An HNBT of excellence
Once again, the commemorative HNBT announces more appealing representation from various countries. Previously reported was the participation of the GasTerra Flames, the selection team of Hamburg, Gloria and the Sabonis Basketball School. We can now proudly advertise that at least four National Teams will compete this year:
Estonia U18
Poland U18
Lebanon U18
Netherlands U18
At the European Championships (EC) held in Sarajevo last year, the U18 selection team of Poland took home silver, Estonia recorded sixth place and the Netherlands followed closely behind claiming seventh. It is noteworthy that the Polish selection team has remained intact since the EC. Therefore, it is expected that they will be battling for the trophy at the HNBT.
Another contender will hopefully be the U18 squad from Estonia. Since the days that Valmo Kriisa made an indelible impression, Groningen has recognized and respected Estonia as a basketball nation. However, predicting the performance of the current U18 team will be difficult because the selection has changed substantially since the EC.
For several years, we have been acquainted with the level of Lebanese basketball through the participation of Sagesse/Rosaire Basketball Club. Given their result last year at the HNBT, we can assume that the National team will perform above average. The selection team finished eighth at the Asian Championships in 2008, which is an indication of their strength.
The participation of the Netherlands U18 team in the HNBT is extremely special. In previous tournament years, the U18 National Team has chosen to compete in another tournament in Cherbourg (France). However, this year they are convinced that the HNBT is the best stage to see where they measure up in U18 international competition.
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Swen Nater back in Groningen
Over Easter, Groningen will be graced by the presence of Dutch basketball legend, Swen Nater. He will host a post clinic for players, a coaches’ clinic and also a workshop during the HNBT.
Nater was born in Den Helder in 1950 and shortly thereafter moved to America at the age of nine. Although he left the Netherlands in his youth, Nater has held on to his roots, which can be verified by his affinities for old-fashioned stew and Holland herring. However, the one thing he certainly does not miss from his homeland is the smell of “cowpoop” lingering in the Dutch air.
Nater’s basketball credentials from the States are quite impressive. While playing with the “Walton Gang” from UCLA, he never lost a game in his collegiate career. His team captured the NCAA title in both 1972 and 1973, and it was during this period that UCLA set the all-time NCAA consecutive winning-streak record of 88 games. Due to his success as a Bruin, he was a first-round draft pick for the ABA, and in his first season he was named Rookie of the Year. To this day, Nater is the only player in history to have never started a senior college game and be drafted in the first round.
Throughout his ABA and NBA careers, Nater played with seven different teams and alongside many world-renown players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. While in the ABA, he snagged over 1000 rebounds in a single season, which foreshadowed him being tabbed the best rebounder of the NBA in 1980.
Once his playing career had come to an end, Nater built himself a successful coaching career. His philosophy was a combination of the system he had learned under John Wooden and his own teaching methods. Nater even wrote a book about his coaching methods titled: You Have Not Taught Until They Have Learned.
Nater stands by the following motto of John Wooden: It's amazing what a team can accomplish when no one cares who receives the credit.
www.coachswen.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swen_Nater
Swen Nater in Groningen