Lets have a great 2013!

 (Not so much about basketball in this blog today, but maybe you will find it intersting anyway)

Most of the snow is gone and the sky is full of  moist instead of rain and melting snow all around me fathers place in the south of Sweden. Sitting here and listening to some danish music on youtube and relaxning its the day after christmas and Santa Claus gifts has been recieved by many children around the world. One of the happiest is my sisters daughter 6 years old and to see here smile, scream and go totally hyper by what she recieved makes every christmas special.

Personally christmas is as dead to me as the NBA it used to be great when everbody (the greats) was around, but the tradition keeps living for the new generations and wtf., just because I dont like it doesn`t mean that everyone else also should dislike.

Christmas time is a time for reflection of the year it is at least for me and every year no matter how busy I have been around christmas you at least get a couple of days without work and basketball. Reflection time is very valauble and it if often forsaken in the lifetempo that is nowdays.

I think this will be a long blogg I have so many things a want write mostly for myself, but maybe it will bring a thought or inspire in some way, some of you that actually are reading "my world of basketball".

2010, was the year when I finally was able to change my life in a manor, that actually makes it possible for me to gain control of what I can do in the future. I decided to move to Denmark to work and to coach basketball in one of the best clubs in Denmark. I had some personal wishes and goals when I changed country code from +46 to +45.

But like many things in life things dont actually go as planned, I moved over the ocean and was suppose to start working in a store, that took 1 month longer so not a good start. But thanks to great friends and family I managed to scramble together survival money. My personal goals was impossible to continue with due to the situation and of course I had only touched the surface of the problems I was gonna go through.

30 of August, 2010 I finally started working and I managed to work for like  9 days then on my first tournament with my new team boys 98 after a great weekend, where the played themselves to the final of a good tournament in Stockholm, Sweden they won the silver. We where happy since we didn`t see the final as a loss, we kept fighting and we gained respect against one of the very best nordic teams.

That happiness turned into caos on our way home, when our train crashed into a big **** tractor that had derailed over to our track.

I was sitting where the window hangs out

Thanks to luck I guess none of the boys was badly injured, but we had  at the hospital and one had to stay over night to secure his headinjury. I was the worst trainaccident in Swedish railway history and I had coached the boys for 3 weeks. Not a great situation, butme and my ass coach did a tremendous job of keeping it together and after 13 hours of mayhem we we finally home.

It was for me the start of a shoulder injury that really slowly was killing me from the inside out, pain every minute, some days worse than others, but i tried to keep the smile on my face for the kids, to keep my job and of course for myself. I´m a positive guy normally but this september in 2010 was the start of almost 2 years of acting positive, not beeing positive.

2011 - I dont remember much except basketball in this year, it was the hardest year of my life and only the closest of my friends really knew how bad i felt. The whole was a fight to go and work and mentally restrain the pain in my shoulder so I could function. I needed to work to live, but work was killing me from the inside, but I had to suck it up.

2012 - finally some changes up in this ****  at the end of 2011 there was actually some good news. After fighting and seeing every doctor, been forgotten by the system and more I got a time to meet a surgeon. Later in the beginning of 2012 it was decided that I needed shoulder surgery. I had been going the physiotherapy since september 2010 and now it was Janaury 2012 and the surgoen after looking at the MRA said : "Well, you could go to pshysio for all your life and it wouldn´t help, look here".

The accident had smashed my shoulder badly and no matter how much I trained it wouldn`t help.

March, 2012 - Finally time for surgery I have never been so nervous since there are no garanties with surgery, it could be worse, better or the same. If it would have been nr 1 or 3 of those 3 I dont now how I would have managed I would propably gone insane.

He made a double fix in the shoulder, my joint capsle and bicep muscle had both been badly damaged. The jointcapsle was smashed, so my upper arme went over the edge of the capsle. He put a metallic screw there to fix it in place and cleaned up the crushed small bone pieces.

The bicep muscle had moved out of its channel and had to be lifted up and replaced and he had to create a new channel for it since it had moved about 1 cm from where is was before the accident. No wonder I had pain and **** to all doubters a *** to all that thought I was a criebaby.

He did a super job and in writing this I`m actually ashamed of not showing hime more gratitude since he really gave me my life back.

For almost two year it could take me 1-4 hours to fall asleep because of the pain. Now  months after the surgery I can fall asleep quickly and as everybody know sleep is important and effects so many other parts of your life when you dont get.
My shoulder/arm will never be 100%, but at least I`m free of the constant pain that I had for so long.

2012 is one of the worst years since my father was diagnosed with cancer that really cant be cured, but to be a little EGOcentralistict at least something was better inmy life, no more constant pain.

I have so many things to greatful to, my old friends that have stuck with my during the years and my new friends here in Denmark that mostly know the basketball coach side of me, my family and my two great teams that I coach here.

During this period 12/9, 2010 to todays date it has been them that have made me push forward and not to give up. Maybe will sound strange but my teams has been the most important factor for me in this hard times, going on 20 years as a coach now as you know basketball means a lot to me. For many weeks I could go to practise and "forget" about the pain, forget about most of the problems case I had other "problems" to fix.
They are mostly positive and when you hang around positive people its much easier to stay positive.

To see them learn, compete, grow and win was like a painkiller like no other. I`m a thinker that just how I´m and I sometimes wonder what if.....that shit happened and I had no great interest liek basketball. I truly think I would have gone under as human. Basketball is my drug and thank good it works everytime.

Since I moved here I have gotten presents one my birthdays and christmas gifts from my teams these gifts mean so much that I cant describe it in words. Cause to me they say: thank you!

Thanks for the all the hours, thoughts you give us every week in teaching us basketball & life.
So many coaches do this around the world in their sparetime and really makes a huge difference in kids lifes.

2013 is soon coming and it should be one of the greatest years ever in my life and I wish they same to all of you.

Big thanks to all people around supporting me for the last years I can never payback what you have done for me, but I will try.

Alt+Delete - Restart - Basketball Never Stops

A great journey started about 20 years ago I found the role of coaching basketball, it was and still is my passion in life I live it, breathe it and dream about it is consums most of my time. I have become better during the last years to give it a little rest, but its hard as hell.

You might call me a idiot, but "every" minut of every week I think about how I can do things better as a coach or try to find solution to get that kid to learn a skill.
Its a sickness in its finest form and the cure is to go to practise and try to make the thoughts reality.

I worked for 7 years with basketball fulltime in Sweden and fulltime with basketball in Sweden or in other nordic countries doesn`t mean fulltime on the court and with admin things regarding the teams/players you coach, but most times you need to do a lot o work which has no interest to you or doesn`t really use your skills as a human/coach.
If you wanna work with basketball you just have to accept the terms and if complain you will be quickly reminded how lucky you are to be able to work with basketball and that many want your job.

Luck has nothing to do with it, more naive thoughts of a better tomorrow at least it was for me.
When I took my first fulltime "basketball" job I knew the following:

Pay will not be high, it will be very low
I have to do things or coach something I have no interest in doing or coaching
I have to accept doing a lot of hours in certain periods of the year.
Most of my workhours I could plan myself
I will work with the greatest sport in the world

I was OK with that since the naive me was thinking clubs will try to reach a more pro level in all their aspects of the organization.

My first basketball job ended after........WELL, if I get the possibilty to write a book in the future you can read all about in detail there, but lets keep this for them that need to know basis for now.

The book will be entertaining I can promise you that, you wouldn`t believe all the crazyness that goes around in organizations, but rarely it comes out cause people are afraid of loosing their job or future jobs in basketball.

Let them score

I have a friend that coaches a young talented girl, she is only 12 years old and after her first 3 games this season she has a average of 39points, 12 rebounds, 19 steals, 6 assist per game. I had the pleasure of training her and her teamates in 7 practises in one weekend some weeks ago and she is something special.

Swedish, Nordic basketball has never been strong in my opinion in creating scorers, we have a tradition in all sports to create super teamplayers, but that killer scorer, that wants the ball, has her/his go to moves. The players that take over games by her/himself we miss, but % we have them just as other countries but we kill them by moving them up to mant steps or to early to a to high level for them to continue to be a scorer.

For scoring abilities to grow to me a obvious thing is that the players needs to continue being a scorer for many years on her/his team to make that a mindset and to create/maintane a scorers mentality.

What many times happens is that the young scorer is doing great numbers at her/his level and then is moved up 1-2 years and her/she is not ready to be the scorer like in her own age at this level and becomes something else and she/her went from shooting 30 shoots a game to 5 a game. You will not become a scorer shooting 5 shots a game it takes no scientist to tell you that.

If a player has scoring mentality we need to guide that player into the same role if we move them up or of course that mentality will change.

My friends player has a lot of things going for her not only doesn`t she have scoring mentality, she is athletic, intense a loves to compete and shatter the openents.

She also has more of a boy mindset when it comes to scoring. Whats the first question from a boys thats core after a game?

How many did I score? is propably the most common question.

She asked after one game that question and my friend answered 43points (25minutes) and she was like "damn!" and he wondered why that reaction?

I didn`t break my record of 46 points from the last game. I love it!

We coaches also often teach a lot of skills/moves to our players, but the can only use them 1-0 or with dummy defense or againts their own teamates that maybe are a little bit weaker.
Cause if they are trying to learn ex "Kobe`s turn around fadeway or whatever and they are on a to high level with to strong players, what will happen BOOM ball goes to another areacode or they get pushed totally of balance and they fail bigtime.

If they get the chance to make that move their move in their own agegroup and make it a habit and not a 1-2 times/game they will be ready for tougher challenges.

Is this the truth in all cases, NO their is never one truth in sports or in life it of course is decided by manyy factors, but most players we coach or see is not Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Durrant, like they where at a very young age, but we sure as hell can create Swedens version of Kobe Bryant or Denmarks version of Kevin Durrant if dont rush and put the talent in the wrong sourroundings to early.

I may be wrong but I doubt it, like my banner says.

You are not like everyone else

I kept thoose words with me all life, it was a sentence from my mother after I came home and acting up since i wanted Levis jeans like everyone else. I said everybody got LEVIS jeans and she answered you are not like everyone else and I truly think that was the start for me to go my OWN way.

Everything I have been taught in life, sports I anylized with - Is this me, do I stand for this? Is thsi really true?, What do I think about that? Everybody thinks it is like this, but what do I think?


Its a thing that have made me the coach I`m, not the coach that is like everyone else. My reasoning is that there is not only one truth in basketball teaching or playing. In everyway there commen areas, but you can attack the problems, skills in so many ways.

To me my mothers words at later stage in my life allows me to question even the most decorated coaches in history, should I agree what they say, write just because they are "greats" or should I take what i like from them and be ME?

To me its all about being yourself, you cant be a good teacher if you are not teaching by experience, passion and what suits your personality. Bad teachers just teach what the book says and has no thoughts of their own, they dont teach in my mind, they just "pass on what somebody else has taught".

You are not like everyone else, influences from all over the world combined with my personality has mad me the coach I`m not because I followed a few great ones like a fanatic.

Basketball is a funny sport in one way, since some great coaches do something on the highest level and then everyone almost follows no matter what teams, age, level they are on like this is the new truth and the new only way to play, practise.

Once they said the earth wasn`t round, but flat....once everybody laughed at Janne Bokløv from Sweden when he introduced the "V" shaped legplacement in ski jumping a few years later and everone followed.

You have the classic high jumping change in styles with the Fosberry flop.

I have never been a follower I have choosen my own way in good ways and bad ways, but at least I`m trying to be me and nobody else.

I think we killing basketball with all this pick and roll basketball instead of more movement without the ball, less dribbling and more action. Pick and roll is fairly usuccesful when you break it down into stats. I can acctually find myself being bored watching games nowdays since its so predictable and many teams on the highest levels look like. OK, well we have give up lets run the same offenses as everybody else. In my world its all about doing something everone else is not doing and because of that give them headaches and make them adapt to you and spend time to prepaire to play you.

Basketball needs to adapt to the more and more athletic players, bigger, faster stronger and a slow pace pick and roll offense is to me not the solution, its not very fun to watch, not very effective and only involves a few players. Its a coaches simply way to keep the ball in the best ballhandlers hands and cause of that less turnovers and more control, but in many teams you get very little out of your players potential.

I will never be a euroleague coach, dont have the ambition, or the brown noose to succeed, but I would do it my way if I had the chance. Would my team play pick and roll yes but not as first or last option every single time.

Was in greeece some years ago watching Aris practise before their big game against Panaithiakos and coach says, well this offense, and this and this and this is the same as we have, so we need to prepaire for those that we dont run ourselves. i can still remember thinking what the fuck......

Playing the same offense as Panathiakos a team that always is great, with great players and a legendary coach lets help them win over us. Dont get it....,maybe thats why I`m on the level I`m I dont know, but to me that is like watching the movie titanic, you know that boat will sink at the end and you still watch it.

Because of this locked set plays/ high pick and roll offense, many great players never get their chance to shyne or put up numbers. it will alomst everytime ivolve the same players game after game since coaches put them in the spots in the set to get the ball.

Really great players will play better in more motion based offense, no not without any rules thats not what I`m talking about, but the get the chance to really create plays for themselevs, for teammates, the get to use what to have been given and what they have worked hard for.

Setplays are fine I love them.....but I think you need both not only sets or motion and most of all not all this pick and roll. There are not many players that are great in pick and roll and if the shoe doesn`t fit dont wear it.

More action, less pick and roll thats all I wish for.
But then again I`m not like everyone else :-)

"When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass!"
Bobby Knight

Soon Madrid for me and......

....my two teams. Both boys and girls 98 are going to Madrid in Spain for a week to train, play and experience the positives sides of Madrid.

We are about 50 people in all coming to Madrid and I look forward to it like crazy.

Can you see the talent or do you need new glasses?

After so many years in basketball I can only come to the conclusion that many, way to many coaches in the nordic are close to blind when it comes to identifying talent at younger ages.

The reasons are many, but some huge problems are:

Generelly most dont do tests or checkups, wingspann, reach, background check height, family genetics, sports background and so on.

Its not a surprize that many great athleets come from one or two parents with sports background or it runs in the family.

Its not a surprize that a player whick will be tall has problems with cordination and doing all the stuff the "small ballers" can do. Most matchups are tall uncordinated against much smaller and quicker player and that of course makes it very hard for the tall player to attack the basket with the crossover or whatever.

Coaches have a couple of solutions for this: They dont put the tall player in the roster, they place them under the basket or make them screeners and rebounders.

He/she is 14, check yourself coach!

Once heard a coach talk about a game that was ongoing and he said; "I cant understand why this coach plays his tallest as pointguard, if he would put him inside they would win this game"

Who cares!?
The player today plays college and had several double doubles this past season at the highest level. She is still about the same height and has a lot of thanking to do that she didn`t play inside when she was young.

Identifying talent  is so important in nations where Basketball aint so big, cause we need every one of those to get better further on.

Several years ago a had a young bigman about 205cm at 15(he is now 211cm and will play college. I started him every single game and we lost several games because I played him so much that I did. As you maybe undertstand he had to defend against 170cm, 180c, players and that missmatch at that age almost only works for the smallballer.

After a game a former eliteplayer (bigman) came over to me and said something like this "Big respect to you for playing the bigman most wouldn`t, I just wanted to tell you that you are doing the right thing" and thats sadly true.
To me this was a big clap on the shoulder, since somebody noticed what I was trying to do for this kid.

Physic testing has gotten veyr populaur in nordic nowdays and thats great, but you cant compaire 210cm with 180cm`s in running tests. Many make a big deal with conditioning tests that make no sense in hell when it comes to basketball.

In basketball there are stops in average every 13th second and the players that run the most run about 4-4,5km in a game. We have to go away from football (soccer) conditiong tests and test for our sport.

We have to stop to always put the smallest at the PG position just because he/she has full body controll and can dribble like a and1 mixtape player. Sometimes there are no taller with personality/leadership to play PG and well then of course no problem in playing the smallballer.

I had a one of Pg`s in a nationalteam and I asked him who is playing Pg you and ?
He said "They will not use me as Pg cause I`m to tall" Holy christ!  To quote the great coach Jan Mikulowski

I will end this post here, cause I will watch U20 champioships game between Serbia and Germany and this is the last thing. To identify talent you need to know what talent is and what is needed in our sport. I great way is to watch international youth games and so on. The risk you take is that others say "get a life", well my life is basketball what is yours ? Working monday-friday and the getting drunk? Well not my coup of tea.

Peace, Unity & Basketball and having fun!

9 days left to work and then I got to Madrid with my two team to have a camp and lots of fun for one week in august.

Looking forward to vacation and visiting a hot Spain for a week.

Nigeria beat Greece today....

Swedish musiclegend Dr Alban, wrote a song "Hello Africa" his motherland is Nigeria and this song is legendary :-)


Hello world, tell me how is Greece doing!!???

Many years ago the threat from China was talked about, China will takeover and so on well never in basketball, but African countries can and many have realized it and more coaches, clubs, scouts, agents are looking to find the african treasures.

How is/was the camp?

I have a secret question i always use during or after some of my players are or has been to a camp. How is/was the camp? (Not a secret anymore)

Is it a genius question, well to me, the answer of my very simple question gives me a lot.


If the answer is "It is/was fun" it rings alarm bells in my head, why? Of course a camp should be fun to some degree, but answers that will play music in my head instead of alarm bells is "There are great coaches", "Super to train with great players", "I learned a lot", "super intense" and so on.

Its easy to make a camp fun for young players, but whats hard is to make them enjoy camp and get better at 1-3 skills during a camp.

Lets be honest if players would choose what to do in a camp very few would do drills that would improve their skills.

I look for a thank you coach later in life and the times a get them I know I did my best.


So coaches that do those kind of practises are often very well liked until the players that wanted to become something in basketball realize that "fun" killed their ambition.

I know I have heard of so many coaches in well knowned clubs through out scandinavia that basicly just act ref or scorekeeper at practises since they play 5-5 or eleven man drills most of practise, ohh forgot weave 3 man and 5 man, that magic drill.

With that they throw in some freethrows and 1-3 drills without any correction and in one hour at least 5 waterbreaks and of course 5-0 setplays nearly forgot that one.

Often most of the players with superior talent gets rescued at some stage by another coach, recruited to another club, but for the rest its a hard reality check later on.

But many players still stay with these coaches since they have fun and who doesn`t wnat to have fun, but its like giving candy to a child.
the subject
How many kids say no to candy? (only those who....)


How many kids say no we dont want to play 5-5 or do 11 man drill. Kids even want to run like the are chased by "jason" cause they have been taught at a very early stage that if you get tired and drip of sweat its a great practise.

If a teacher in school asks: You can choose between, staying in the classroom, going to the library or go outside to do your asignment. Whom stays in the classroom? Well from personal experience when I self went to school and when I worked in schools only the kids with very high grades the rest was gone before the teacher finished her/his sentence and why most teachers stay most of the time in the classroom.

Its simple......just as wine, decision making become better with age and coaches and teacher in school should guide everybody into the right track not let them make imature decisions that wil effect their future it doesn`t need to be boring but kids need help in finding their way in basketball and life and well everything aint fun lets just leave it at that.

We get better from our mistakes well after learning a coaches mistakes for 3-4 years you know a hell of lot about what not to do, but propably you will realize it to late.

Shooting Tech

13 videos with bball drills

Starting this year i`m trying to record more drills, so I can use them and share to others.
Here you have 13 videos with drills that I have recorded.

Soon another season ends and a....

....new one begins in the greatest sport in the world. The Basketball season ends one day and next season starts the day after for me, but many take long breaks from it. Its like normal with a long summerbreak here, but players till want to be good, somehow that doesn`t add up.


Every athlete needs some time of but put your money where you mouth is talking about or dont say that you wanna play pro, college or some higher level.


You will not wake up one day and fall of your bed and smile cause you are a NBA player. It takes not only talent but hard work to reach the highest levels and also some luck.


Playing under the right coaches, having the right agent or basketball friends. having some GM taking a chance on a not so certain "will make it" player.


I`m really hoping that I have managed to get my young ones to understand this if not they will begin a new season being surpized over that other players have develepod during the summer. Summer time is where young players really have the time to be PRO players, no school, most dont work during the summer and they are playing the right sport.


You can practice basketball everywhere and alone if thats a factor. There are no excuses to why you didn`t train.
There is just an explaination that maybe "you dont really want it as bad as you say you want to".


Summers are full of summercamps allover the world some are good, some are great and some are just worthless from a development basketballwise. I have been to a few camps during the years, not always as a coach on the camp, but sometimes just to watch some practices.


I can especially recall one camp in a european country that had one goal, money to the coaches and that was about it.


I felt sick....I could live with if it was kids there who just wanna have fun, but I tell most of these kids talented or not they where there to be coached in basketball and in life.


They got neither and on the second day me and my friends waas actually thinking of leaving since it went against so many things that we believed in.


Some camps give players a new reality in basketball, maybe they havent learned anything from their homecoach and they develop like crazy in a week. Some come as good shoters and leave as poor shoters since some coach thinks he knows how to shot the ball and maybe he could shot it himself, but he cant teach it.


In camps there are often many activ players involved and thats great in so many ways, but sometimes I think activ players forget that there are actually some players on a camp that want to learn "more" than have fun. Of course everybody wants to have fun, but I mean its not a popolaritycontest, correct that pivot, correct that behaivor, correct that footwork or whatever also.


Maybe most of the time the kids will remember the fun stuff (thats also important but mix it up and after the first day you know which kids who wanna learn), but they will thank you later on with all the other stuff, when they realize how important those things you said and showed where.


I watched one camp where they spent a lot of time learning a set play to use on 5-5 play, i dont get that.


Spacing, movement, screens, basketball IQ sure, but a set play. Was that really what the paid for a set play used only for one week in the summer of 69?


A thing that have been discussed some over here is how much and how long everyday practices should be. I think the time is in most camps is good, but I really miss a theoretical part. I`m not talking about 2 hours of starring at a expert talking, but the younger they are the shorter but and older you can do more of it and longer.


I worked one camp some years ago it was a new camp and they had all the right ideas as I see it, but the made a huge misstake and that was the prize of the camp and the placement of the camp. This was a camp that had 3 different sports on the same place, but different gruops so it was basketball for one group and soccer for another and one more sport.


Everyday that was a short lesson that had with elitetraining and sports in general, like nutrition, strengthtrainig and more. They got a small book at the start of the camp where they had all of these subjects and also space where they would right about everyday.


At the last day the coaches wrote some tips and thoughts in that book for the players to read and show to their parents. That part looked pro and felt pro. In that camp I only had one player from a prominent club and she for some strange reason played on the second team. Coach most have blind if he/she couldn`t see the talent in here. Most of the players came from a small club that I even didn`t know it excisted they had very limited experience and most of them wasn`t really talented except from one talent, "the wanted to learn and they where like sponges with everything I threw at them,"


I had one of the best weeks, with a great bunch of kids. I many times wonder if they still play on some level out their. I hope I made their passion stronger and I hope that I mad them fall madly in love with basketball regardless if talent was lacking.


One coach once said: "There is only one stupid player and thats the one whom doesn`t want to learn anything"


One players once said to me: "I dont want to practice these moves" I asked how will you the learn how to score?


He answered "It just happens, I react to the situation"


He didn`t want to learn in his "world" things just happens, well do I need to say that he never reached even close to his potential or that he stopped playing very early and maybe I dont need to say that he was very limited on the court. He was waiting for it just to happen and many other also waited for it to happen for him, but it didn`t and his talent went in the garbage. My point he didn`t wanna learn.......


Hope carmelo countinues killing miami today.....

My pointguard in life.....

Well living in a nordic country is more or less the same cold as a *********** and then suddenly it changes and weather is loevely for some days and then it could change again to depression weather.

We have had great weather for  a couple of days now and that just makes everybody and everything so much happier even if their are problems and headaches it helps. Right now I`m not working since a had shoulder surgery and are now rehabing to get my left arm/shoulder going again. I`m planning and doing some stuff for boys & girls born 98 Pre Season Invitational 14-16 september here in Horsholm.

Looks great just need some more "yes, we will come" and I can calm down a little bit. But problems like that are tiny problems to that I found out that my father is sick with the modern plague of cancer. It seems sometimes like everybody has it or have had it, or got it again. Everything that I worship in basketball and everything around it suddenly becomes less important.

I have always apricated my parents and loosing my mother way to early and now my father with this terrible cancer I just feel helpless.

Helpnesses is the worst feeling ever, I mean I can be there for my father, I can vist him and so on, but I cant help him to get well. For like 18 years  I have been helping others achieving their goals in basketball and with lots of other stuff in their lifes. If they needed to be a better shooter, well I could fix that, if they needed to be faster, I could fix that and so on.

But with my fathers cancer I can`t do anything and that plainly sucks!

We have to make the best of the time he`s got left and how long nobody knows right now.
He`s right feeling as good as he can after finding out about the cancer and that it cant be removed.

I cant do anything but hope that he never has to suffer. He`s my father, my pointguard in life and nobody wants to see a old great player struggle on the court or in life.

This post didn`t have much about basketball, but more about life, but to me life and basketball is the same.

It`s been a while

I have really been missing writing about my passion here in My World Of Basketball, but due to shoulder surgery I have had to let it rest for some time, way to long. I haven`t been able to use my left hand for 6 weeks and finally this thursday I was allowed to remove my protection.

Felt like being reborn again :-)

A lot of things have happens since I last wrote something. This season aint over yet, but it has really been a struggle in some ways and also one of the best seasons in other ways. My shoulder have really tested my mental capacity and other family issues has made it very hard to be that same old me. Thanks to skype and great friends I have been able to talk a lot about the different problem and also positive things of course.
They have really been a "shoulder" to cry on and I`m deeply greatful that I have such friends.


Basketball and coaching my two great teams has been like a oasis, where I most of the times could forget a little bit about the pain and other stuff, but also sometimes it really has made me depressed to a certain degree.


To me basketball means a lot and when I cant give my all in practices or in games it haunts me bigtime. Yes, I know.....it shouldn`t, but tell that to my brain. I want to give my all to the players I coach, if they give me their all and I cant its hard mentally. But my kids has been most of the times really discplined in practise even though I haven`t been running around in the gym like I usually do.


Both teams teams has still developed in the right direction, so of course I`m happy about that. Now I have about a month before I can go back to my work in a store again and that time will be filled with basketball and shoulder rehab and a lot of walks in the forrest. I have made a promise to myself and that starts tomorrow and hopefully I can tell you guys on a later stage that I kept my promise.

Have a great monday, I will :-)

Basketball Camp in Denmark?

My clubs summercamp has been going for 31 years straight and it is a great camp.
You can click on the picture to read in seperate window and if you have more question send them to: horsholm.invitation@gmail.com

I`m not surprised - Lin is still Lin it`s no insanity

This superhype about Jeremy Lin, its like a few days ago he couldn`t play basketball and now he has risen from the dead like a god and taken over the NBA.

Well, surprise he could play this way before and he like everybody else needs opertunities to show their skillz. NBA and European basketball is full of talented, foundamentaly skilled players that never ever get the opertunity.

"you only get one shot" ....rememeber those lines from Emenims song.

I`m happy for Lin that players in his team got injured, I`m not happy that they got injured, but that was the key for him. If the had stayed healthy, maybe he would have seen some minutes, but not more.

Same happened for swedish Jonas Jerebko, when he came to Detroit Pistons he was lucky that players where injured so he got the chance to prove himself and prove himself he did just like Lin. Not the same diggits, but also with much less ballcontact.

Back to Lin, he is foundamentally good and he plays PG, which must be a dream in the NBA. "Everybody" plays the pick and roll out on the floor and the creativity in NBA coaches head stops at hedge and recover. Must be a dream to be a pointguard that is quick, got ballhandling skills and likes to attack the basket and knowing that every time there is a pick and roll defense will hedge it and recover.

I`m not saying there is a perfect defense, but if the PG splits the hedge for the 5th time in a row, come on do something. Hedging defense is dreamland for PG`s like Lin, Westbrook, Roose and mor.They got speed, they got handles and they got a basketballhead.

Back to my point if you end up in the wrong team, have low saluary or Mr "Age before skills" Coach you will make money, play at the game that ypu love, but if you dont change teams get used to the bench and hope that somebody stops, gets injured or fouled out (whick almost never happens in NBA).

If you read between the lines I`m not a great fan of NBA. Dont get me wrong I love many parts of it, but there is so much business that is more business than sport. Teams dont want to win games so they get god position in the next draft, most coaches have an opionion but not the last word. Superstar players overule or owners or chief of NBA. Money talks and to be honest until the final most games are really bad. Maybe not for the fans or the spectator that dont know the game, but for a old dog like me its more fun watching a kids game age 9 playing. They give their all, sould, heart, sweat blood and tears and that is so far from most NBA players and teams. Of course its a suicide situation for the players that wanna go hard because their are so so many games and their bodies gets worn out and injuries follows.

But still my respect goes to all players on all levels of the game that give their all on the court and in the NBA there are some players that dont hold back, but most do hold back and thats a shame.

Solution is of course less games and more quality, but less games means less money so that will never happen.

Players like Westbrook, Griffin, Rudy Gay, Lin, Jerebko, and more all that go 100% you have my deepest respect and you still got respect for the game and pure love for the game, the desire shows and playing hard is more important than more millions and "safe play" through the season so you can have a long career and cash in year after year.

I sometimes wonder how its is to be a "always playing hard" player playing with thoose kind of players that dont give a 100% every single game. I would be so mad. I guess thats why some teams have dominated in the NBA for many years in a row. When teams of Chicago, Lakers, Boston had Jordan, Magic, Bird everybody on those teams went all in the games, cause  Magich, Jordan, Bird demanded that of them, a player slacking would here about right away.

One of Birds books, I read some year ago he explains a situation with one older player on his team whom joked about getting a new contract (get the last cash before no team wants you). he said something like "Maybe I should fake a injury now and just chill out my contract".

Bird heard this and went over to him and said "Which leg do you want to be broken" He was pissed off go hard or go home, he played most of his career with extreme pain and still went all in. Hearing stuff like that most have pissed him of bigtime.

Mchale his teammate played with some broken bone in his foot throught playoffs, foot never recovered but the got the ring.

Jordan demanded perfection of himself and he expected the same from his teamates, he wasn`t very loved by most teamates, but deeply respected.

When you think of Magic you think of a big big smile, but behind the smile was the same attitude to the game as bird, Jordan, he went hard and his love for the game was pure as silk.

Everybody nowdays is hating on Allen Iversen, WTF!, I cant believe what I read is it a surprise that his brains was on the court and not in economics and more. But this player went all in and sacrified his body for his fans and for his love of basketball.

Like many succesful athletes or actors, singers they have people working around them and there is usually where is goes wrong. Friends instead of pro`s, or friend of friends everybody wants a piece of the pie.

Its sad to read about how AI`s life has gone, but show some respect and those who can help the man get back on his feet.

His not alone in the NBA with problems, they have always been there, but we almost never hear about them since NBA handle many problems themselves, with their own drugrehabs, alcohol rehab and so on.

NBA is a sureal world in a world, the players have to handle so much from pain, injures, fans, demands, being away from their families and more. Many of them enter and go from no money to a shitload of money, "mo money, mo problems". They have been taken cared of by others since college, many even since high school, dont have to think themselves, they just have to play ball, rest is taken cared off. But what happens after playing or when you aint that superstar anymore I think a big empty hole builds inside them ( not all), but when you know one thing and that is basketball and you "can`t" play anymore, how do you fill that vacancy in your life.

Have you invested money in the right things, do you have the right people around you. Do you have some other dream that is not basketball that can fill that vacancy for many pro athletes its a rough life after stardom.
How to get the next adreline rush it doesn`t have to be cambling, drugs or alcohol, but that is the road many takes.

Go hard or stay out of my televison :-)

Lets pretend I`m Coach K

LaMarcus Aldridge
Carmelo Anthony
Chauncey Billups
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Tyson Chandler
Kevin Durant
Eric Gordon
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Andre Iguodala
LeBron James
Kevin Love
Lamar Odom
Chris Paul
Derrick Rose
Dwyane Wade
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

I have to chose 12 out of these 19 players, which players would I chose?
Marked in red I would be cut from the team.

Whom would you cut?

Tournament abroad delight and LeBronized at home

For most of my basketball life between 2nd and 5th is one of europes biggest youth tournaments played in Lund Sweden. Always over 300 teams and this year 2012 it was 310 teams competing in different agegroups.

I went there this year with both of my youth teams (boys and girls born 1998) and we had a blast. Both teams learned a lot and played some nice ball during the tournament. Girls teams had upset in the group final where we beat the winning team of the tournament, we lost the semifinal later on and the won the final. That was a team that the girls never had won against before, so a huge mentalblock is removed.

Boys team had some thrillers in quarterfinal where we won after overtime and semifinal game against one of the 2 top teams in the nordic countries was also a thriller, where we ended up loosing with 2 points. We had multiple chances to win that game, but it wasn`t our day. But still it was a great game in many ways and they won the final easily the day after, so in many ways our game against them was the "final".

Smiling after a great tournament I was looking forward to the danish cup final with the boys team. I knew it wasn`t gonna be a easy game and I told the boys that early on when we won the semifinal. We have no EASY games, we havent started to grow yet and and are very smmall. We need to a lot right to play the way we did for example in the semifinal in Lundaspelen tournament.

We got totally LeBronized, we looked pale, didn`t play as a team in offense or in defense, old habits was showing. Like LeBron we talked the talk bit didn`t walk the walk. I tried almost everything to wake them up, but when you cant substitute like you want its hard to change it as a coach and also for a player to go from mental chaos, calm down and then go in and play normal ball again.

We ended up getting a beatdown and we shouldn`t, but we weren`t there mentally in many ways and that made us look like we weren`t the physically either. We choked plain and simple and we didnt find our way back.
To be honest I was wondering where my team was from 3 days earlier, but there is are many lessons in this.
.
We went there the same day as the final and that wasn`t the best preperation before the game with a 3 hour cardrive at 7 in the morning.

After peak performances often there is a downer coming soon after, we all know it but it didn`t cross my mind before this game.

I didn`t have a real sitdown with them in the days before removing any thoughts of an easy game and so on, YES I said it to them but like you would say it to older players. Looking back I now know the signs in my players, but I was still "high" after the tournament, so I was in a relaxed state of mind, so was also my players but in the wrong relaxed state of mind :-)

BUT......was it just things we/I did wrong, well NO, young players, their first final ever, coming from some great games, high in confidence, many people chearing.

Its huge for kids....and when you aint used to playing for medals, well its often very hard the first time. They to win a final, you have to be in one before. There is a lot of truth in that of I look back to old teams that I have coached and friends teams and so on.

I aint taking nothing away from the team that won, they played tactically perfect for that agegroup, they backed of and gave us all the shoots we wanted from the outside. I myself would NEVER use that tactic in youth games, but it worked like it does 98/100 games in that age since % is low from the outside.

It disturbed us big already in the first minutes, since we came from 6 games just days before where everybody but one team played hard noosed defense, max armslength away with deny defense.

We couldn`t handle it, thats something we need to learn. To be open for a shoot every time you catch the ball and select when to shoot and not to shoot aint easy. We lost our teamplay totally..

Back to practice with new lessons learned and i can just conclude with, basketball is fantastic and its ups and downs whatever the love for game just keeps growing in me.

Never again Lebronized, we will be prepaired and ready mentally and phsyically better from now on.

"Love the game. Love the game for the pure joy of accomplishment. Love the game for everything it can teach you about yourself. Love the game for the feeling of belonging to a group endeavoring to do its best. Love the game for being involved in a team whose members can't wait to see you do your best. Love the game for the challenge of working harder than you ever have at something and then harder than that. Love the game because it takes all team members to give it life. Love the game because at its best, the game tradition will include your contributions. Love the game because you belong to a long line of fine athletes who have loved it. It is now your legacy. Love the game so much that you will pass on your love of the game to another athlete who has seen your dedication, your work, your challenges, your triumphs... and then that athlete will, because of you, love the game."
---Unknown

When Teams became Individual players

New year when I write this its 2012 and I have declaired it "The Year Of The Jerebko" on Facebook and what is written on facebook is always facts so thats how it is :-)

I was asked today by one of my oldest friends kid, which soccer team I cheer for and I was blank for a second and I said "Well it used to be Liverpool", but nowdays I cheer for whatever team Zlatan Ibrahimovic plays for. He thought that was strange and well i guess it is, when I was younger it was all about cheering for teams:

Soccer international - Liverpool
Soccer in Sweden - Malmo FF
Basketball NBA: Los Angeles Lakers
Basketball Europe: Yugoplastika, was propably the first back in the day
Basketball Sweden: Never really had one on the highest level since clubs from the district I grew up always managed to fuck it up.
Icehockey NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins
Icehockey Sweden: Farjestad

Floorball: Are you kidding me :-)


But nowdays I really dont have favourite teams I have favourite players and a cheer for them. And I really cant remember when that change came, but maybe because I have a big focus on basketball players individual development maybe I grew into that.

My favourite player in NBA is of course Jonas Jerebko, but I cheer for Kobe, Nowitzki and some others, but Lakers I dont care anymore. But I care how Kobe Bryant does....

Dont really care about Detroit Pistons but my brains says I have to care because a great part of "JJ`" success is in if detroit plays ball on a high level.

Sweden plays junior chamionship in icehockey I dont care, but the player with last name Friberg I cheer for him, killer attitude, scorer and not afraid to stick out his chin.

When swedish nationalteam in soccer plays I only watch if Zlatan plays and I know before the game that the odds that he will play great is very limited because of the players surroundning him on the field. But I cheer for him.....

I guess the only teams I really cheer for is the Swedish basketball national teams and for teams coached by friends, but its more of a supporting cheer.

Came home and watched the second half of Jerebkos game againts Indian tonite and I checked his stats before even trying to see the score. He did great 20 points, 12 rebounds and one very important steal.....Go JJ33

It was a very easy question a got from my friends kid, but teams well I guess thats in the past.
Back in the day I had favourite players of course with Magic Johnson as number 1, but I cheered for teams, those days are gone and so is 2011.

Picture before he took his 12 rebounds :-)

Happy New Year and lets celebrate The year Of The Jerebko