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Our trip to Moscow was not successful, Russians took the match very seriously, thus it ended with their win 120-99 (74147).

Given the fact, that our GS wasn't great nor terrible, and the same could be said about Russians, who were maybe slightly better, I wasn't very optimistic about the game. So we went into it with double prediction, hoping for that sweet sight of double green dots. Unfortunately for us, it was a double miss, and Russia even played with higher attitude, which erased all our hopes in the first minute of the game.

But BB is sometimes very unpredictable, so you are never 100% sure. In fact, first ten minutes were quite good for us, as we kept the score tied. Before the end of Q1, the home team managed to get some advantage, but even afterwards, in the beginning of Q2, we were still close. The real difference was made in the second half of Q2 with 19-2 score for Russians. 20 points difference at the half-time already meant that the game was decided.

But since the points difference also counts in consolation tournament, we were quite lucky not to loose by even more. We were trailing already by -32, but the garbage time in Q4 got us back to the acceptable difference of -21. I believe it was worth to try to get something from the game by risking double prediction, but with Russia's higher attitude, it would have been difficult even if we got it right.

Next week we play a home game against Senegal. They surprisingly lost the first game of the season against Wales (due to Wales playing crunch time), and then they won at home against Luxembourg, but even that was not a very convincing win, since they played with a higher attitude. So, judging by their games so far, we are definite favorites. But still we need to be well prepared, since it is a must win game for us, and a good point difference would also serve us well.

Best regards

In the past two weeks, we played two games with a different outcome. In both cases, the power of the home court advantage was quite evident. First, we beat Senegal, even easier than expected (74174), but two days ago we were nowhere close against Colombia, even though we gained some tactical advantage (74193).

The home game against the respected african nation was decided in the second quarter, when we managed to get away with a score 42-18. However, all other quarters also went smoothly, so we managed the get a very nice point difference of +53. Veteran Markus Andersson came from the bench and managed to become our best scorer by playing only 21 minutes. We had very solid stats in both FG% and 3pt %, as well as passing, rebounding and even defensive stats, so no complaints about this game.

Contrary, the game against Colombia proved to be much more challenging. Although I cannot point to any interval during the game, where we were much worse than our opponent, the difference was steadily increasing through all 48 minutes. Our main problem was, that we didn't have any positive streak. Our attack was decent, but the defense was very weak, as was our rebounding, where Columbia "won" 50-37. Although some of these difference can be attributed to their high FG%, I still expected 2-3 zone to give us some advantage in rebounding, as well as being more efficient against their inside tactics. But to be fair, their inside rating of 16 (high) is so good, that their brilliant scoring percentage is somewhat logical.

Our odds might have been better without the unfortunate injury of Håkan Dallius , but it is hard to imagine, that we would have been able to close the gap even with him. Tommy Fyhrhult was, again, our best scorer, and can still climb a place, or even two places higher in the all-time scoring table. But he needs to stay focused.

Next week we are facing another South American team, Brazil. But this time at home, so it should be a very close game, and, as I mentioned before, one of the most important ones. So keeping fingers crossed for our game shape

Finally we managed to get two consecutive wins. The first one, a home win against Brazil (74256), was especially important and meant a huge step towards playoffs. This could all be lost in a tricky away game against India, who played some decent games recently. But luckily, we exceeded expectations and not only won, but also gained some important points difference (74302).

Before the clash against Brazil, South Americans were on the very top of the consolation tournament table. This doesn't mean much, since it is very dependent on the quality of past opponents, but along with their higher rating, and also slightly better quality, it labelled them as favorites. Luckily for us, they went too easy into the game, probably because we were still missing injured Håkan Dallius , which made us look quite vulnerable.

The first quarter was very close, but Brazilians managed to get a good run at the very end, gaining a 9 points advantage. We were slightly better in the most of Q2, but it took us quite some time to catch the away team. This was achieved 3 minutes before the half time, with a two pointer from Lasse Lundell. Afterwards, neither team was willing to risk much until the half time, which saw result 49-47 for Brazil.

We opened the second half much better, 10-0 after first 4 minutes put us in a decently safe lead, which went to +10 several minutes later. By the end of Q3 Brazilians managed to get closer (73-70), but we again demonstrated very strong start into Q4, which got us back to +10 after four minutes. Afterwards, guests didn't manage to seriously threaten our win, so the final minutes (luckily) weren't very dramatic.

The next game against India was easier than expected. Since they played some good games recently, I was a little bit nervous whether they would maybe go crunch time on us. In combination with their HCA, that might be dangerous. Although they actually played with a higher, but not CT attitude, we demonstrated a solid strength and didn't leave any doubts about the winner already by half time. So most likely we are qualified to the playoffs, where we will get also with a good enthusiasm.

Next week we again play against the leading team in the consolation tournament table - England. We play at home, a win is possible and would move us somewhat higher in the table (currently we are 27th). But I doubt even two wins will get us to the top 16, which would mean a HCA in the first round. But hope remains, our last game is against Pakistan, where we shouldn't have any problems.

Best wishes

We finished the first part of the tournament with a score 5-3 and on 30th place. The two most recent games were played against England (74349) at home, and against Pakistan away (74379).

Before the start of the tournament, the game against England was considered to be one of the most crucial games for us. But with the outcome of prior games, it was not as important anymore, because our qualification to the playoffs was more or less secured, however we didn't have chances to finish in the top 16 anymore. For England, this game meant quite much, since they wanted to remain on the very top of the table, so it is no surprise, that they went into the game with a lot of effort.

Their desire was evident especially in the first quarter, when they quickly gained some lead and outplayed us by a wide margin (30-19). They didn't stop in Q2, when the gap rose to a very depressing -22 for us (50-28). Fortunately we managed to improve offensively and got a little bit closer by half-time (58-42).

First minutes of Q3 didn't indicate our comeback, as the difference remained at approx. 15 points for the first five minutes. Then it got better, as Lasse Lundell scored for 71-62 six minutes into Q3. A couple of minutes later it was already 71-66 and we were back into the game. We needed a couple of minutes to beathe and England managed to get a couple of points further, but after some consolidation we managed to break the 10 points barrier again and finished Q3 with a three-pointer from Finn Egghall for 87-82.

Start of Q4 was again a little troubling for us, and our guests again increased the difference above 10 points. Not for long though, some well played actions got us back to where we wanted before the final minutes. A good minute to go, Lundell scored for 108-104 and we desperately needed to be successfull defensively. Thanks to a missed free throw from Jonathan Kemp, our success was 50%. Lundell then got us to 109-106, and a few seconds later Jack Stjärna collected a defensive rebound. There were only 11 seconds left on the clock, we called time-out as we needed a three pointer to get us into over-time. Five seconds to go, Lasse Lundell, admittedly the man of the evening, tried but missed. However Tommy Fyhrhult hustled for the offensive rebound, passed to Finn Egghall, but again, it was a miss. Afterwards we fouled, England scored one more point from the free throw line, and the game was over.

No big deal though, let's save the success in nail-biting games for some other time

Afterwards, we just needed a win against Pakistan, which was, until recently, one of the worst teams in the BB world. However, they have a very experienced manager at the moment, and their results improved quite a lot, so there was a little bit of nervousness before the game. Indeed, the first quarter was very tight as Pakistanis lead most of the first 12 minutes. We managed to take the lead just at the end of Q1, and got to +10 by half time. Afterwards the difference in quality finaly emerged and we increased the difference to +47 by the end of the game.

At the end, this placed us to 30th position, and we only improved by 2 places after that significant win. Unfortunately this matches us with Slovenia, a team I managed for 14 seasons and a team, I really didn't want to play against, since I really wish them/us all the best. But eventually it was bound to happen. On the plus side, I know the team and players very well. On the negative side, I know we are not (yet) at their level. But of course we will do our best and hope for a surprise.

So, again I ask for a special care on the players' minutes, since we really need everyone at their best. Now every succeding game will be the most important game of the season, so if somebody can affort GS training, even better. Many thanks for your dedication so far, we had some problems, but in general our GS is very good