BuzzerBeater Forums

Game 2: South Africa U21 vs. Ghana U21 50-0 (58381)

Record: 2-0

Standing: Currently 2nd place
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

Thanks Ebene. I do believe that we can get a medal this season. With that being said though, there are still a lot of factors that would need to go right this season to make that a reality. I'll certainly be doing my best to make it one.

Now that we've passed this Ghana game, every game matters from here on out so please continue to manage your players' game shapes and send me training updates on any players you think have a chance at making the team. Thank you!

A couple of other updates,
- There are now 5 of us on the Discord (https://discord.gg/EazKVJ5JPe)! It's an easier place to communicate with one another, share updates on trainees, give each other advice and plan for the upcoming games. Feel free to join us!
- I've recruited a couple of new managers, khenry and mathew13693, who were willing to train South African players and we have seen them support the team in picking up seven 18 and 19-year-old players! Big thanks to the two of them as I think they'll help us develop more depth for future teams.

Game 3: Al Jazair U21 82 vs. South Africa 107 (58385)

Record: 3-0

Standing: Currently 1st place
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

The Baby Boks picked up a good win against another opponent putting in more enthusiasm against them in Al Jazair/Algeria. The team was led by Asanda Hadebe who scored 25 pts in 25 mins on 12-16 shooting along with 7 rbs and 0 tos. They also saw solid double-double performances from star big man Umi Mugabe (13 pts on 6-8 and 14 rbs in 26 mins) and Thikhathali Zibi (15 pts on 6-9 and 10 rbs in 22 mins) off the bench. Though this win is to be celebrated, their coach reminded the team that the tournament is still early and charged the team to show up early tomorrow for practice knowing that their two toughest opponents in Egypt/Misr (2nd place, 3-0) and Al Maghrib (3rd place, 2-1) loom in the next couple of weeks.

Player of the Game: Asanda Hadebe (48405810) trained by Lesley1226

Last edited by A Warrior at 01/25/2021 17:54:56

Game 4: South Africa U21 75 vs. Misr U21 70 (58390)

Record: 4-0

Standing: Currently 1st place, 2 games remaining this round though we are already set to advance to the next round
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

What a game! Yet again, our opponent put in more enthusiasm than us and this week the Baby Boks were able to pull off a narrow victory against an opponent who was also undefeated. Asanda Hadebe once again led the team in scoring with 16 points on 8-15 shooting. Gonasilan Sono played a team-high 45 minutes while gathering a double-double, going 6 for 10 (12 points) and leading the team with 18 rebounds, all while holding Misr/Egypt's 103k big man to only 9 points. Every player contributed in their own way, including 19-year-old Shafilshuna Machemko, who received his first start for the team. He struggled for most of the game trying to settle his nerves and was unable to find his rhythm going 0-9 from the field until the final minute of the game when he threw down a thunderous dunk to give the team their final lead then went on to ice the game by hitting all 4 of his free throw attempts, which gave him the team's final 6 points, to close out the game.

Player of the Game: Gonasilan Sono (48754211) trained by Giorgio950

Certainly a great win to celebrate but the tough opponents keep coming with the 2nd through 4th teams in the standings being played in the next 3 consecutive matches. Please continue to train any potential U21 players, keep their minutes in good gameshape and update me on their skill pops!

Last edited by A Warrior at 01/25/2021 17:55:06

Nice win. Thanks for the game recaps. :)

Game 5: Al Maghrib U21 94 vs. South Africa 95 (58393)

Record: 5-0

Standing: Currently 1st place, locked into advancing to the next round of the tournament
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

Talk about a roller coaster of a game. At the half we were down 12 and Mugabe was only 1-4 from the field at that point. Then the team started to really come alive at the end of the 3rd and never stopped fighting.

Check out this wild ending as we were trailing by 3 with 15 seconds left in the 4th quarter.

(Time Remaining) Al Maghrib - South Africa
(0:15) 94 — 91 - 30 second timeout called by South Africa.
(0:11) 94 — 94 - D. Dingane (H) forces up a three from the top of the arc, guarded closely by E. Marzuban (A). Scored.
(0:01) 94 — 94 - A. Rahman (A) forces up a three from the top of the arc, guarded closely by U. Mugabe (H). Shot missed.
(0:01) 94 — 94 - The defensive rebound is snapped up by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 94 - Foul called on A. Rahman (A).
(0:00) 94 — 94 - Free throw missed by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 95 - Free throw made by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 95 - End of period.

Clutch 3 to tie, then a fortunate foul by our opponent gave us the chance to steal the win and complete the comeback. Not as pretty of a game as we would've hoped but a win is a win! Especially against a formidable opponent in Al Maghrib who had almost perfect gameshape this week as they only had 2 players not in 9 GS, we'll take it.

Here's what a team win looks like:
- Great performance by Thoibo Lonco leading the team with 28 points, including shooting 10-14 from the free throw line.
- Another strong double-double by Umi Mugabe who finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds while holding the opposing power forward to 2 points. He was on fire the second half of the game as he went 9-11 from the field after halftime and sealed the game with the final free throw, though he sure kept us on the edge of our seats missing the front end of those free throws.
- Derek Dingane played 20 minutes off the bench, including replacing Hadebe after he fouled out at the very end of the game, and showed the ice in his veins as he came in and hit the game-tying 3 pointer even though he was only shooting 2-9 for the game up until that point.
- Gonasilan Sono continues to do the dirty work for the team. Though he struggled from the field (2-11), he still ended the game with an extremely important 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.

Up next, we prepare for another good team in Nigeria who won their own nailbiter today and are the new 2nd team in the standings.

Players of the Game: Thoibo Lonco (48405732) trained by Giorgio950 and Umi Mugabe (48097274) trained by JimyW

And thanks Sandy. Glad y'all are enjoying the recaps!

Also, I'm usually on the Discord during the games so it'd be fun to watch together if anyone is tuning in and I welcome more collaboration with the gameplanning we do there so feel free to join us at (https://discord.gg/rZP27YpfPD)!

Last edited by A Warrior at 01/26/2021 00:35:24

It's great. I see that my players contribute to being able to do something great. Amazing.
I will continue training my players to continue winning games.
Yesterday I saw the live and it was very interesting. Above all, I noticed that SONO had to defend a player who doubled his salary and held out well.
Great job.
Regards Giorgio

Sono has been great for our team! He has been playing like our team's Draymond being 2nd on the team in rebounds and 1st on the team in assists while playing great defense.

Thanks for training your players, everyone plays an important role on the team this season!

What a close game! The Morocco's coach made a strange choice in defense. GL tomorrow.

Game 6: South Africa 101 vs. Nigeria 103 (58397)

Record: 5-1

Standing: Currently 1st place, locked into advancing to the next round of the tournament
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

Opponents continue to like to take a shot at our team as Nigeria also put in more enthusiasm against us. Close games have been our thing as of late and this time the Baby Boks came up just short.

- Though he struggled from the field in this one going 9-26, Umi Mugabe still played 44 minutes (though he was oddly substituted out in the final seconds of the game...) and kept us in it with another double-double producing 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block. A rare off-night for him offensively but we're certain he'll bounce back.
- Similarly, Derek Dingane's shot was off tonight, though he came through with another clutch 3 with 18 seconds left to almost bring us to overtime, and posted his own double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Impressive performance on the boards for the game's starting SG.
- While the offense from the starting lineup struggled, 19-year-old Shafilshuna Machemko had a strong showing off the bench producing 15 points in 18 minutes, including hitting 3 threes. The team is eager to see his further development in the seasons to come.
- Some oddities the coaches noted were poor shooting by all of our starters, the fact that our team took more 3s than theirs even though they were the ones playing the outside offense and losing despite a significant advantage in rebounding and field goal attempts.

This is just a reminder for the squad that every game from here on out is going to be a tough one. We don't like losing and it stings a little more because we were so close but our focus is now on to the next opponent. To close out this 1st round of the tournament we'll play a good Senegal team.

Player of the Game: Umi Mugabe (48097274) trained by JimyW

On a separate note, our 18-year-old with the highest potential and most big skill points, Kamangeni Tlhoome (49001167), is on the market! If anyone is training bigs, he'd be a great one to bring aboard as he's already on a good path, thanks to some training by Ebene, to make the team in the future. Let's keep him in good hands!

Game 7: Senegal U21 70 vs. South Africa U21 83 (58401)

End of Round 1 Record: 6-1

Standing: Currently 1st place

Our team put more into this one against Senegal and the game was closer than the final score showed. Here's what the end of each quarter looked like.

After the 1st Quarter: 22-22
After the 2nd Quarter: 40-38 South Africa
After the 3rd Quarter: 56-54 South Africa

The team finally pulled away in the 4th though free throws padded our score at the end of the game and hide how competitive of a game this was against a tough team.

- This game can be summed up in two words. Umi Mugabe. Everyone on the team was struggling offensively so big Umi decided to put the team on his back and came through with his 5th double-double of the season with 25 points on 9-17 shooting from the field, including two 3's, and 19 rebounds.
- The glue guy, Gonasilan Sono, also came through with his own double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds.

Player of the Game: Umi Mugabe (48097274) trained by JimyW

Round 1 has been completed and the Baby Boks head into Round 2 with a very slim point differential lead helping them keep 1st for now. With Tounes/Tunisia and Ghana not advancing, their wins and point differential are not carried over into the next round so we start the round with a 4-1 record.

It's going to be a slugfest from here on out with the current top 4 teams all being so close in the standings that each week could drop a team from 1 to 4. And don't count out the Senegal team that currently sits at 5th as they just experienced some tough losses but they are not an opponent to be overlooked and are surely seeking to leave their mark on this round.

First up in Round 2 is Al Jazair/Algeria!

Interesting 1st round. Keep it up!