BuzzerBeater Forums

Best National Team Prospects Season 59

In an effort to make National Team training more exciting and competitive, I will be posting the top prospects for each age at the start of every season. If your player isn't listed, don't despair. Often times the manager committed to training their player the longest is the one that ends up with the player on the team. Feel free to message me to see where your player stands in comparison to others of their age.

Here are the top prospects for each age 25 and under (26 and older will either be making the team or on the watchlist for callups):

18
1. *Victor Becker (all-star underdogs, USA IV.59)
2. Todd Huey (Amsterdam Chimps, USA III.16)
3. *Jeffrey Nagle (Sofuegg, USA NBBA)

19
1. Clifton Knutson (NY 10ers, USA IV.57)
2. Clement Lewis (Flashover, USA II.3)
3. Jackie Gresham (Paris Peacocks, USA IV.17)

20
1. Rod Woodward (Waterloo Mavericks, Utopia IV.42)
2. Rod Jackson (Hong Kong, III.1)
3. Louis Jolly (USA, IV.21)

21
1. Antonio Fornos (The White Walkers, USA IV.9)
2. Jerry Roman (Big Gulp Reincarnated, USA II.4)
3. Quinn Ellis (Warroad II, Utopia IV.16)

22
1. Rupert Vogel (Cassville Yuck, USA II.1)
2. Kraig Miller (Straški navihanci, Slovenia II.1)
3. Jose Vicente Iragui (Fortune Teller, USA III.3)

23
1. Dustin Artis (Red Head, Israel League Ligat Ha’al)
2. Kristofer Sikes (Flashover, USA II.3)
3. Ade Taylor (Visionaries, USA III.6)

24
1. Michael Lugo (Desert Eagles, USA III.16)
2. Charles Polanco (ZfreeSyria, Spain II.1)
3. Bud Cates (Chicago Nightmare, USA III.6)
3TIE. Neil Kimball (Resurrected Fury, USA III.5)

25
1. Alfonso Conejos (ETBU Tigers, USA II.1)
2. Efrain Goldstein (Sant Mateu, Spain II.3)
3. Charles Nguyen (The Phantom Thieves, USA II.1)

* indicates for sale or possible sale soon

The future of the team is bright!

NT Midseason Update

Just a quick update on the NT performance so far this season. We started off the season hot with wins over Paraguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Barbados in our group (along with a scrimmage win). This lead to a battle for first place in the group with defending Americas champion Chile. While we used more effort, Chile almost completed a comeback from down double digits, but our team was able to secure the win and first place in the group! A win over the Bahamas completed the 6-0 record for the 1st group stage.

We are now in the 2nd group stage where the competition is tougher and we are looking to advance through to the semifinals. Our first game we took care of Uruguay quite easily, winning by 29 points. This week we are facing Mexico as we look to stay on top of the group.

Calvin Webb and Brett Kang have lead the way in scoring this season, the veteran and the future! Webb also broke the record for games played for the NT in our win over Uruguay. Luis Turland has also been big for us this season, leading the team in rebounds and second in assists. Don Alford has been great running the point for us as well, leading the team in assists and 3rd in points.

Hopefully we can keep winning and return to the top of the Americas competition.

End of S59 Update

After going undefeated through the group stage we lost to Chile in the semifinals. They have been the toughest competition in the Americas the last few seasons and seem to be a step ahead of us at this point. Our tactical choices were quite limited due to the low GS on quite a few of our players, so we opted to try and stop their inside attack with GDP, but they outmaneuvered us by switching to inside isolation.

This loss put us into a qualifier game against Lithuania yesterday where we were similarly limited in our tactical choices. However, with the enthusiasm being fixed for the qualifier game we made two last minute callups, including Johnny Case who started for us and scored 15 points. We were able to pull out the victory and qualified for the Worlds competition for season 60. The format has change slightly and there will be 16 teams rather than the usual 12. However, with an increased number of teams out of Europe, the competition will likely be stronger than ever.

The NT still has a lot of ground to make up on the other top teams in the world. However, our future is looking bright with many great players being trained and more users interested in helping out with the NT. If you are looking to train for the NT or help out in anyway then send me a message! I don't get tired of receiving them (at least not so far) so feel free to message me about any prospect you might have or anything about the NT!

Here are the top prospects extended to each age 26 and under. Additionally, I have included a “Class Grade” to show how strong each age group is looking. This is not a grade of any one player in particular, but rather when considering all the best prospects from that age group. Your player not on here? You just got to train harder! Feel free to reach out to me about any prospect you may have! Often times it is the player trained the longest that makes the team and we could use players that are trained as long as possible.

18 – Class Grade A-
1. Tang Kuanyang (Extra Crispy, USA IV.16)
2. Harvey Lahaye (CB Bethesdorf, USA IV.28)*
3. Rodger Cisneros (Serenity Valley Browncoats, USA III.6)*

19 – Class Grade A
1. Jeffrey Nagle (MasterofDisaster, Italy IV.36)
2. William Orourke (Silverbacks, USA IV.6)
3. David Sohn (I Believe That We Will Win, USA IV.12)

20 – Class Grade D
1. Jackie Gresham (Paris Peacocks, USA IV.17)
2. Xavier McNair (southpaw army, USA IV.24)
3. Warner Acevedo (Mindless Zombies, USA IV.27)

21 – Class Grade B+
1. Louis Jolly (Samantha Basket Utopica, Utopia II.2)
2. Rod Woodward (Waterloo Mavericks, Utopia IV.42)
3. Rod Jackson (工程狗, Hong Kong III.1)

22 – Class Grade C
1. Antonio Fornos (The White Walkers, USA III.11)
2. Yao Kaihao (Jim Almeidas Janitor Crew, USA III.10)
3. Jerry Roman (Big Gulp Reincarnated, USA II.4)

23 – Class Grade C+
1. Rupert Vogel (Cassville Yuck, USA II.1)
2. Kraig Miller (Straški navihanci, Slovenia II.1)
3. Tony Meade (Medsko, Utopia IV.8)*

24 Class Grade A-
1. Kristofer Sikes (Flashover, USA II.3)
2. Ade Taylor (Visionaries, USA III.6)
3. Dustin Artis (Red Head, Israel II.1)

25 Class Grade A
1. Bud Cates (Chicago Nightmare, USA III.6)
2. Michael Lugo (Desert Eagles, USA II.2)
3. Neil Kimball (Resurrected Fury, USA III.5)

26 – Class Grade A-
1. Alfonso Conejos (ETBU Tigers, USA II.1)
2. Efrain Goldstein (Sant Mateu, Spain ACBB)
3. Charles Nguyen (The Phantom Thieves, USA II.1)
4. James Uchenna (Cross Chargers, USA IV.10)

* indicates for sale or possible sale soon


Last edited by Mediocrity at 2/9/2023 12:51:32 AM

End of Season 60 Update

Hi everyone!

This was an exciting season for the USA National Team. This season was the World's competition which we qualified for through a play-in against Lithuania. We had some ups and downs, but overall it was our best appearance in 10 or more seasons.

The first group stage consisted of 7 games. We started off with a nice two wins running outside offenses against two of the weaker teams in the group (Argentina and South Africa). The next matchup was against Poland where they correctly guessed our switch to an inside offense. The game was close until the end where Poland went up double digits due to late game free throws. Following our game against Poland, we went up against Israel, one of the strongest National Teams. We tried a more unique lineup which ended up performing poorly (as well as a missed GDP) and we lost by 20. However, we bounced back in a must win game against Italy where we won by double digits with Curt Moeller (player on NBBA team Bananahorns) leading the way scoring 32 points. We then played Hong Kong, the team in 1st in the group and we took them down to the wire where the game was within a few points until the end where our team fouled a bunch which hurt our Point Differential.

All of this put us in a win or go to consolation game against Chile where we went all in with a CT as we needed to win by at least 11 points. We were able to get revenge from the Americas semi-finals and pulled out a 13 point victory, securing the 4th spot to advance to the next group and sending Chile to consolation. Alex Corbett (on my team Wasted Potential at the time) lead the way with 30 points on 14-16 shooting!

3 games carried over into the next group, unfortunately for us it was our 3 losses. With 3 losses and low enthusiasm, our chances were low to advance, but we had a dream! Lead by Brett Kang's (Tranquil) 27 points we beat the Netherlands even on less effort and enthusiasm! Maurice Sparks (Durban Allstars) contributed with 4 blocks. The next game we faced world power house China, and despite landing one guess and playing a 3-2 zone to guard their outside offense, we lost by 19. Our next two games were good showings despite little opportunity to advance. We beat Spain (who is currently in the Finals with less enthusiasm, running similar tactics. Gibson Aboki of Forza Jazz (NBBA) scored 23 points. In our final game we beat the other World Finalist, Germany, with a CT vs their TIE.

Overall I see this season as a success! While making the semis and competing for the title is ideal, we advanced to the final group for the first time in 10 seasons! We also secured 3 wins in the final group to place 6th and moved our world rank up to #5 for the first time in years (we dropped back to #6 last week). There is still much more to do to make ourselves into the best NT in the world, but this season showed progress.

This was likely the last worlds competition for multiple long-time NT players Luis Turland, Tommy Gilbert, Curt Moeller, and Alex Corbett. While we lose some of our talent to age, we are adding back even more. It may take a few seasons, but some of the players getting trained up right now are some of our best talent we have seen!

For any interested in helping with the NT, send me a message. If you have a prospect, want training advice, or just want buzzerbeater advice (or just talk) in general then I am happy to help. Feel free to jump on the discord as well where many USA users discuss their teams!

Here are the top prospects for each age group in S61! I haven’t yet reached out to most managers about training plans, if you have a good prospect then expect a bb-mail soon. Your player not on here? You’ve just got to train harder! Feel free to reach out to me about any prospect you may have! Often times it is the player trained the longest that makes the team and we could use players that are trained as long as possible.

18 – Class Grade C+
1. Robert Quiroz (The vilEliminators, Utopia III.13)
2. Nigel Sandoval (Ric Flair Drippers, Utopia IV.55)
3. Graig Wilson (Red Star Gunners, USA IV.28)

19 – Class Grade A
1. Harvey Lahaye (Jungle Fever, USA IV.21)
2. Rodger Cisneros (Yuckville Cass, Utopia III.5)
3. Shayne Banner (Gotham Knights, France III.14)

20 – Class Grade A-
1. Jeffrey Nagle (MasterofDisaster, Italy IV.36)
2. Patrick Randle (Harrisburg Hammerheads, USA III.6)
3. David Sohn (I Believe That We will Win, USA IV.12)

21 – Class Grade D-
1. Xavier McNair (southpaw army, USA IV.7)
2. Warner Acevedo (Mindless Zombies, USA III.11)
3. Jackie Gresham (Paris Peacocks, USA IV.17)

22 – Class Grade A-
1. Louis Jolly (Samantha Basket Utopica, Utopia III.13)
2. Frankie Prescott (La Schraïoune Academy, France III.4)
3. Rod Jackson (工程狗, Hong Kong III.1)

23 – Class Grade D
1. Antonio Fornos (The White Walkers, USA II.4)
2. Jerry Roman (Big Gulp Reincarnated, USA II.4)
3. Yao Kaihao (Jim Almeidas Janitor Crew, USA II.1)

24 Class Grade B+
1. Kraig Miller (Straški navihanci, Slovenia SKL)
2. Rupert Vogel (Wasted Potential, USA NBBA)
3. José Vicente Iragui (Ponitki Sokoły, Poland III.8)

25 Class Grade A+
1. Kristofer Sikes (Flashover, USA II.3)
2. Ade Taylor (Visionaries, USA II.1)
3. Dustin Artis (Red Head, Israel II.1)

26 – Class Grade A
1. Bud Cates (Chicago Nightmare, USA III.6)
2. Michael Lugo (Desert Eagles, USA II.2)
3. Neil Kimball (Resurrected Fury, USA III.5)


Last edited by Mediocrity at 5/27/2023 3:18:29 PM

No updates during the season but we brought home the Gold in the continental championship this season! We are moving onto World's as the 2nd ranked national team for the first time in over 20 seasons so things are looking great! I'll update the best prospects list soon.

Game one we were able to beat France in a thriller! 2 point victory sealed with a layup and a block at the end.

Now here are the top prospects of S62! If your player did not make the list that doesn't mean they are not on track. Send me a bb-mail if you want to know how they are doing!

This does not count towards the contest this season, S63 rankings will be used.

Top Prospects S62

18 – Class Grade C+
1. Pompeio Biduido (Lucas Losers, USA IV.21)
2. Nathan Bryant (Kurgans, USA IV.28)
3. Jacob Storey (Hazards to Society, Utopia IV.23)

19 – Class Grade B
1. Robert Quiroz (The vilEliminators, Utopia IV.36)
2. Lawrence Kennedy (US DAGGERS, USA IV.1)
3. Nigel Sandoval (Ric Flair Drippers, Utopia IV.55)

20 – Class Grade A+
1. Rodger Cisneros (Yuckville Cass, Utopia IV.31)
2. Shayne Banner (Gotham Knights, France IV.8)
3. Harvey Lahaye (Jungle Fever, USA IV.21)

21 – Class Grade A
1. Patrick Randle (Harrisburg Hammerheads, USA III.16)
2. Bob Kyle (Silverbacks, USA IV.6)
3. Jeffrey Nagle (MasterofDisaster, Italy IV.36)

22 – Class Grade D-
1. Douglas Sanderson (IMPERADOR, Italy IV.40)
2. Jackie Gresham (Paris Peacocks, USA IV.17)
3. Xavier McNair (southpaw army, USA III.11)

23 – Class Grade A-
1. Rod Woodward (Resurrected Fury, USA III.5)
2. Louis Jolly (Samantha Basket Utopica, Utopia III.13)
3. Jeff Amos (Alaska Alphas, USA III.4)

24 Class Grade C-
1. Antonio Fornos (The White Walkers, USA II.4)
2. Jerry Roman (Big Gulp Reincarnated, USA II.4)
3. Yao Kaihao (Jim Almeidas Janitor Crew, USA II.1)

25 Class Grade B+
1. Kraig Miller (Straški navihanci, Slovenia SKL)
2. Rupert Vogel (Wasted Potential, USA NBBA)
3. Tony Meade (California Supreme, USA IV.22)

26 – Class Grade A
1. Kristofer Sikes (Flashover,USA NBBA)
2. Ade Taylor (Visionaries, USA NBBA)
3. Dustin Artis (El Garito, Spain IV.23)

Updated list for this season for prospects! This will count towards the NT contest which I will release the results of soon, since I'm not awarding myself points, I've listed more prospects when my players are included in the top 3.

Top Prospects S63
18 – Class Grade A-
1. Gabriel Grimes (Blue Magic, USA IV.51)
2. Dan Hermon (Beard Club, Montenegro League CGBBL)
3. Tommy Bob Chow (LionPride, USA IV.11)

19 – Class Grade A-
1. Nathan Bryant (Hopkins Blue Jays, Utopia)
2. Jacob Storey (Hazards to Society, Utopia IV.23)
3. Mortadelo Ayuso (ElectricTriangles II, Utopia IV.29)
4. Pompeio Biduido (Lucas Losers, USA IV.21)

20 – Class Grade B+
1. Robert Quiroz (The vilEliminators, Utopia IV.36)
2. Lawrence Kennedy (US DAGGERS, USA IV.1)
3. Nigel Sandoval (Ric Flair Drippers, Utopia IV.55)

21 – Class Grade A+
1. Rodger Cisneros (Yuckville Cass, Utopia IV.31)
2. Harvey Lahaye (Jungle Fever, USA IV.21)
3. Shayne Banner (Gotham Knights, France IV.8)

22 – Class Grade A
1. Giobbe Nicoletti (Michigan Blasters, USA IV.7)
1. Patrick Randle (Harrisburg Hammerheads, USA III.16)
3. Bob Kyle (Silverbacks, USA IV.6)

23 – Class Grade D-
1. Xavier McNair (southpaw army, USA II.3)
2. Tracy Burleson (Potland Thorns, Spain IV.7)
3. Douglas Sanderson (IMPERADOR, Italy III.3)

24 – Class Grade B+
1. Rod Woodward (Resurrected Fury, USA II.4)
2. Louis Jolly (Samantha Basket Utopica, Utopia III.13)
3. Roscoe Anderson (Select Squad, Utopia IV.60)

25 Class Grade B-
1. Antonio Fornos (The White Walkers, USA II.4)
2. Yao Kaihao (Jim Almeidas Janitor Crew, USA II.1)
3. Jerry Roman (Big Gulp Reincarnated, USA II.4)

26 Class Grade A-
1. Kraig Miller (Straški navihanci, Slovenia SKL)
2. Rupert Vogel (Wasted Potential, USA NBBA)
3. José Vicente Iragui (Ponitki Sokoły, Poland II.3)
4. Tony Meade (California Supreme, USA IV.22)

Best Overall Prospect: Rodger Cisneros (Yuckville Cass, Utopia IV.31)

Last edited by Mediocrity at 1/2/2024 9:29:09 PM

We won gold at Americas!

We just completed our 2nd ever undefeated season with a win over Chile and will go into Worlds next season! Hoping we can go for that 2nd ever gold medal at worlds!

Top Prospects S64
18 – Class Grade A+
1. Priest Havens (Santa Compaña, Utopia IV.58)
2. Fred Nichols (Warroad II, Utopia III.11)
3. Beau Brunner (Revolutionaries, USA IV.13)

19 – Class Grade A-
1. Dan Hermon (Beard Club, Montenegro League CGBBL)
2. René Lince (Monster Mike, USA III.14)
3. Tommy Bob Chow (LionPride, USA IV.11)

20 – Class Grade A
1. Nathan Bryant (Hopkins Blue Jays, Utopia IV.55)
3. Mortadelo Ayuso (ElectricTriangles II, Utopia IV.29)
4. Pompeio Biduido (Lucas Losers, USA IV.21)

21 – Class Grade A-
1. Robert Quiroz (The vilEliminators, Utopia IV.36)
2. Gaylord Short (Kings Knights, USA III.5)
3. Nigel Sandoval (Ric Flair Drippers, Utopia IV.55)

22 – Class Grade A+
1. Rodger Cisneros (Splash Gang II, Utopia III.1)
2. Harvey Lahaye (Jungle Fever, USA IV.21)
3. Shayne Banner (Gotham Knights, France III.9)

23 – Class Grade A
1. Patrick Randle (Harrisburg Hammerheads, USA IV.20)
2. Giobbe Nicoletti (Michigan Blasters, USA IV.7)
3. William Orourke (Silverbacks, USA III.6)

24 – Class Grade D-
1. Xavier McNair (southpaw army, USA NBBA)
2. Tracy Burleson (Potland Thorns, Spain IV.7)
3. Douglas Sanderson (IMPERADOR, Italy III.3)

25 – Class Grade B+
1. Roscoe Anderson (Select Squad, Utopia IV.60)
2. Rod Woodward (Resurrected Fury, USA II.4)
3. Louis Jolly (Samantha Basket Utopica, Utopia II.2)

26 Class Grade B-
1. Antonio Fornos (The White Walkers, USA II.4)
2. Jerry Roman (Ljubljana Pigs, Slovenija League SKL)
3. Yao Kaihao (Jim Almeidas Janitor Crew, USA NBBA)