Karhu Basket - Salon Vilpas

Finland - Korisliiga, Playoffs, Semifinal

Karhu Basket demonstrated complete superiority on their way to the finals of the Finish Korisliiga, winning 97:69 on Saturday away to Salon Vilpas in semifinals game 4.

The three-time and current champions aim for a new fight for the throne, and will have the opportunity to confirm their place in the final on April 25 in the fifth semi-final match against Salon Vilpas. It is expected that in front of the home audience, that job will be done routinely, against an already demotivated opponent.

What Karhu Basket has and the main rivals in Korisliiga do not have, is the experience of strong European matches this season in the FIBA Europe Cup. In that European competition, Karhu managed to reach the semi-finals, and the overall impression is that the team is playing better as the spring progresses.

Karhu, team that finished the league part of the season with the best performance and only six defeats, found a winning attacking game in the last matches. Thus, against Salon Vilpas in each of the four semi-final matches, the Karhu Basket team scored at least 80 points, and from duel to duel that score was only better. The 90:87 defeat in the third game was a reflection of the attacking inspiration of the rivals, which Salon Vilpas similarly cannot repeat.

Now the duel is expected in a more relaxed rhythm, because we have an absolute favorite to advance to the final and both teams are aware of that. The previous performance of Salon Vilpas, with only 69 points, is their worst in attack since February 11. Interesting – that was the away defeat against Karhu Basket, 101:60. Since January 27, at least one team in Salon Vilpas matches has scored 90 points in as many as 13 matches, and this was not the case in only four matches.

Because of this, it is expected that Karhu Basket will again play impressive offensively, but also that both teams will get opportunities for easy realizations this time. The home team will insist less on a physically demanding game with a lot of contact, and additionally will look for a way to speed up the game with more shots from a distance - in order to reduce the risk of injuries for the now certain final, against the best rivals, Helsinki Seagulls.

It was the game in transition that was marked in the Karhu Basket team as the key reason for the previous convincing away victory, and again the most will be expected from the excellent athletes Cameron Jones (20 points and five rebounds in their fourth semifinal's game) and Tommy Patterson (19 points an five rebounds). The return of Patterson after a few matches of the break turned out to be a big plus for the team, which now works much better energetically. The data, that in Saturday's match Karhu Basket had an advantage in rebounds as much as 47:25 in away game, really says a lot. Alsowith the fact, that the fifth match in the semi-finals on Tuesday is almost as a formality for them.

This season, Karhu Basket in Korisliiga scored 89.8, and Salon Vilpas (they were fourth in the league part of the competition) also scored an excellent 89.1 points per game. The duel on Tuesday is an opportunity for these teams to give us a real attacking spectacle.