Did Seagulls just ‘win’ Korisliiga title 2024-25 – and why I might not be welcome at Seagulls games ;-)

Imagine being top of the table in Korisliiga, with arguably the strongest roster out of the twelve teams in the league, and pretty much having been unchallenged all season long.

And then adding a seasoned pro, Henri Kantonen, to your roster for the rest of the season.

Quite a statement of intent from Helsinki Seagulls as the regular season heads to the last round tomorrow, but then again – this is a team whose owners have talked about their long term goals og one day playing in the EuroLeague. So should come as no surprise to sign a player of Kantonen’s calibre at this stage of the season.

Kantonen, like his team mate Rene Rougeau, is used to winning the Korisliiga – and that is not a bad thing in a player in a league like Korisliiga.

What has the season been like for Seagulls – who still probably feel that they should have won the title last year, but blew it in the end and allowed BC Nokia to clinch the title at Seagulls backyard in Helsinki in the last game of the series.

Seagulls have only lost TWO games all season, and really have not been yet tested properly in the first part of the season. Which sometimes is not the greatest thing for any team in any league – coaches keep spitting out the same jargon of ‘ we keep our focus and know we need to improve ‘ ‘ our goal in to be in the best shape at the end of the season ‘ ‘ all players know we haven’t won anything ‘ … you have all heard it a million times before.

Still – complacency does creep in when you are on a 15 game winning streak and no-one sees where the next defeat might even come! There are times when this backfires and you NOT ready to be challenge as the playoffs start.

Now to the fact why Helsinki Seagulls might NOT want to see me at their games come the playoffs. I have this season shot TWO Helsinki Seagulls games .. and they are the ONLY two games the team has lost all season! Not saying that the players get stage fright when they see me with my cameras.. but is it a coincidence that they have lost just those two games??? You tell me…..

One point to add is that Kantonen is coming back from a long injury lay off, so most like won’t be quite up to speed right away. But he is also a type of person who does think things properly through – so he would not have signed to play unless he was confident of being able to give a good effort at the business end of the season.

It will now be interesting to see how other teams react, as well as how Seagulls game will evolve once Kantonen gets to full speed ..

In any case, it is GREAT to see Kantonen getting back to full fitness and playing again – and of course making his case once again to be included in the Susijengi roster for the summer of EuroBasket.