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Always a good thing to start with a win.

Game 2: South Africa 90 vs. Senegal 73  (60793)

Record: 2-0

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

The team faced off against a tough Senegal team and came out with a well-earned win.

- Shafilshuna Machemko once again led the team in scoring 24 points on 10-23 shooting, including 4-9 from the 3-point line, along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
- Our starting center, Kamangeni Tloome, muscled his way to a team-high 17 rebounds and 4 blocks as he did battle all game with Senegal's many bigs.
- He started off a little slow but Yera Mji got hot in the 2nd half and ended the game as the team's 2nd leading scorer with 22 points on 8-19 shooting, including going 3-4 from the 3-point line.
- The team as a whole shot a scorching hot 45% from beyond the arc going 11-24 for the game but were a bit cold from inside the arc where they shot 36%. 
- Regardless of how the team was doing offensively, the defense once again locked in as they held Senegal to 31% shooting from the field.

Player of the Game: Shafilshuna Machemko (48727512) trained by A Warrior

Up next is a very young Ghanaian squad that is finally able to boast a team, thanks to the new Utopia dual citizenship draftees, after not having one for several seasons.

Game 3: South Africa 99 vs. Ghana 51 (60795)

Record: 3-0

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

The young Ghanaian squad proved to be no match for our experienced South African crew.

- The offense played through Shafilshuna Machemko today as he dropped 40 points in 34 minutes on 15-26 shooting from the field to continue to display his impressive scoring abilities.
- Vincent "Microwave" McDonna, was on fire in his 19 minutes off the bench as he was 2nd in the team in scoring with 23 points on 9-17 shooting.
- The Baby Boks defense continues to stifle opponents as they kept Ghana to 25% shooting for the game and compiled 18 steals.
- This is the first season since season 46 that Ghana has had enough players to field a team. Thanks to the influx of Utopian dual citizenship players, we expect that this Ghanaian squad will become regular competition in a few seasons.

Player of the Game: Shafilshuna Machemko (48727512) trained by A Warrior

Next week's match-up is against Nigeria and will be the battle of the two remaining undefeated teams in the tournament. Nigeria gave South Africa its' only loss in the team's run in Season 52 and that taste of defeat still lingers for some of these players who were on the team so look forward to it being a good one.

Nice run so far. Time to make some noise tonight.

Last edited by CrazyBob at 08/02/2021 13:49:45

Thanks CrazyBob. The team didn't disappoint!

Game 4: Nigeria 74 vs. South Africa 103 (60798)

Record: 4-0

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

It was the battle of the only remaining undefeated teams and the Baby Boks came out to make a statement.

- Yera Mji took the game into his own hands today as he led the team in scoring, shooting 11-24 from the field, including 4 threes, for 27 points on the night.
- Point guard Tau Ncube, was flawless today as he was second on the team with 22 points, led the team with 6 assists and chipped in 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block with no turnovers for the game.
- Off the bench scoring outbursts seem to be the norm for this squad as Makhaya Mukumana had his turn playing 6th man and pouring in 19 points off of 7-11 shooting, including hitting 3-4 from the beyond the arc.
- The team as a whole was blistering hot from the 3-point line in this one as they shot 12-27 (44%) for the game.
- Keeping Nigeria to 29% shooting for the game is another victory for this defense.
- Playing stout but disciplined defense is going to be a focus for the coaching staff in training as the Nigerian squad was able to stay in the game due to drawing 32 shots from the free throw line compared to the Baby Boks' 13.

Player of the Game: Yera Mji (48754284) trained by A-Dub

The 7th ranked Tunisian team will be the match up in the week to come.

Game 5: Tounes 50 vs. South Africa 105 (60804)

Record: 5-0

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

Another match and another strong performance from the Baby Boks.

- Thikhathali Zibi was nearly perfect in this one. He shot 8-9 from the field, including 6-6 from the free throw line, for a team-high 22 points and secured a double-double by also grabbing 10 rebounds.
- Redhead Tau Ncube was red hot out there as he shot 9-12 from the field, including 4-5 from 3-point range, also for a team-high 22 points. He also had 0 turnovers for the day and showed up on defense with 2 steals and 3 blocks.
- Bench big Nbomandi Mbandi came to make the most of his minutes today as he logged a 20 point, 13 rebound double-double in just 24 minutes of playing time.
- Starting Center Kamangeni Tloome was dominant down low as he grabbed 19 boards and had 4 blocks.
- This team is all about defense, defense, defense as they limited Tounes to shooting only 15-85 (17.6%) from the field in this one.
- All 12 South African players scored this game!

Player(s) of the Game: Tau Ncube (49001256) trained by Cabrusan, Nbomandi Mbandi (49001186) and Thikhathali Zibi (48727515) trained by A Warrior

Up next is an Al Jazair squad that is currently in 5th place.

Game 6: South Africa U21 102 vs. Al Jazair U21 92 (60808)

Record: 6-0

Standing: Currently 1st place and locked into advancing to the 2nd round
(Note: In this initial round robin of games, the top 6 of the 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

This was the team's toughest match of the season. Al Jazair led almost the entire game and was up 75-64 heading into the 4th quarter. The Baby Boks finally found their fight and exploded with a 38-point 4th quarter, while holding Al Jazair to only 17 points. Nothing like a tough opponent to give our team a needed wake-up call. Hopefully, we won't need another one.

- Thikhathali Zibi led the way with 24 points on 12-17 shooting and 18 rebounds.
- Nbomandi Mbandi chipped in another double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
- Fouls and free throws were big difference makers in this game. Our team committed 8 more fouls (21 to 13) and gave up 15 more free throw attempts (27 to 12), which really helped keep Al Jazair in the game. We'll need to clean up that up moving forward.
- With the game being so tight, the coach stuck to a 7-man rotation with each of those rotation players chipping in at least 8 points and the team shot over 50% (45-89) from the field.

Player of the Game: Thikhathali Zibi (48727515) trained by A Warrior

Our final game of the season will be against the 5th place Misr team.

Last edited by A Warrior at 08/18/2021 19:10:53

Game 7: Misr 102 vs. South Africa 114 (60812)

Record: 7-0

Standing: 1st place heading into the 2nd round
(Note: In this initial round robin of games, the top 6 of the 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

The Baby Boks stay undefeated through the first round! Step one accomplished.

- This game makes 3 straight double-double performances for Thikhathali Zibi as he notched 25 points and snagged 16 rebounds in this one for another dominant showing. He also brought it defensively, chipping in 3 blocks and 3 steals.
- One rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double for Tau Ncube! And don't let his 1-4 from the field fool you as he was perfect from the line in this one, going 14-14.
- Shafilshuna Machemko is back! After a couple of off scoring nights in his last games, he showed up to this one and dropped 25 points.
- Starting shooting guard Makhaya Mukumana shot lights out in this one as he was 8-11 from the field for 17 points as the entire starting line-up put up double-digit scoring efforts in this one.
- The defense needs to look tighter moving forward. Giving up 47% shooting to our opponents is not going to get us another championship.

Player(s) of the Game: Tau Ncube (49001256) trained by Cabrusan and Thikhathali Zibi (48727515) trained by A Warrior

The first round is now over. Tounes and Ghana will not be advancing to the next round. We should find out who our next opponent will be shortly.

Great 1st round! :)

Game 8: South Africa U21 84 vs. Nigeria U21 51 (61401)

Record: 8-0

Standing: 1st place, locked into playing in a semi-final
(Note: In this second round of games each team will play one another again and the top 4 of the 6 teams will advance to the semi-finals where the 1st seed will play the 4th seed and the 2nd seed will play the 3rd seed.)

A great start to the 2nd round as the team responded to a poor defensive showing with one of their best lock-down performances of the season against a tough Nigerian squad. 

- Vincent "Microwave" McDonna lived up to his nickname and led the team in scoring off the bench with 20 points on 10-15 shooting in just 25 minutes.
- The starting big men may've struggled to put the ball in the hoop but starting power forward,  Nbomani Mbandi, still managed to haul in a 14 point and 11 rebound double-double while starting center, Kamangeni Tloome, grabbed 22 rebounds for the game.
- The offense may've struggled a bit in this one but the defense returned back to form with the Baby Boks holding the Nigerians to 23% (20-85) shooting for the game.
- Thanks to the starters being able to secure a big lead, all 12 active South African players were able to see playing time in this one.

Player(s) of the Game: Vincent McDonna (48727480) trained by mathew13693

Our schedule gave us our toughest opponents first so up next we have an important match-up against the 2nd place team, Senegal!

Game 9: Senegal 91 vs. South Africa 78 (61405)

Record: 8-1

Standing: 1st place, locked into playing in a semi-final
(Note: In this second round of games each team will play one another again and the top 4 of the 6 teams will advance to the semi-finals where the 1st seed will play the 4th seed and the 2nd seed will play the 3rd seed.)

This was a frustrating first loss of the season for the Baby Boks. Senegal put in more effort, outhustled the team and had things break their way in this one. Our team will have to say goodbye to an undefeated season but learn and grow from this experience to keep focused on the push for back-to-back championships.

A few hard to believe stats tell the story of this loss,
- 74-35. Senegal secured 39 more rebounds than us, which is more than double what we had. 
- 37-8. Senegal committed 29 fewer fouls than us as we more than quadrupled the number of fouls they committed. We had 4 players, including 3 starters, foul out in this one and a 5th picked up 5 fouls.
- 50-8. Senegal had 42(!) more free throw attempts than we did in this one, which comes out to be more than quintuple the number of free throw attempts we had. Senegal's homecourt advantage may be helping in more ways than one...

Player(s) of the Game: Shafilshuna Machemko (48727512) trained by A Warrior

Disappointing results to say the least but it's time for the squad to pick their heads back up, move on and prepare for the next game. We've got another tough opponent in the 3rd place Al Jazair team up next.

Last edited by A Warrior at 09/06/2021 18:51:16