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The new NT season is upon us!

The NT team kick off their World Consolation Tournament with a difficult challenge against Peru who are ranked 33rd in the world, 4 places above us.

The U21 squad also kick off their European campaign with a tie against Sweden who sit 20 places behind us in the rankings in 60th.

Let’s hope for 2 wins to start the season!

Nice opening victory for the senior team today, 98-72 at home to Peru.

On paper I thought Peru were pretty decent - their only losses last season, all at neutral venues (and excluding USA, because USA) were to Canada (by 11) who scored a double correct prediction, Argentina (in overtime), and a 12 point loss to Uruguay, so the margin of victory was definitely a nice surprise! Sets us up pretty well going into an easy game 2, then we have to wait and see what the rest of the schedule has for us.

I worried about losing some PD due to garbage time in the 4th but the bench didn't disappoint either :)

Shall we do some game MVPs? Tough today as the offensive stats are very even throughout. I wish we had opposition FG% so I can better use those too - the defence was really good all around though, to hold Peru to 38% shooting and an 18/14 assist to turnover ratio.

3 points - big Dexter Barral. Top scorer with 17 efficient points and 4 assists. Not sure how many of the 5 TOs from their C he was responsible for but lets say "some". Only 5 rebounds so looks like he was the box out guy instead ;)
2 points - Aarumughasami Lal. His time with the NT may be coming to an end soon but nice and efficient today and his opponent had the least points of their 5 starters so stands outs on D too.
1 point - Alexey Sanders. 13 quick bench points, getting to the FT line and 2 steals will do just fine. Just pipped Greene to this point.

Excellent win and start to the campaign, great job.

I'm definitely keen to try get the community involved as it's been a lot quieter in recent seasons. I feel it's easier to use this thread for both national sides.

2/2 for the national sides today as the U21's got the job done against an average Sweden side. Tougher tests are sure to come but it was a workmanlike performance with the offence firing on all cylinders, shooting a nice 60% with 31 assists dished out. In terms of defence, there's definitely room for improvement. We dominated the boards but I'm a bit disappointed with the number of points we gave up against one of the weaker teams we've been drawn against and in particular, the amount they scored from downtown.

MVP's then..

3 points: Easy one this as Clint Franks shot 15-16 from the field and led the points tally, accumulating 32 and also dishing out a couple of assists.

2 points: 20 year old Jamie Hermann capped his competitive debut with a great performance at Centre. His double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds was not the only thing that stood out, as he limited the Swedish Centre to 1-9 scoring so was solid at both ends.

1 point: An eleven minute cameo from Lorne MacNeish picks up the last spot. His 14 points involved two from behind the arc and he also managed to mop up a few rebounds.

2 good wins to start the season, good job fellas

2 from 2 for the U21 as we convincingly beat Belarus.

Not overly impressed with the win, but considering we lost Franks really early to injury and Ledezma to foul trouble, we held them at bay defensively to bring home the W. A good assist to turnover ratio is definitely a positive, but not blown away by our shooting percentage against a weak side. Estonia up next which will be a tough but definitely winnable game..

MVP's

3 points: Greg Monk takes the award this week with a decent performance at both ends of the court. He shot over 50% from the field accruing 25 points as well as dishing out 4 assists. He also grabbed 9 rebounds, picked up 2 steals and held his match up to 2-13 shooting.

2 points: Tezozomoc Azuara top scored with 29 points and shooting over 50% from downtown. He managed to distribute three assists and grab a couple of a pair of steals.

1 point: Ad Cassell grabbed 15 rebounds and defended the lead well after losing both bigs. This is highlighted with the couple of blocks he managed in his 22 minute cameo.

Another positive post after an impressive result against Estonia!

I must admit when I first logged in at around 4pm and saw Estonia had crunched, I thought that would be our season over but the lads dug deep and we've managed to maintain our 100% record. Defence key to the win, in particular, the three big men who kept their main focal point of attack relatively quiet. Impressive percentage from the free throw line too, especially at U21 level, shows how important making them FT's really is..

MVP's

3 points: Clint Franks with an excellent performance at both ends of the court. 23 points and 10 rebounds secured him a double-double. He looked after the ball well and was a menace in defence claiming 2 steals and 1 block.

2 points: Ad Cassell defended their monster big man extremely well considering the salary difference. He swatted away four attempts and also picked up 12 points.

1 point: This was between Halley and Ledezma but the latter takes it for his impressive defence against Estonia's top scorer this season. He limited his opponent to 5 points and a 22% FG, intimidating him with three blocks. He also grabbed 9 important rebounds and shot well from the free-throw line.

Israel up next.. don't expect masses, but who knows..

Also, before I finish, congratulations to the senior team and Bergkamp for their excellent win over Argentina! Great result and that means both teams have 100% records heading into Gameweek 4

Last edited by js8 at 07/26/2021 16:26:45

Fantastic win for both squads, especially as both teams were playing with less effort! Great start to the season so far, 2 difficult games next week!

Sorry for not keeping up with the match reports, been toon busy with normal life to find time and get round to writing them, but unfortunately the U21's campaign ended at the group stages. We were extremely close to qualifying and were within two points of upsetting the odds and pulling off a landmark win against Lithuania, but it wasn't meant to be.

In other news, congratulations to Bergkamp on an excellent 6-1 record with the senior team! Your reward...? A knockout trip to Italy! Doesn't get much tougher than that. Good luck with it next Monday.

It’s been a fantastic season for both teams!

7-1 record for the main team is really impressive, congratulations to Bergman’s for that achievement. It’s unfortunate we’ve managed to get probably to toughest knockout draw possible despite only having 1 loss all season.

As for the u21s, 2 points away from an almost impossible qualification out of the group. We had a really strong group of players but we fell just short to one of the biggest communities in BB. All that and we were only the 4th highest ranked team in the group! I’m a little annoyed our ranking hasn’t increased more. Thank you to all the u21 managers this season for training such a talented group and thank you for maintaining very good game shapes throughout the season. The squad isn’t looking as strong next season unfortunately but me and js8 will do our best to get as many wins as possible.