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The game against Iceland went well, we have won convincingly and made another necessary step towards the playoffs (82067).

Game shapes of our outside players were excellent, however game shapes of our big men were very poor (also my fault, since I played Ahler with until then optimal minutes also for Thursday's cup match - the game started already at 7 am, which caught me off guard). I expected Iceland to be a bit aggressive with game day predictions, and since we could play inside tactics very well with available players, I didn't hesitate. The sum of tactical-, home court- and quality advantages then led to a quick lead, which finally materialized in the second quarter, when we were leading by 26 points. Although our guests managed to get back to 13 points difference in Q3, our win was never in question, and the final result 127-102 is within the range of the expected outcome.

Four of the five starters - Josefsson, Forsbratt, Häggin and Håkansson were almost equally efficient, scoring 20 to 23 points, while the fifth starter, Herman Hansson was offensively a bit less prominent, probably due to playing on a PG position. However, his +/- is the best among all players (+22), so obviously he was a huge asset for us.

I must say that I am really sad about the fate of Mats Josefsson, whom I just recently described as one of the most promising swedish players of all generations. But he was sold in the meantime. Although his new owner takes good care of his minutes, he cannot train him further, which is a real loss for us. Josefsson will still be a team member, but his role will be limited, while he could become a team leader within a season or two. Another such player is also Patrik Skogstedt (23), who was also the best player among many generations. He will be trained with a new chinese owner, and we'll see how it goes. It is very difficult if not impossible to give any directions to chinese managers. Although they can in some cases obviously train very good and very dedicated, they sometimes produce a bit chaotic players, who do not fit well in just any team, but are built for the specific purpose of their club. Actually now our two best 23 year olds are trained in China, I really hope they will give it their best.

So long story short, try to have a long-term vision with your trainees and NT players. Usually a player is best trained if he is with one manager from age 18 (or 19) until 30+. Especially for swedish teams, I strongly recommend not selling your trainees at any point. With Utopia it is a bit different, since most of us have Utopia teams in 4th division (and soon it will be 5th division), where finances cannot support NT caliber players above the age of 25 or so. Still, try to plan in advance and try to find a domestic buyer from swedish leagues if you can.

Although I considered Ghana to be this year's weakest opponent, an away game again proved to be much more difficult than expected. We won, but the difference of 18 points was not superb (82093).

While the roster of Ghana is not remarkable, they had good results this season, with two wins against Senegal and Georgia. A lot of this seems due to the higher attitude. Actually they seem to be on an autopilot, playing constantly with normal attitude, inside isolation and 3-2 zone tactics, but after just two games I estimated the double prediction is not worth the risk, since merely getting a win was the main priority.

Anyhow, the win was still convincing, and was solidified already in the second quarter. Kristian Forsbratt was offensively the best player in our roster, scoring 42 points while also providing 9 assists. Generally our outside players contributed to most of our scoring, and only 26 out of 132 points were achieved from players on PF and C positions (with Kalle Håkansson scoring more than half of them - 14)

Next week we face Mexico, a well respected BB country, where small things like GS and tactics will matter even more. It is a home game, so our aim is naturally to win. If we do, we can even raise our hopes from merely qualifying to the playoffs, to actually getting to the later rounds, since a better score than just 5-3 will be on the table. If not, then we are back to hoping for a bare playoff qualification.

Last edited by Deschamps at 11/11/2025 7:07:43 AM

Yesterday we managed to achieve an important win against Mexico (82147)

The game saw some swings from one side to the other, with both teams playing the same tactics. Most of the first half was very even, however just at the end, the first gap opened. In the last three minutes, Mexicans outplayed us with a score 10-2, and got a +9 advantage for the half-time break.

We managed to catch them in Q3, getting to 71-70, but again fell off in the final minutes of the quarter, which ended in 79-72. It only took us 3 minutes into Q4 to finally equalize the score to 84, and then three more to take the lead with 92-90. Afterwards we managed to hold the lead for a few minutes, with our highest lead being +4.

One minute to go, Mexicans equalized to 102, but fortunately Sören Häggin quickly responded for 104-102. Good defending, and another two points from Kalle Håkansson got us to 106-102 with 31 seconds to go. Our nerves got a bit stressed, when guests scored a three pointer for 106-105 19 seconds to go, but it got a bit easier, when Lasse Lundell hit both free throws for a three point lead. Timeout didn't help Mexicans, who failed to score another three pointer, and then it was just additional series of our free throws, which confirmed a well deserved win.

Our starting five scored 95 out of 112 points, so obviously our problems and weaknesses emerged when backups were on the court. This is also evident from the +/- statistics, ranging from +8 to +16 for starters, and from -1 to -9 for backups.

To be honest, I am not completely happy with the performance. Seeing higher attitude, knowing we also had a home court advantage, I expected the game to be smoother for us. But if I look it from another perspective: According to ranking, a win against Mexico (ranked 21st) is the equalized second best opponent Sweden had ever won against. The last win against country with such high ranking happened in a very distant season 34 (against Hong Kong, also ranked 21st), and the only time Sweden had won against higher ranked team was in even more distant season 20 against Argentina (13th). So looking from such perspective, this is definitely a good achievement, signaling good times for the NT.

With a score 4-0 we are now in a very good position, almost guaranteed of a playoff spot, while we can still very much hope for a home court advantage in the first round of the playoff (so finishing top 16). Although this will still be very difficult, probably requireing a 7-1 score. On the other hand, we had already improved our 3-5 score from two seasons ago.

Next week we face Bosnia, a game where our chances of winning are very slim. Still, going into the game without any burden can lead to positive surprises, so we'll see how it goes.