BuzzerBeater Forums

So we won gold last season. Question to the candidates, how do you plan on improving on gold? Could we have done better last term? Platinum?

Seriously though, I believe no country has gone back to back in the history of U21, but some teams have established themselves as perennial Worlds contenders. Do you think we are part of this group now, and if no, would you change anything about the system we have in place to help us get there? Mainly wondering what you think of the pipeline tracking Rambo set up, the way we do domestic scouting, mentoring, etc.

Also Rambo has only an 83% approval rating after winning gold? I still disapprove of his performance. Our gold wasn't gold enough. What can we do to build the community more and get Rambo's approval rating to where it belongs (40%ish)?

I do not think we can be considered as perennial Worlds contenders yet. We took a big step in that direction this past season when we won Worlds but it doesn't take winning it one time to be considered a "perennial Worlds contender". It takes competing every season at the top level for that to be considered and we have not been able to do that just yet. I mean we have only won gold once, and that was this year. I want to be winning golds consistently then we can talk about being considered that.

As far as the system goes, I believe we are on the right track with everything Rambo has set up. I have looked at the future players coming up and the U.S. is in a great position. We just need to continue the efforts that have been done so far and we should be able to compete for many seasons.

Why do you think the Americas will only have 3 good teams? Curious as to which teams you think they will be.

Also, why do you think LI is harder to stop than RNG? (besides the zone comment you made which is debatable but plausible). Obviously, the two finals teams were LI teams and at least 3 of the final 4 were (not sure about Germany?), but what about Italy upsetting Poland?

Couple questions for every candidate:
1. Let's say you start with 12 players on the roster. How do you plan on choosing those 12 players?
2. Name two goals for your term that don't include: win the Americas, win the Worlds or avoid repechage.
3. Lets assume you had two of the best big men in the world. Give me two ways you could try to get their managers to stay in good GS :P

and the always fun question:

4. If I gave you 90 skill points (not including FT or ST) how would you allocate them?

1. First thing I will do is look at every potential candidate to be on the team. From there, I will narrow it down by potential. From there I will look at getting the top 5 guards and the top 5 bigs. When choosing those players the number 1 thing I will look at is defense. If some arent the best at defense they better make up for it in their other abilities otherwise they wont be called up. For the last 2 spots I will look for hybrid players who can do a mix of everything. A lot like a PF or SF. That doesn't mean I will find any though, so if I cant find then those last 2 spots would be filled with the next best players available.

2. My number 1 goal is continue building the U.S. community on both the offsite and onsite.My second goal would be working to make our training of players even better by utilizing each and every scouts specialties and coming up with lists of scoutees for their specialties. I believe this will provide even better training for the U.S. and will also help the individual owners become more aware of ways to train players that effectively work.

3. Kick them in the arse! Haha not really. First thing is communication. Communication is the key to success. I would continue talking with that owner until we both can come up with a way to help the U21 team as well as their own team.

4. PG: 11/9/16/12/12/15/5/5/4/1
SG: 15/12/15/11/11/11/5/5/4/1
SF: 11/8/13/9/9/10/9/10/9/2
PF: 8/8/8/6/6/7/14/14/12/7
C: 6/3/6/5/5/7/17/17/17/7

. So you guys can talk about your vision for the roster, and what type of players you are looking for in specific offenses that maybe differed from what we did last term, or have ever done.

Overall I think Rambo did a great job at roster choices throughout the season. The only changes I would have made would be benching Jimmie Brown in the LI offense as well as call Goddard up earlier than we did. Both were suggestions I made throughout the season, and both eventually happened. (Brown wasn't until the finals when he was finally benched).

As for the kind of team I would look for if I am the U21 coach, it would all depend. You can only play the hand you were dealt. Just like this past season due to GS issues and injuries the U21 was forced to play LI basically every game. Everything will be looked at before deciding a definite direction. Ideally though, I would try to get at least 2 players at each position. The goal for that would be to have 1 player fore a LI offense and the other for an outside offense. By doing that you are left with 8 more roster spots. Throughout the season I would use those roster spots for call ups when we need a specific type of player. Whether that means an outside shooter, or a rebounder, or a defensive player. I would also use those spots for call ups when we have GS problems or injuries. The goal would be to field a team that could play both inside and outside though.

Two questions:

1. You'll have an U21 player this season. If you are elected, what is stopping you from abusing your position and playing him unwarranted minutes?

2. Why didn't you capitalize your team name when you signed up?

4. If I gave you 90 skill points (not including FT or ST) how would you allocate them?

If I may, to make this question more specific, which one of you actually appreciates the value of driving so I can vote for you?

I gained a much higher level of appreciation for Driving during these past two seasons evidenced by my obsessive pushing of one on one training.

1. Ro be honost, I hate how Yi's abilities are so the only time i would be using him is in a RnG offense. Not a chance in a LIuntil his PA/DR/HA/IS are up. Also i will be listening to all the community when making my decisions for games.

2. Its all in lower case bacause im smallfries ;).

I love driving but a player has to have other good abilities too to be on the time. I do think driving is a huge ability have in any offense and for my ideal player they would have a lot of driving. Problem with that at this level is if you have a lot of driving it may take away from.having other good abilities because of the lack of time to train.

of course. my ideal player would have a lot of everything to phrase the question better/more seriously, what's your hierarchy for offensive guard/SF skills based on importance? if it's js/jr/pas first, then hnd/drv, do you have a reason for it? since everyone seems to play LI and RNG, I'm interested to know whether you (or any of the candidates) have any ideas that could give the USA a long-term tactical advantage if applied to individual trainees and eventual competitive tactical philosophy.

Here is how I rate the overall each ability....JS/PA/DR/HD/JR. This of course can change depending on the type of player we may need though. As far as long term tacticle advantage, I dont want to say much here in case other guys from other countries.are looking at this. We can talk on the offsite more about this if you would like.

Here is how I rate the overall each ability....JS/PA/DR/HD/JR. This of course can change depending on the type of player we may need though. As far as long term tacticle advantage, I dont want to say much here in case other guys from other countries.are looking at this. We can talk on the offsite more about this if you would like.