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NT Season 28

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This Post:
22
261139.1
Date: 7/13/2014 2:13:03 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
Thought I'd get in early for this season, even though the NT season doesn't actually start till next week. As with last year had to complete part of my scouting twice, due to the same issue (laptop battery for those that don't know me).

Its important (to me) to note that this week's squad is not necessarily the squad that will start the Consolation Tournament. There are some players who are almost certain to make the squad, but for many the decision will be almost entirely dependent on game shape.

Yes, this is basically the same speech over again, but poor game shape can make the difference. Obviously game shape is subject to some randomness, last season James Gascoigne missed out on the opening fixture because his game shape had gone down to average, despite playing similar minutes to other players. I still had to leave him out. (I assume he'd been in the dentist's chair like his footballing near namesake.)

This Post:
00
261139.2 in reply to 261139.1
Date: 7/18/2014 4:32:57 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
The season starts on monday with a trip to Costa Rica so I'll be calling up the squad over the weekend. I may leave it late because I like having one week when its more difficult for my opponent to scout us.

Also, I have a few difficult decisions to make, given the shape of most of the players. Of course, that could just bad luck, game shape is somewhat random, but looking at the shape of my Wasps team, I can't help but think that the changes made to the game shape calculation have somehow gone wrong.

One player who won't make the squad at this early stage is Dick McDonough. He's injured and will miss at least two NT games, and I'd rate him doubtful for at least the third.


This Post:
11
261139.3 in reply to 261139.2
Date: 7/21/2014 10:01:27 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
Costa Rica vs England

Solid team performance gave us a satisfying opening win. Three Costa Ricans fouled out, as their 2-3 defence broke down against our look inside attack. We were 52-86, with no player dominating the scoreboard.

Assists were spread out as well as the shooting, which also bodes well.

We didn't defend as well in the fourth quarter while leading comfortably. While we never were in any danger, it was still a little annoying, and worrying given we'll face much stronger offences this season.

Last edited by Gully Foyle at 7/22/2014 7:32:21 AM

This Post:
00
261139.4 in reply to 261139.3
Date: 7/22/2014 12:18:49 PM
Tide of Fire
EBBL
Overall Posts Rated:
352352
Looked good, it will be interesting to see what happens this season, they seem pretty solid.

This Post:
00
261139.5 in reply to 261139.4
Date: 7/22/2014 1:54:46 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
Out of twelve players I called up five had only respectable game shape so I was quite pleased with the performance. Defensively we didn't look quite the team we were last season but I think we can improve there.

What particularly pleased me were the players who were on the verge of being left out of the squad who performed well.

Last season I added two players to the squad for the second game. One had randomly dropped GS, the other was out because he'd just been sold. The same thing could happen this season, where GS improves, or returns to what it should be once the transfer hit has been wiped out. So no one should give up hope of their player making the squad.

This Post:
11
261139.6 in reply to 261139.5
Date: 7/25/2014 4:52:57 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
387387
Hongs is a great role player off the bench at NT level. I'm glad someone finally realises that.

Assuming he gets on court, Monday will be Alan Sharplings's 100th time representing England at U21 and NT level, and last week was his 60th cap (appearance for the full NT in a competitive game)

Last edited by Elmacca at 7/25/2014 4:55:44 PM

This Post:
00
261139.7 in reply to 261139.6
Date: 7/25/2014 5:08:49 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
100 caps is always worth a celebration, though I'm hoping that his 100th game for the senior NT will be in a competitive game also. I don't like to announce my team in advance, but I think its a safe assumption that Sharpling will play some part in the game. ;)

The fact that Hongs is in the squad from the start of this season, when he wasn't last season, just shows how circumstances can force decisions on NT managers, and thats its not always about getting the twelve players you really want. Which of course you're aware of, but a lot of managers without NT experience may not realise.



Last edited by Gully Foyle at 7/25/2014 5:09:14 PM

This Post:
00
261139.8 in reply to 261139.7
Date: 7/25/2014 5:15:36 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
Speaking of monday's game, game shape has improved in most cases from last week. Of course it generally does, but I was slightly worried by the adjustment the BBs made to the game shape calculation, mostly because of my own fairly poor game shape compared to previous seasons. I'm much more comfortable with the idea that nothing has changed from last season.

This Post:
11
261139.9 in reply to 261139.8
Date: 7/27/2014 7:22:28 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
Unusually high number of call ups for a week two game. Esposto because he was only missing last week because of his sale. Singh and Bucky to cover for players with GS drops, and Innes because; well, he's Innes.

This Post:
22
261139.10 in reply to 261139.9
Date: 7/28/2014 5:02:42 PM
Durham Wasps
III.1
Overall Posts Rated:
16621662
Second Team:
Sunderland Boilermakers
England vs Ireland

I went into this game expecting a bit of a tough one, but I reckoned without an outstanding display of teamwork from our boys this week. We scored 29 pts in the first quarter without a single player scoring more than 4. You can't get better spread than that. I for one couldn't tell that it wasn't butter.

I considered motion for this game, but thought perhaps Ireland might go 3-2, which indeed they did. They also gambled on a prediction of run and gun, which was a strong possibility but fortunately I went with PTB which I feel worked well for us.

Very difficult to single players out in such a performance, but Luke Innes looked especially good sitting on the bench. If you ignore the fact he's the ugliest player in England. Andrews and Simpson barely missed a shot, Bucky rebounded well in his first game of the season, and Madelin led the team in assists.

We hardly turned the ball over all game. All in all this was one of the best performances during my tenure, and bodes well for the rest of the season.


This Post:
00
261139.11 in reply to 261139.10
Date: 7/28/2014 5:29:20 PM
Tide of Fire
EBBL
Overall Posts Rated:
352352
rofl