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I cannot imagine ever voting for anyone else...
If that time have to come.
PM the new one that it is vital the NT-coach BB-mail coaches and assist them in the training of potential national assets.
You are awesome in that aspect!

So guys, new season, new challenges.
The upcoming european championship can be described as "welcome to hell". I took a look at the groups and it can be said, Europe is so freaking hard to play. In almost every group there are 4-5 teams which can compete for the first or second place. Group A with the host Serbia, Greece, Italy and the two always hard to play teams Estonia and Russia are one of these examples. Our own group isn't really better. Lithuania is the favorite, but behind them, every mistake will be punished. The time of easy groups is over and there are a lot less "small and weak" micro nation teams than 10 or 15 seasons ago.

But now let's take a closer look at our group.

1) vs. Slovenia:
Surprise, we played them last season.. twice! First a scrimmage and than during the tournament. For me, they have one of the most impressive backcourts around Berlak, Klavc and Pogac. Last season we injured them, fouled them out and still, they survived and won thanks to a monster q4 from Klavc.

2) vs. Netherlands:
And the next one. Two seasons ago they were first our scrimmage opponent and than we ended up in the same group. Like us, the improved over the last seasons and have a balanced team. There are no real weaknesses and they can play almost every tactic. They still have the same manager, so it's almost like a reunion with an old buddy ;)

3) vs. Croatia:
Let's keep the streak running... Three seasons ago they were our opponent. Most of the players are still from that time. They will be one of the teams which compete for second place. Maybe they even could reach for first.

4) vs. Lithuania:
The next known one... Like the Netherlands, Lithuania was with us in the same group two seasons ago and they won it. And again, they are the team which has the strongest claim for first place. If everything goes smooth, all the others will play for the ticket behind Lithuania.

5) vs. Cyprus:
Cyprus won't compete for one of the upper ranks. But like every seasons, they are potential CTer. A bad game shape or injuries could invite a hard hit from them.

6) vs. Ireland:
More or less same like Cyprus. Under normal circumstances a win for us.

7) vs. Macedonia:
Sooo... for me the X-Factor. They have some strong players but not the depth on the bench. Every possible win from them will influnce the upper half drastically. They could be the team which decides through tough games who ends up as second.


I went through the game plans and teams and went through some scenarios. My prediction is that we will have two teams with a 5:2 and two teams with a 4:3. But who ends up where... that is really hard to say.
What I can say is that I have an idea for the swedish NT. But so do have the other seven. Now I will wait for the update on friday, scout once more and than make a plan for the first game day. The bad thing is: this season will be tough. The good one: for the others too.

Last edited by Nachtmahr at 1/10/2018 3:07:56 PM

Great overview, looks like we all know our tougher opponents already, but they know us as well so.. :-P

Good luck, as always it will be an enjoyable season watching and reading your comments.

F***!!!! Säfen is injured and will be out for 2 weeks. So with the game shape drop 3 weeks.

The game against Slovenia is set. With all the developements during the last 2-3 days, I had to change a lot. Six players which were already in the possible line up are out now or weren't nominated for the NT.
So let's see if my solution is any good or if Slovenia will go over us like a hurricane.

What the hell?! Smol went after 48 seconds down. So we played the whole game without ony of our three main backcourt players. For today I'm finished.
I will post an explanation why I played CT and this line up tomorrow.

Before I get to the point with yesterdays game, I want you to tell what I thought before the game.
Sweden is now at a peak in its current developement. We have a strong S5 (unfortunately not for the next 2 weeks) and for the next 2-4 seasons the team will only get stronger.
With this said, we are now and for at least the next three seasons in a "win now" situation. I don't want to play nice and to the ideal of the other NT managers. I want to reach the next round, I want to try to get the team as far as possible. A 3rd place during the european championship is the same like a 6th place: you are out!

Why CT?
I took a look at the schedule, our opponents and their schedules. The result was not so great. We have to get two wins out of the four games. And even this could end with a third place. We played these guys during the last 2-3 seasons several times. I know that they are hard to beat and that without a CT it is even harder. Slovenia was a sure CT option. Both teams with enthusiasm 5, neutral playground and the start of the season. It was a now or never action.
Even after the injury of Säfen and the problem with Gustavsson, I kept CT. Waiting would result in a loss against Slovenia and I was sure they will play TIE because of our problems. I took the risk and expected a strong game from Smol as our PG and Westerlund as the connecting part at C. The result is clear.

What now?
I burned the enthusiasm... so it will be a little bit harder to get back in track. But if someone thinks that means I won't try to get the best results for Sweden, keep dreaming. I will keep it like always: only in the best interest for the team.

At this point I would like to take a look at a player. Westerlund was fantastic. He was our scoring machine during the first half. But in his shadow, there was another player who had a lot to do. Lövlind. He doesn't look like a frightening player, but he was great during his first start. Besides his result in the boxscore, he had to deal with Berlak (he was his defender) and Klavc (had to play against him in the offense). Klavc fouled him several times and against Berlak... he is our best allround defender, but Berlak is in another league.

Again, sorry for the high risk, but I had to try. I wish you a good week and hope that your players stay healthy.

After last weeks loss, we had to get back some enthusiasm. The Netherlands had a easy game in the first week and it came down to a light version of an all star game. A lot of scoring, almost no defense. We hold the diferense between -7 and -15.
Macedonia used our trick against Slovenia and crunshed them. And on to, they injured on of the starters. So they did it better than we -.- The result was a 115:99 and it shows that Macedonia is indeed dangerous. The will lose the next two games with ties, go for two easy wins and then crunsh us in the last game. We have something to look forward... yeah -.-
Croatia and Lithuania, our next opponents, are unbeaten and unscrached at first and second. These two games will decide if we can earn a chance for the next round or not.
I really hope that Säfen comes back on Sunday and has good game shape. The others, Birgersson, Westerlund, Smol etc. played well, but the dutch guards had to much room for scoring.

I had a little chat with Cowstreet, the dutch NT manager. They started a trainee project several season ago. Something like ours. Just with a delay. Their first trainees are 22, ours are already 25. So we have at least there a small advantage. Other NTs copied the idea too... No wonder we can't get away from them

Btw: Smol trains like a young boy... 143 TSP and he has no intention to stop.

Säfen was injured...
It's like this season is jinxed.

We still adore you.
Fight on!