerald Lee, Sasu Salin, Tuukka Kotti, Petteri Koponen, Matti Nuutinen, Ville Kaunisto, Joonas Cavén, Roope Ahonen, Jamar Wilson, Erik Murphy (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

Kit

Manufacturer

2015: Li-ning ^[4]

Sponsor

2015: Microsoft ^[4]

Notes

See also

• Finland women's national basketball team
• Finland national under-19 basketball team
• Finland national under-17 basketball team
• Finland national 3x3 team

References

1. "Basketball at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Basketball Round One". Sports Reference. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
2. "Finland EuroBasket 2015 Roster". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
3. http://www.sportsmedia101.com/washingtonwizards/2014/08/06/drew-gooden-to-play-for-finland-in-fiba-world-cup/
4. Finland | EuroBasket 2015, FIBA.com, Retrieved 27 September 2015.

External links

• Official website
• FIBA profile
• Finland at eurobasket.com
• Finland Basketball Records at FIBA Archive

Videos

• Finland - Tournament Highlights - 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Youtube.com video