Dettmann casts eye over young guns

HELSINKI (EuroBasket 2015) - "It's now time to pass the torch."

Those are the words of Finland coach Henrik Dettmann, who has included a lot of youngsters in his 20-man preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2015.

While the Finns have several key men from the successful squads of the past several years like Petteri Koponen, Tuukka Kotti, Gerald Lee Jr, Shawn Huff, Mikko Koivisto and Sasu Salin, there are also plenty of emerging Finns that coach Dettmann is taking a look at during the national team training camp which is underway at the Susi Training Center in Kisakallion Urheiluopistolle.

Among them are Oskar Michelsen, who is playing American college basketball at Davidson College in North Carolina, the school where USA superstar Stephen Curry shot to fame several years ago.

Another player whose star is on the rise is Joonas Caven, the 22-year-old who has shone for Finland's youth teams.

At the 2013 FIBA U20 European Championship Division B, the 2.11m power forward averaged more than 17 points per game.

The youngest of them all is 2.11m Helsinki Basketball Academy standout Lauri Markkanen, a player who only turned 18 on 22 May.

Finland will play in Group A at the EuroBasket in Motpellier against France, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Israel.

Dettmann's squad will be tried and tested before they run onto the court at EuroBasket 2015 with all of their warm-up opponents having finished no lower than ninth in the Final Round a couple of years ago in Slovenia.

The first two adversaries, in fact, squared off in the Final.

Finland will take on defending champions France in Tampere on 1 August and then square off against second-place Lithuania one week later in the Baltic nation, in the city of Alytus.

Next will be two games at Belgium, followed by the Finns' participation in a tournament in Koper, Slovenia, with friendlies against Italy, the Slovenians and Ukraine.

The Susijengi's last warm-up game for the EuroBasket will be in Helsinki on 28 August against Ukraine, a team they beat at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Finland preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2015: Roope Ahonen, Fiifi Aidoo, Joonas Caven, Tuomas Hirvonen, Shawn Huff, Ville Kaunisto, Mikko Koivisto, Petteri Koponen, Tuukka Kotti, Gerald Lee Jr, Antero Lehto, Carl Lindbom, Alexander Madsen, Lauri Markkanen, Oskar Michelsen, Erik Murphy, Antto Nikkarinen, Matti Nuutinen, Sasu Salin and Jamar Wilson.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for more coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA