Glitter game at Energia Areena

Shows where the game is at!

Now – it is always easy to moan and be critical .. but it makes good writing 😉

PuHu vs EBT II – the top of the table game at Energia Areena in Vantaa, this shall be forever be known as the ‘Glitter Game’ – why you ask??

Basketball – or any indoor ballgame – in Finland is fairly down in the pecking order when it comes to getting the prime time slots as venues. And this top of the table game – well, it was played a day after the ‘Vanhojen Tanssit’ (Old Peoples Dance) ..

And me – well, I know that my clothes will be shining with glitter when I leave the game, as the court/floor is FULL of glitter from the dance event. Might have been nice for someone to actually CLEAN the court after their event yesterday.. but.. it is what it is! (also – both of these teams will play twice in 24 hours over the weekend!! But that’s another story)

Game

First half, the game seemed to search for the way it was going to go – neither team really getting the upper hand or finding a long spell of scoring.

EBT also had to deal with their Korisliiga team having a game at the same time, so some of their regular players were there also the FLU has swept few of their players.. SO.. it definitely was a chance for Puhuttaret to claim the top spot in the league!

But – after 20 minutes, it was the visitors who were leading after the scrappy half of game.. by 7 points (25-32). So the hosts definitely need to step up a level to get something out of this game

Second Half

I spent the half-time trying to brush of pieces of glitter from my camera bag and trousers, I was NOT going to change my lens on the camera.. otherwise the sensor would have been having a permanent ‘glitter effect’

But game, Puhuttaret came out fast for the third quarter and took that by ten points – and were looking at the top spot in the league at that time. Iisa Laurila and Elina Mäntynen were hitting the hoop and giving the home team and home crowd something to shout about.

Then again, you can NEVER count out EBT – not matter if it is Women’s Korisliiga, D1, WU19, WU17, WU16, WU15, WU14 .. they always seem to find. way of winning. And the fact that they started to turn the game on the last quarter, tells a lot about the depth of their squad – like Nea Inhala who has now really been called permanently from the U19/U17/D1 team – to play in the Korisliiga team.

The same way, into the D1 team – a lot of new faces/names (for me) came into play and were showing that the EBT-way of playing – seems to be working nicely in Finland.

Essi Lyytikäinen, the captain and veteran of the EBT II team, lead by example and top scored for EBT, with 17 points – as the visitors took the last quarter by SEVEN points and the whole game, by four. Anna Rantanen 13 points, Adiisa Rinne 12 points and Suvi Ahtola 9 points – the big scorers.

No double-doubles for EBT, where as Puhuttaret had Iisa Laurila with 19 points and 11 rebounds as the only double-double of the evening. Special mention to Emmi Nyqvist and her 10 assists in the game, rare to get double digits on assists in Finland!

Academy/Second teams

Then, just a little opinion on the the Korisliiga teams having their ‘second team’ playing in the D1.

Yes, good experience for players and a great stepping stone for some players to get into Korisliiga – BUT!!

What is kind of annoying is that again this season we are looking at two or three of these teams making it into the playoff rounds.

Why is that annoying?? Well – and this is just my opinion – because these ‘second’ teams will not want to get promoted into the Korisliiga. And some teams maybe use them as a ‘safety net’ – that if their Korisliiga team looks like they are in danger of dropping out of the Korisliiga, they can then use their Division 1 team to look for promotion and thus keep a place in the Korisliiga.

This season we are looking at, at least EBT II and Pyrintö II getting into the playoffs. Then ToPo II and Tapiolan Honka II might also get there.

Of course – the winner of Women’s D1 does not always take a place in the Korisliiga, so does it really matter?? Last season, Puhuttaret won the D1 Championship – but did not look for a Korisliiga spot.

Luckily – I think this season : Pantterit, Puhuttaret, Turun NMKY, LePy have left Korisliiga license applications.. so might be nice if one of them wins the D1.