SBL DAM FINALS - SBBK VS LULEÅ 2:5
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What many people been calling the "Dream Finals" is here. The two most stars heavy teams in SBL Dam are facing of in a best-of-five Finals series, and even tho Luleå dominated the match ups in the regular season and in the Swedish Cup, SBBK still has a great roster. Their starting five were all on the roster last time the Swedish National team played in February, with Elin and Frida Eldebrink leading the way in their homecoming season. Together with childhood friend Louice Halvarsson and SBBK product Ellen Åström, you probably thought that's the core, right? Add former MVP and super sensation Klara Lundquist to the mix and it's a wrap. That's a title guaranteed.
That's any other season, except this one. This Luleå team is not only stacked, they're also out for revenge. After a great dominating season last year, they fell to the underdogs Norrköping Dolphins 3-1 in the Finals and it felt like the biggest upset since the Cavs beat the Warriors 2016. Led by team captain and Solesquad member Ellen Nyström and Defensive Player Of the Year Josefine Vesterberg Luleå cruised thru the regular season with only loosing the opening game. And when SBBK fell down 2-1 to the same Dolphins in the Semifinals, some people thought another upset was coming from the 602. But SBBK stormed back and won two elimination games and here we are.
In the first game up in Luleå, the home team opened up strong and jumped out to an early 16 point lead, and it looked like it was going to be another blow out between the two teams, but SBBK fought back and brought the lead down to just 2 points at half time. And in the second half, it got into a physical and slow pace game, and that's where SBBK will be the better team. Luleå wants to run and play fast, their back court is faster and they got better shooters. But the leadership from the Twins and of course the incredible play from Klara won the game for SBBK as they took a 1-0 lead.
I've had the honor to work with Klara for a couple of seasons, and since she was maybe 14-15 she was the talk of women's basketball in Sweden. Everyone knew she was going to be great. Even tho I've heard about her, she always impressed the shit out of me, her quickness and ability to create and blow past anyone is beyond me. One season as I was working with SBBK and they played in the Eurocup they met Spartak Moscow, she was the best player on the floor. Even tho SBBK lost the game by a huge margin, nobody was staying infront of her. And this year she's better and stronger. One time she drove to the basket and took the contact and didn't move. But the defender moved out of my camera viewer real quick. That's what stands out this year, she's strong as hell. I'm glad she's back healthy and playing at a high level again.
As the series shifted to Södertälje for Game 2 with the 1-1-1-1-1 format, me and my son drove down to Södertälje yesterday. It was the first really warm day of the year, and driving to a Finals game felt good. As we got to the arena the vibe was calm. Elin and Frida were shooting together with former SBL Legend Toni Bizaca who's now part of the coaching stab, which made me glad to see. Toni is a 5x champion and 2x MVP. In SBL, but he made more noise in other leagues as well, but he was such a big part of what SBBK used to be, so it's great to see him still working with the club and it's players.
As Luleå came out from the locker room, Ellen came up and when she smiled and hugged us like only Ellen does, I responded "oh, you're that calm? It's gonna be one of those games huh?" And she nodded and said "yeah, it'll be fun. We're relaxed for sure." And she wasn't lying. They came out aggressive and took an early lead and it never felt like it was as close as it sometimes were. I sat with Solegend/Solecoach and former Luleå Captain Chioma Nnamaka between each quarter and she said the same thing, it wasn't close and even tho it was just 4 points at half, Luleå came out in the third and dominated the whole quarter. They won the third by 22 points, 31-9. Add 12 more in the fourth, and the 38 point win tied the series 1-1.
From watching Luleå on TV most of the season, I'm really impressed by Fanny Wadling. She's been a great youth player and was great on the U20 nationals, I knew that, but to see her live and shoot the ball with ease, I'm surprised she doesn't have an even bigger role. I'm always pro a left handed shooter, that's maybe because I grew up on Chris Mullin, but that's just me. She plays with swag and isn't scared to let it fly, that's for sure. Maybe this is her series, as the focus is on MVP front runner Bria Goss and last years MVP Brooke McCarty Williams. The Texas native and former WNBA player had a much better game in Game 2, but she's still not at the level I thought she'd be after last years Finals when Norrköping put their entire defensive schemes to take her game away.
But the biggest question I've got, is why Allis Nyström isn't getting on the court in the Finals. She's not your average rotation player of the bench, she's a 7x champion and she's been a key player for her hometown for years. Yesterday she only played 12 minutes and the boxscores says 9 points and 8 boards with a +/- of 18.
With Game 3 up in Luleå on Tuesday, I hope Allis will have a great game and whoever wins that one will be in the driver seat for sure next Friday.
