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Asia Tournament - Round 2 - Schedule Release

The official schedule for round 2 of the Asia Tournament (Season 50) was recently released.

We will go up against (in chronological order)
- Indonesia
- Australia
- Thailand
- China
- Hong Kong

I will try my best to get some result out of these games, but the chances look slim at the moment. Tune in to our game against Indonesia on Monday!

In other news, two of our players in the current squad has hit major milestones, despite only going thorough half the season thus far. They include:
- John Maurice making his 33rd appearance for the NZ U21 team in the last game. This makes him equal 9th in all time NZ U21 appearances.
- Dwayne O'Meley making 108 assists in his two and half seasons with the team so far. This makes him 8th in all time NZ U21 assists leaders.

Last edited by Te-Ariki (NZ U21 Manager) at 7/29/2020 8:04:15 AM

Game 7 - vs: Indonesia: WIN: 114 - 112 (56537)

We come out with a narrow win against Indonesia. They started out well with a 6 point lead going into the second quarter, however we pushed through in quarter 2 and 3 to come out with a 2 point win. This marks our first win in the second round of the Asia Tournament since season 42, which is quite remarkable in my eyes. Onwards from here on out!

MVPs:
1. John Maurice - 3 votes.
2. Dhasaradakumaran Pushparaj - 2 votes.
3. George Jabano - 1 vote.

Next Game:
vs our brothers and sisters across the ditch - Australia. Tune in next Monday!

Game 8 - vs: Australia: LOSS: 64 - 98 (56539)

We fall to Australia by 34 points and if there was one word to describe the game, it'd be annihilation. But it was expected and despite getting a GDP guess correct, two injuries to two of our major players, along with poor game shape and the heavy loss capped the worse week in NZ U21's history in BuzzerBeater!

However, we must look to next week's game - where I hope we could get better game shape numbers and our players returning from injury.

MVPs:
1. Brendon Saxby - 3 votes.
2. George Jabano - 2 votes.
3. Myron Gupta - 1 vote.

Next Game:
vs Thailand. Tune in!

Game 9 - vs Thailand: LOSS: 83 - 103 (56542)

We lose to a very strong Thailand team. I crunched knowing that there was a slim chanced against China and HK in the following rounds. I was considering a look inside GDP (those on the offsite would know) which may have turned the game upside down but ultimately decided against it, thinking that the crunch was all that we needed. Kudos to Thailand who dominated in the second and third quarter to hand them their second win in the second round thus far. They have formed a very strong team.

MVPs:
1. George Jabano - 3 votes.
2. Myron Gupta - 2 votes.
3. John Maurice - 1 vote.

Next Game:
vs China, tournament favourites! Tune in!

Game 10 - vs China: LOSS: 48 - 114 (56545)

It's safe to say that we got thrashed - but to a great side. We defended well, but our shooting let us down (21% shooting accuracy). Despite this, we are getting towards the end of yet another season, with our final competitive game against Hong Kong next week. Then, scouting will begin in preparation for the consolation tourney next season.

MVPs:
1. Dwayne O'Meley - 3 votes.
2. Brendon Saxby - 2 votes.
3. John Maurice - 1 vote.

Next Game:
vs Hong Kong. Tune in!

Game 11 - vs Hong Kong: LOSS: 63 - 95 (56547)

We end the season disappointingly. However, it has been a step up since the last time we were in the consolation tourney, so some positives there. We gave everything to HK tonight with a correct GDP guess and the CT, yet the results would say otherwise. The only positives out of the game was that we turned over the ball less than them. But the 23% FG% was obviously disappointing to see.

MVPs:
1. Dhasaradakumara Pushparaj - 3 votes.
2. George Jabano - 2 votes.
3. Dwayne O'Meley - 1 vote.

Next Game:
vs TBC.

Updates:
- End of season review will be published in the coming weeks - after next weeks scrimmage (possibly).
- Scouting for season 51 will begin soon.

Scrimmage vs Malaysia - LOSS: 119 - 128 (56848)

We conclude the season with an U20 scrimmage against a bright Malaysian team. We started poorly but ended it dominating. On a normal day, with all our starters, we would win. I also wanted to try a 3-2 Zone defense, which also contributed to our loss with Malaysia having a 53% FGP, most of them in the paint. However, our future is bright as well, with a number of 18 and 19 year olds hitting the floor.

MVPs:
1. Zhao Erqiang - 3 votes.
2. William Moon - 2 votes.
3. Epalahame Coleman - 1 vote.

Next Game:
vs TBD. Will be a consolation tourney match, with our opponents revealed very soon!

Updates:
- End of Season 50 review will be written up soon (most likely tomorrow).
- Start of Season 51 review will be written up soon (most likely on the weekend).

Season 50 - Asia Tournament - Summary

Apologies for this long overdue post, I've just been caught up with things in real life, and the unstable website caused disruption.

Anyways, we started the season ranked 63 worldwide, with a scrimmage against an improved Thailand team. We lost by one point. Then we had begun our Asia Tournament quest to the hosts, Hong Kong who demolished us. We then won three competitive games consecutively, all of which were ranked higher than us at the time. They included South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. We then had a scrimmage against Bahamas which we won quite comfortably. Then, it was down to the last two first matches against Macau and Vietnam. They were both losses, however, I gambled and played for enthusiasm going into the second round of the tournament.

My goal for this season was to make it to the second round of the Asia Tournament for the second time consecutively. This was achieved and we begun with a hard fought win against Indonesia. Unfortunately, after this, we went on a four game losing streak, losing to (an impressive) Thailand, China, Australia and Hong Kong - all of which were ranked higher than us and have created a strong and sustainable U21 program.

We then ended the season with an U20 scrimmage against Malaysia where we had a strong fourth quarter, suggesting great things to come for the S51's team.

World Ranking Progression:

As stated above, we began the season with a world ranking of 63. Our consecutive wins against South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as a win against Indonesia saw us jump to an impressive ranking of 54 in the world. We then concluded the season with a world ranking of 55.

EDIT: As of September 12th, 3:10pm Auckland time, we are ranked 52 in the world and currently on the brink of breaking the top 50! :)

MVPs:

I have been thoroughly impressed with S50's team, as a number of players shone throughout the season. Our MVP for season 50, based on my votes is our captain, JOHN MAURICE with 15 votes.

Honourable mentions to the following players who closely missed out:
Co-captain Dwayne O'Meley with 13 votes.
Dhasaradakumaran Pushparaj with 13 votes.
George Jabano with 11 votes.
Brendan Saxby with 7 votes.
Myron Gupta with 7 votes.

Player Awards:

Most Points: John Maurice with 212 points.
Most Rebounds: Myron Gupta with 117 points.
Most Assists: Dwayne O'Meley with 68 assists.

Player Accomplishments:

John Maurice made his 38th appearance this season and across his U21 career. This makes him the second best in our nation's U21 history.
Dwayne O'Meley made his 37th appearance this season and across his U21 career. This currently makes equal third best in our nation's U21 history. He is also on target to break the nation's most appearances, as he does have another full season to look forward to.
John Maurce scored his 376th point this season and across his U21 career. This makes him equal eighth best in our nation's U21 history.
Dwayne O'Meley made his 132nd assist this season and across his U21 career. This makes him fouth best in our nation's U21 history.
Dwayne O'Meley's 68 assists this season makes him eighth best to make assists in a single season.

Conclusions:

Season 50 was a success for our nation. We were able to make the second round, but more importantly, we were able to develop a strong and sustainable U21 program. Our Season 51 team is looking great at the moment, with a number of players returning from Season 50. I would like to thank every manager involved, whether it was training players, giving assistance or helping to come up with tactics.

Last edited by Te-Ariki (NZ U21 Manager) at 9/11/2020 11:11:07 PM