Swede talent Hakanson already fulfilling talent at Barcelona

REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) – Ludvig Hakanson left Sweden for Barcelona with so much promise. And not only did he become the latest Swede to make the jump to the Spanish giants, he also is the third youth Svenska talent to show they belong among the elite.

Hakanson is just 16 years old but the Matteus native held his own in Barcelona’s youth ranks, where he spent his first season playing both point guard and shooting guard.

Hakanson joins Marcus Eriksson and Nick Spires as other Swedish players that Barcelona swooped up – the 18-year-old Erikson in 2011 and the 18-year-old Spires in 2010. And Barcelona management has been very impressed with the Swedes.

“The first thing to underline about the three Swedes in our club is that they are so coachable,” Barcelona youth teams director Jordi Ardevol told Eye on the Future.

“They are always ready to practice, they are so respectful with their own working plans. They do what the coaches say and they have a very good professional mentality.”

Olle Lunden, Sweden’s U18 coach, knows the move to a giant club like Barcelona is right for the players’ development. But he hopes to eventually keep the Swedish talent in Sweden.

“Right now we cannot compete with Barcelona in Sweden. So now we feel that it’s really good. But in the long run, we hope to take care of our own players. But right now Sweden is not a great country for basketball and we don’t have a lot of money in the sport. So right now Barcelona is good for them,” said Lunden.

Hakanson – nicknamed Ludde – is a huge talent especially as a natural scorer. The son of former Swedish international Olle Ludvig Hakanson, the younger Hakanson has a great shot with good range, can drive to the basket and works well with the pick and roll.

But Hakanson – 6-foot-3 – still needs work on his skills as a point guard, especially his dribbling and decision making. Barcelona worked hard with him all year in playing both guard spots in separate roles for Barcelona’s U16 and U18 teams.

He is a clear example of a star talent that needed a move to play with better talent to push his development.

Hakanson was also challenged in international competition, playing for Sweden at the U18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament in April, leading the team in scoring with 15 points along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists despite being two years younger than the rest of the players.

Barcelona pushed him in the same regard in May at the Euroleague International Junior Tournament in Istanbul. Again, being two years younger than the competition didn’t faze Hakanson as he averaged 16.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.7 assists in helping Barcelona to a 1-2 record in Istanbul.

Hakanson now shifts his focus to the Swedish national team. He will remain with his age group and play at the FIBA Europe U16 Championship Division B in Tallinn.

Sweden and Barcelona fans will anxiously be watching to see how much he has learned and how he implemented it into his game – as he begins to fulfill some of his promise.

David Hein

FIBA

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