Despite a valiant effort, simple mistakes cost Finland a nail biter against
the Croatians.
Out of the five teams in Group C, Greece may be the only superior to a cool, calm, and collected Croatian club. Before this game, Finland did not appear as if they would pose any sort of threat to Croatia. However, if you can sink your three pointers, anything is possible. Although they only shot 40.7% from distance, they still made 11 three pointers, led by Gerald Lee Jr. who hit three from beyond the arc for the 'Fins. And even though Croatia decisively won the rebounding battle 43-28, it was still any one's game heading into the final few minutes. This is a time where you need to execute and make plays down the stretch.
On offense, Croatia continued to find Bojan Bogdanovic open for shots. He scored 26 points on 9 for 13 shooting from the floor and 6 for 8 from deep. For Finland, free throws proved to be the difference maker in my mind. With 1:13 to play and Croatia up four, Salin missed two foul shots that would have shifted momentum and made this opening day contest a one possession game. And finally, with three seconds remaining, Gerald Lee missed two foul shots that would have cut the lead to three points. Croatia rebounded the second miss and let the clock run. While Croatia found a go-to-guy in the closing minutes of a game that most believed should have been a blowout, Finland's failure to simply convert towards the end cost them greatly.
For Finland, things will only get rougher tomorrow as they take on a Greece team that many expect to win the 2011 EuroBasket tournament, and are ranked 4th in the Fiba Rankings. Croatia should have somewhat of an easier game tomorrow, as they take on 0-1 Macedonia.
Next Game: Croatia (1-0) vs F.Y.R. of Macedonia (0-1)
Finland (0-1) vs Greece (1-0)
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