EBT vs PeKa and views on Nea Inhala

Where’s the basket??

OK – that is harsh, but when the score was EBT 10-9 PeKa after 10 minutes. Maybe I had a point there 😉

The game kept on being low scoring all through the 40 minutes, but in the end – it was EBT that found their aim and took the W.

For me, it does not matter who wins and stuff – but when PeKa had the last posession of the game and they were at 48 points.. very silently inside myself, I kept on saying.. ‘Miss.. Miss.. Don’t make this..’

Why?? Well, I like the ‘odd’ score – so for EBT to keep PeKa under 50 points.. it ticks the box of ‘weird score’ for me.

Result meant that as ViVe won earlier in the day, they leap-frogged PeKa to the #1 spot and EBT .. still at #4, but two games in hand on the teams above them. They have a chance to get one place higher when they get to 17 games (like Pyrintö has above them).

You go to the Finnish Basketball Federation stats pages and look at EBT roster at WU16, WU17, WU19 and EBT Korisliiga. In EACH team you find one name … Nea Inhala.

In Korisliiga she has now played three games, and the game I saw – against PeKa. Who were the league leaders, to my eye – she didn’t seem like an WU16 player. She kept her on against players who have played for the Finnish National team …

As I was curious to know what a coach thinks and how he sees it when a younger player takes the jump from youth league to the Women’s league. Here is what EBT coach Niko Hellman said when asked about Nea Inhala.

“Often many players, when moving to a tougher/higher level, the player becomes too cautious or doubts her own abilities. And these alone lessen the chances of succeeding. Naturally sometimes, when the level of the game increases, your own abilities in some areas lessen/or reach a limit.”

“In my eyes, Nea has managed to avoid both of these pitfalls/challenges. She has played really confidently! It’s been great to notice that she plays in Korisliiga, just the same way she does at the youth leagues.”

“In our system, Nea plays as the ball-handler, she calls the plays and initiates our offense with the entry pass. She creates advantage to herself, as well as to her teammates, from ball-screens or 1-vs-1 situations. And most of all, she is really great at defending the ball-handlers/guards of the opposing team”

And I liked the way coach Niko Hellman ( I think! ) told her to keep driving to the basket as each time she got to the free-throw line and sunk SIX or her TEN attempts from the line.

To play against one of the best teams in Finland, at her age, and come away with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal .. it is a pretty decent line of stats!