By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Finnish basketball is on the rise, the team got a wild card for this year’s FIBA World Cup after a good performance in last season’s Eurobasket and the “wolf pack” is expected to have two important additions in Spain. The team already welcomed 23 years old Erick Murphy and now NBA veteran Drew Gooden will probably join him.
Both players have Finnish mothers and that makes them eligible for the Finnish national team. American born players of European descendance are regularly playing in the national teams of their ancestors’ country, like for example Nick Calathes in Greece. However, according to FIBA rules, once they have picked their “basketball nationality”, they can’t change it.