By Cesare Milanti / info@Eurohoops.net
For two straight seasons, Lassi Tuovi came really close to getting the chance to fight for the Basketball Champions League title, bringing SIG Strasbourg to the edge of the Final Four.
First, in the 2020-21 season, the French team got knocked out in the Final 8 semifinals by the then-champions San Pablo Burgos; then, the following year, Lassi Tuovi and his team failed to succeed in the Quarter-Finals, losing 2-0 the best-of-three series against Hapoel Holon.
Following an amazing run with Finland at EuroBasket 2022 and a rough start of the season in the LNB, Lassi Tuovi, and SIG Strasbourg separated paths, as the 36-year-old is now focusing only on his duties with the national team.
Since leaving the club’s bench, his schedule has surely changed. “It’s been fun. A lot of different calendars, after working so many years with the club and the national team, first as an assistant and then as a head coach. The schedule looks so different, having a little more time to recover and rest while traveling around for the national team for the upcoming months”, he said in an interview with Eurohoops.
Upcoming months mean the road to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where Finland will be playing in Okinawa, being drawn into the toughest of all groups. In Group E, in fact, the Wolfpack led by Lauri Markkanen will have to face Australia and Germany, two candidates for the podium, other than the hosts of Japan. But the Finnish head coach doesn’t look too surprised.
“Now there come new players, there’s already been some transformations: we are excited. We know that the World Cup is always a tough competition. Playing with the hosts and two teams like Germany and Australia that I’d say are candidates to take a medal… it’s a tough challenge. But that’s how it should be at this level”, the promising but experience head coach added.
Group E will be the most competitive in the 2023 World Cup:
🇩🇪 Germany
🇫🇮 Finland
🇳🇿 Australia
🇯🇵 Japan (host)Dennis Schroder, Lauri Markkanen, Patty Mills, Rui Hachimura, Josh Giddey, and a lot more! #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/U1BAY1ko6l
— Cesare Milanti (@cesaremilanti) April 29, 2023
This will be the first International major tournament that Finland will have to do without Petteri Koponen, following the 35-year-old shooting guard who decided to spend his last minutes on the court at EuroBasket 2022, losing in the Quarter-Finals against Spain.
In an interview with Eurohoops ahead of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, where he went on to have his first experience as a head coach, the former FC Barcelona player said that without Lassi Tuovi, he wouldn’t have traveled to Germany for the International campaign.
“I spent so many years with Petteri on different projects. When I came in 2010 as an assistant, he was already there and it’s been a long journey. I’m definitely proud to have coached his last basketball game, and also that last home game in Tampere was huge. It was a great memory. Overall, the journey continues”, the former SIG Strasbourg head coach said about Koponen.
Despite his leaving the Basketball Champions League in mid-November 2022, being substituted by Luca Banchi, Lassi Tuovi still follows the competition with a lot of interest, using it as a platform for scouting and thinking about Finland, and not only. That’s why he gave his takes on the upcoming Final Four.
The strong home side vs the talented outsider
Being played in Malaga, Unicaja will have the opportunity to fight for its first-ever Basketball Champions League trophy in front of its beloved and intense fans. “Since the beginning, they have been one of the biggest favorites. And the impressive thing is that right now they are maybe the biggest ones. It comes with the way they’ve been developing their game all year long. They’ve been outstanding and their venue is something that will be really helpful for a team that excels in front of its fans. They are super-tough to beat since they knocked out some EuroLeague teams in the Copa del Rey, so we have to be honest and say that they are the biggest favorite of the week”, Lassi Tuovi said on Unicaja Malaga.
Before thinking of the big golden prize on Sunday 14, the Andalusian team will have to overcome first a really tough opponent like Telekom Baskets Bonn, whom Lassi Tuovi knows well due to the presence of his national team assistant and friend Tuomas Iisalo on the bench.
“I’m happy for Tuomas. I’m very happy that Bonn was able to do such a big thing in their first-ever season playing the Basketball Champions League. It’s very tough to reach the Final Four. I spent some time there to see Tuomas and his work recently when they beat ALBA Berlin, and at the end of the day the group is really hardworking, and they have amazing chemistry. It’s a group of guys who sacrifice for each other’s and is ready to work every day without thinking about anything else than being a group of guys”, the 36-year-old commented on Telekom Baskets Bonn.
“At the end of the day, the body language and the spirit are such a great thing that they’ve been able to create that 42-5 record in all competitions right now. There are many things outside of the tactical and basketball they’ve built there; and of course, coach Iisalo deserves the credit for that, but also every guy is ready to put in his effort. That’s the most important heading into a Final Four”, he added on Iisalo’s German team.
💟 @TelekomBaskets taking over #BasketballCL 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 media day – and they’re doing it dancing 🕺🏼 pic.twitter.com/RCrliGnyTg
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) May 10, 2023
An interesting matchup on paper, which will put up against each other the only team which managed to win its Quarter-Finals series 2-0 against UCAM Murcia, and the only unbeaten team in the Round of 16. Talking about the tactical breakdown, Lassi Tuovi pointed out some interesting keys. “There are a lot of aspects that we don’t know. But of course, these are two very good offensive teams. Unicaja has been dangerous in the BCL and for sure Bonn is tough. This will end up being a defensive battle: how they cover the opponents’ weaknesses, how they are able to lock down defensively”, he said.
This will be the semifinal of the matchup between TJ Shorts II and Kendrick Perry, two of the most electrifying and consistent guards in the whole competition, but not only. “Unicaja is super good at passing the ball, the ball flow is special there. I’d say that Bonn has the best player available right now, as TJ Shorts has been outstanding all year long. Anybody who plays Bonn will take the first keep to eye on how to plan the game against him. TJ Shorts against Kendrick Perry is the big matchup, but we have to keep in mind that these are the teams that go in these stages using deep rotations”, Lassi Tuovi commented on the game, before emphasizing it by revealing its choices for who will step up big.
“Key players will play big minutes when it’s do-or-die, so they will not rotate as much as in the Regular Season, but these teams need to be ready to envelop their X-Factors, shooters off the bench who can change the game… players like Sebastian Herrera and Kalinoski, the ones who can bring something really big in one game to change the rhythm and find their shootings. It’s a battle of the key scorers, but you need to take care of everybody: anybody can make one run, and that’s a potential killer”, the Finnish head coach went on to add.
The champions against the underdogs
The winner of the matchup between Unicaja Malaga and Telekom Baskets Bonn will face either Lenovo Tenerife or Hapoel Jerusalem. The Canarian side has the aim of lifting the trophy in back-to-back fashion, while the red-and-black Israeli team wants to ruin the party for Txus Vidorreta’s side.
Talking about the reigning champions, who want to become the second team to win the Basketball Champions League in consecutive seasons after San Pablo Burgos, Lassi Tuovi knows them really well. “Tenerife is the closest one for me since we played them so many times in the Basketball Champions League. This year I visited them for the Intercontinental Cup, following their work for days. You can expect them to be at the highest level when things get serious. Everybody there knows exactly what is doing and their roles are clear. A reason why they could be the favorite again is that they’ve been together for so long, they’ve faced a lot of different strategies, opponents, troubles, great runs, and finals… and the core is the same. You can’t really surprise them”, the Finnish leader said.
While keeping the united group of guys together, Aniano Cabrera still managed to bring in new efficient players to the table in the Canary Islands. “At the same time, they’ve been adding some interesting pieces like Elgin Cook, Javier Fernandez, and Leandro Bolmaro. They’re not the same team as last year, I’d say they’re even better. Honestly, they are in a good situation, because they’ve won the BCL and they can go there with an underdog feeling. They’re highly motivated to meet Malaga in the final to take revenge for the Copa del Rey. This is the team with the experience that knows how to compete at the highest level. And Huertas has so many weapons”, Lassi Tuovi added about the winning team.
However, in order to make the celebration started for what will be the revenge win against Unicaja Malaga following the loss in the Copa del Rey final, Lenovo Tenerife will have to win its semifinal, scheduled on May 12 at 17:30 CET, against Aleksander Dzikic’s Hapoel Jerusalem.
And Lassi Tuovi has nothing but good words for them. “It’s a well-built team, that has grown week by week as the season continued. They had an impressive run, not losing for months. I’d say that they have a toll back which can put Tenerife’s playmaking in trouble. They’ve been showing that they can really play high-level defense with them pressuring the ball cornily, and those can really get you out of your rhythm, meanwhile, there are players like Randolph who can kill you on offense”, he said on the 2023 Israeli State Cup champs.
“They are super hungry for sure to win the title and show this to the others because all the spotlight has been put on Malaga and Tenerife. Defensive-wise, this team can really hurt anybody. My eyes are mainly on Lenovo Tenerife’s playmaking on one side and on Hapoel Jerusalem’s defense on the other. It’ll be interesting to see how they limit Huertas. At the same time, you should never fall asleep with Salin and Fitipaldo, among others, so it won’t be an easy task for them”, he added about the Israeli side and the challenge against the reigning champions.
His eyes will be on those matchups between the four teams – Unicaja Malaga, Telekom Baskets Bonn, Lenovo Tenerife, and Hapoel Jerusalem – which will battle starting from May 12 for the 2023 Basketball Champions League. And ours too: the first of two exciting Final Fours are here.
PHOTO CREDIT: EuroBasket 2022