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Game 5: Al Maghrib U21 94 vs. South Africa 95 (58393)

Record: 5-0

Standing: Currently 1st place, locked into advancing to the next round of the tournament
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

Talk about a roller coaster of a game. At the half we were down 12 and Mugabe was only 1-4 from the field at that point. Then the team started to really come alive at the end of the 3rd and never stopped fighting.

Check out this wild ending as we were trailing by 3 with 15 seconds left in the 4th quarter.

(Time Remaining) Al Maghrib - South Africa
(0:15) 94 — 91 - 30 second timeout called by South Africa.
(0:11) 94 — 94 - D. Dingane (H) forces up a three from the top of the arc, guarded closely by E. Marzuban (A). Scored.
(0:01) 94 — 94 - A. Rahman (A) forces up a three from the top of the arc, guarded closely by U. Mugabe (H). Shot missed.
(0:01) 94 — 94 - The defensive rebound is snapped up by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 94 - Foul called on A. Rahman (A).
(0:00) 94 — 94 - Free throw missed by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 95 - Free throw made by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 95 - End of period.

Clutch 3 to tie, then a fortunate foul by our opponent gave us the chance to steal the win and complete the comeback. Not as pretty of a game as we would've hoped but a win is a win! Especially against a formidable opponent in Al Maghrib who had almost perfect gameshape this week as they only had 2 players not in 9 GS, we'll take it.

Here's what a team win looks like:
- Great performance by Thoibo Lonco leading the team with 28 points, including shooting 10-14 from the free throw line.
- Another strong double-double by Umi Mugabe who finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds while holding the opposing power forward to 2 points. He was on fire the second half of the game as he went 9-11 from the field after halftime and sealed the game with the final free throw, though he sure kept us on the edge of our seats missing the front end of those free throws.
- Derek Dingane played 20 minutes off the bench, including replacing Hadebe after he fouled out at the very end of the game, and showed the ice in his veins as he came in and hit the game-tying 3 pointer even though he was only shooting 2-9 for the game up until that point.
- Gonasilan Sono continues to do the dirty work for the team. Though he struggled from the field (2-11), he still ended the game with an extremely important 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.

Up next, we prepare for another good team in Nigeria who won their own nailbiter today and are the new 2nd team in the standings.

Players of the Game: Thoibo Lonco (48405732) trained by Giorgio950 and Umi Mugabe (48097274) trained by JimyW

And thanks Sandy. Glad y'all are enjoying the recaps!

Also, I'm usually on the Discord during the games so it'd be fun to watch together if anyone is tuning in and I welcome more collaboration with the gameplanning we do there so feel free to join us at (https://discord.gg/rZP27YpfPD)!

Last edited by A Warrior at 01/26/2021 00:35:24

It's great. I see that my players contribute to being able to do something great. Amazing.
I will continue training my players to continue winning games.
Yesterday I saw the live and it was very interesting. Above all, I noticed that SONO had to defend a player who doubled his salary and held out well.
Great job.
Regards Giorgio

Sono has been great for our team! He has been playing like our team's Draymond being 2nd on the team in rebounds and 1st on the team in assists while playing great defense.

Thanks for training your players, everyone plays an important role on the team this season!

What a close game! The Morocco's coach made a strange choice in defense. GL tomorrow.

Game 6: South Africa 101 vs. Nigeria 103 (58397)

Record: 5-1

Standing: Currently 1st place, locked into advancing to the next round of the tournament
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)

Opponents continue to like to take a shot at our team as Nigeria also put in more enthusiasm against us. Close games have been our thing as of late and this time the Baby Boks came up just short.

- Though he struggled from the field in this one going 9-26, Umi Mugabe still played 44 minutes (though he was oddly substituted out in the final seconds of the game...) and kept us in it with another double-double producing 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block. A rare off-night for him offensively but we're certain he'll bounce back.
- Similarly, Derek Dingane's shot was off tonight, though he came through with another clutch 3 with 18 seconds left to almost bring us to overtime, and posted his own double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Impressive performance on the boards for the game's starting SG.
- While the offense from the starting lineup struggled, 19-year-old Shafilshuna Machemko had a strong showing off the bench producing 15 points in 18 minutes, including hitting 3 threes. The team is eager to see his further development in the seasons to come.
- Some oddities the coaches noted were poor shooting by all of our starters, the fact that our team took more 3s than theirs even though they were the ones playing the outside offense and losing despite a significant advantage in rebounding and field goal attempts.

This is just a reminder for the squad that every game from here on out is going to be a tough one. We don't like losing and it stings a little more because we were so close but our focus is now on to the next opponent. To close out this 1st round of the tournament we'll play a good Senegal team.

Player of the Game: Umi Mugabe (48097274) trained by JimyW

On a separate note, our 18-year-old with the highest potential and most big skill points, Kamangeni Tlhoome (49001167), is on the market! If anyone is training bigs, he'd be a great one to bring aboard as he's already on a good path, thanks to some training by Ebene, to make the team in the future. Let's keep him in good hands!

Game 7: Senegal U21 70 vs. South Africa U21 83 (58401)

End of Round 1 Record: 6-1

Standing: Currently 1st place

Our team put more into this one against Senegal and the game was closer than the final score showed. Here's what the end of each quarter looked like.

After the 1st Quarter: 22-22
After the 2nd Quarter: 40-38 South Africa
After the 3rd Quarter: 56-54 South Africa

The team finally pulled away in the 4th though free throws padded our score at the end of the game and hide how competitive of a game this was against a tough team.

- This game can be summed up in two words. Umi Mugabe. Everyone on the team was struggling offensively so big Umi decided to put the team on his back and came through with his 5th double-double of the season with 25 points on 9-17 shooting from the field, including two 3's, and 19 rebounds.
- The glue guy, Gonasilan Sono, also came through with his own double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds.

Player of the Game: Umi Mugabe (48097274) trained by JimyW

Round 1 has been completed and the Baby Boks head into Round 2 with a very slim point differential lead helping them keep 1st for now. With Tounes/Tunisia and Ghana not advancing, their wins and point differential are not carried over into the next round so we start the round with a 4-1 record.

It's going to be a slugfest from here on out with the current top 4 teams all being so close in the standings that each week could drop a team from 1 to 4. And don't count out the Senegal team that currently sits at 5th as they just experienced some tough losses but they are not an opponent to be overlooked and are surely seeking to leave their mark on this round.

First up in Round 2 is Al Jazair/Algeria!

Interesting 1st round. Keep it up!

Game 8: Al Jazair 54 vs. South Africa 100 (58976)

Record: 5-1

Standing: Currently 1st place
(Note: In this 2nd round, after each remaining team plays each other, the top 4 teams will head to the semi-finals where the 1st seed plays the 4th seed and the 2nd seed will play the 3rd seed)

We expected a strong performance from our team today and they did not disappoint.

- In 28 minutes, Elphus Siamusiye came through with an all-around game with a team-high 26 points, including hitting 5 threes, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.
- The double-doubles keep coming with Umi Mugabe (13 points and 10 rebounds) and Asanda Hadebe (10 points and 11 rebounds) each securing one.
- The defense really clamped down in this one, holding Al Jazair/Algeria to just 54 points on 24% shooting from the field, including keeping their team to only 8 points in the 3rd quarter.

Player of the Game: Elphus Siamusiye (48754191) trained by A Warrior

Up next in Round 2 is a rematch against the Baby Boks' one loss from the previous round as we face-off against a good Nigeria squad.


Thanks Ebene! Was a strong round for us, though of course would've loved to have won out the entire round, but we're moving forward and hoping to have a good showing in this second round too.

Good luck for the next game, although I think we can win them.

Game 9: South Africa U21 107 vs. Nigeria U21 85 (58978)

Record: 6-1

Standing: Currently 1st place - Locked in to advance to the semi-finals
(Note: In this 2nd round, after each remaining team plays each other, the top 4 teams will head to the semi-finals where the 1st seed plays the 4th seed and the 2nd seed will play the 3rd seed)

Though it appeared to be just another game, the team came out hungry to prove themselves in this one to avenge the teams' only close loss in the last round. Though Nigeria came out with more enthusiasm again, this time the Baby Boks were ready.

- Gonasilan Sono seems like he's always bringing something new to the table. This time around he led the team in +/- with a +24, was 2nd in the team in scoring with 17 points, including 2 for 4 from 3-point range, and chipped in 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.
- Thoibo Lonco came out with one mission this game: Get buckets. He shot 9 for 14 from the field and led the team with 19 points.
- The bench came out strong in this one with the 19-year-old trio of Shafilshuna Machemko, Thikhathali Zibi and Yera Mji all scoring in double-digits and ended up being the teams' 3rd through 5th leading scorers for the game.
- Every player that received playing time, which was 11 out of 12, scored points in this one.
- The coaching staff of Lesley1226, FeelthePressure and mathew13693 did an outstanding job to help the team prepare well for this rematch.

Player of the Game: Gonasilan Sono (48754211) trained by Giorgio950

With the results of today's games, the Baby Boks, Al Maghrib and Misr/Egypt all have secured their place in the semi-finals. The final three weeks of games will determine seedings and whether or not Senegal or Nigeria will be the 4th team to advance.

This week, we face an always tough Al Maghrib squad that we escaped with a 1-point victory against the last time we faced off so we anticipate it's going to be another good match.


Thanks, Giorgio. You were right and your players were great for us today!

Congratulations and to win the next game.
By the way, the staff costs me the same as the roster 200K.
Best regards

Last edited by Giorgio950 at 02/24/2021 07:36:59