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A big welcome to you all!

All the preparations for this continental celebration are being put into place. The decorative bunting and various home floors are being laid out. Pre game and half time entertainment is being lined up, Ladysmith Black Mombazo has signed on, I think we can get Rodriguez on board, Paul Simon though is going to be a chore as he's insisting upon game planning input. I told him if he's agrees to do "Renee and Georgette Magritte with their dog after the war" I might let him set the lineups for the Ghana game. You know what? Screw it.... Mabel get me Art Garfunkel's people.



All the gravitas aside I am working upon trying to make it so I represent you folks well. The previous management left in place the best available pieces so at least I didn't have to spend time digging for who gives us our best shot. To be honest however the issue is the cupboard at this point is fairly thin. Of the 11 players who were already in place one looks very good, several others are coming along nicely, a couple of others look to have potential, and the others are projects. So,yeah it's slim pickings. I am going to take a second look at the database to make sure I'm not missing something. That said I am trying to reach out to those managers holding the pieces and the couple I've heard back from both show great enthusiasm for the task ahead.

Your projected starting lineup...

Kasiya Mbazia : PG: far and away our best outside defender. Still needs a lot of polish offensively but we need a stopper and he is it!


Kefentse Solomons SG: plays at the point for his club team in Uruguay, and could possibly for us as well but he is the best shooter we got, so might as well let him loose, a very dangerous man if the good doctors training continues to yield the results he hopes.

Ketso Nthite SF/PF(?): best HA/DR combo and decent shooting skills relative to the composition of the current roster. For the moment though he has a bit of a red flag flying above him as his club owner is MIA and looks to be going bot. So this guy it appears is a little on autopilot and appears to be getting a lot of inside training as he is logging time at c/pf which suggest his club owner left where he falls as a blank on the lineup. But I project him hitting the TL week after next, two weeks out tops. When he does I will send out a notice to let you guys know in case one of you want to pick him up. The guy could well be a sleeping giant that we can wake right when we will need him most. But until then his GS could be a hot mess!


Montsho Mthebe SF/PF/C probably leaning a bit towards PF with him. A lot depends on where CrazyBob directs his training. But his skills set will allow a level of flexibility


Fabian Pöll PF/C I told his manager boksburg I forsee him more as a PF but on second thought he may be playing center. But like Mthebe I plan on having to some some flexibility on where he goes. There is one thing I know, at this point he is our best inside scoring threat.

!





Last edited by Coach Lambini at 05/15/2019 21:20:38

Off the bench....


Lebohang Mbata SG/SF/PF actually in terms of TSP he could start, and depending on GS issues he well could. Very good DR/HA and decent IS/JS make him perhaps more suited to the three but off the bench I forsee him logging minutes at multiple positions.

Krish Modise PG/SG a little underdeveloped overall but still fairly solid in guard skills. Capable of providing Sparks in small doses.



And the rest of your current Springboks squad....

Yera Gqozo PG\SG I am guessing this guy is a little bit of a forgotten man on his club team. But still has just enough overall skills to be useful from time to time.

Thashen Kayesa SG/SF/PF (maybe) another guy seemingly left to languish. Ok guard skills, perhaps just enough big skills to get some minutes in the front court but this guy should be farther along than he is, but could well be about far as he is going to go.

Sipho Komphela SG for a salary of sixty six hundred and change I would think this guy would have more to him. But aside from a couple of evident pops in OD there is just not a whole lot there I hate to say. Actually could be a helluva shooter if anyone had ever tried with this guy.


Sipho Molefi SG another guy who's owner seems to not give (as my mother would have said) a happy rats ass about. I sent out a note to his club asking if they have plans. I actually will see if I can talk his owner into putting him on the TL, with a little care and focus this guy could still be something.


The pipeline.....


To be honest my initial look down the pipeline was bleak indeed. But I will go back down that rabbit hole again before the enthusiasm reset to see if there is someone worth keeping a eye on, and if there is someone who is willing to get that particular player built up, but it looks dire indeed. Better make hay while the sun shines, darkness may come soon!

Last edited by Coach Lambini at 05/15/2019 21:23:53

The opponents.....


Senegal: Boyla is a walking 20/10 big man, he will be tough to slow down. Kital looks pretty good as well. I think we have better guards, should make a interesting contest of contrast in styles.


Ghana: literally a dead country, zero users, total of three players on the whole roster at this point, will be interesting if their Chinese manager has some tricks up his sleeve.


Nigeria: down to five users, squad already has 17 players, none of which particularly stand out. Let's wait and see what they show,


Al Jazair: Benali is big time. Akhnas also it appears has game, beyond that they seem lacking. Only 2 users in the whole country, and neither of them hold either of their big guns.

Al Maghrib very similar in composition to Nigeria, and our current view is the same.


Egypt same number of users as Al Maghrib but light years ahead. Lots of decently built looking talent with lots of high end potential. Defending champions, better pack a lunch.


Tunisia. Another country on the verge of default (1 user) but some ok looking talent. Another wait and see situation.


If our GS and building is steady this team will get better as the season goes along. I welcome any view points public or private, I think it's going to be a lot of fun!

Last edited by Coach Lambini at 05/15/2019 22:06:11

Thank you for the summary :)

Nice. Good luck!

Welcome!

Good to see all of you!


Notes from the training update..

Solomans, no pops but a solid strong GS and the highest DMI so he looks ready to go, and we will need him.

Modise, has second highest DMI but no pops, only proficient GS of the week. I do not have him slated to start but I do hope the minutes he plays are productive.

Mthebe, solid DMI, strong GS with a SB pop and stamina pop to boot. I think he will be able to provide solid performance.


Mbazia, minor RB pop, respectable GS, not a real high DMI, long as he handles his defensive business he should be fine.

Mbata, a HA pop which never hurts, kind of a meh GS reset and DMI, so no telling how consistent his performance will be.

Pöll, another so so GS reset, no pops, but he is a our future down on the blocks, Senegal will serve as a good measuring stick.

Nthite, he did get a IS pop but as expected his reset especially in terms of GS and DMI left a lot to be desired, but was not unexpected.

All 11 will dress, the seven above though will be the ones to determine our Fate. I do think being the "home" team (not host) helps a little bit, but that could be a perception because this is supposed to be neutral. But I think this really will be a great example in contrast in styles. Senegal has a new manager as well and after going winless in what was a BRUTAL draw in world's I'm sure he will be anxious to start out strong, but so will we. I would have liked a better break on the GS reset, but it was at no fault of the individual managers, pretty much everyone I needed to be at the best possible shape was played a appropriate amount in their league games, it is just the way these things go sometimes. Sure DMI and GS are not be all end all. Everything taken into account I see this as a coin flip, I can see this going either way and expect this game to come down to the little things.

SECOND HALF SURGE KEYS SPRINGBOKS IN OPENER


After trailing at intermission a 34-14 third period advantage gave the Springbok working room as they survived a late rally by Senegal 96-93 in the round robin opener. Kefentse Solomons scored 39 to lead the way. While his backcourt compatriot Kasiya Mbazia scored a surprising 21 to head up four players in double figures.


Senegal's two headed inside monster of Kital and Boyla were relatively held in check and in fact were out rebouded by their less ballyhood opponents Mthebe and Pöll (27-19) as the Springboks actually won the overall rebounding battle 46-45. Including a 14-7 edge on the offensive glass. South Africa also was a +6 in turnover margin (13-7). Free throw shooting though was a real Achilles heel as the boks' were a worrisome 15-36 from the charity stripe. Afterwards Coach Lambini quipped "our fans need to remember the vuvusela is to be used when the other guys are on the line, otherwise the fans were great as it was a fevored atmosphere."

Trailing 51-42 early in the second half the boks' went on a 18-0 surge to flip the script 60-51 as the margin eventually grew on several occasions to thirteen. However Solomons fouled out with nine minutes to play with the Boks still holding a nine point edge. But the Boks maintained their poise keeping Senegal at arm's reach. In the games waning seconds however the struggles on the free throw line threatened to undermine the whole evenings efforts. However Senegal quite simply ran out of time.

In other action on opening night.

Al-Jazair tripped up Tunisia 92-85

Egypt knocked around Nigeria 107-58

And Al-Mahrib manhandled Ghana 105-74

Up next for the Boks is Ghana "Al-Mahrib might have only dressed three to keep the score from being too lopsided. Do not expect us to extend the same courtesy." said coach Lambini. Up next for Senegal is Tunisia.

Last edited by Coach Lambini at 05/20/2019 22:22:16

Good win to start the tournament ! :)

well done!