SBL HERR PLAYOFFS - UMEÅ VS BORÅS 3:7

One of our Soleteams, Umeå BSKT is in the clubs first semifinals ever. So we traveled up to Umeå to join them for games 3 and 4 against regular season champions Borås Basket.

Borås lost in the finals in 2019 against SBBK and the next year they were in the lead when Covid shut the league down, and they were crowned champions. It's been a lot of talk about if it's a legit title or not, since they didn't play any playoff games, so I know this year is a statement. They've been in the top all season and finished the regular season with the best record and swept SBBK in the first round.

Umeå started off the season really good, as Storyteller and starting PG Gustav Hansson opened the season with a record breaking scoring performance in the first game and never looked back. He dropped 46 points, and when the regular season ended only Viktor Gaddefors had a higher ppg, but left the league after 12 games to play in Holland. And Gustav was second in apg and it was no question he was named Guard Of the Year couple of days before Game 3.

As the team were in the top for the first half of the season, it drastically changed as Center Of the Year candidate Will Butler went down with a knee injury. Umeå fell from 2nd place down to 4th as the season ended, but caught some momentum back right before the playoffs. "It's not just hard to replace a player like Will, it's more or less impossible." said Gustav. "His presence in the middle makes my game so much easier." And Coach Boris filled in "and it gives all our shooter some time to relax and rest for a couple of seconds, when he gets the ball in the paint. Nobody can bang with him, and they couldn't double off from our shooters."

Umeå played BC Luleå, their rivals from up North in Sweden, and in the third game, Gustav sent them home after a game winning and-1 drive to clinch the clubs first trip to the semis. And the opener down in Borås, it looked like Gustav and his brother Daniel couldn't miss, as Gustav had 15 points in the first quarter. But then Borås showed their strengths in this series, that they are a much deeper team and came back and won the game. The second game wasn't close as Borås took a demanding 2-0 lead and here we are.

Watch the full mini-movie from Game 3 as I get ready to leave my hotell room to walk down to the Arena for Game 4 and hopefully, Umeå will force a Game 5 to stay alive.