ToPo lose despite presence of NBA veteran Dennis Rodman in line-up

ToPo - Honka 74-80

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Regardless of the presence of visiting ex-NBA superstar Dennis Rodman in their line-up, Torpan Pojat (ToPo) of Helsinki lost its sixth Finnish premier league basketball game in a row on Sunday. A Finnish record audience of 7,420 people witnessed ToPo's 74-80 defeat to Honka of Espoo.
      The somewhat rusty 44-year-old former NBA star Rodman started shakily, but in the latter part of the game he proved he has still got it when it comes to delivering the ball through the hoop. Most would agree that he was worth the roughly EUR 50,000 paycheck he received for his single appearance in the Finnish league.
      In spite of the fact that Rodman had had no time to agree on any kind of tactics with his ToPo teammates - they only saw each other for the first time a couple of minutes before the game - he still managed to produce 17 points during the 28 minutes and 52 seconds he was on the court, making him ToPo's highest scorer of the evening.
      At times Rodman's cunning passes proved too clever even for his teammates.
     
At the beginning of the game, the ToPo play was totally off-beam, as nobody knew where to deliver the ball. At times Rodman himself wandered around the court like a lost puppy.
      "We didn't have a clue. There was no system to our play", ToPo captain Ville Tuominen confessed afterwards.
      After the first 10-minute period ToPo were down 11-21, while Rodman had not delivered a single point, let alone stolen any rebounds in the way expected of a seven-time NBA rebound champion.
     
Come the second period, things gradually started to happen. Rodman, at long last warming up, delivered a three-pointer and a two-point shot right after it. The audience also reacted to the change of pace and started cheering on ToPo and Rodman, who quickly redeemed himself for his earlier sluggish display.
      By the end Rodman had earned the most points in the ToPo line-up, thrown five 3-point shots, and had taken six rebounds, 4 in defence and 2 in offence.
      And he did not even lose his earrings, which, according to the Finnish rulebook, should not have been worn on the court in the first place.
      "I will let the Finnish Basketball Association decide whether to bench me because I allowed this breach of the rules", laughed referee Janne Muurinen.
      After the game, ToPo captain Tuominen praised the American guest-star. "He was immediately part of the team, taking part in everything and cheering on others. Despite the loss, this was a positive experience. It was nice to be part of such a unique event."
      The opponent Honka's coach Mihailo Pavicevic and captain Marcus Hemdahl joined in the chorus lauding Rodman's craft as a thrower.
     
Nobody will ever know whether the end result might have been different, had Rodman not partied until 5 a.m. in a Helsinki nightclub the night before.
      The star even showed up at the Helsinki Ice Hall, the venue of the game, at the wrong time, three hours before the game was due to start.
      "F*ck. Sh*t", was Rodman's comment, before he sat down in the Ice Hall café to enjoy a portion of meatballs and mashed potatoes.
     
After the game, Rodman told reporters that he had enjoyed his second visit to Finland and that he hoped to be back one day and actually win a game for ToPo.
      During the summer Rodman visited Finland to check out the fabled "Wife-Carrying World Championships", one of the events guaranteed to tip Finland across the international news threshold during the "silly season".
      It remains to be seen if the former NBA star's appearance in the Finnish basketball league will be classified in the same category. What was perhaps most curious about this match was that it was a regular league fixture, and not an exhibition game. ToPo lost the points, even if they will have picked up a handy windfall from the record attendance.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  ToPo aim to break attendance record with help of Dennis Rodman (1.11.2005)
  Basketball legend Dennis Rodman to play at least one game in ToPo line-up (23.8.2005)

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