A strange year has passed

In my soon 25 years in coaching this year has had its highs and lows like no other year. I have never felt more disrespected than this year that now has passed and its all about bball.
At the same time I have had one of the best years basketballwise in 2016 in all my years in this great sport.


But being talked to like a 5 year old, getting bullshit explanations that no experienced coach will ever fall for and having no choice but to swallow it and go on. And sure thats LIFE not all will be great and smooth, but at least give me the respect I actualy deserve and if you dont like me, well at least respect the the years I have put in.

Well im not gonna bitch about more, but this was the first time in 25 years that I actually thought about QUITTING and that scared me like nothing else has scared me in my life.

Its NEVER been about the MONEY for me in coaching and it never will be, but Im good at one thing in LIFE and thats teaching kids basketball, so please PAY me that respect.

I wish for everybody a great 2017 and for my current and former players I wish more than that.
You are my OXYGEN keep working hard and BELIEVE!
Happy New Year to all!
Coach out!

Im tired and I need to get some things of my chest

I have spent more than half my life involved in basketball 24 years something in coaching. I have worked part time, fulltime in clubs for over 9 years of those 24. Some things are the same even if we go back 24 years in the clubs and some have evolved, some have gone the other way.

I will not go in to everything and I must stress that these are my word and not my clubs, these words come from 39 year old man that fell in love with the game watching the great Magic Johnson play on Super channel at my grandmothers place when I went to 4th grade. Ever since Im stuck, still in love with the game.

I have seen/met/worked with great coaches, great talents, great humans and coached amazing people during all these years. Everybody has bad days and most of my bad days are saved by the kids I coach even if they give my headaches and a sleeping pattern that would make most quit. I cant Im in love with the game.
If it aint the kids that I coach in present time that saves a bad day, most of the time its somebody I used to coach sometime ago that has gotten a new job, made a new hit single, made it to college or in some kind of way found success in their life that makes my get back into a better mood.

As a coach and as a person I like to have fun, I like to laugh I think having fun still is one of life`s most important things. I also believe we humans forget that as we get older. People might think about me aint he to old for that, dress like that, talk like that, listen to hip.hop. Come on you to old for that...........get a job!

Well I have a job I challenge kids very week on their path to their dreams. I try to give them the tools needed in basketball and in life. Im not saying I have all the answers but im dedicated to this and if my former players dont have any use of what I taught them while they where playing for me in their life after basketball I HAVE FAILED!

The most frustating thing about working with basketball is its worth in general in Sweden. Yes, we have ourselves the blaim for the most part. I never EVER will forget the words of Hans Crunak former headcoach for the swedish nationalteam in Swimming at a time when sweden owned the pools on the mens side. I listened to a lecture he had and he talked about one of the women swimmers came and talked to him about the men getting all the attention in media, sponsorers and so on.
His answer was SIMPLE: Swim faster!

She was properbly clueless at first, but as I remember he explained it a little more to her. WELL, in a few years time the table had turned the women swimmers was swimming faster, winning and now most the male swimmers was in background eccept one.

BUT and i have a BUT.....in later years the attention in general has gone the equal rights, integration, lettingkids be kids, eqaulity in general in society and that is of course good that everybody tries to make the world a better place for ALL.


BUT....businesses, goverment, city boards are willing to pay millions and millions to people talking about these subjects, issues, but us sport clubs and especially in the case basketball which is the best sport in integration, most equal girls/boys playing and so on have to struggle year after year while.

Companies, goverment have great values out on every webpage, but a sport that actually does all these things still have to struggle. In Malmoe my club takes a huge responsability and we know and want to do more and better I can garantee everyone but this has nothing to do with SWIMMING faster this is putting your action to fancy words by those whom have the resourses to help a club like mine to grow.

Simply put your money, time and efforts where your "mouth" is. We share your values, and together we can make it a better world if we put together Basketball, resources, time and this amazning sport that sees no colour, has good values and allows everyone to play this game regardless if you are from a forein country,colour of the skin,  old, young, girl, by, gay, handicapped, athletic, short or tall.

My club is integration!
My team has 17 nationalities in 24 players, we made a T-shirt for last years FINAL FOUR in the swedish chamionships that said "Winning integration" and it was/is in so may ways. It was a statement, Im tired of the talk, tired of well written papers/values. Lets se some action and resources put in the right places, then WE will see CHANGE and only then.

BUT you wrote swim faster....well yeah that is mostly for the senior teams, nationalteams and of course more. Im talking about youth in most part in the ages where we can mold them, shape them, lift them, inspire them to greatness in basketball and after.

For when it comes to above mentions things like equality, human rights, integration we have THE WORLD RECORD so we can only beat our selves and we shouldnt have struggle in a great country like sweden with founds for those things, for education, for coaches, gyms so we can practice.

If the kids are in the gyms they are not in the street it cant be put more simple than that. We need to make coaching a real job and respect it, so we can do better.

Im tired.......and need to sleep, but I havent written in a long time and had to get this rant of my chest. Agree or disagree no matter what I hope I made you think and if you thought what was written above as garbage, why did you read it to the ned!? :-)

Cant wait until practice tomorrow night! See you in a gym somewhere, sometime the future is ours :-)
Good night! Coach out!

Almost a year since my last post

I´m not the best at writing or spelling but I love it! I write when I have the energy and inspiration to do so and to be honest for the last 11 months the only things I could have written about would have been in anger and would lead to nowhere.

So I wrote nothing or deleted it before I publish it.
Now after 2 weeks vacation I feel a need to write and I have the nergy to do so....so here it goes........

So many good things has happen over these months but it has been burried among a workload that has been crazy. Its hard for most people to relate to being a BASKETBALLCOACH and one that takes it seriously. Most people think its like any other job you go to work do your hours go home and have freetime, well it aint!

In most cases for example you have do a lot of other work to make ends meet. Maybe a stupid choice for a job, but anyway it was my choice. Been coaching for 24 years and around 9 years fulltime. (meaning just basketballrelated work)

I havent coached except for 5 games at the highest level, but the pressure, responsability, time, sweet and tears are the same in youth basketball that I spent most of my time in. Countless sleepness nights before important games (worrying, thinking, if my kids gonna reach what that want). I never really been a TROPHYHUNTER, but guiding my kids to fulfillment being apart and teacher on their journey towards their goals, dreams is what Im all about.

I write "MY KIDS" I dont have any kids of my own, but I have "thousands" of kids instead and as coach you get all the good and bads with it. All the hours of talking to players that are sad, worried, feeling bad for whatever reason it could be issues at home, girlfriends, boydfriends or selvconfidence issues. There is not a day that passes by when I dont think of past or present players and when they succeed at something I feel proud as an rooster. But when they have problems my brain will automatically switch to how can I help them.
                             
Maybe you could call my crazy, but thats how I work its the same with my friends if they have a problem I can spend hours, days trying to find a solution. Maybe I care to much, but I rather care too much than to little. Some players call me COACH and when they do I feel a sense of pride. I guess thats the same kind pride that someone feels when called FATHER.

BASKETBALL is a great sport and Im glad I fell in love with it. So many great people I have met during the years and so many great experiences. Im glad for all the players from the past I still have contact with and I tell you everytime an old player ask for advice or maybe a workout its like getting injected with "happyenergi". I see and know other people with the same crazy passion as me, dont get me wrong im not special in anyway. But my kids become special! At least I like to think so :-)

I chose to work with basketball a longtime ago knowing that it was back then almost criminal to pay for basketballcoaches especially youth coaches. Seniorcoaches has always gotten paid in some kind of way, but youth coaches was almost like you had to pay to coach.

I had a dream and I gueess I still do that the climate would change, but has it?
Well its finally starting to but its been like 15-20 years and very little has happened. Im glad to see that some clubs nowdays understands the value and work of youth coaches and actually let them work with what they are good at. But those jobs aint very common in the nordics. But at least I see progress in that department. We expect our kids to compete with other countries that have paid, educated coaches that focus just on the kids. We tell kids to follow their dreams, but we cant really give them 100% help that they need to fulfill it or get as close as possible.

But still some of us try and almost bury our self in the process. I guess you need some kind of switch to turn OFF and ON as coach, but this much I know I dont have that switch. If somebody has a spare let me know about it :-)

Every week a talk with other coaches around the world about problems with players, parents, tactics or specific drills and thats almost like a therapy group online or phone Dr Coach. Im thankful for those coaches that are close to me and put up with my problems and I hope they feel the same with me. Problems are there to be solved, but man have they changed during the years. With the schoolsystem failing (as I see it) and a more "ME" aproach in society in general has made so many "new" issues as a coach, which you didnt even need to think about before.

Selfishness in team sports are real killers im not talking about taking more shots than others or having the ball more, but the attitude that I`M the only one that MATTERS thats the issue.
This is not the kids fault it is us grown men and women that in all goodness put wrong values in them. I like to think I put good values in my kids, but sometimes its a struggle but I aint giving up anytime soon.

One of my old danish players asked me some days ago if he could come over and do some workouts and I tell you Im still smiling. My vacation is raining away, but he made my vacation special and he will regret asking. lol just kidding!

Will be nice to see one of MY KIDS!
I may be wrong but I doubt it!, coach out!

And some people call me crazy!

Well, hasn`t been once I have been called crazy doing this that I love called basketball. But hey people if Im crazy what your verdict on the people throwing granades in Malmoe, killing people with knifes in a IKEA store in Västerås or all armys killing innocent humans around the world.

So Im crazy......hmmm. But I guess there is something good with beeing crazy also, when used the right way.
Now Im sitting here in my castle writting a blogg once again and another season starts for real in 6 days. Strange cirumstances brought m back to Malmoe and Malbas Basketball once again and this time it feels like Im in totally new club. So much more positive and adding to that is that the mens team made it back to the LEAGUE for this season which is great for everybody.

But its not that only......the atmosphere is just different among, players, coaches and people behind the scenes. Malbas with Malmoe as its city (3rd largest in sweden) has potential to be a real powerhouse, but has never been near that in modern times. Are we as a club, as a city on that path now?

I truly believe so!

With smart decisions and slowly building the whole club I think we can be that powerhouse that the south of sweden so desperatly needs. We need to get bigger as a club and that is not done in a couple of months. A coach from denmark wrote something that I will aways remember in a discussion about why basketball in denmark wasnt bigger, recruitment of kids and so on.

It was something like this "Give me a coach and there will be a bunch of kids playing" the solution is pretty easy, but at the same time it one of the hardest things for all clubs. Finding coaches that are willing to put in a tremendous amount of hours often in the end paying for their own existence as coach. Taking vacation days from work to go to tournaments, skipping family events because of games ( yeah I know some want to skip these) going directly from work to the gym and on their way to the gym picking up their kids to be a few minutes late. Getting there as fast as possible only to get critizes for beeing late.

Most coaches reality in Sweden or the nordics is not a fulltime employment, 50%/25% emplyoment, but some little amount that barely covers their costs to be a coach.

I guess more people than me are crazy! :-)

But regardless the coach`s situation all is expected to be profesional in their coaching, behaivor and planning and more. Thats crazy!

Clubs needs to to make it easier to be a coach and the solution is not only money, but its def a part of it in todays society.

Im starting work this week at malbas and this will be big part of my responsability to create a "happier place" for the coaches in the club. Will be an exciting season to say the least for once I`m truly put in a situation the make a change.

And this is a change I truly hope I can get done if giving the time o do so. Because this is not something that is changed in a heartbeat either.

Malbas is changing - We are on a mission and Im glad Im on point!

And like I wrote earlier, you can be crazy and still be good human, but the world is looking crazier and crazier for each year. I grew up being a big fan of two Michaels. One was Michael Jordan and another was Michael Jackson. I can honestly say I hated Jordan and I never shed a tear, but a few of michaels songs has made me cry rivers.

Here is a great song and WE should all start taking some responsability in making the world a better place. Not to care is NOT the solution that much I know for sure!

It took a lot of years....

......but finally its in the making. Will start up with one of my babies that has been just a plan until now and that is a CAMP concept that will be held 5 times per year and up on request.

Many many years ago I started summer practice in my childhood club LOBAS that I called
DRILLS FOR SKILLS, tough planned practices that covered most of what there is to cover for a baller in development.

Totally I offered 25 hours practice/week + 3 hours of open gym, crazy I know :-)

My first DRILLS FOR SKILLS CAMP will be a four day camp in cooperation with my childhood club, so this dream I have had for so many years starts at the same place where I dreamt of having basketball as my craft. So it couldnt be more suiting. going back to where it once began, to start something new, but still old.

Drills for skills Camps, will be held at dates/places that later will announced.
Its also possible to ask for other dates and if its possible to fit the calender it can be done.

First camp will be held now in june 2015 and its already full, so depending how its goes I will kick it into full GEAR or rethink it.

It will not be the kind of camp you are used too that I can promise. It will only be suitable for players with good work ethic.

Why?
Because otherwise you willl waste your parents money and dont show up after day 1.

More on this later...webbpage and so on will be launched this summer.

Börjar skymta en OAS i öknen

Längesen man hittade tangentbordet och var aktiv här på sidan, men har varken funnits intresse eller ork från min sida att skriva nåt.
Man kan ju hoppas att detta blir bra då :-)


Efter 22år som coach i denna underbara sport varav 4 år i Danmark (Hörsholm) via en kort sejour i Norge, så hamnade jag i Skåneklubben Malbas. Malbas har under flera år byggt upp en stark herr/killsida och det kändes mest rätt att erbjuda mina tjänster i en klubb med ambitioner.

Blev erbjuden intressanta lag och kom igång om än sent, så efter en kort paus så var man igång igen på golvet. Tränar bla ett killag med spelare födda 2001 och för deras basketframtid och alla andra spelare i SKÅNE med ambitioner så kom till slut nyheten att MALBAS valde att söka till Basketligan. UNDERBART!
 
Hur skall man motivera spelare om de inte kan se "de bästa" i landet lira LIVE. NBA och Euroleague i all ära, men de allra allra flest kommer aldrig vara i närheten av dessa ligor. Inte fel med drömmar, men måste också finnas rimliga trappsteg att ta som spelare.

LIGAN till säsongen 2015/2016 vill ju vara fantastiskt, men än är man inte där med båda fötterna. Sportsligt sett så är klubben i LIGAN, men nu fattas bara riktigt god korv på matcherna!?

Nope korven "är najs", men nu skall det ekonomiska på plats och hur är intresset egentligen i SKÅNE?

Finns en hel del basketfolk ute i näringslivet på chefspositioner, som har egna företag men är man villig att stoppa in lite "deg" för att Malbas skall kunna baka bröd?

Kan basketSKÅNE sluta upp under ett basketligalag på herrsidan, som det delvis har blivit på damsidan med Eos damligalag?

Förstår ALLA i skåne vikten av att ha ett ligalag på herr & damsidan eller vill man bara leka i sin egen klubb och jaga pokaler för sitt klubbemblem eller vill VI mer än så?

Vill vi skapa ligaspelare, collegespelare, proffs spelare en framtid för skånska spelare att leva på sin idrott på hemmaplan?

Kan klubbar känna stolthet i att skicka vidare spelare till ligalagen i SKÅNE?

Konceptet HETA SKÅNE var inte illa tänkt förutom namnet och genomförandet, men i alla fall för denna basketidioten så måste ALLA med på nåt hörn i Malbas ligasatsning för att vi skall kunna göra OASEN större i basketöknen.

Jag kan tillsammans med många andra duktiga coacher lära kidsen spela basket, men kanske du har "degen" eller lite tid över, så att vi kan sluta stirra på recept och börja baka!?

Eller kanske du kan bidra med nåt annat?

Vi borde ALLA bidra med allt vi kan "deg" eller inte så kan vi alla bidra med något inte minst att komma på matcherna.

RIP Dean Smith

RIP Coach Dean Smith.

A man that dedicated his life to basketball and helped to shape the G.O.A.T of basketball in Michael Jordan​ . We have lots to be grateful to a basketball/leadeership/teaching brain like Dean Smith was. For me he gave me one thing i particular. Many years ago I bought one of his books where he explained coming to North Carolina and at that time the university was all about fotball and basketball was not highly thought of. The had been banned from TV games for a couple of years, so recruiting wasn`t the easiest the first years.

What Dean did was no cry about, he tried to find solutions. Basketball program needed money, so for example he had them put in special comfortable chairs for sponsors.

He had the locker room re-designed so it would look more like a PRO locker room to make recruitment easier and his reasoning was. The LR is the first thing a player sees everyday and the last thing the see. He tried simply solutions to promote his baskeball program and it eventually became one of the powerhouses in college basketball.

With this I learned it is all right to complain, but make sure you do all you can o find a solution so that your team, club and especially your players can be succesfull.  Your job as a coach is not just to coach the players on the court.
You need to create a learning/suiting enviroment so they can develop and become winners in basketball and life.

Thank you!

One door closes and another opens

Im not gonna into details but when last season was ending I was set to continue in Denmark, but not everybody wanted that. I choose to move back to Lund and was about  to take a year of from basketball and study. With "off from basketball" I mean just coach one team in a local club.

 Then a phone call changed everything and all of sudden I was in Bergen (Norway) visiting one of Norways powerhouses in basketball a club called Gimle. I was amazed by the city and its location which must be one of earth most beautiful places, but i was also amazed about the possibilities that the club have that is undeveloped.
 I met some great people during my 2 days stay in Bergen and for me it was a NO BRAINER really.

Some days later we agreed on me coaching their mens and womens teams that both play in the highest league in Norway and finished 1st and 2nd last season. I will also have kind of club coordinator role to help the whole club develop and progress to what it has potential to be.

Im right now waiting for a apartment, so I can move to Bergen and begin my job in Gimle basketball Club.

Im ready, lets work hard and smart! 

Take a look at some pictures from Bergen and then tell me thats a place you dont want to visit :-)

Pictures here!

The way its suppose to be

This weekend I had many of my players on nationalteam tryouts so we cancelled practise and I myself took a trip to Huskvarna and a basketball weekend.
The coperatiing clubs in that area of sweden arranged a splendid final four arrangement of high class for Women & Men U17 &U19.

Its was a pure joy to see this beeing arranged for the future of swedish basketball and I do believe all players felt very special this weekend in may.

The people behind this FINAL FOUR in Huskvarna has just made a couple of players fall in love more with the game. Pro arrangement around the games, you could even watch games LIVE from the other gym in the other gym.

All games was broadcasted on stream and LIVE stats and social media activities all weekend.

The had made a program for the weekend that you had to pay for which I think is about time that somethings cost money around youth championships.

They even arranged a banquet on saturday evening for all players and coaches. Its pretty unusal in the nordics but very common in other basketball countries. LOVE IT!

Coaches got a special made mug, so they could get free coffee all weekend.
(yeah coaches need coffee since they sleep very little)

Many things to celebrate this weekend for. It had some nice games and on the final day they even had two elder gentleman in their fine clothes and even with a black tie sweeping the floors.
Not some kid 12 years old sitting like usual a great idea and very loved by all.

Many peoople behind it and team Aulander & Enbom directing the plays behind the scenes and Aulander even was speaker for some games dropping classics like "pengar" money when shoots was made, to "kust till kust" coast to coast and more.

NT coaches was there to hand out awards to players, just super.

But only one thing was in my eyes negative and on the finals a couple of minutes into the first final they stopped the crowd from using loud horns.....Who likes them, well not me, BUT it creates such a atmosphere for the players and as long as they dont sit and blow the horns directly into peoples ears, well guess what its basketball.

People are there for the players to support them in the way they can...most scandinavians need something to make noise, they had horns to make noise. A few didnt like how loud the sounded and simsalabim it gets stopped.

Have you ever been to a game outside the nordics?
Well its not like watching pool or bowling.........

I asked about it and one voulenteer said the federation said it was OK to stop them

I`m sorry but this made me mad.....

But the whole weekend was super and gets the highest grades from me at least.
Hope they get this 17 & U19 for a couple of years in a row now, why change when its this good.

Still in love - thank you Dr J.Naismith

1891 Naismith invinted what we know as basketball of course it was played earlier like I think it was maya indians that played something similar with the head of the beaten tribe member cut of after winning the battle.

But I like Naismith version better.......

Directly when I found basketball as a youth I knew that this was me. First as a player and for the last 22 years as a coach. I fell in love with basketball and now as this season comes to a end I can look back and smile once again.

Looking towards the future is also positive and one is exctited of what  the future will bring for a basketball addictive Swede living in Denmark.
I know what I want, but its not up to me so we will see what time will bring me.

Looking back at this season I will always remember basketball as my savior. My father passed away in February and thank God I have basketball or I cant even guess where I would find strength to carry on. But knowing that I have like 28 players waiting for me to coach them every week and all the headache and joy they bring helps you escape reality and when you are ready to face reality they ares till there willing to work their asses of and listen to your wise (hopefully) words practise after practise and week after week.

The LOVE you get back as a coach is what keeps you going year after year. Its not the medals, the trophies its the humans you coach, to see them develop, to see them grow and find out who they are is coaching. All the systems in the world cant help you if you dont have foundamentally sound ground to stand on. I believe that I make a difference and to see former players succeed in whatever they are doing even if its not basketball is to me the real trophies. I cant put them in the cluboffice or in the closet, but in my mind I collect them all.

This season one of my former players (Alexander AKA Gorski) signed for NCAA D1 Wyoming Cowboys after spending a year at prep school Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. I have never ever been so nervous in life as for him getting his signature in place and it was a lot of years ago I coached him. But i know I made a difference and i know his goals with basketball, so even if my girls won the nordic championships for U16 teams this season its still second to him signing for a D1 school.

Many propably think I`m crazy in thinking so, but to me coaching is so much more than the game its about life.

But the way my girls won the U16 Nordic club championships has its own chapter
Take a look at this, we are down 2points after a 3 min overtime and my PG Caroline Hyldahl decides to knock down a 3 from downtown with 0 time left.
(Even benchplayers from the other team are on court celebrating)
Click on the picture to see the last seconds of the final

When preparing for something.....

....it doesn`t always goes as planned and it doesn`t matter how many times you been there as a coach it still hits you like a rock in the head.

It gives you headache and now brain begins trying to find solutions to compensate for things that didn´t go as planned. What I`m a talking about well for example, player or players gets sick, injured something happens that effects your prepairation for the big game, the tournament.

I had one of these "nightmaries" last week. We started practising again in the new year and I knew we would have one player still away on vacation. This is 6 days before the danish cup final, well had a double practise planned (11 players in team in total) 1 away on trip, that leaves 10 players, of course one gets sick - 9 left.

First practise one cant continue because of his fot is giving him problems - 8 left

Practise the next day 1 more player steps of - 7 left, one day off and practise again one player has to sit out.
Practise the next day (last practise before cup final) 10 players dressed, but 1 cant practise - 9 left

10minutes left of practise one of the teams best players looses his balance and of course sprains his ankle. The day before a get message from one of the injures players whom have moved pretty far away from where he used to live, he feels it cant work so he chooses to stop playing.

Gameday:
I was thinking what more can go wrong, but actually trains where in time and we had no problems at all. The player that sprained his ankle said he wanted to try his foot on the warmups. Halfway into the warmups he comes and says coach it cant be done. Stupid me of course I had some hope of him playing, but reality hit me hard there in the gym.

We actually started the game really nice in defense and played as I see it creative offense, but and there is always a but :-) As i wrote we played really nice "D" and we made them take bad shoots, but we didn`t block out at all. We are a very small team and they are big, so they punished us again and again on the boards.

Blocking out has to be done in some way or...!

Tried everyhting to get them to block out, but it was like the one thing just had disapeared from their skillset.
Very frustrating to watch and that continued for the most part of the game. But due to we played well in offense we where still in the game at halftime -7points. If we start blocking out its our game thats how I felt and what we agreed on.....but words, and answering "YES" "yes coach" "lets do it" aint the blocking out no players and sadly we continued to be spectators in rebounding situations. They had a 10p lead for most of the second half and I felt we need 2-3 stops and we can turn this around.

We had some moments where we came back really strong, but theey stoped our "runs" just in time. They won with 18 points and the killed us at the boards. They most have had 40p+ of second chance or third and that we actually where in the game for the most part anyway is something positive at least.

After that prepairation what could I exspect?
Well, if we forget about the rebounding issue me guys played their hearts out, we just forgot about one major important thing in basketball called REBOUNDING and I think after this game they will never forget again cause who wants silver instead of gold?!

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

Its not the shoes!

Read Bleacher report about the "shoeless mice"

Wake up call

Nice inspirational video, enjoy!

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!

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!

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.

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 :-)

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.

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