Sean Sheldon has been the newest addition to Susijeng’s coaching team this summer. Sheldon also works in the coaching team of Lauri Markkanen’s NBA club Utah Jazz.
Susijengi will start the World Basketball Championships in Okinawa, Japan on Friday, August 25. In the opening match, they will face medal favorite Australia. The match starts at 11:00. You can see Susijengi and Lauri Markkanen’s highlights fresh on the website and in the app.
OKINAWA.
January training in Utah. Lauri Markkanen is finishing practice on the basketball court. Susijeng’s head coach will also be there Lassi Tuovi and the current head of coaching for the Basketball Association Henrik Dettmann. When Markkanen goes to the gym, he spends time with the Finnish duo from the Utah Jazz’s NBA coaching team Sean Sheldon.
Later in the spring, one thing led to another. Utah was contacted by the basketball association. Sheldon expressed his interest in coming to coach in Finland, if such an opportunity opens up. The head coach Will Hardy and GM Justyn Zanik negotiated with the Basketball Association. Now at the end of August, Sheldon is one of the seven members of the coaching team in Susijeng.
– I’m happy that Susijengi invited me there, Sheldon says and states the nickname of the Finnish national basketball team in almost perfect Finnish.
Sheldon says that his role is to help the rest of Susijeng’s coaching team. He holds skill drills, helps with scouting and video closings. He also has a lot of experience with the latter in the NBA.
Sheldon began his NBA career in the 2019-2020 season as the assistant video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs. He moved up a notch to video coordinator in the second season, until he came to Utah last season as an assistant coach.
The presence of NBA clubs in national team coaching teams is not uncommon. For example last summer there were six superstars in the background team of the Greek national team Giannis Antetokounmpo representing the Milwaukee Bucks.
– We want to support Lauri here. Lauri is a big part of our organization. We want to show our support and help in any way possible. Another thing is that we want to spend time with him and the Finnish national team. We are trying to get new ideas that we could use in Utah, Sheldon states.
Sheldon reveals that he has already found some new things for the Utah Jazz. For example, he has drawn some offensive patterns for head coach Hardy and proposed them for use next season.
– The wonderful thing about Will is that he is so open and ready to try new things, Sheldon says.
Finnish summer has shown its best sides
Sheldon joined the Utah Jazz story at the same time as Lauri Markkanen left for last season. So he had time to see up close how Markkanen blossomed and rose to a whole new level as a basketball player. Markkanen was awarded as the most developed player of the year and was the first Nordic ever to be selected for the NBA’s prestigious all-star game.
Sheldon, who is from Michigan, states that Markkase doesn’t show any differences on the playing field in the NBA or Susijeng.
When you ask him about the differences between Markkanen’s nature in Susijeng or in the NBA, the American praises Susijeng.
– One of my big points has been how comfortable Lauri has felt here. Lauri has been playing with others here for a long time. They have been friends since they were young. It has been fun to watch such warm relationships. It’s been great how good friendships have turned into good game performances, Sheldon states.
30-year-old Sheldon has played basketball himself. He represented William & Mary in the American college series in the NCAA and then played in Switzerland as a professional for a year.
He has also been able to enjoy the Finnish summer. Sheldon tells how the rest of the coaching team has joked about how lucky Utah’s confirmation has been regarding Helsinki’s weather in August.
Sheldon says that he especially enjoyed walking the streets of Helsinki. He has liked to visit restaurants and cafes in the capital. One dish in particular has stuck in my mind.
– One pizza place had reindeer pizza. It was really good, Sheldon fumes.
The Utah Jazz’s situation looks interesting for the upcoming NBA season after the promising last season. Utah has made game moves during the summer and acquired a high-paid player from Atlanta of John Collins. It has been speculated that Markkanen will play more in the position of a small winger next season, i.e. in the third position.
– We have new pieces when we have acquired and reserved players. The biggest thing is how we get the pieces in place, Sheldon says about his thoughts for the upcoming season.