University of Richmond Athletics
Gustavson Readies Finland For European Championship
07/12/2018 | Men's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -- 15 members of the 2018-19 Spiders will gather for a workout at the Robins Center on Friday. The final member of the the team will be playing half a world away.Â
Andre Gustavson will be leading Finland at the FIBA U20 European Championship, which begins Friday in Bulgaria. Gustavson and Finland open group play against Portugal at 11:15 AM ET. (All games can be seen on FIBA's YouTube channel.)
The Finnish team has played a seven-game exhibition schedule to prepare for the tournament, compiling a 4-3 record with a pair of wins over the Czech Republic and victories against Sweden and Slovenia. Gustavson called the team's training period "short but intensive." He added "We've been happy with the progress, it has been uphill. There's a clear difference between how we have been playing and how we played our first games. Now we play with better intensity and we are more aggressive on defense. It helps us make important stops."
Finland will need many stops during a difficult group-stage schedule that includes four games in a five-day stretch beginning Friday. In order to advance to the quarterfinals, which begin on Friday, June 20, Finland will need to finish as one of the top two teams in the five-team Group D. Gustavson told RichmondSpiders.com that the team is focused on getting Finland back into the A division of the event, which would require a top-three finish, but added that "the ultimate goal is to win this championship and it starts by taking one step at a time."
Gustavson, who signed with the Spiders in April and will join the team in Richmond next month, starred for Finland at last summer's U18 European Championships. He averaged 12.7 points over seven games and scored a team-high 27 points in a group-stage game against Greece, tied for the fourth-most points in a game by any player in the tournament.
Andre Gustavson will be leading Finland at the FIBA U20 European Championship, which begins Friday in Bulgaria. Gustavson and Finland open group play against Portugal at 11:15 AM ET. (All games can be seen on FIBA's YouTube channel.)
The Finnish team has played a seven-game exhibition schedule to prepare for the tournament, compiling a 4-3 record with a pair of wins over the Czech Republic and victories against Sweden and Slovenia. Gustavson called the team's training period "short but intensive." He added "We've been happy with the progress, it has been uphill. There's a clear difference between how we have been playing and how we played our first games. Now we play with better intensity and we are more aggressive on defense. It helps us make important stops."
Finland will need many stops during a difficult group-stage schedule that includes four games in a five-day stretch beginning Friday. In order to advance to the quarterfinals, which begin on Friday, June 20, Finland will need to finish as one of the top two teams in the five-team Group D. Gustavson told RichmondSpiders.com that the team is focused on getting Finland back into the A division of the event, which would require a top-three finish, but added that "the ultimate goal is to win this championship and it starts by taking one step at a time."
Gustavson, who signed with the Spiders in April and will join the team in Richmond next month, starred for Finland at last summer's U18 European Championships. He averaged 12.7 points over seven games and scored a team-high 27 points in a group-stage game against Greece, tied for the fourth-most points in a game by any player in the tournament.
Players Mentioned
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