Saturday, December 28, 2013

Another year bites the dust - Welcome 2014



Well sorry for those who follow my blog I have really been out of fuel, energy to write in a long time.
Just to many things bouncing around that takes up most of the time and energy. Many of them aint something I wanna share to the world, so then I rather not write some bullshit blogs just because I have to, I wanna write because I want to not like a obligation. I write for me and if somebody finds that interesting I`m glad for that of course.

2013 has been a rollercoaster ride for me in many ways and my biggest joy comes from basketball, but my biggest disapointments also comes from basketball this year. I cant go in to details, maybe in a couple of years or my life long dream to write a book. Only time will tell what comes first :-)

So I´m gonna keep it as positive as possible in this "2013 end of the year" blog.
I go to work every week in a grocery shop not because I want to, not because I think its the greatest job in the world, not because of the money (believe me). I go to handle about 450 customers in 8hours per day because, then I can go to basketball at night and my bills are paid.

Going on 20+ years as a coach I still LOVE THIS GAME more than almost anything.
I know thats stupid but that how I feel and that hasn`t changed at all.

I`m right now coaching boys born 1998 and girls born 1998 and end of last season and the start of this season they have really made a old coach happy and proud as a rooster.
Season 2012/2013 ended with me having a total of 8 girls in the national teams and 3 of the boys in the Dansh national teams, both teams where invited to to the Nordic champioships in Sodertalje. Bosy team was out for redemption after a very bad Nordics championship in 2012 where the finished last 14/14 teams and it wasn`t loosing that was the issue, we played really bad and showed bad attitude.
A nervous wait and finally the news we where invited again and this time we where ready mentally and played some really nice games and reached our goal which was top 8 as we finished on 8th place. But we where 10points from playing for 1-4, so great character and we showed us worthy the invite.

Girls team was invited for the first time ever and they made a impact their first year finishing in 3rd place after loosing the semifinal against the winners Uppsala. After the semifinal I can still clearly remember the faces and body language my girls showed in the locker room. They where waiting for me to yell, critize them, to be mad you name it.
They looked scared for the first ever since I started with them.  Of course its never fun to loose and to loose a semifinal can hurt a lot even for a veteran like me.
After a while their body language and faces changed when they realized that their idiot for a coach was actually so proud of them and what they have achived that he almost cried in that lockeroom, not because of loosing because for their character, their development and their achievement in their first nordic championship ever.

A memory for life.....

During the years as a coach some players always makes a bigger impact in your life than others and most of the time its because of the time, passion and will they showed when you coached them. Those players are hard not to continue to follow after you stopped coaching them since you wanna know how they are doing with their bball dreams.

This year to former players of mine took huge steps in following their dreams and its a strange feeling to be so proud and happy for other people, but I know how much it means to them and that why I spent so so so many hours in the gym with them back in the day, cause they where for real and not only talkers the wanted to work for their dreams.

One of them landed a spot on a top 10 high school in producing college talent in the USA another after having a hard time deciding if he was gong to europe or college or wait for better offers from better colleges finally made up his mind and landed a spot on a prep squad in th USA from which he has a much better opertunities to find a really god college.

Alexander & Albert you are both two of my biggest memories from 2013, thank you for working hard and I really hope you both get what you deserve.

Dreams can become real.....


I love being right I pretty open what I think about most things and I have no problem in saying my thoughts on different things.
My father said you are so stubborn! And I answered is it really being stubborn when I`m always right? Should I answer incorrect, or not tell the truth so I`m not stubborn? :-)

Of course you should read this with a smile, but who doesn`t love beeing right?

In 2010 a started with my boys team born 1998 and after like 2 weeks the players asked "who do you thing will dunk first in our team?" I thought about for like 2 seconds and answered Oscar who where and still is the teams starting point guard. They looked amazed and came back with questions directly and suggested 2 other players on the team that most of the boys thought would dunk long before Oscar. Well this season Oscar is dunking and .....well just Oscar. I said last season that he would dunk before february 2014 and now its december 2013, so JACKPOT, BiNGO whatever I was right and I love it.

One of the greates things in 2013 was of course to follow swedish womens nationalteams success in the Euros and because basketball aint so big in Sweden, most people dont understand how huge their achievement really was, my hat`s off to you ladies you made a impact in a international level like our mens team never can do.

At the end of last season I had 8 girls and 3 boys in NT squads and for like a week ago U16 NT`s announced their 24 player rosters for 2014 summer Euros (they will cut more players in 2014)

But a write this with a smile since of those 24 U16 girl players I right now have 11 girls in that squad from my team. And in boys 24 NT roster I have 3 boys from my team.

I`m first of all glad for the players, second of very happy for the club that we are developing talent for the NT`s which I think is most important thing next to making more people love basketball in general. And for myself I`m so so proud that words cant describe how I feel so 2013 please go to bench so I can put in 2014 and scream GAMETIME!

A great man left us in 2013 and yes a troubled past, but I truly think he made up for that in most of his lifetime.



Nelson Mandela RIP




Friday, October 18, 2013

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Monday, September 9, 2013

After the rain comes the sun

Because of work and youth basketball tournament in Sweden with my two teams I havent been able to see as much as I wanted to from Eurobasket in Slovenia.
And of course my native country Sweden playing there for the first time many years was something I wanted to follow.

After the last couple of practise games I was almost in tears.....it didn`t look god at all and then after games against Greece and Finland I was looking for places to hide. You can loose in sports in so many different ways and who expected Sweden to beat Greece at least not me. Who expected Sweden to beat Finland, maybe I thought.

But the way they lost those games was not ok, but lets talk about the positive because it happened......Sweden resurected themselves and stod up form the dead on a 9 count.

Beat Russia....yeah, yeah the didn`t have all players and so on, they played bad.....so did Sweden in the first two games, that is how sports are. More ups and downs than San Fransisco, more happy feelings and sad feelings than the Titanic movie, whatever you know what I`m trying to say.

Im happy to say that after Eurobasket has ended for the swedish squad I`m proud to be a swedish basketball maniac. The future belongs to us.

We had a new star show himselves and I wrote on this blog before eurobasket that Ludde Håkansson should play PG for Sweden regardless that he is 17 years old. He is the best we got at that position and after some games he was standing there as first choice PG. Damn I love it when I´m right!


Jeff Taylor is a star and everybody that has followed him in Vanderbuilt already knew that if his NBA club allows him to play he will be a megastar, but the odds works against him. He far from one of the best paid players on his team, so bench for him. Hopefully he has created a problem for his bobcats know cause he played like a superstar in this Eurobasket.

We got Jonas Jerebko a perfect role player and sidekick for Jeff together with Ludvig Håkansson we have a leathal 3 combo. We have som really skilled young guns coming up in the ranks and yes the future is ours.

According to some basketball page Headcoach Brad Dean stopped after the last game as NT coach, so now its al about finding the right HC for the job and the right staff around him.

I know who I want as NT coach and I may be wrong but I doubt it!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Swedens NT goes Eurobasket in Slovenia

Well, watched the last game before the real deal in Slovenia for Sweden. Jonas Jerebko didn`t play at least not in the second half and that is what I had time to watch.

These are my thoughts about Swedish NT and chances in Eurobasket.

1. Have to play extremely disciplined in offense and get the ball to the right players to put up shots.
To be able to do that they can not be stationary and play NBA isolation.

Movement and sharing the ball, but still getting the ball to to right players at the right time is in my mind the key.

2. Yes, Ludde Håkansson is only 17 years old, but he should play PG as I see it.

3. Swedens is at the moment doing a terrible job on ballscreens and staggered screens if they go under ballscreens on purpose (which it looks like) they will be killed in the Euros.

4. Becides Jerebko, Taylor, swedens "bigs" Joakim Kjellbom and Brice Massamba has to step it up 2 levels.

5. Jeffrey Taylor is a quality player and if they will let him play next season in the NBA the whole world will see it, but it looks like he will show it already in the Euros.

6. Sweden has to hit their open 3`s I dont see that confidence in Swedens shooters that should be there or should I write has to be there.

7. Miracles can happen!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Proud Swede up in this!

Well it was not many years ago, when telling somebody that you where from Sweden was equal to "you dont know anything about basketball". Well that has changed and now Sweden is getting respect from all over the world and recognition from the experts, scouts, coaches and more.

With stardouble in Jonas Jerebko and Jeffrey Taylor in the NBA and Frida Eldebrink as a Eurostar and Farhiya Abdi in the WNBA Sweden nowdays has some credability in the basketballworld.


Young players all over the world playing as youth pro´s and going for that international basketball job. National teams doing good from senior teams to the youngest NT`s. All NT`s playing A-division Eurobasket but 2, some years ago it was totally different.

Respects most times come from extremely hard and focused work for many years and there is where the federation started it all with focused and planned NT`s. Coaching education in Sweden has the last decade or so become education and not just a weekend away from home.
Demands and coaching licenses just makes it so much more pro and some of the wrong people dispeares from basketball which is great.

Some bitch about these demands, but I truly think its for the best in the long run even if some serious coaches experiences it as a burden its the right way to go.

I coach in Denmark and danish basketball experienced history being made this summer when womens U16 played themseleves to a third place in B-Division and got a spot in A-division next summer. I think that was the first time ever for a girls NT from Denmark made it to the A-division and as for me coaching Horsholm girls 98 its a great motivation.

But I think many forget that playing B-division and playing A-division is totally different worlds in so many aspects, quality goes up a couple of levels in many things, exposure is a whole other world.
This year there was 16 teams in the A-Division and 17 in the B-Division and finishing third in B is in my world finishing 19th.

Swedens men u16 NT went up last summer as nr 2 I think and this summer they went down directly again. This summer Denmarks men U16 played themselves up as winners of B-Divison and Sweden went down to B-Division.

I truly hope that the danish federation will put more resources to these two NT`s to stay in A-Division and all together focus more on the youth nationteams than the seniorteams. Denmark is to small to not have the greatest focus on youth NT`s.....only 12 000 basketball players in country you have to get "EVERY" talent to go all in and make it up to seniorlevel. If they can go to college, europe the odds becomes so much better for the senior NT`s to do god in the future.



Sunday, August 4, 2013

8 days or 192hours or 691 200 seconds, cant wait!

In 8 days teampractices start up again with my teams and that is just so great.
 After 20+ years in coaching I still have that hunger, that passion and I cant wait for it to start again.

Season 2013/2014 here we come!

Time to do coaching YOGA here are some of the exercises:




Have a great Sunday folks :-)





Friday, August 2, 2013

My coach sucks!

I found this videos some years ago and it really has some good points in it. Also hard not to love the computer voices lol



Have a nice weekend.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

No rest for an old basketball junkie

Summer 2013 and I have 5 days left of this summer vacation. Only used 3 weeks and will have 1 week in september. I have had almost 2 weeks without basketball and almost is the keyword since I organize a tournament for boys and girls born 1998 13th to 15th of september I have to put in a lot of hours regardless vacation or not.

Thats also why I have vacation the week before the tournament, so I dont kill myself in process with 32 hours of normal work and tournament organizing on top of that. Tried that the first year but only eight teams then and it was zombielevel 1000 my body and brain went to.
Boys tournament
Girls tournament

So older but also smarter :-)

Almost everything in place that has to be in place at the moment. Missing one girlsteam and one boysteam when I write this and hopefully thats soon in check. That would be a blessing from above from the basketball goods.

Made this video I just love to find "new" stuff to use for different purposes in basketball.

Big O speaks about Pre Season Invitational 2013

Basketball+ passion= LIFE


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Jordan the GOAT Camp and some more.....

Growing up with Magic as me hero with a big hate towards Michael Jordan and tremendous respect for Larry Bird. I didn`t like Michael Jordan in the beginning I didn`t think he did what was needed to win, but he changed his game and approach to be able to win all the championships.

I did back then think Michael was the best 1vs1 player ever in the league, but I did then and still do hold Magic as my nr 1 and Michael as the best 1vs1 player ever!

After he stopped playing I just had to ad one thing to his name "the greatest ever" and in the year 2013 nobody and I mean nobody is even close to his skillset in all aspects of the game.
He has had a basketball camp in the states for many years and this summer not one but 4 of my players is attending his camp. I will have 3 of my girls and one of my boys there to learn from the GOAT and his camp coaches.
I`m 36 years old, stopped playing ages ago, but I`m so jelous of my kids and at the same time so glad for them that I have a big smile everytime I think about it.

Got more stuff to smile about and maybe in some days that smile will reach the top of my head, but I cant write about now. Throw him out is all I can write at the moment.

Organizing tournament for boys and girls born 1998 again this year in september and organizing a tournament is a lot of joy, but all teams, coaches that say YES to enter and then pull out after they said YES is a big big pain in the butt. They create so many problems for a organizer that I cant even describe it. I was suppose to have total vacation from basketball for two straight weeks which is almost unheard of when it comes to me, but I can forget about that now.

Both of my teams had a god season and many of the players developed as planned, some have a very bright future ahead of them and some need to go from talking to walking the talk to have that bright future, but talent is there. Unfortantly like everybody knows talent only takes you to a certain level and without the sweat, hours and hours of repitition and determination it stays as "the talented kid that....." didn`t make it.

Swedish womens nationalteam had a great Eurobasket and there is more to come from them.
I really hope our mens team can pull of some great upsets in the Eurobasket in Slovenia.

Cant help but dream about how the team could have looked like with some different decsisions being made.

We have:
Jeffrey Taylor, NBA bobcats
Jonas Jerebko, NBA Pistons
Christian Maråker, said no to play and I understand that. The third best player on the team, but eats more wood than woodpecker on the bench.

Here comes the big ones:
Maciej Lampe, Caja Laboral, choose to play for Poland
Damir Omerhodzic now Markota, choose to play for Croatia
Joakim Noah, NBA chicago bulls choose to play for France

That is size and skill and I would play Jeffrey taylor as Poinguard call me crazy but I think he would handle it great.

Hope they still can upset I really really do!


Saturday, April 20, 2013

Kobe Bryant - Mind over matter - True greatness!

Kobe is a true living legend, what a killer, what mind over matter guru he is. Incredible tear his akilles and walks on scores two free-throws and walks out by himself.

When he played through court session when he was accused of rape and still showed up and put his numbers up, when he played for months with banged up fingers, surgery can wait.......Mind over matter, mind over matter!

The black mamba came to the NBA and I have to be honest I didn`t like him very much, but year after year he has matured and my respect for him has sky rocketed.
He is madly inlove with game, he doesn`t need the money he already accomplished more than most dare to dream about. But here is where the true ballers differ, they play because of passion, a hunger to win, a never ending love and hunt for improvement to their game.

They are not just there to play, they are there to play the very best they can each and every time no matter injured or sick the mind wins over matter.

One of his favourite quotes is "If you see me and a bear in a fight, pray for the bear"

I wish I could sit down and talk to Kobe Bryant for a couple of hours, the questions are many and the learnings would be priceless but......well I will stop there stranger things has actually happened in the world :-)



Monday, February 25, 2013

Soon summer - Are you going to camp?

Camp boys&girls 2001-2004
Hørsholm Basketball Camp (29june-2july)
Denmark
More info

Camp boys&girls 1995-2000
Hørsholm Basketball Camp (3 july-7 july)
Denmark
More info

Camp boys&girls born 1997-2003
Sparta Moscow Camp (july)
10 days
Russia
More info (only danish): Camp Russia

Camp girls born 1995-2001
Girls Got Game (1 july-5 july)
Holbæk, Denmark
Denmark
More info

Camp boys&girls
North West Summer Camp
Elite Camp boys&girls born 1995-1997
Youth Camp boys&girls born 1996-2000
Minicamp boys&girls born 2001-2003
Daycamp boys&girls born 2003-2005
Angelholm, Sweden
More info

Camp boys&girls
Wbsc Super Camp 2013
Ages 14-20
Italy
More info

Friday, February 8, 2013

What did just happen?

As a coach for youth players you see many strange things happen on court. Bad descisions in when to do what and so on, crazy shoots, strange reactions and sometimes you think what the ****just happened, what did she/he think when he/she decided to do that!?

But as they mature and learn more about the game and themselves "strange" things happening on court happens less and less. It will never go away totally and sometimes at least I forget that crazy things happen even on the highest levels just not so often.

Found this great video on youtube, enjoy even the ones on highest level screw up in so many ways and we should never forget that :-)

Monday, January 28, 2013

I`m good when I`m good and when I`m bad I`m better!

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, 

you would never think a negative thought.”

Simply a great quote....

Had a good game with the boys last weekend and one of my players had one of his best games ever and of course this weekend that just passed he broke his arm :-)

Its ironic isn`t it, but "only" 3 weeks and then he can start again, so his left arm will do some extra work in practice.

Also had a good game with the girls this passed weekend, with two normal starters out because of sickness this ******* flue! We had a tough game against our rivals and we have only beaten them once before and this time becam the second win after a good first half, they switched to zone defense for the rest of the game and that mad us doubt it a little bit since we havent spent "any" time on zone offense. But when the time run out we stood there as winners with 53-49.

Nice win and the rest of the sunday was a joy and I finished it of with actually a great NBA game ( i know surprised seeing NBA and great in the same sentence from me)

But both Miami and Boston actually played defense and showed real skills this sunday and after 2 Ot`s Boston won to make my sunday even better.

My team is the Lakers, but any team playing Miami is my team also :-)

Have a great week.