The NBA quality Buddy Hield, Eric Gordon and DeAndre Ayton solved in five minutes what had been complicated in the first twenty-five against a Finnish team that was more ‘team’ than the Bahamas, but when push came to shove it couldn’t match the level of the Caribbean team.
Finland showed a way to stop DeAndre Ayton in the first half. He pairs Mikael Jantunen with the Bahamian center and brings him out to make him difficult on defense and allow other players to get to the basket.
So they were up by seven at halftime, a distance that stretched even further at the start of the third quarter.. Jantunen and, above all, Elias Maxhuni made the Europeans believe in achieving the first pre-Olympic victorybut in the best moment in Finland, with 64-52 in the 25th minute of the match, Buddy Hield appeared.
A free agent since July 1, he shook up the game at one point, He balanced the match with ten points and two assists and, above all, he printed tremendous speed against a Finland without Lauri Markkanen, the great Finnish reference.
Thus, the Bahamas fulfilled the plan and ended up winning 85-96 against a Finland that tried everything and got within three with four attacks leftalthough Eric Gordon stroked the wand and within half a minute returned a profit that was not returned to add the first pre-Olympic victory for the Bahamas.
Data sheets
85-Finland (26+28+13+18): Maxhuni (20), Grandison (3), Valtonen (13), Nkamhua (11), Jantunen (20) -beginning quintet-, Little (5), Salin (-), Madsen (9), Muurinen (4), Gustavson (-), Raitanen (-), Kaukiainen (-)
96-Bahamas (27+20+26+23): Gordon (16), Nairn (4), Hield (24), Munnings (5), Deandre Ayton (19) -starting five-, Miller (8), JR Edgecombe (20), Frreman (-), Smith (-) , Albury (-), Hunter (-), Burrows (-)
Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Boris Krejic (SLO) and Martin Vulic (CRO). Nothing was removed
Incidents: first match of Group B of the Valencia pre-Olympic tournament, consisting of Poland, Bahamas and Finland, played at the Fonteta pavilion in front of 2,731 spectators.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
