Huff excited about Finns' draw for EuroBasket 2015

LUDWIGSBURG (EuroBasket 2015) - Finland forward Shawn Huff insists he and his teammates won't be fazed by the tough competition that awaits them when the national side competes at EuroBasket 2015.

The Finns were on Monday drawn against familiar foes Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Israel and defending champions France in Group A.

"All of the teams are competitive at the EuroBasket," Huff said to FIBA.com immediately after the draw, "but we've played all of them before and we know them so it's not going to be something unusual."

Finland squared off against Russia in a pivotal Group D game at EuroBasket 2013 and beat their rivals in a double-overtime thriller, 86-83.

The result helped Henrik Dettmann's side clinch second place and advance to the next stage of the competition for the second consecutive EuroBasket.

The Finns had to go up against Marcin Gortat and Poland in the qualifying campaign for EuroBasket 2013 and split the two encounters.

At EuroBasket 2011, Finland met Bosnia and Herzegovina in the opening round and won convincingly, 92-64.

The biggest thing will be to get the game rhythm and get used to the tournament atmosphere - Huff

In their last warm-up game ahead of this past summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup, Finland took on France in Strasbourg and lost, 74-69.

Finland will go into the tournament on the back of their first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup experience.

At Spain 2014, they played in a difficult Group C and beat Ukraine but lost to the USA, the Dominican Republic, Turkey and New Zealand.

The one victory was not enough to advance to the Round of 16.

"It hurt when we couldn't qualify from the group at the World Cup but I think we still gave ourselves a chance and a couple of plays here and there had gone different, we might have," Huff said. 

"But if we work hard next year, we'll have a chance to do something."

Most significant of all for Finland was that it showed itself to have an incredibly passionate fan base with several thousand supporters traveling to Bilbao, Spain, to root for the team.

"It was very exciting from a fan perspective, kind of mind blowing," Huff said.

"It was a terrific experience. 

"It turned the city to blue and white for a week. We had heard rumors it might be like that but you never quite believe until you see it. 

"I’m sure we'll have of people in France and it really does help us."

A day that Huff will never forget was 31 August.

Finland beat Ukraine and then thousands of Finns moved into the fan zone to greet the players.

"It just showed how much our fans appreciate the team and the hard work and it was a big moment," he said. 

"It was a unique moment and we couldn't believe how many stayed after to see it."

Huff is playing for Ludwigsburg in Germany.

FIBA