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Hello everyone,

first games in 2 days and still no new topic. This can't be.

Season 32 Introduction

As usual, in season 31, the VottemCowboys once proved their strength by winning every competition, without any noticeable opposition.

This was the 16th championship trophy (10th in a row, an amazing performance !) and 14th Cup title (6th in a row) for Joe.

However, the winds of change are blowing on the BBBL. The cowboys have sold some key players, and have gotten rid of the best player in this championship, Connor Marshall (for an amazing price !) and are looking forward to rebuild their team with solid youngsters (Marighetti, Rotsaert, Ibisov).

The cowboys' dominance made forget the fact that the team was resting on aging shoulders, and it was time the best team in Belgium finally found the fountain of youth.

Of course, Joe isn't out of money, certainly not, but will he instantly buy back players to put in a serious bid or will he be saving money and training youngsters ? Time will tell.

Needless to say, should Joe take a step back, there are many willing to take his place ! Perhaps, this will be one of the most contested seasons ever ! Who could tell ??

Newcomers

Well, not really new, but you get the idea :)

Blue Sea : managed to save all 7 teams, and this was no meagre feat. The performance of gringalets in their playdown games against Cup finalist KV Forever didn't go unnoticed, and the Blue Sea is quickly filling with sharks. They welcome (back) Paros Bulls, founded 8 seasons ago by an already exprienced greek manager. The team already had a season at highest level 2 seasons ago. Their return to D.2 was brief, and they steamrolled the D.II 4 with only a single defeat to their arch-rivals Asingratitos.

Bloodbath : thus welcomes 3 teams. With 26 seasons of existence, including 2 in BBBL, Ganshoren has a solid squad. Always a very difficult team to play (I can remember a very nasty Cup exit to them !), it will be interesting to see their season in a conference that looks much more open than it used to be. Unfortunately, the first injury of the season is theirs :/

Tool Belgium is also a BB veteran, having started in season 4 ! They have one season experience at the highest level, back some time ago, in season 15. Having played 16 seasons (!) in D.II 2, they finally managed to win the finals after 3 failures, and must be looking forward to play in BBBL :) Their roster is slightly light however, and will probably need reinforcements if they are to survive.

SGOLBA Dynamite is the team from our current U21 manager, this will be C3C's 15th season in the game and this is their first spell in BBBL. A very regular playoff contender in D.II 1, the dynamite exploded in their opponents' face with an impressive 21/1 record over the regular season, as well as flawless playoffs. That will be a one to watch !


Title Bout !

Who's your favourite ? That would be very nice if someone could dropp a poll (I'm no supporter anymore :p) so that we can already figure whose team have the favours of the bookmakers !

My very own top five favourites to get the title

1) AmenRa

The finalist this season, is of course favourite to win the day if left unchallenged by the Cowboys. But that would be a little to simple : AmenRa has a really fine team.

Of course belgian NT players like Vanhooreweghe and Vasseur are extremely solid and prvide an excellent basis to the team, but 65days is also a dedicated trainer and the wage increase of AmenRa's top trainees Zausnig and Machovcak (+25 to + 30 k !) indicates their are making the shift from top trainees to top players.

It might be the right season for them, and they're my first choice.

2) Ventola Team

They have a really great team, and the departure of Alaerts didn't disrupt them. But even better, it enabled them to buy Gumula, who is no less than the best SF of the championship, probably level with my own Skret. His arrival last season was too late to beat the odds, but now he's a starter and he'll be a real pain to play against.

Ventola is my second choice and first pick in the red side.

3) Kelmis Spartans

I know, it's not cool to put pressure on the boys, but right now I am the team with the highest wages, thus I am a logical favourite.

I own 3 basis NT players, and although I still paid too much for him, Kazimierz Skret brought stability as SF wheras I had to do with a subpar player.

My best lineup is probably one of the scariest in Belgium, and is also versatile, able to play inside or outside at will ; but my team still has weaknesses : aging roster, little solution from the bench.

My biggest "weakness" however is Harm Gaethofs. Undoubtely a future NT SF, he requires my full attention, and his training wil be the priority. Some day I'll be glad I so did, as I am confident he will turn into an awesome player, but of course this season, trophies might be won ... Choices will have to be made, and I'm terribad ad these. His training is and will remain the absolute priority.

Nevertheless, I put myself at #3.

4) RSC Eagles

Of course, franchise player Fuad Maleskic has left the club, but his replacement, hungarian NT player Karacsony is a fantastic player ; indeed the Eagles' starting five is very impressive.

I pinpoint a lack of bench, and maybe, and that's quite confusing, a lack of trainees. The starting five is in it's late 20, the subs in the early to mid 30. I think Moreno is the only player being still trained, and I don't know whether this short-range strategy will pay off or not (please, if I'm wrong don't hesitate to correct me !).

I don't see them as favourites, but as the best "outsider" ! Thus #4

5) Dragons, Tumasstars, Steamrollers, Basket Mizu ... or Cowboys ?

There I'm speculating. Right now, none of this teams seem to be able to put in a serious bid for a title, for various reasons.

But, the mercato isn't over, we'll probably see some players get in and out. A single player can turn someone in a favourite, so things might be able to get tense very quickly ... I am amazed by coach Q's stillness, but many teams could haul in world stars to unbalance the things in their favour !


Soooooo, ... what will it be ? Bring it on :p

Thank you for this nice introduction to season 32, Dartreb.

I pretty much agree with your predictions regarding favourites for the coming season.

And to respond to your demand concerning organizing a poll, i will now do so.
Problem is that i have to create a new topic for this, i can't do so by replying to your message.
So i will create a new topic, only for the poll



Last edited by Eagle at 08/07/2015 07:09:04

Possibly Joe won't be the champion for the coming season, but i expect the Cowboys to come back to the top pretty quick.
What amazed me the most recently, is the amount Joe received for his sell of Connor Marshall.
I know it's Connor Marshall, but still getting 3.4 million for a player who is 34 years old, that's VERY rare !

Joe certainly hit a homerun with that sell, i had never expected the transfer price to be soo big.

And i'm pretty sure even Joe didn't expect to get so much money either.

Market is very high indeed. I'm looking for a player, and only find "suitable" ones for approx . 700 to 800 k above what I would have expected, that's crazy !

The player you are talking about Joe, is the legendary Häkkinen :-) And Connor was certainly not very far from him. Thus I'm not surprised by the price, and it is also a hint that training very high valu players is interesting since it is possible to sell them with benefits at a more advanced age.

I agree with you.

There are currently very high prices paid on the transfer market for high skilled aged players, but also for other players in general.

This makes it worthwhile to train (even older) good players up, get the beneftis of it by keeping and playing with them until 33-34 yrs old, and then still selling them at very good prices. Which on its turn, means you"ll be getting a high return on investment (ROI) for such players.

The transfer place is changing, that's for sure, and high multi-skilled players until age 34 are (currently) very wanted by many teams. I wonder how this will evolve in the future....

Last edited by Eagle at 08/09/2015 16:31:45

I am amazed by coach Q's stillness, but many teams could haul in world stars to unbalance the things in their favour !

Well as many said, the market is very high right now. Beside this, i might have mentioned this in the past - the only thing i want in this game now is to be world champion. It is not bragging at all, it's just that i want to aim high. And it is so tough to build a team that has the capability to win it all that i am trying to avoid buying players i dont believe in.

that being said i dont have enough competitive players right now and will have to take decisions sooner or later. but i dont think i will manage to be competitive anytime soon.

Well, that's the only title eluding you (and Joe's).

But I surely won't complain if it allows us lesser humans to have a chance of winning something :)

By the way, there are always less and less teams on BB (we're now around 20 k, I remember when it was above 50 !) does someone have any idea why the prices are so high ?

I'm looking for a subs player (so starter so) I can't find somrthing suitable under 1.5 M !! No way I'm paying that for a substitute.

@Joe : Yeah, that's an extremely disappointing start for AmenRa, double penatly to lose both a starter player and the game :/ I hope his season doesn't get screwed because of that.