BuzzerBeater Forums

Here we can talk about the Australian U21 National Team.

Please post suggestions for U21 NT players, strategies and other related chat.

What happened the other night against Taiwan? We only played 7 players.

Also wondering if the there is becoming a decrease in U/21 talent coming through.

I am just saying this because I believe, just looking through teams, that the talent of under 21yo's is not as good as what it has being in previous years.

I personally believe this is due to the fact that teams that entered the league in earlier seasons for example the Tasmanian Eagles and Avalon Jets etc. are still within the same training cycle as what they started with, therefore there older players (22-24) are still being trained like Robby Lacy and Jack Long.

It seems like there hasn't being a consistent group of new managers to take on 18yo's and train them, for example spectre fisters. This guy one of my mates picked up a very good 18 yo a season ago but then stopped playing. I think he logs on maybe once a month when we're all together.

I don't have access to any sort of information about the skills of young talent rising through but I have a feeling that the talent is not going to be as strong as what we have seen in previous seasons until the older teams training cycles restart or there is a consistent group of new managers that take on younger players to train.

I was just wondering how everyone felt or if it is just me that feels that the talent for the under 21's team is becoming poorer.

Thanks

This is the main problem with U21 teams everywhere. As managers are generally keen to keep their top players training until they no longer become viably trainable.

For example my team will only buy in new trainees when I decide to finally stop training Fred and others.

As I am a top team with winning as a priority I do not spend any money on the draft. Therefore the likelihood of me having an Australian trainee is limited. Unfortunately for the U21 team.

Good managers, unless hunting down Aussie players will struggle to keep creating Aussie young guns.

What we really need is an active set of people who are looking for young Aussie players on the transfer list during Draft Season. Now that we can search for nationality this will be a lot easier.
Hopefully I can get around to programming this NT Forum as well which will make it a bit more private than this forum (spies everywhere *waves*)

I agree, it's also very hard once you get into the top division to have a trainee player & still remain competitive.

I bit the bullet this season & kept 2 of my draftees to train up. But in doing so, you lose games that you would normally win while trying to give them there minutes.

I think as far as ABBL teams go, it would take 2 seasons of training before you have a player that is up to scratch.

Have we ever thought about adding young potential national team players from abandoned teams to the roster just so they don't get removed from the system?

I know there is an automatic system to add certain skilled players as free agents if their team goes bot, but i know nations such as Nigeria take advantage of the fact National Players are added as free agents regardless of skill. The national teams add young players who don't meet that criteria, but if trained could become potential national team players so they add them to the squads just before the teams goes bot.

The enthusiasm hit of adding and removing players is an issue but if we're struggling as it is would it not be worth it for the future?

Getting more young Aussie kids with potential to stay in the system can only help. But i think where it could possibly help most is with players say around the 20yo mark. Players with that little bit of training that could be brought by ABBL teams to train and play in those backup roles as they'd be a bit more advanced then an 18yo.
These players are rarely seen as no one wants to sell their future star after a couple of seasons training them but if there is a few on teams that signed up, played for one or two seasons then lost interest they'd be perfect to bring back into the system...

i agree with the theory that most the top tier aussie managers are persisting with their robby lacy's ect but for those teams when they finish those cycles its more likely that they go out and buy the best young player regardless on nationality just to remain competitive in ABBL as sheppard said. due to the fairly small user base in australia its going to be hard to find that really good 18yo aussie on the TL and much easier to buy say an italian ect. thoughts?

I agree, i think the national search on the Transfer List feature will definitely help but there is still not much out there. I'm sure most of us would much rather buy Aussie and only look else where if there is no other option...

If its a viable option to do as i suggested in my above post it could be well worth it for the future i recon. I don't know how the National Calendars work but between the two teams does it work out one is in competition and the other is playing scrimmages? if so the one playing scrimmages could sacrifice a bit of its Enthusiasm while its not needed.

Does anyone know the impact of adding and removing players to the enthusiasm for national teams? Is it effected by both? or just one or the other, if it only effects it removing players they could just float on the list until a suitable time to remove them.

keeping these players in the system is a good idea but how long does a team have to be inactive before they become a bot? even the best young aussie players if they dont get training for say a quarter to half of a season wouldnt that put them behind? ie no longer national team material. perhaps a more experienced user can help me out?

and yea would like to know why hadders only took 7 players into the game, my center as well as many others in the team didnt get a run, no injures, strong game shape, no reason not play. not saying to play them for sake of playing them but wouldnt stamina and depth play a factor even in NT games? i did noticed we did much better in the second half too so cant really say it hindered us this game but what im getting as is is this a plausable tactic to adopt.

Last edited by Spooksy at 4/8/2009 8:14:44 AM

Yeah, i'm really not sure what Hadders was doing on this game. Seems he isn't putting in the effort required at all needed for an U21 coach.

A quick look at all of Taiwan's previous games shows that they constantly play Motion/1-3-1 zone tactics.

A Look Inside/3-2 Zone for us and it's an easy win. Especially with the players that we have, looks like a massive difference in the teams going to our advantage.

Yeah throwing a game for no reason seems a bit strange.

Hadders should really explain why...


But back to the discussion of the U21 team in general (this isn't going to be a slagging off thread)

I personally see the U21 team being a training area for new managers. What we need in a U21 coach is someone who is willing to help all of the managers of the young trainees in the team.

I think our U21 team should be ONLY 18 year olds. We don't really have to worry about winning. More important things like getting these 18 year olds trained as fast as possible.

I think I will put my hand up for the job in a couple of seasons time.

I think our U21 team should be ONLY 18 year olds. We don't really have to worry about winning. More important things like getting these 18 year olds trained as fast as possible.

Players dont train faster if they are on the u21 team do they? I still think we should put our strongest team forward or a team of players that could eventually be in the senior team. I also believe that it is the U21 coach job to identify the best young players and assist their managers that have these young players, like you said.

I like C-Cat idea of teams that may turn bot with young trained players added to the senior team so we dont loose them. does this also work if a bot team has a young player they are training, so when they are taken over the young player is put on the TL?