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Rock and Roll... to the Worlds! Philippines U21 enters the World Cup after win over Canada U21, 91-61 (80269)

Washington D.C., USA -- Philippines U21 raced to an early lead, and thwarted every comeback attempts by Canada U21, and this led to a very important win for the Filipinos, 91-61. This win gave them a slot in the U21 World Cup next season, which is a first for Coach Leo in his tenure as the U21 manager of the Philippines.

"I'm very grateful for the community's support, especially those who are training their guys and keeping them in tip-top shape.", Coach Leo said in the post-game interview. He also tipped his hat to Canada U21's current manager, Coach Morwood, for being a mentor and a great friend. "We go way back, being his assistant when he was Philippines U21's manager a few seasons back, learned a lot about handling the national team, what tactics to use. Stuff like that helps a lot, especially coming from the winningest Pilipinas U21 manager. Again, I can't thank him enough."

Rojun Abono had his best game in a Pilipinas U21 uniform, scoring 23 points in just 23 minutes off the bench, while Leonard Espeño finished the game with 19 points to cap off this season. Joseph Steven Tabernero, aptly nicknamed "JT Express", delivered a 16-point package, safely and securely. Orchestrating the Philippines U21 offense was Clyde Dexter Widagdo, who dished out 7 assists, and 5 of it were from the 1st quarter alone. The 20-year-old Benigno Sasabo didn't score much, but his defense on Canada U21's monster bigman, Pascal Veilleux, was exemplary after he limited the latter to just 6 of 22 shooting, add to that his 7 rebounds and 5 blocks.

The Filipinos did not do well in the rebounding department as Canada U21 deployed a 3-bigs starting 5, hence the 47-63 disadvantage with the Filipinos not even getting a single offensive rebound in this game, but they made up for it by shooting at a better clip, better passing, and defense.

As for Canada U21, Vernon Owen and Pascal Veilleux secured double-doubles to lead Canada U21's offense. Owen had 16 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Veilleux collected 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.

On to the next season, where the Philippines U21 will test its mettle against the best U21 teams in the World. Good luck!

Points Leaders:
Rojun Abono - 23 points
Leonard Espeño - 19 points
Joseph Steven Tabernero - 16 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Victor Perfecto Sumbang - 7 rebounds
Benigno Sasabo - 7 rebounds
Laurence Linia - 6 rebounds
Ash Julius Javellana - 6 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Clyde Dexter Widagdo - 7 assists
Rojun Abono - 3 assists
Ash Julius Javellana - 3 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

- Leo

Alright, this formally ends Season 68. We didn't get the shiny medal, but we managed to sneak into the World Cup. Sa wakas! :D

We now start Season 69... nice! This time, we'll start by scouting the rookies, the future U21 and/or Seniors studs. If you have a decent rookie in your hands, you can mail me, Leo, (54375) or Raddy, (55059) to discuss the training plans.

If in case, you don't have plans to train your rookies, I would like to ask to sell them this week or in the next. It will be more profitable than keeping them in your team untrained and possibly selling sometime in the midseason orlate in the season.

Afterwards, we'll be scouting the 20 and 21 yr olds, especially those who have the chance to suit up for our U21 team.

Two more things, training guide is still up: https://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/forum/read.aspx?thr...

As well as the training simulator: https://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/forum/read.aspx?thr...

I haven't received any concerns about the simulator so far, so please let me know if there's a problem with it.

Good luck sa atin sa Worlds next season!

Best regards,
Leo

Congrats Coach Leo, Ilaban na natin tong paparating na U21 World Cup ;) Chong and Miguel is waiting for the call and may drafted 19yo prospect ako si Vic Dinopol ;) Future is bright for our U21 and NT Pilipinas ;) Keep going

Yes coach, maraming salamat! Ilalaban natin ito!

Ihanda mo na sila Chong at Miguel ;)

I agree boss Obi. Height plays a big role sa training speed. Some trainings are faster when the trainee is tall, some trainings are faster when trainee is short, and the others where height doesn't matter.

I'll just put this here for everyone that currently, we have general final skills requirements for Seniors team prospects, which are as follows:
a) For scoring guards: at least 14 Inside Shot; at least 12 Inside Defense
b) For defensive guards: at least 12 Inside Defense
c) For bigs in general: at least 10 Outside Defense; at least 10 Passing; It also helps to have decent Handling, which helps in training Outside Defense and Passing via elastic effect

Boss Obi's advice fits well sa ganitong instances. If you have tall guys na maganda na ang guard skills or short guys na maganda na ang Inside Shot at Inside Defense, malaking kabawasan ito sa training weeks, finishing training faster than normal. We've seen lots of trainers struggle in training Outside Defense for bigs, inaabot ng 1-2 seasons para maabot ang target, or worse 3 seasons. Same goes for the guards who are training Inside Scoring and Inside Defense.

Kaya kung may ganyan kayong player/s, i.e. 7'0 SG or 6'0 C, please reconsider training them for our National teams. It really helps to have National team players with more all-around skills. That applies to both Seniors and U21.

- Leo