Now that the confetti has been swept and the champagne has dried. Let's take a look back at the season.
Accolades- First and foremost, this was
South Africa's 4th U21 Continental Championship and the
first-ever back-to-back gold trophies!
- This also means we have our first ever
2-time South African U21 champions in Shafilshuna Machemko, Thikhathali Zibi, Yera Mji and Kamangeni Tloome!
-
Shafilshuna Machemko ends his tenure on the U21 team as arguably the
greatest Baby Bok the team has ever seen. He ranks 1st all-time in games (56) and points (894) while also holding the 4th and 6th records for best scoring seasons, as he once again led the team this season in points (308).
- His companion every step of the way,
Thikhathali Zibi, may have had to live in Machemko's shadow but he was the Pippen to Machemko's Jordan. His tenure ends with him 3rd all-time in games (49) and tied for 6th all-time in points (560). This season he was 2nd in points for the team (233) and 1st in rebounds (157).
- Rounding out the leading scorers was
Yera Mji who came in 3rd in points for this season (162).
- Big men
Kamangeni Tloome (144) and
Nbomani Mbandi (122) were 2nd on 3rd for the season in rebounds.
- Point guards
Tau Ncube (45) and Makhaya Mukumana (34) were expected to lead the team in assists, and they did, while center
Nbomani Mbandi made a surprise appearance on the assists leaderboard, coming in 2nd (44).
- This season we had 6 players receive Player of the Game honors. Thikhathali Zibi receives the award of
Season 54 MVP, after being named Player of the Game 6 times, for the Baby Boks as he held together a paper thin interior unit with both his scoring bunch and presence on the boards. The other players who received the Player of the Game recognition were Shafilshuna Machemko (3), Yera Mji (2), Tau Ncube (2), Vincent McDonna (1) and Nbomani Mbandi (1)
- The team's 13-1 record for the season is tied for the
best season in South African U21 history, which is also shared by the Season 38 and Season 52 teams, both of which were championship teams.
- As if we didn't mention
defense enough around this squad, the combined points allowed from the Semi-Final and Final match-ups was only 99! This is just a small representation of the defensive dogs this team was night in and night out.
Acknowledgments- With the end of the season, we have to say farewell to a number of
departing players (and legends!) - Shafilshuna Machemko, Thikhathali Zibi, Yera Mji, Vincent McDonna, Tau Ncube, Makhaya Mukumana, Dean Armitage, Nbomani Mbandi, Mao Khumelo and Umi Mokitimi!
- Special thanks to all our
trainers of players on the team's championship roster -
A-Dub, bench9, boksburg, Cabrusan, Ezio, FeelThePressure, Hundid, maniac77, mathew13693, Oldskool and Sandy! We can't have a championship team without a number of dedicated trainers so thank you all for dedicating the months it took for this to happen.
- I'd also like to acknowledge the managers who offered gameplanning input through the Discord (which anyone can still join!
(https://discord.gg/VcBkc9D592)) -
A-Dub, DRoss, Ezio, FeelThePressure, mathew13693, nemanja, Rapper and rhyminsimon! Small or big, your contributions have been appreciated.
Another historic season in the record books. Let's keep this trend going!