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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

Looking forward to watching these guys take on the best the Americas have to offer. Should be a very entertaining season.

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!

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...

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

+1 for the oort cloud reference.

Another two players were added to the U21 this week, and played some quality minutes for us against Uruguay. We now have 12 actual players on the roster (and 2 savees). That leaves us with a maximum of 4 additional callup spots to use as needed during the upcoming weeks. Let's welcome the two new guys to the team! :)

Théodore Breton (16415254)

He's only 20, he just has allstar potential, and he hasn't been talked about much by Canadian scouts. Théodore Breton doesn't care about any of that, though, because he's on the U21 team anyway. When he was drafted by Superfreakys back in Season 13, Breton was a fairly unlikely U21 candidate, and was quickly sold for only $100 000. On his new team in Srbjia, however, Breton worked hard on his game, and managed to improve quite quickly. While he has a questionable ceiling for a center, Breton is determined to become the best player he can be, and he has a great chance to end up having a long career at the U21 level.

Lucio Marchi (14641614)

Lucio Marchi always hoped to play for Team Canada. Since a young age, it has been one of his dreams. When he finally got the call this week, he arrived in Peru within the hour, using an experimental one man space shuttle that he had in his garage for just that very moment. After his first game, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep. The next day, back with his league team, he sleepwalked right into a trip to the hospital. The injury is expected to last only two weeks, and we all wish Marchi a speedy recovery! While Marchi rests up, he will have plenty of time to reflect on his journey to the National stage. As an 18 year old, he was drafted by Canadian Steamrollers, where he played for a season and a half. He was then sold, for $1.6 million, to a team in Cyprus. His new team, Pistoleroi, was very hopeful that Marchi would make U21, and was especially excited when the "magic phone call" was finally made by Team Canada.

In recent weeks, 3 more players have been added to the U21, and all 3 have made some big contributions already. That leaves us with 1 remaining roster spot to use as needed down the stretch. Here are the 3 most recent additions to the U21:

Scott Fitzpatrick (14641357)

Fitzpatrick briefly appeared for the U21 as a 20 year old, and was expected to be an important player for us during his age 21 season. However, due to injuries, as well as game shape concerns, other players were chosen over Fitzpatrick early in the season. A few weeks ago, Fitzpatrick ended up being sold to tocards boys, a division IV team in France, and his game shape quickly improved. With the U21 needing more depth at C/PF, he ended up making the team after all, and has now worked his way into being a main cog in our typical big man rotations.

Christopher Kumar (14640708)

In some languages, Kumar means "lockdown defense," or at least he claims that it does. While also possessing a solid all around game, some spectacular D is the main reason that Chris Kumar earned a ticket to the U21 train. Having been drafted by Mighty Ballers back in season 12, Kumar was trained for about one and a half seasons before being sold. The price was $1.85 million, and his new Spanish team, MíTic GâLaXic B.C, continued to build him up into a solid U21 candidate. Now that Kumar is playing for Canada, he will work as hard as possible to teach the whole world the meaning of his name...or at least his version of it.

Davis Mercado (14642202)

Imprisoned in Serbia until he attempted 10 thousand practice shots. Banished from his own country. And now we dare to enter his realm? "You are not prepared!"....is what Mercado said...when we finally travelled to Serbia...and asked him to play for Canada. Drafted by Clodhoppers, Mercado was immediately sold for $1.6 million, and has been steadily developed by KK Spartak Kragujevac. As a high quality point guard, Mercado could have arguably made the team right of the start of the season, and could end up playing a key role for Canada. Whatever happens, when it comes to the excitement level of finally having him on the team......"YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!!!!!!"

Last edited by The Mogul at 6/28/2011 2:06:36 PM

Our depth is really starting to look a lot better. I'm pretty excited again for the rest of the season.