Høybråten on its way up again
Posted by Arild Sandven
&ball;October 1, 2021
After three seasons with injuries, dropouts and losses, Høybråten is back on the offensive. – I see us in the top 3 or top 4, says Bilal Rodgers before his seventh season as coach for the blues from Oslo east.
Rodgers led Høybråten to league silver in the league in 2017/18, but then it has been three seasons with several losses and more victories. The last at worst with 10 losses in 11 games in the amputated league, and more than 50 points on average per loss.
– We have had some seasons with dropouts and injuries, Rodgers determined.
Tina Evjen Nesse, Shiba Haji Ahmadi, Ariana Sefaj, Anneli Widén and Flaka Kelmendi are key players who have all disappeared over the course of a few seasons. At the same time, both Sigrid Male Davidsen and Kelmendi were on the injury list early last autumn, before Frida Liholm Strøm also had to leave.
Now everything looks much better. Bilal Rodgers has 14 players in the league squad and several juniors knocking on the door. And not least: Both Sigrid Mand Davidsen and Frida Liholm Strøm are injury-free and ready to start in the Firi league.
Davidsen has had fatigue fractures in both legs and wasted a total of five league games in the last few seasons.
One match – then Høybråten won
– Now the fractures are definitely healed and in order, she states.
-I am still for a while, but everything is much better even last year and I can participate in matches, says the 26-year-old, who also played in the 3×3 festival at Aker Brygge in August.
The 1.85m tall forward has had double-doubles in points and rebounds in all five full seasons she has wasted in the league, finishing with 16.6 points and 10 rebounds in the last full, 2018/19.
Last season, Høybråten only won over Tromsø Storm Ungdom, the only match Sigrid Male Davidsen played, on 22 November. Or “match” – she was on the field for 16 minutes, but added 13 points and was absolutely decisive in the final phase when Høybråten won 53-49.
– It was very fun, but also very boring because it turned out to be a little too early. I had to stay again right away, says Davidsen.
– Begins to look like something
18-year-old Frida Liholm Strøm has had a lot of injury trouble in her first two seasons, but is with too much again now.
– The first season I had to go out with smoked ligaments in the ankle. In the other, I had osteomyelitis which never went away and the shoulder out of joint, says the 1.88 m tall forward, who was also at U18 national team gatherings before Nordic this summer.
– But I had just returned from the injuries and did not feel physically ready, so I chose to retire, forklift Strøm. U18-Nordic was also canceled.
– Now I have built myself into a physical form that began to look like something. It is a long body to take care of, but it looks like things are going well, says and hopes the 18-year-old.
Robust forward duo
The former Bøler player is optimistic ahead of Høybråten’s season in the Firi league.
– The layer is very young and does not look much like the layer I came to since. But we have good chemistry and have got Sigrid back who is experienced and good with us young people, she emphasizes.
With Frida Liholm Strøm at 1.88 and Sigrid Male Davidsen at 1.85, Høybråten has one of the league’s highest and most robust inside pairs.
– There are several small layers, so it is clear we have the advantage of a little height, Davidsen agrees.
– I think it looks very good now. We have a nice group with a very nice atmosphere and many young talents, with many players who have developed many since last year, states the team captain.
– Has lacked leadership
Bilal Rodger’s vet how important it is to have the team’s leader back.
– I see the glow in her eyes now, she has self-confidence again. Sigrid knows her role and has become a more verbal leader, I hope she manages to transfer it to combat as well. We have lacked leadership on the field after Anneli and Flaka also disappeared, prioritized the Høybråten coach.
He also writes by Frenchman Suzanne Rochette, the only newcomer to the league team this season. The 32-year-old is a combo guard and can claim a place in the starting five. She plays amateur basketball in France and now comes from games in the Danish 3rd division.
– Suzanne is experienced and helpful, the young people listen to her and she has plenty of time to explain what can be done on the pitch. In addition, she is a player who can both take balls and who shoots well, says Rodgers.
– More stable
’05 model Tina Nordve is the youngest in the Høybråten squad and one of the league’s youngest players, and in addition Bilal Rodgers has included several Kolbotn juniors in training. Has she especially the 04 players Ane Mai Tangen Grung and Johanna Grøvan marked themselves, so maybe they get a chance or more in the Firi league during the season?
The coach believes in a far more stable Høybråten team in 2021/22.
– I feel that we are in much better shape, more young players have taken and we have a squad of 14 players to choose from, as he wants.
– We have had many “ups and downs” in recent seasons, but this season we can become more stable. Ulriken and Bærum are the big favorites, but I think we can compete with all the other teams and see ourselves in the top 3 or top 4.
HØYBRÅTEN
Coach: Bilal Rodgers.
Assistant coach: Truls Power.
Players IN: Suzanne Rochette (CBS Copenhagen).
Players OUT: Flaka Kelmendi (break), Astrid Jansen Gjersvik and Tine Martinsen (laid up), Miranda Kelmendi (studies), Lisbeth Jansen (Høybråten 1K), Maria Ottersen, Ralitsa Topalova.
PLAYERS 2021/22:
3 Henon Ogbazion, 4 Jofrid Gjersvik, 5 Ingrid Gjersvik, 7 Milena Kodzhailieva, 9 Frida Liholm Strøm, 12 Ximena Morales, 13 Ariam Germeskel, 16 Alba Reinhardt, 18 Nur Hannah Fulayi, 22 Tina Nordve, 23 Emily Osborn Andersen, 31 Suzanne Rochette , 32 Adrianna Live Berg, 42 Sigrid Mand Davidsen.
Likely start-5: Germeskel, Rochette, Andersen, Davidsen, Strøm.
Opening match: Høybråten – Bergen Elite, Furusethallen Sunday 10 October at 15.00