Silja Viita – back in action, Naisten Korisliiga and what to watch on Netflix

Lovely winter weather has disappeared somewhere in southern Finland, to be replaced by weather we expect in March or April.. with few plus degrees and pavements like ice skating rinks.. but the basketball inside the various gyms around Finland is doing it’s thing and level of play is steadily getting better as the teams are gelling together and the importance of games rises round after round.

My journey took me to Espoonlahti and EBT vs ViVe in the Naisten Korisliiga on Saturday – before the schedule organisers have granted me a WHOLE WEEK without any games in the top level in Finland. But I’ll still find something to do.. worry not. Even if doing stuff for this Blog/website does not actually make me any money.. but the ‘love for the game’ is strong.

After the game – caught up in the tunnel with Silja Viita for a quick chat on camera about her season so far, how does she see this seasons Naisten Korisliiga and we also get viewing tips for what to watch on Netflix.

Teams in Naisten Korisliiga have played a varied amount of games, and ViVe is in the mid-table having played 18 games (some teams have only played 16 games) with a 50-50 record – 9 wins and 9 losses. How does Viita see their season so far and where they sit on the league table.

‘We are pretty content where we are at the moment in the league table, of course we would love to be able to get the fourth spot by the end of the regular season as that would give us the home court advantage in the first round of playoffs. But at the moment we are pretty securely on the fifth spot and the teams below us are not immediately on our heels.’

Before the season Silja had a small injury that kept her out of action after the summer, it was only in December that she made her comeback to the games and been working her way back to her best. The stats lines do show that on almost all the stats she is getting back to the way she played in the past seasons – with her best scoring performance actually coming in the game vs EBT on Saturday with 12 points .. was the reason for this best score of the season in the ‘swinging baskets’ at Espoonlahti?? That she does not quite admit, but said that she might have to climb to the rafters of ViVe’s own gym and loosen the bolts over there.. so that the baskets over there would sway in the same way 😉

What about the Naisten Korisliiga in general this season?

‘I think the league is really even this year, if we don’t count ToPo on the top, as each team is able to beat anyone on any given night – and we’ve seen plenty of surprise results during the season.’

How about the long travels – Vimpeli has the longest away travels in the league, how was she planning to spend the five hour bus journey back to Vimpeli from Espoo?

‘Probably chatting to the teammates about the game and stuff, if I get tired might even get some sleep – I’ve also been optimistic and have a book with me… although it might get too dark to read on the way?? Or maybe I watch some series on my tablet.’

What is the hot tip and recommendation from Silja Viita for everyone to watch on Netflix (as let’s face it – unless someone recommends you a new series to watch… you only get the 6 shows Netflix always show you on their front page 🙂 ).

‘The Rookie – that’s actually something my teammate recommended to me’ 

See.. there, proves my point… always get someone to recommend you something to watch on streaming services… they won’t show these things for you. You always get the same series/movies on the front page.. even if you haven’t clicked on them for two years… they still believe that one day you will watch it!

Big thanks to Silja for taking time after the game to chat – and also, for being one of the best players not to complain about ‘game face’ photos!!