BuzzerBeater Forums

A very interesting and fruitful week for the squad in terms of training. Several of the high end guys made solid progress and several of the backups and projects also moved forward. CrazyBob owns two main pieces, but has stepped away from the game for a few days. I hope we see him soon.

We should be in good shape against Nigeria as the goal remains to be building towards hitting our stride by seasons end. But after the rather shocking loss I took in my league I am taking nothing for granted.

Great job by all the managers this week. Keep pounding!

Last edited by Coach Lambini at 6/1/2019 11:00:28 PM

SPRINGBOKS SURGE TO 3-0 SWAMP NIGERIA 107-71


Montsho Mthebe paced the Springboks attack with 22 pts to go with 14 boards as once again six players scored in double figures allowing South Africa to move one step closer to clinching a spot in the second phase with a convincing 107-71 crushing of Nigeria. Tonight's effort was somewhat sloppy as ten first half turnovers kept the contest somewhat close. The final 24 however saw a better focused effort.

One of the great surprises was the just called up Jabulani Manzini contributed a double double off the bench with 11 points to go with 11 rebounds in 22 minutes of action.Coach Lambini said in his post game press conference "This young man gave a tremendous boost in his maiden cap and our staff looks forward to his further development. Inside depth was a concern coming into the competition, his performance shows he has the ability to help remedy those concerns" . In regards to the continuing struggles of Ketso Nthite (1-7 from the field) he suffers from a lot of neglect but Bob is going to turn him around, just watch that guy will explode once he gets his game legs back". As for what is concerning " the free throw situation must improve and we turned the ball over way too much" .

In other action on the continent egypt spotted Senegal a sixteen point edge at intermission before storming back to remain unbeaten 101-88
Tunisia throttled ghana 104-28
And Al Maghrib out lasted Al Jazair 98-89


Up next is a Al Jazair


Last edited by Coach Lambini at 6/3/2019 11:08:04 PM

Keep it up! :)

Our squad continues to evolve and develop. I really feel everyone with members on this team are making a great effort to build those players and for that I thank you!

Kefentse Solomons: no pops for the second week in a row but his DMI continues to rise and his GS is proficient and this tells me he will see more pops very soon!

Montsho Mthebe: a free throw for the protege of CrazyBob. Quality DMI, strong GS, excellent work as always

Ketso Nthite: Bob's other piece of our puzzle is slowly starting to come around. DMI is still shaky but GS is at respectable so he will be fine and our man will manufacture pops soon enough.

Lebohang Mbata: no pops, strong GS, decent enough DMI, I anticipate good movement.

Kasiya Mbazia: HA/DR pops this week. Very solid DMI, proficient GS. Another guy I am quite pleased with

Mpho Toyana: a brand new edition to the team just called up! Has some nice skills built in, will still need seasoning in his shot and OD but a really nice find.

Fabian Pöll: no pops but a rising DMI and proficient GS tells me he continues to move in the right direction.

Jabulani Manzini: another recent find from last weekend. RB pop this week, DMI is not great but he still is worthy of minutes and helps give needed depth down low, plus he's only 19 so he will get a lot better!

Krish Modise: no pops, but a maxed out GS and DMI shows this kid wants to be here! Provides decent depth.

Sipho Komphela & Yera Gqozo: the TSP on both says there presence to be honest in nominal, but in both cases GS and DMI says they will give great effort, what we call a gamer.

Keyesa and Molefi at this point are scrimmage fodder, but it's not like I am going to send either packing, just means they are subject to not getting suited up.


This week's opponent: Al Jazair, they have a couple of real studs down low so our big men will have their hands full. Good thing is the better of the two has GS issues due to absent a absent club manager. I think we have a lot more depth developing as I have taken our two deep rotation from 7 to 9. I also think we have much better guards and more diversity offensively, but this game has a way of humbling someone who thinks they got it all figured out! We are sitting atop The standings thanks to a +6 PD but I don't expect that to hold. But that's ok, it's all about building and getting to where we want to be which is getting all the way to the final, there is a long long way to go until we get to that point.



Last edited by Coach Lambini at 6/9/2019 11:48:33 AM

Nice preview :)

SPRINGBOKS SPRINT PAST AL-JAZAIR 95-65, MOVE TO 4-0

Krish Modise came off the bench with 25pts in relief for a nicked up Kefentse Solomons and Lebohang Mbata added 24pts including four three pointers to help pace another impressive outing. No other Springbok scored in double figures but overall this effort was a great example of the improving depth of the club. "Another fine effort" said Coach Lambini afterwards "to not only stay together after Solomons went down but to truly kick it into another gear show just how great the commitment of this team is". With the win the RSA for all intents and purposes clinches a spot in the second round, Al-Jazair slipped to 1-3 and potentially out of the proceedings altogether.

Up next is Al-Mahrib who suffered a 107-92 setback to Senegal. Egypt laid waste to Ghana 119-17. And in the most controversial contest of the event thus far Nigeria knocked off Tunisia 86-85 as Prince Peter Badiako hit a pair of free throws after time had expired for the winning margin.

Last edited by Coach Lambini at 6/10/2019 7:32:38 PM

One more match before the litmus test that Egypt represents. Though a glance at Senegal suggest those guys are a real threat, but so are we, it's just a good thing we got them early. Lots of time left to go overall but we cannot take our collective eye off the ball.

Kefentse Solomons: another fine reset, saw a JR pop which is good to see. I would like to see a OD pop and JS pop but the good doctor may well get him another passing pop which also would work.

Montsho Mthebe: another solid week of progress. Bob got a ID pop which is critical down the line.

Ketso Nthite: Bob's bookend piece saw ID and RB pops. GS holding steady, looking for that to improve shortly as I said when we started I see him coming along right about when we will need him most. I feel confident in that assessment.

Lebohang Mbata: a HA pop this week, good GS but a curiously modest DMI, but the latter can be such a mercurial attribute. It he's still getting better and that's what it is all about.

Kasiya Mbazia: no pops but a real nice DMI reset and still a essential cog due to his OD prowess.

Fabian Pöll: good reset, IS pop but I could use a little more RB with him. But this young man is doing fine!

Mpho Toyana: no pops but a solid reset, he provides depth in the back court, very interested to see how he moves as things progress.

Jabulani Manzini: a similar scenario though he adds depth to the front court

Krish Modise: no pops but once again a very consistent GS/DMI reset. Kid is a gamer!

Kompela and Gqozo are what they are. The balance of the roster are mostly projects but some good potential ones they are!


Al-Mahrib is the opponent this week. Another case of where it looks that we match up well. I expect these guys though to put up more resistance than the last several opponents. Keep doing the voodoo that you do so well gentleman, feel free to reach out.

SPRINGBOKS OVERWHELM AL-MAHRIB 115-81

After a slow start which saw the RSA holding a scant 22-21 edge after one period the floodgates opened and Kefentse Solomons led five players in double figures in a dominating 115-81 victory over a Al-Mahrib squad which came into the contest dead set upon trying to spoil the Springboks fun. In the post game press conference Coach Lambini quipped "Tonight we had an opponent who you could see in their eyes were massively motivated for the occasion. It is a great testament to this team that we not only met the challenge put forth but collectively put such a fine effort together".

One of the most pleasant surprises of the evening was the performance off the bench of Mpho Toyana (14 pts in 22 minutes on 7-9 shooting) "this young man has great potential, it will do his confidence wonders to have a game like this on this stage), in total 10 of the 11 who played scratched the scoring column. With the win the young Springboks surged to 5-0 in the competition in essence clinching for all intents and purposes 2nd for the second phase.

Next up is Egypt who thumped Tunisia 71-39. "They are the defending continental champion so this will be a great measuring stick of how far this team has advanced since the start of the season"

In other action

Senegal swamped Ghana 126-53
And Nigeria survived a short handed effort and slipped past Al-Jazair 108-95

I'm not going to go quite so in depth this week on the individual development. Several key players though did pop, a good but not great break on the GS reset. Some DMI numbers I would like to see higher because they suggest level of consistency. As I've said before though, it's not a full measure of quality.

I am hesitatant to devulge too much on the plan for this one, though I am happy to discuss by BB mail or thru the American discord channel https://discord.gg/cKpNkt2
and that way we can communicate in real time. Your viewpoints would be welcomed!

Also, spread the word a out this game in general. And join in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. The new social media guru trust the process is doing a wonderful job of engaging the user base and on trying to spread the word about the game, please show him your support!

Last edited by Coach Lambini at 6/23/2019 11:15:39 AM

COLD SHOOTING SINKS SPRINGBOKS 76-64


Egypt showed why they are defending continental champions as the RSA struggled all night long against the stifling Egyptian defense taking their first loss of the competition 76-64. The Springboks did put up a fine defensive effort as well limiting Egypt to 38% from the field including a 2-21 effort from three point range. The RSA however could not however take advantage of the situation as the guard play in particular suffered as Solomons suffered a 3-13 evening (and he made his last two shots) and his backcourt mate Mbazia also had his difficulties going 2-11. This coupled with a 53-42 deficit on the boards and a 12-4 advantage for Egypt in blocked shots was too much to overcome.


"It was a good approximation of where these two teams are right now" said Coach Lambini afterwards. "We knew going in Egypt had a lot of depth and it would be difficult to manufacture offense as they only give up 51 points a game. In that respect perhaps we did not fair that badly. I told the guys going in this is all part of the process and that we will see them at least one more time, hopefully two."


In other action the results suggest the plot is thickening!

The RSA's next opponent Tunisia tossed Al-Mahrib into the elimination zone 101-55 " those guys sudden look dangerous, I expect a intense effort from them next week" quipped coach Lambini.


Al-Jazair ripped Ghana 137-61 to move a long way towards securing a spot in the second phase.


And in perhaps the biggest shocker of the event thus far Nigeria stunned Senegal 92-78 " that's a game changer" coach said eyebrow raised when informed of this result.

Thanks for all these summaries. ;)