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The competitive NT season is due to start on Monday. The senior squad will once again be led by Vycka who won the election comfortably. Hopefully he can continue to improve on his first 2 seasons in the role. Obviously I will be leading the U21 team again this season as we battle in the world consolation tournament.

First announcement concerning the U21 this season. js8 is temporarily stepping away from his role as U21 assistant/advisor. I would like to thank him for his help last season, and I hope we can work together again. I have filled the vacancy with an up and coming manager, who is relatively new to BB, but he has been very active in the community and is learning the game very quickly. Welcome testudo to the U21 NT setup!

Coming off a disappointing end to last season for the U21s, I am hungry to get going again in competitive play. The team this season has the potential to be part of a successful campaign. Despite not having clear stars like Hendriks, Padilla and Goodhew, this season team provides quality in all positions and a squad I am excited in getting to use. If we continue to see the improvements I have seen since running the squad as U20s team we should be in for a good season. I plea with managers of the players in the squad to try and maintain game shape to be at 8 or 9 as best they can this season.

We start off the season with a game away against India. A game I feel confident we can get a win and make a strong statement for how the season should go. We then face South Korea in the 2nd game of the 8. Another team I have confidence in beating, but they will be a tougher challenge than India and are a team improving every season. I am looking for a strong 2-0 start to the run as I aim for qualification for the knockout rounds.

Congratz to Vycka, who won with just over 90% of the vote.

Thanks for the opportunity, I'm looking forward to working with you and the U21's this season and helping any way I can. Long-term I'd love to see both NT and U21 continue to do well, and hopefully as the seasons progress I'll be able to train some players that can contribute.

The U21's are currently ranked 24, and as arrows has said our first U21 games are @ India (ranked 98) and vs South Korea (ranked 58). Hopefully we can make a fast start against these two teams and progress up the standings.

The NT are in the Europe Championship Tournament and have the following group, with rankings:

02 Germany
18 England
23 Estonia
37 Hungary
45 Austria
61 Belarus
70 Montenegro
93 Moldova

England 95-50 India

Game 1 of the season is done and dusted. A dominant 45 point win, puts us 6th in the consolation tournament standings, and 3 of those teams had 50-0 forfeit wins. We are the highest ranked team that played away, so a great start for us. Yes we were only playing India but to have the best away team PD is a great win.

We came out of the blocks hot with a 26-8 first quarter to put our stamp on the game. Defence was key to our dominance, limiting India to only 50 points was important for us. Offensively, I thought we were a little disappointing against a poor team, but points difference is more important. 20 year old Allan Lyons top scored with 17 points, all of which came in the first half. William Handl and Ad Harris also added 16 and 15 points respectively.

A tougher challenge this week against 58th ranked South Korea. A game I am still confident we will win, but a tougher team than India. Lets go 2-0!

Last edited by arrowspg5 at 05/09/2022 16:11:18

Another good result at home to South Korea!

I'm sure arrows will post a write-up later in the week, but in the meantime feel free to vote for your MOTM here:

(https://strawpoll.com/polls/Q0Zp4P2RGZM)

England 121- 73 South Korea

Another dominant performance from the U21 squad as they cruise to a 48 point win over 58th ranked South Korea. The win puts England top in the consolation tournament rankings after 2 games with a 2-0 record and +93 points difference.

Again another quick start as England jumped out to a 16 point lead in the first quarter set the tone for the game. A combined 71 points from quarters 2 and 3 continued to stretch the lead.

Eric Singleton was on fire as he top scored with with 25 points, shooting 9-10FG (4-4 3FG). Allan Lyons had another strong game as he added 22 points from the bench. Big guy Barker Wickens had a game to remember as he had a monster 21 points and 18 rebounds. You can vote for your player of the game on the previous post by testudo.

The draw has been made for the remaining 6 qualifying games and it's safe to say the BB Gods were on our side this season with a pretty favorable draw. Next week we face 90th ranked Macau away and I will be looking to improve our record to 3-0.

Congratulations to Barker Wickens, who was voted MOTM vs South Korea!

Today we had an early game in Macau which we won 99-66, vote for your MOTM here.

(https://strawpoll.com/polls/NMnQBQKjYg6)

England 99 - 66 Macau

Another decent performance from the England U21s with a 33 point win away against 90th ranked Macau. The win improves our record to 3-0 with a +126 points difference, putting us 3rd in the rankings.

The game was blown open early with a 32-11 first quarter. The offence slowed down from then on but the game was effectively done after 12 minutes. Macau performed better than their ranking suggests, especially on the defensive end limiting us to only 99 points. Barker Wickens led the game in points and rebounds with a 20 point, 13 rebound double double off the bench. Williams Handl had himself a strong all round game with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

We next face 94th ranked Paraguay at home, a game in which I expect to dominate once again.

William Handl of ES Arnould was voted MOTM last week vs Macau.

A huge score for us this week! The stats were spread evenly over the team but feel free to choose your pick of the bunch here: (https://strawpoll.com/polls/mpnbawPoPy5)

England 150-64 Paraguay

England regained top seed in the consolation tournament win a huge 86 point win over Paraguay to improve the record to 4-0. The scoring load was shared out among the team as there were 8 players score in double digits, and no one had more than 21 which was achieved by SF William Handl.

Paraguay decided to only field 4 players, which against a strong full court pressure defence struggled and were forced in to 32 turnovers. It also allowed England to dominate on the offensive end with 69 made field goals on 62% shooting. England were able to find their way to the paint for easy baskets many times throughout the game which allowed them to rack up such a high score.

England again have a home fixture this week as they face 76th ranked Costa Rica who find themselves at 1-3. Another loss for Costa Rica essentially out of the running for qualification so they will be desperate to pick up the win. England on the other hand will be looking to improve to a 5-0 record and maintain their spot as the number 1 seed.

Congratulations to Shawn Bondi of Leeds City Ballers Academy, who collected 100% of the MVP votes from last week's game!

So far Barker Wickens, William Handl and Shawn Bondi have one MVP each. This week we had a big victory over Costa Rica, vote here:

(https://strawpoll.com/polls/B2ZB3l7MLyJ)

Eric Singleton of Scunthorpe Devils was voted MVP last week vs Costa Rica!

Vote here for the best performer in today's game against Algeria: (https://strawpoll.com/polls/BDyNjGNpkyR)