Finland men's national basketball team

Finnish national team during the EuroBasket 1939 in Lithuania.

The Finnish Basketball Association was founded in February 1939. A few months earlier the Finnish Football Federation had decided to add basketball to its own repertoire. 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.

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 Summer Olympics for the first time. The national team finished at the bottom of Group B in the preliminary round losing all of its game to the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Mexico, and failing to advance.[2]

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.

At the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, was Finland's first qualification to the top European basketball tournament since 1977. The national team did not fair too well at the event though. As they were routed in their first match against Russia 126-74, and ultimately led to them fnishing with an 0-6 record (13th place) and eliminated.

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.

Roster for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.

Finland men's national basketball team – 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 4 Koivisto, Mikko 30 – (1987-04-18)18 April 1987 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Salon Vilpas Vikings F 5 Murphy, Alex 24 – (1993-06-03)3 June 1993 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Kataja BC SF 7 Huff, Shawn (C) 33 – (1984-05-05)5 May 1984 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Skyliners Frankfurt SF 7 Nenonen, Juho 30 – (1987-09-12)12 September 1987 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Vilpas Vikings F 8 Jantunen, Mikael 17 – (2000-04-20)20 April 2000 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) HBA-Marsky Helsinki G 8 Ahonen, Roope 37 – (1980-06-12)12 June 1980 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Kolossos Rodou B.C. SG 9 Salin, Sasu 26 – (1991-06-11)11 June 1991 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Gran Canaria SG 9 Kanervo, Antti 28 – (1989-04-12)12 April 1989 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Chorale Roanne F/C 11 Kotti, Tuukka 36 – (1981-03-18)18 March 1981 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Crailsheim Merlins PG 11 Koponen, Petteri 29 – (1988-04-13)13 April 1988 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Barcelona SF 12 Nuutinen, Matti 27 – (1990-05-06)6 May 1990 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Chorale Roanne F/C 20 Madsen, Alexander 22 – (1995-01-26)26 January 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) USK Praha G 21 Tahvanainen, Ville 17 – (2000-06-30)30 June 2000 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) HBA-Marsky Helsinki SF 22 Lindbom, Carl 26 – (1991-11-10)10 November 1991 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) BC Juventus PF 23 Markkanen, Lauri 20 – (1997-05-20)20 May 1997 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) Chicago Bulls PG 33 Wilson, Jamar 33 – (1984-02-22)22 February 1984 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) JSF Nanterre F/C 33 Murphy, Erik 27 – (1990-10-26)26 October 1990 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) JSF Nanterre PF 33 Odabasi, Ozan 22 – (1995-08-08)8 August 1995 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Trabzonspor B.K. PG 34 Aidoo, Fiifi 21 – (1996-04-05)5 April 1996 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball G 35 Seppala, Ilari 24 – (1993-04-27)27 April 1993 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Kataja BC SG 41 Palmi, Topias 23 – (1994-08-26)26 August 1994 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Tampereen Pyrintö	Head coach Henrik Dettmann Assistant coach(es) Mikko Larkas Jukka Toijala Lassi Tuovi Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 24 November 2017

• Henrik Dettmann – (1995 - 96, 2004 - present)

1939 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 8 teams

3 Martti Salminen, 4 Kalevi Ihalainen, 5 Ilkka Törrönen, 6 Erkki Saurala, 8 Pentti Vuollekoski, 9 Pauli Sarkkula, 10 Heinonen, 11 Erkki Lindén, 12 Vladi Marmo, 13 Reino Valtonen, 14 Alo Suurna (Coach: Osmo Kupiainen)

1951 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 17 teams

3 Oiva Virtanen, 4 Raimo Lindholm, 5 Juhani Kyöstilä, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Pentti Laaksonen, 8 Raine Nuutinen, 9 Kalevi Sylander, 11 Arto Koivisto, 12 Pertti Mutru, 13 Kalevi Heinänen, 14 Kaj Gustafsson, 15 Olli Arppe, 16 Allan Pietarinen, 17 Tapio Pöyhönen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1952 Olympic Games: finished 15th among 23 teams

3 Juhani Kyöstilä, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Kalevi Heinänen, 8 Pentti Laaksonen, 9 Oiva Virtanen, 10 Esko Karhunen, 11 Eero Salonen, 12 Pertti Mutru, 13 Tapio Pöyhönen (Coach: ?)

1953 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 17 teams

3 Timo Lampen, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Keijo Hynninen, 8 Kalevi Heinänen, 9 Pentti Laaksonen, 10 Oiva Virtanen, 11 Eero Salonen, 12 Kaj Gustafsson, 13 Pertti Mutru, 14 Allan Pietarinen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 18 teams

3 Timo Lampén, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Kalevi Heinänen, 8 Oiva Virtanen, 9 Eero Salonen, 10 Kalevi Sylander, 11 Taisto Ravantti, 12 Seppo Kuusela, 13 Asko Jokinen, 14 Pertti Mutru, 15 Kalevi Tuominen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

3 Timo Lampén, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Arvo Jantunen, 8 Paavo Suhonen, 9 Juhani Kala, 10 Seppo Kuusela, 11 Kalevi Sylander, 12 Eero Salonen, 13 Pertti Mutru, 14 Arto Koivisto (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 17 teams

3 Matti Köli, 4 Timo Lampén, 5 Pentti Palkoaho, 6 Matti Nenonen, 7 Raine Nuutinen, 8 Raimo Lindholm, 9 Arvo Jantunen, 10 Kyösti Rousti, 11 Juhani Kala, 12 Seppo Kuusela, 13 Eero Salonen, 14 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 19 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Lauri Nurma, 9 Martti Liimo, 10 Tony Bärlund, 11 Raimo Lindholm, 12 Rauno Ailus, 13 Arvo Jantunen, 14 Seppo Kuusela, 15 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Juha Harjula, 10 Antero Siljola, 11 Rauno Ailus, 12 Kauko Kauppinen, 13 Jorma Pilkevaara, 14 Seppo Kuusela, 15 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Raimo Lindholm, 10 Juha Harjula, 11 Risto Kala, 12 Kauko Kauppinen, 13 Jorma Pilkevaara, 14 Teijo Finneman, 15 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Kari Lahti, 10 Hannu Paananen, 11 Jorma Pilkevaara, 12 Kari Rönnholm, 13 Lars Karell, 14 Teijo Finneman, 15 Jyrki Immonen (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Veikko Vainio, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Uolevi Manninen, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Kari Lahti, 10 Kari Rönnholm, 11 Lars Karell, 12 Jorma Pilkevaara, 13 Olavi Ahonen, 14 Teijo Finneman, 15 Jyrki Immonen (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1977 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 Kalevi Sarkalahti 5 Heikki Kasko, 6 Tapio Sten, 7 Heikki Taponen, 8 Antti Zitting, 9 Risto Lignell, 10 Raimo Mäntynen, 11 Anssi Rauramo, 12 Mikko Koskinen, 13 Klaus Mahlamäki, 14 Jarmo Laitinen, 15 Erkki Saaristo (Coach: Robert Petersen)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams

4 Martti Kuisma, 5 Hanno Möttölä, 6 Pekka Markkanen, 7 Sakari Pehkonen, 8 Jarkko Tuomala, 9 Markku Larkio, 10 Riku Marttinen, 11 Mika-Matti Tahvanainen, 12 Juha Luhtanen, 13 Jyri Lehtonen, 14 Kari-Pekka Klinga, 15 Petri-Mikael Niiranen (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 5 Antti Nikkilä, 6 Kimmo Muurinen, 7 Shawn Huff, 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen, 12 Vesa Mäkäläinen, 13 Hanno Möttölä, 14 Petri Virtanen, 15 Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 5 Antti Nikkilä, 6 Kimmo Muurinen, 7 Shawn Huff, 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen, 12 Samuel Haanpää, 13 Hanno Möttölä, 14 Roope Ahonen, 15 Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 22nd among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 5 Erik Murphy, 6 Kimmo Muurinen, 7 Shawn Huff, 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen, 12 Matti Nuutinen, 13 Hanno Möttölä (C), 14 Antero Lehto, 15 Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 7 Shawn Huff (C), 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen, 12 Matti Nuutinen, 21 Ville Kaunisto, 24 Joonas Cavén, 30 Roope Ahonen, 31 Jamar Wilson, 33 Erik Murphy (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams[3]

Finland men's national basketball team – EuroBasket 2017 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 4 Koivisto, Mikko 30 – (1987-04-18)18 April 1987 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Salon Vilpas Vikings SF 7 Huff, Shawn (C) 33 – (1984-05-05)5 May 1984 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Skyliners Frankfurt C 8 Lee, Gerald 29 – (1987-11-23)23 November 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Helsinki Seagulls SG 9 Salin, Sasu 26 – (1991-06-11)11 June 1991 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Gran Canaria F/C 10 Kotti, Tuukka 36 – (1981-03-18)18 March 1981 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Crailsheim Merlins PG 11 Koponen, Petteri 29 – (1988-04-13)13 April 1988 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Barcelona SF 12 Nuutinen, Matti 27 – (1990-05-06)6 May 1990 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Chorale Roanne PG 15 Rannikko, Teemu 36 – (1980-09-09)9 September 1980 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Kataja SF 22 Lindbom, Carl 25 – (1991-11-10)10 November 1991 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Helsinki Seagulls PF 23 Markkanen, Lauri 20 – (1997-05-22)22 May 1997 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Chicago Bulls PG 31 Wilson, Jamar 33 – (1984-02-22)22 February 1984 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Estudiantes PF 33 Murphy, Erik 26 – (1990-10-26)26 October 1990 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Strasbourg	Head coach Henrik Dettmann Assistant coach(es) Mikko Larkas Jukka Toijala Lassi Tuovi Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 31 August 2017

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2015: Li-ning [4]
2019: Adidas

2015: Microsoft [4]
2019: PostNord

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