HELSINKI (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Finland's Mikko Koivisto has enjoyed the World Cup Qualifiers so much that he'd be happy if there were even more national team games during the club season.

That's not surprising when looking back at all the 30-year-old has experienced in the Finland shirt in his decade with the team, including last month against Iceland and Bulgaria when he drilled a combined 10 of 16 from 3-point range.

"We have such a great team chemistry. We're so close to each other. They're tough physically but I kind of want to have those weeks even more often. I think everyone in the team enjoyed them a lot."

Koivisto especially liked the 75-70 home triumph over Bulgaria on February 25.

"After the (February 23) loss to Iceland, two consecutive losses would have put us into a pretty tight spot heading into the last two games of the First Round," he said. "But also it was important that we could show we could still do some damage if we play together. We've always believed that and we showed that again."

Bulgaria led for much of the second half but Koivisto, who drilled 5 3-pointers in the first half, caught a pass from Shawn Huff and hit a go-ahead 3 with less than 3 minutes remaining. The Finns never trailed again.

"I LOVE THE WINDOWS, THE TWO WEEKS WE'VE HAD SO FAR HAVE BEEN A BIG ENERGY BOOST FOR ME AND I FEEL LIKE THE WHOLE TEAM FEELS LIKE THAT. WE HAVE SUCH A GREAT TEAM CHEMISTRY. I KIND OF WANT TO HAVE THOSE WEEKS EVEN MORE OFTEN. I THINK EVERYONE IN THE TEAM ENJOYED THEM A LOT." KoivistoKoivisto

The win over Bulgaria kept Finland firmly in the hunt for a spot in the 32-team World Cup.

"We knew it was going to be tough against them," Koivisto said. "They were getting (Aleksandar) Venzenkov back and Dee Bost didn't play against us in the first game so we knew it was definitely going to be a really good team. But we trusted each other. We knew that at home, we have a great crowd helping us out and we'd come out with a lot more energy than we did in Iceland."

In their February 23 game at Iceland, Finland led by 10 with 4:00 left in the third quarter but lost, 81-76.

"There are lots of things when we look back after the game where we weren't playing like we can play - our identity with the Susijengi," Koivisto said. "That was the main thing for us going into the Bulgaria game, trying to get our identity back and playing how we usually do.

"It definitely wasn't an easy win over Bulgaria, but one of those "don't-give-up" games and we got a lot of energy from the crowd, a grind-it-out game and luckily, we did that."

Finland were missing some stars from their FIBA EuroBasket squad in February like Petteri Koponen, Sasu Salin, Alex Murphy and Lauri Markkanen, yet Koivisto says others like power forward Juho Nenonen made the most of the opportunity to shine.

"Some of the new guys have to step into these roles," Koivisto said. "It's great to see that we have guys that have the ability to play their roles perfectly and have a big impact on the game.

"Tough games, when you have to grind out the win, players like Nenonen are just so important, they give you the extra energy, 100 percent on every play, getting those offensive rebounds, taking charges. In close games, a lot of time they are decided by plays like that."

"IT'S BEEN A GREAT JOURNEY SO FAR ... EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED AROUND FINNISH BASKETBALL, THE WHOLE SUSIJENGI THING, THE FANS, IT'S BEEN AMAZING TO BE A PART OF.” KoivistoKoivisto

Koivisto says the players like the Qualifiers and the fans do, too.

"The fans are good at supporting us from the get-go," he said. "Any crowd when it gets closer to crunch time, it gets louder and they give even more support and that's what happened for us in the second half against Bulgaria. We were getting a little tired towards the end of the game but they gave us an extra boost."

Koivisto, who had four "great years" at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has been a professional ever since, said of playing for Finland the past decade: "It's been a great journey so far.

"When I started my first national team games in 2008, we were playing in Division B the qualification games (for Division A), and look at where we've been since, to four EuroBaskets, a FIBA World Cup and now we're trying to qualify again. Everything that's happened around Finnish basketball, the whole Susijengi thing, the fans, it's been amazing to be a part of.

"The EuroBasket in Helsinki was something unbelievable. It felt like after in Bilbao (2014 World Cup), nothing could beat that but it was up there in Helsinki with so many people pulling for us."

The arena was full for all of Finland's EuroBasket games in Helsinki

Finland have crucial games coming up at the Czech Republic (June 29) and at home to Iceland (July 2).

"Going to Czech, it will be a really tough game," he said. "They're the number one team in Group F. We played there last summer with the whole squad and had a tough couple of games.

"And then, Iceland coming to us after you know how the game went there, I know for sure we're going to be ready to play them in front of our crowd.'

FIBA