Perfect fit for experienced Finnish coach

The Finnish connection to the NBL has continued at the Brisbane Bullets in NBL27 with the arrival of assistant coach Hanno Möttölä who brings with him a world of experience, and he couldn’t be more excited to be in the NBL and mixing it with the Canadian national team.

Möttölä brings with him a wealth of experience and basketball nous having had a lifetime in the sport both as a player and coach.

The recently turned 50-year-old is from Helsinki before moving to the United States to attend the University of Utah, and he had such an impact there that he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame three years ago.

He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2000 and the imposing power forward went on to play 154 games in the NBA before returning to Europe to finish his playing days in Spain, Italy, Russia, Lithuania, Greece and finally, back home in Finland.

Since then, coaching has become his career including spending a decade at Helsinki Basketball Academy, a Finnish version of the Australian Centre of Excellence.

The CoE was used as a benchmark by the Finnish Federation developing HBA and starting it in 2012 and at HBA, Möttölä coached current Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen among other current Finnish national team players.

Möttölä had already previously spent some time in Australia to find his footing in the NBL so it wasn’t totally unfamiliar to him, but when he was looking at his next role, it had to fit with him personally, his family and with his role with the Canadian national team.

He didn’t want to be somewhere that would keep him away from wife Ulla, their 10-year-old son Tatu and even adult children Onni and Enni for too long, so the length of the NBL season matched up perfectly.

The Bullets role will also allow Möttölä to continue his assistant coaching position under New Zealand Breakers coach Gordie Herbert at Team Canada. To top it off, he wanted to be part of what Will Weaver is building in Brisbane.

"Petteri (Koponen, Breakers coach the past two seasons) asked me to join him but the timing wasn’t right a couple of years ago, but now I was really looking for something that works with having two more years with the Canadian national team through to the LA Olympics," Möttölä said.

"So I was looking for something that would fit my personal life situation and also basketball-wise. I got into conversations with Will somewhere around March or April and one thing led to another, and then our goals all seemed to meet each other and that's why I'm here.

"I'm really happy about it and it's a tough decision with my family back home, but my wife and the youngest one just visited here for a couple of weeks and hopefully everyone will be back for Christmas.

"It's a great once in a lifetime experience and so far it's been nothing but positive."

Wanting to be part of NBL

Möttölä had always been a fan of Australian basketball and the NBL from afar and attending the same college as NBA No. 1 draft pick, championship winner and current Sydney Kings assistant coach Andrew Bogut was a natural connection there.

He got to experience some time with the Centre of Excellence and at a couple of NBL teams as well a couple of years back. Ever since then thought it would be a league he'd like to spend more time with in a more official capacity.

"I've always been a big fan of Australian basketball, starting in 2019 I got to know Peter Lonergan pretty well. Peter has been a great source of knowledge and a mentor in many ways," Möttölä said.

"I was planning on a trip to come here and then the pandemic came but in 2024 I got to do that and was here for a bit of a working holiday for a month.

"I came here and visited the CoE in Canberra and I was with United in Melbourne for a week and with the Sydney Kings for a week.

"So I kind of toured and learned a little bit more about Australian coaching and all that so it stuck always in my head that this would be a great league to learn in and be part of."

Going together with Team Canada role

Another aspect for Möttölä when he was weighing up his next coaching role was that it needed to be a position that would allow him to remain an assistant coach with the Canadian national team.

He is locked into that role until the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and it was a similar consideration for their head coach, Herbert, ahead of him accepting the head coaching role in the NBL at the Breakers.

The timing works out perfectly for Möttölä to be able to be fully bought in at the Bullets for the NBL season, but then go and be with Canada in the FIBA windows, and then also focus on that in the off-season.

Throw in the fact that his Bullets coach Weaver has previously coached the Australian Boomers and was a long-time assistant coach, there was never any question the support Möttölä would receive.

"In the first conversations with Will, I said that I would only go somewhere that would understand that I had my commitments with the Canadian national team," Möttölä said.

"But Will understands that anytime a coach goes away to be part of something like that, he comes back a better coach and can bring something in when he returns.

"And obviously, in Australia where the national team is such a big part of the Australian basketball culture and people are so proud of, it's nothing new to have to work with that.

"It's a little longer flights for me from here, although in this next window me and Gordie almost have local games because we're only going to Argentina and Uruguay. Those are short flights compared to the last window when i flew back from Canada for a day and a half.

"But still being able to do that was a big part of coming here and obviously I've been part of the Finnish for the national program for the last seven years in the men's level, and also I was looking for a new challenge.

"I wanted to go somewhere I needed to prove myself and show that I could do it, and bring something to the table and I think that's what I can do both in the Canadian national program and here in Brisbane."

Happy with where he's at

While Möttölä is open to furthering his coaching career and wouldn’t be opposed to accepting head coaching positions in the future, right now he isn’t looking for anything different.

The combination of still getting to see his family, coaching in the NBL with the Bullets and preparing for World Cup and Olympic campaigns with Canada is all a perfect fit for him.

"You have to kind of take things as they come and I always believe in the saying that good things happen to good people, and I'd like to see myself as a pretty good, honest and trustworthy guy," Möttölä said.

"I know what the next two years will look like with Canada and we have big plans here in Brisbane this season which has all my attention now other than that 10 days in November and February I go back to be with Canada again.

"If other opportunities present, I would look at those but I've just turned 50 and my wife and I travelled the US and Europe for 13 years in my basketball career.

"So I'm not looking to just take any opportunities, that's why I was very careful in accepting this role and everything all matched up perfectly.

"European seasons can go for 10 and-a-half months so it's a whole lot different coaching in Europe until the end of June if your family is back home.

"Obviously you want to be the best at your craft, but I'm not actively hunting head coaching opportunities – I'm very happy with what I'm doing right now.

"I'm a family man and we do things as a family and it would have to be something pretty special for our family to move abroad for long term."

A family summer Christmas

Möttölä is already looking forward to his family coming back to visit to experience a summer Christmas in Australia.

"It was nice weather here two weeks ago when my wife and our youngest one were here so I think they're looking forward to coming back for Christmas time," Möttölä said.

"It also gives me some time to explore the city and surrounding areas a bit more which you don't really do when you're by yourself. When you have your family come in, you get out of your apartment a lot more and go and do things, which is great.

"That's where Will is great too and he understands because he's brought his family to the other side of the world to be here, and he knows if your family isn't feeling good that will affect how you can perform in your job as well.

"If I was a 25-year-old basketball junkie coach with no kids, that's a different deal, but I've been there and done that living abroad for a lot of years as a player and coach.

"I'm not looking for new adventures, but this opportunities came about and everything really matched with what I was looking for and hopefully the organisation feels that I'm worth of the job that I'm presently doing too."