New Alpha Wolf - Sasu takes the lead for Finland
VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Sasu Salin can flat out shoot the basketball.
That was confirmed to me nearly a decade ago in Finland's last game at FIBA EuroBasket 2013 against hosts Slovenia.
The Slovenian fans thought their team would be superior, that they'd cruise to a big win, yet the contest was like a EuroBasket Final for Sasu, who made the most of playing in front of the 10,000 fans packed into the Stozice Arena. He drilled four of six from behind the arc and had 16 points as Finland rolled to a 92-76 win.
Teammate Shawn Huff celebrated with Sasu during the game against Slovenia in 2013
Sasu was 21 and the youngest player in the team. Now at 31, he's the oldest, and most experienced of the Susijengi.
He's also just been named captain.
His first games as alpha wolf will be at Germany on November 11 and at home against Estonia on November 14.
"I think I'll be the same guy as always before," Sasu said. "I have good predecessors in Shawn (Huff) and Hanno (Möttölä), whose actions as captain I can gratefully take as a model for the coming years."
“I GUESS YOU CAN'T HELP IT IF YOU GET OLDER EVERY YEAR...SUDDENLY I'M THE OLD MAN IN THE TEAM."
Finland are the only team in Europe that has already qualified for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, and Sasu is the only player in the side that featured at the World Cup in 2014, when they competed in Bilbao, Spain, and had around 10,000 of their own fans that traveled to support them.
In their current European Qualifiers campaign for the World Cup, Sasu has played in all eight games and averaged 13.3 points while making 43.8% (28 of 64) of his attempts from deep. In other words, he's been excellent.
Sasu has been prolific with his marksmanship in the Basketball Champions League, which is now in its seventh season. A gunslinger with Lenovo Tenerife, Sasu last year became the BCL's record holder of made three-pointers. During Tenerife's march to the title, he launched 141 attempts and made 64. That's a scalding rate of 45.4%.
After a scintillating start this season, he's increased his tally to 153 made three-pointers.
To better know the captain of Finland, here is some more trivia about Sasu.
He is the self-anointed Garbage Man of Malmi.
"I said it in an interview somewhere, and then it stuck in life," he said to 10.fi. "I'm from Helsinki Malmi, and besides, it referred to my rough playing style ..."
Sasu played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 in Spain
The deeper meaning of garbage man refers to Sasu describing his style of defense as "serbialainen pikkusika".
"Sika" means "pig", which is also Finnish ice hockey slang for playing dirty.
"Pikkusika", meanwhile, means "piglet", and that means playing dirty but not really getting caught.
Sasu has also pointed out on occasion that he collected bottles in Malmi, a district in the northeastern part of Helsinki, and turned them in for money until he was 18.
Other non-basketball related trivia about Sasu is that he cares for the environment. After learning that meat production is the single biggest cause of deforestation globally, which leads to billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere each year, Sasu began eating more vegetables and less meat.
"If by eating vegetables you can increase the well-being of the planet and people, then that's a good thing," he said.
There is a book that has already been written about him, in Finnish: Sasu Salin: Kolmen Pisteen Heittoja (Three Point Shots).
He's got a dry sense of humor, which was evident at a Finland team gathering when coach Lassi Tuovi announced Sasu was the new captain.
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His wit was on display when Finnish language publication Me Naiset reported that he "got his first million" by the time he was 25, and Sasu said: "Based on my success at school, hardly anyone would have guessed that one day I would earn this well."
As far as his captaincy goes, what matters most is Sasu's experience, his talent, skill level and his positivity.
He's been playing for the senior national team since 2011, appearing in five EuroBaskets, the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 and plenty of games during the international windows for World Cups and EuroBaskets.
Sasu was the logical choice to be captain.
"I guess you can't help it if you get older every year," he said. "The team has changed around me and suddenly I'm the old man of the team. It's a new role and you have to adapt to it."
Jeff Taylor
FIBA
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