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Great! It's not too late to train MacMaurice. If you train him properly (1 on 1 is good for now) he'll become a great player. That's also why he's now a part of the U21 national team.

Last edited by GM-The Brave Highlander at 10/20/2021 6:48:45 AM

Cheers pal.

What about Neill?

Might get some playing time in the friendlies at the end of this season

We played the second match of the group against Hungary.
Our team approached the game in good shape. Almost all the players of the team spent the optimal number of minutes last week. Four players also received upgrades to their skills. I removed MacArthur (there was a transfer), MacKersey, MacLymont from the application for the game. As an attacking tactic, I exposed Patient, which the coach often used last season. Also, I did not guess the accent of the opponent's attack. As a result, we played 141-108, which is pretty good. In defense, the situation did not get better, we conceded even more points than with Italy. But in attack, the tactics really proved to be good, the throws flew well. Due to the large difference in skills, it is advantageous for us when the attack goes through our best attacking players. Our bench played especially well.
The next match is with Belgium. I would really like to play with them at a similar level.

Well done so far, TRUF. It'll still take some time to win games on a regular basis but it's good to hear that the players continue to improve for the most part. I am still a big fan of Lyle. Not only because he seems to be made for the Patient tactic but because he really is approaching top level. I hope that Fitchy will get a couple of more pops before his cap shuts him down.

Unfortunate that Duffy is on the TL because Nils somehow didn't get his finances together and his whole team was put up for sale. But since Duffy is only a good backup at best for the next 2+ seasons, that's not too bad, I guess.

Great to see Boyd start a game, still some way to go for him but I guess in about 2 seasons, he'll already be one of the pillars for the team. Also great to see MacShimes in perfect gameshape ...

We still need to find a couple of bigmen, though. That'll take some time ...

The match with Belgium was played.
On Friday, 2 players received skill upgrades - Boyd and MacKersey. MacKersey got as many as three very useful skills. Before the game, the squad had problems: Corbet, Barrie, MacKersey, MacArthur, Baillie received more than 100 game minutes over the past week. As a result, I did not take Corbet, Barrie, MacKersey into the application for the game - they have a form below 7. In addition, Spens was injured on Saturday, it's good that only for one week. As a result, we were left without bigmen, only Losiak remained. I haven't started calling anyone to the team yet, the guys from the reserve also have a form below 8.
Therefore, I decided to play Patient with SG in position C. The defense played a 3-2 zone. The difference in the level of the teams is huge, so I am very pleased with the result. I expected Lyle to shoot better, I overestimated him a bit at the C position. But MacLamond and Losiak played well. We attacked very well, provoked fouls from the opponent. Apparently, the pressure from Belgium helped us quite well. In defense, I didn't feel much difference from the zone. Although periodically there were good segments.
I will hope that our bigmen will soon return to good shape. We are waiting for the next match with Austria

The match with Austria was played.
On Friday, we received only one upgrade, from Ballie. Everything was good with the form of the players, even Spens with 43 minutes last week got form 8 for the first time in the season and recovered the day before the game. I decided to try Princeton in the attack. Apparently this is not the most effective tactic for us, but there was no big failure. Again, a strange distribution of throws and few FT. We held up well in the first half of the game, but we failed in the third quarter, especially in defense. After two matches, it is difficult to say how effective the tactics of the 3-2 zone are, and whether it is better than the personnel. I would like to get a difference of less than 30 points, but Austria is a pretty strong and even team.
The next game is with Macedonia, we will continue our experiments.

Well, for a 3-2 Defense, it does help if you have players with great blocking skills on PF/C. Then, you can even play a 3-2 against LI. To just counter an outside offense, the 3-2 from today worked fine I guess. But Boyd did not help to strengthen the 3-2. He is better suited for M2M (at the moment and also for the long run). To have a stronger 3-2, you'd need three guards with good OD on 1-3 ... but it's ok. It's nice to see the team gaining experience. It'll take some time until the players have reached the zenith but we'll get there.

Thanks for the opinion of Alexis. This is logical. Even against external tactics, the benefits are not very great. ManToMan looks more reliable and versatile. I completely agree

Thanks for the opinion of Alexis. This is logical. Even against external tactics, the benefits are not very great. ManToMan looks more reliable and versatile. I completely agree

Well, it is a valid choice if your opponent has a very strong outside offense. And it also helps intercept passes meant for the Inside-Players. That's why some nations train their players like that: (47458608) Those players work very well with a 3-2 zone defense against LI. To be sure to cover every possibility, you can even set an inside-GDP. Then the 3-2 defense would stop any outside offense like motion/rng and if they go inside, those two bigmen with crazy ID and especially Blocking will defend like hell. And with the Inside-GDP, they'll even get a boost for inside defense. Meaning less passes reach the players attacking inside and if they reach them, they've got those defensive monsters right in front of them. Finland has played like that for quite a while and been pretty successful, especially in a time where no other nations used those tactics.

The match with Macedonia was played.
Last Friday we received a good number of upgrades: Boyd - 1, Fitchy - 1, Lyle - 2, Baillie - 1, MacShimes - 1.
In addition, most of the team was in good shape. Spens me surprised, having played 34 minutes over the past week, he increased his form from 8 to 9. Amazing.
Without a doubt, the high form, as well as the fantastic implementation of FT and the advantage in rebound gave us the opportunity to fight in the match, to be on an equal footing with Macedonia for most of the game. But we are still weaker in the grade.
The next match is with my compatriots. I want to give a fight too