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BB Canada > U21 Training Camp - Season 16

U21 Training Camp - Season 16

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182958.1
Date: 4/25/2011 7:29:54 PM
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5555
This season, it is time for another round of the Americas Championship Tournament. The action will take place in Peru, and the format will be the same as always. To skip these details, jump to the next paragraph, but if you'd like a quick overview of what's about to go down, here goes. To start things off, we will be playing a first round of group play. This consists of 3 groups of 7 teams, with the top 4 teams in each group moving on to the second round. In the second round, there are 2 groups of 6, and the top 2 teams in each group make the playoff round. The two teams that make the playoff finals earn tickets to the World Championships in season 17. The two next best teams from each second round group (4 teams total) are sent to the second chance qualifiers (played early in season 17). Everyone else is sent directly to the season 17 consolation tournament.

To prepare for this tournament, a group of the best Canadian 21 year olds (and some 20 year olds) has been invited to a special training facility in the Rocky Mountains. These players will be put through a set of rigorous tests, drills, and intersquad games, with indiviual players being flown to and from the training facility each and every day (in order to honour a diverse set of club commitments). Several players have already appeared in scrimmage action, including a scrimmage earlier today against Egypt (which was played in Austria). The players that have played in these scrimmages are not necessarily the ones that will end up making the team.

The initial invite list is as follows, with possible additions still to come:

*=20 year old player

Bigs (C/PF)
- Han Baiming: (14641146)
- Martin Blackburn: (14642115)
- Théodore Breton*: (16415254)
- David Castro*: (16416234)
- Norm Comartin: (14640812)
- Scott Fitzpatrick: (14641357)
- Kent Kent: (14641680)
- Giuseppe Lovato: (14641084)
- Isaac Massicotte: (14641292)
- Paweł Niestępski: (14642615)
- Mervyn Ramsey: (14641264)
- Williams Rivas: (14641556)

Guards
- Robert Blake: (14642071)
- Taylor Cutler: (14640994)
- Buster Eastham: (14641561)
- Dwain Hadley: (14640977)
- Christopher Kumar: (14640708)
- Rudolph Lentz: (16349085)
- Lucio Marchi: (14641614)
- Davis Mercado: (14642202)
- Antoine Robichaud: (14641705)
- Cletus Ryder: (14642588)
- Delain Sanderson*:(16416618)
- Ajaikumar Sharma: (14642168)
- Thomas Simmons: (14641072)
- Gerry Stavridis: (14641174)
- Diant Stronks: (14640552)

The opening roster will consist of 10-12 players, with players being called up as needed throughout the season. William Rivas has already emerged as a leader under the basket, and will be relied on heavily at C/PF. Scott Fitzpatrick and Paweł Niestępski have also impressed U21 management, with 20 year old David Castro looking like a good bet to grab the 4th big man spot. Around the perimeter, Stavridis, Hadley, and Stronks have emerged as the leaders of what will hopefully be a strong group of guards. For the remaining guard spots on the opening roster, competition is expected to be very fierce, with Thomas Simmons rumoured to be an especially solid candidate at this time.

The first game of the Americas Championships this season will be next week against Barbados, and the official opening roster will be announced prior to that game. Good luck to all the owners / trainers of the training camp invitees, and let's hope for a great season on the national stage.

Last edited by The Mogul at 5/13/2011 10:51:52 AM

This Post:
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182958.2 in reply to 182958.1
Date: 4/26/2011 11:45:47 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
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ugh! Senneville didn't make it again! DAMN!

This Post:
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182958.3 in reply to 182958.2
Date: 4/29/2011 11:00:47 AM
Overall Posts Rated:
5555
Today I'm going to be doing some final scouting updates before the U21 enthusiasm reset (which should be happening tomorrow-ish). That means that lots of players will be moving on and off the roster soon, but that will just be for scouting purposes. The official starting group will be announced later this weekend, and details will be posted once the final decisions have been made.

This Post:
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182958.4 in reply to 182958.3
Date: 5/2/2011 4:59:29 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
5555
The Americas Championships are about to begin, and the U21 enthusiasm has been reset to 5. This means that for the rest of the season, any players added to the U21 will be here to stay (as removing players from the team results in an enthusiasm loss). For our first game against Barbados, I've decided to send out a streamlined group of only 8 players. This keeps our callup options a bit more flexible than in past seasons. It's likely that 2 more players will be added for the game against Venezuela next week, with around 5 more callup spots ready to use as needed throughout the season.

Here is the opening roster for the season 16 U21 team:

David Castro (16416234)

David Castro is not the next Glenn Richards, but he's close. Like Richards, Castro trained incredibly quickly during his age 18 and 19 seasons, and has earned an opening day U21 job at the age of 20. This will likely make his owner, Bare Bottoms, quite proud, as Castro is a traditional "draft and develop" prospect. As the first player from the season 13 draft class to play for Canada, David Castro is likely to be around for 2 whole seasons, and he is determined to make an impact from day one.

Taylor Cutler (14640994)

Out of all of the players starting the season on the U21, Cutler was the biggest underdog prospect. When he was drafted in season 12, by Toronto Towers, he was barely noticed by Canadian scouts. He was trained heavily, however, and earned an 11th place ranking on the 19 year old guards list. After turning 20, Cutler had moved up to 8th, and his 21st birthday saw him move right onto the team. That's right where he wanted to be, and if you ask Cutler himself, he'll tell you he had a spot locked up all along. :P

Dwain Hadley (14640977)

A few seasons ago, the Herman Griffins decided to make a splash on the trainee scene, and develop some high profile Canadian talent. Dwain Hadley is perhaps the biggest name in the Griffin prospect wave. After being drafted by an inactive manager in the season 12 draft, Hadley was saved from retirement only one week later, eventually selling for $2.122 million. A U21 favourite from the start, Hadley is finally here, and will be counted on to play a central role for us in season 16.

Paweł Niestępski (14642615)

Paweł Niestępski was drafted by lincoln high with the 41st pick in the season 12 draft, but don't let that low draft position fool you! Niestępski was a steal that late in the draft, and was quickly added to a quality C/PF training program. This same training program produced former Canadian U21 star Vidyacharan Jaiswal, and with any luck, Paweł Niestępski will be able to excel for us in a similar role as Jaiswal's in season 14.

William Rivas (14641556)

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's William Rivas! This high flying big man was drafted by Dunk Llamas with the 29th pick in season 12, and trained there for a little over a season. However, when the Dunk Llames were taken over by robots during his age 19 season, Rivas was tossed into the void. Luckily enough, Rivas had a high enough skill level to qualify for standard free agency, and he appeared on the transfer list before too long. KK Proleter, a squad based in Bosna i Hercegovina, ended up purchasing him for $1.275 million. His training continued to go well with his new European team, and at the age of 21, Rivas has emerged as the consensus #1 big man in his age group. It is expected that Rivas will be one of Canada's most important players in season 16, and with any luck, he will be able to make a name for himself in the history books.

Last edited by The Mogul at 5/2/2011 5:03:46 PM

This Post:
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182958.5 in reply to 182958.4
Date: 5/2/2011 4:59:59 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
5555
Thomas Simmons (14641072)

A season 12 draft pick by the UTE, Simmons was quickly sold to the Lawrence Park Panthers for $922k. Simmons joined two top Canadian prospects, Herman Kearns and Roméo Lavigne, in the LPP trainee program. While Herman Kearns was always the best and brightest name in that group, Simmons is also an excellent prospect, and it will be exciting to see him out there on the court for us in season 16.

Gerry Stavridis (14641174)

Having played some limited minutes for the U21 during his age 20 season, Gerry Stavridis is the only returning player from season 15 (at least on the opening roster). Stavridis has a long and storied history. Having been saved by Canadian officials as an 18 year old, he sold for over $6 million to the Paper Pushers. He trained there for 2 seasons, before being sold to the manager formerly known as GM-Rip for around $3 million. Now that he is 21, the time is now for Stavridis, and he will play a large role in whatever happens during the upcoming season.

Diant Stronks (14640552)

While Dwain Hadley was a high priced import for the Herman Griffins, Diant Stronks was quietly drafted by the Griffins in season 12. However, like Hadley, Stronks was one of the best players in his draft class, and has always been thought highly of by Canadian scouts. Is Stronks the best Griffin of them all? A case could definately be made for that, and Stronks is eager to challenge Hadley for the title of Ultimate Griffin.

And there we have it, the opening 8 player roster for season 16!

Additional notes:
every player on the team started out as an 18 year old
- 7 players are currently on Canadian teams, with 1 in Bosnia i Hercegovina
- 4 players on the team were "draft and trains," in the sense of having never been transferred
- 2 other players were sold right after they were drafted, and have been essentially developed by just one team
- Hadley and Stavridis were rescued by NT player saving efforts as 18 year olds
- Positionally, we are starting with 2 PGs, 2 SGs, 1 SF, and 3 Cs.

More information will be available in the BB Canada off-site forum (available to Canadian managers who sign up): http://bbcanada.forumotion.com. The operator of the offsite forum is this guy (24916), and be sure to send him a confirmation BB-Mail if you are signing up to the forum.

That's all for now...time for another U21 season. :)

Last edited by The Mogul at 5/2/2011 5:21:55 PM

From: Griffin

To: RiP
This Post:
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182958.7 in reply to 182958.6
Date: 5/2/2011 10:42:14 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
1616
Looking forward to watching these guys take on the best the Americas have to offer. Should be a very entertaining season.

From: O-Rod

This Post:
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182958.8 in reply to 182958.5
Date: 5/2/2011 11:20:22 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
1010
I love the write up Mogul and I wish you a fantastic campaign at the helm of our U21 squad. You are doing terrific work, keep it up!

From: CS

This Post:
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182958.9 in reply to 182958.4
Date: 5/5/2011 9:25:20 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
11
Thanks mogul, great writeup. I'm glad Cutler has a traditional underdog story - makes it all that much sweeter...


But, how was he not on top of the scouting lists? 18 year old 5x5 MVP prospect with 5,400 salary...

This Post:
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182958.10 in reply to 182958.9
Date: 5/8/2011 5:01:17 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
5555
Today, 2 more players were added to the U21 team. This brings the roster size up to 10 actual players (a 18 year old was also added for player saving purposes, but he doesn't count :P). Here are the two new guys:

Rudolph Lentz (16349085)

There's off the radar, and then there's hidden at the center of a comet deep in the far reaches of the Oort cloud. Rudolph Lentz was definately a comet dweller, until very recently, when he crash landed right onto the U21 training camp site. As a player that was never drafted, Lentz's route to the U21 was a fairly unusual one. His original team, Saskatoon Storm, sold him after he turned 19. After a very brief visit to China, his new team, IRON SKY, day traded him back to Canada less than one week later. He now found himself on the Hamilton Hosers, and began to develop very quickly. Two seasons later, and against all the odds, Lentz managed to win a U21 job. While he's likely to be mostly a depth player at the U21 level, he will have every opportunity to grow into a larger role, and for a guy with Lentz's history, just making the roster is something to celebrate.

Isaac Massicotte (14641292)

He's big. He's talented. He dunks on fools. That's what it says on his business card, in any case, and Isaac Massicotte will be counted on to provide some much needed inside muscle for Canada in season 16. After he was drafted by Skyisthelimit in the season 12 draft, Massicotte was immediately sold to OKK Apatin in Srbjia. He trained there for 2 seasons, and then was sent to Uruguay as a 20 year old for some nice profits. His new team, Laguneros, continued to provide some solid development, and it will be exciting to see how he continues to progress over the next few months. With MVP potential, and his current skill set, the sky actually is the limit for this skyisthelimit draftee.

Last edited by The Mogul at 5/8/2011 5:01:40 PM

This Post:
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182958.11 in reply to 182958.10
Date: 5/8/2011 5:36:05 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
3535
+1 for the oort cloud reference.

The greatest of all time.