FIN - A storybook opportunity

HELSINKI (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The players who are going to wear the Finland jersey this summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup are probably going to feel as if they are characters in a fairytale.

For the longest time, the Finns have been like the small guy who has had to sit and watch at the playground while 10 others ran up and down the court in a pick-up game.

Maybe they weren't fast enough, tall enough or good enough to get a game.

Now, the small guy is pretty good.

He runs up and down at full throttle and pulls up on fast breaks to bury long jump shots.

The little guy plays an exciting game.

In February, Finland discovered they would play at the World Cup as one of four wild cards.

Then at the draw for the tournament, they ended up in Group C with the defending champions USA, Ukraine, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic and fellow wild cards Turkey - a team Finland beat at last year's EuroBasket in Slovenia.

World Cup organizers already know that Bilbao, where the Group C games are going to be played, will be a Finnish basketball festival.

Plenty of their fans have snapped up tickets, paid for airfare and reserved hotel rooms.

No one is as excited to be at the World Cup, it seems, as the Finns.

National team coach Henrik Dettmann wants to take full advantage.

He spoke to FIBA.com.

FIBA.com: What does the national team's appearance at the World Cup mean for Finland's players, fans and basketball as a whole?
Dettmann: This is a great opportunity for the older players to get one more huge experience in their basketball life. And you can start to write books about Finnish basketball players, about what they have achieved from a small country, about how dreams can come true from nothing.

FIBA.com: The last time we saw Finland in a major world event was the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Dettmann: We played 50 years ago in the worldwide competition and maybe the next time that Finland is in a worldwide competition is 2064 so we all understand this is a great opportunity. At the moment, we're thinking different, that we'll be present in 2019 (FIBA Basketball World Cup) and so forth, that this is just a good start and we have been building a good foundation for the future. I think there is a bright future for Finnish basketball.

FIBA.com: The USA, the No. 1 team in the FIBA Ranking and the winners of the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Olympics, are the favorites to capture the title. Yet Finland wanted to play them?
Dettmann: This is a dream coming true. This is what every player is dreaming about, to play against the best players. This is what sport is about, to play with the best against the best.

FIBA.com: If you take the USA out of Group C, it looks wide open. Finland appear to have a decent chance of claiming one of the four qualifying spots for the next phase of the competition.
Dettmann: It's a beautiful group. It's an opportunity, yes. I think everybody thinks like that. Here again, our fans come into play. They have been bringing us this far and maybe again, they can take us one step further.

FIBA.com: The last two EuroBaskets have been a lot of fun for your fans, with the Finns progressing from the group stage each time. But what about the World Cup? This is going to be something entirely different for Finland.
Dettmann: The basketball hype is already incredible. Of course, the opportunity to play against the USA is something special. This shows that if you dream, if you work, your dreams can come true.

FIBA.com: What about claiming one of the four wild cards?
Dettman: In sports, you have to earn it and I think we've earned it. We have been lucky because we were lucky with this wild card because there were some bigger nations that lost their motivation for whatever reasons, but at the same time, we been working and we also earned the respect by the way we have played.

FIBA.com: How difficult will it be to come up with a final 12-man squad for the tournament?
Dettmann: Our players understand the basic rules of sports that you have to earn your spot in the team, that you have to earn your respect. I don't see this as a problem. I see this as additional motivation, to work harder, do some extra work to make sure that you are in shape. This whole thing about competing for a spot, players know.

FIBA