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Agree, definately a dissapoinment. A few 18yo Superstars with mid $4K salary. That's the best we got. One of them is on TL now and doesn't look so promising.

Still waiting on a schedule, not sure why that takes so long. but, our first game of Season 15 should be this coming Monday.

One thing I've learned so far is that the first big factor in the success of the team is the quality of talent you have. If you are significantly out matched by your opponent you are facing a big challenge. That's why the number one focus from me is getting people interested in developing the talent we have.

We are starting from a big dissadvantage due to our size. Hopefully all the efforts people have been making to attract more teams will eventually pay offf.

The second thing is maintaining gameshape.

Those two things are out of my control. All I can do is incourage people to make their players as strong as possible.

After that its all on me. Choosing the right line-up and tactics to attack the weaknesses of our opponent and defend against their strengths.

Anyone have any interest in creating new banners for the U21 National team? We probably have the least interesting banners of any National team around.

As if we didn't already have talent issues on this team, now the best player on the team looks to be lost for the season.

Hirofumi Sonoda now has a Game Shape of Inept. He has played 48 minutes in every on eo f his teams games this season. His manager has been AWOL since 1/18.

In our last game against Moldova I had to push him down to 3rd string. We ended up losing the game by 5. We probably would have won if we had him at full strength.

We are already at a big dissadvantage against our opponenets but when we lose key pieces like this it becomes almost impossible.

At least we have some active managers developing some young talent for us. Hopefullly this will turn around in the next couple seasons.

As posted to the Nippon U21 press blog

It Starts with Talent

As you may or may not already know, after the first 3 games your Nippon U21 team is 1-2 with Point Differential = 0. I thought I would take a moment to put this into perspective for everyone and set a baseline for what to expect this season.

Before I do anything on the floor to manage the team’s games, the most important thing that will determine our ability to compete is the quality of the talent available to the team as well as player game shape. From there it’s up to me to manage the team well. So, let’s look at how our talent stacks up to our competition.

The only indicator we have of other team’s talent level is player salary. So I went through our opponents and I calculated the average salary for the 10 highest paid players on each team. This will represent the set of players that will provide almost all each team’s playing time.

Here’s what we have:
Nippon U21: $21,794 - 41 Users

However, this is skewed high by Sonoda’s $69,888 and he has been lost for the season with his manager going dark and his Game Shape at Inept. Without Sonoda the average is $15,922

Nippon U21 less Sonoda: $15,922 - 41 Users

Opponents
England U21: $41,583 - 478 Users - Lost 78-98
Moldova U21: $29,417 - 37 Users - Lost 102-107
Hayastan U21: $12,294 - 13 Users - Won 92-67
Azerbaycan U21: $30,655 - 47 Users
Ecuador U21: $23,649 - 26 Users
Czech Rep U21: $35,250 - 578 Users
Chile U21: $43,249 - 315 Users
Singapore U21: $18,291 - 72 Users

So, as you can see, if you use Salary as a basis for comparison we are at a disadvantage in all but 1 game this season, and we did win that game. I do believe though that as long as we keep game shapes up I can pull off at least 1 or 2 more wins. We'll see how I do.

The good news though is that we have a pretty good pipeline of young players building that should start to pay off next season.

You work very good. We should have a database of the youth team and future players so managers can see what we need. I train players but am working in the dark all the time and need to know what we are need. I have 6 young trainees this season but soon I must choose 3. So far all JS training is good for all 6 but soon is pressure.

All have a dark side.

Hisanobu Mitsuharu (18297153) Point Guard Weekly salary: $ 3 486 Age: 18 Potential: superstar - too tall 6'9"
Kohichi Matsuo (18297020) Shooting Guard Weekly salary: $ 3 878 Age: 18 Potential: allstar - passing atrocious
Noritada Konoe (18297019) Small Forward Weekly salary: $ 3 398 Age: 18 Potential: allstar - defence inept
Daisaku Kawaida (16975170) Shooting Guard Weekly salary: $ 4 984 Age: 19 Potential: allstar - stamina pitiful free throw atrocious
Jotaro Kinjo (17728125) Small Forward Weekly salary: $ 4 005 Age: 19 Potential: starter - bad potential

So hard to choose 3 from this 5.

Good timing, I was just thinking earlier today I would check in with you on how your training was going and which players you were prioritizing.

If you can send me the skills of each play by BB-mail I can take a look and give you some advice on what you should do.

At this point I think I have good visibility to a number of SG and big guys but lacking solid PG prospects and as always no clear SFs.

I do have a list of about 40 prospects I am tracking. Some making good progress and others not so much. It includes 3 of your players, the two we discussed at the end of last season (19 year olds in your list) as well as Mitsuharu who I had in my top draftees list. I'm not sure what the best way of publishing and sharing that is but open to suggestions.

I am not beating Sharman, zenigata gangs or several other teams this season so my players don't need to be a secret and I think it is no crime to post them unless you are selling them. We are training JS at the moment but when Mitsuhara pops we will switch to PA or OD.

My best player is going well, the stamina and FTs are bad.

Daisaku Kawaida (16975170) Shooting Guard
Weekly salary: $ 4 984
Age: 19
Height: 6'3" / 190 cm
Potential: allstar
Game Shape: proficient
Jump Shot: prominent ↑ Jump Range: average
Outside Def.: strong Handling: mediocre
Driving: inept Passing: average
Inside Shot: respectable Inside Def.: pitiful
Rebounding: mediocre Shot Blocking: respectable
Stamina: pitiful Free Throw: atrocious
Experience: atrocious

He has been trained every week since I started 48+, all single position except this season 100% JS.

Jotaro Kinjo (17728125) Small Forward
Weekly salary: $ 4 005
Age: 19
Height: 6'5" / 196 cm
Potential: starter
Game Shape: strong
Jump Shot: strong ↑ Jump Range: average
Outside Def.: strong Handling: strong
Driving: average Passing: inept
Inside Shot: pitiful Inside Def.: respectable
Rebounding: average Shot Blocking: inept
Stamina: respectable Free Throw: strong
Experience: atrocious

Training very slowly. I did not think height affected JS training, but it seems to. Will be worse when I do OD and PA. But love the potential.

Hisanobu Mitsuharu (18297153) Shooting Guard
Weekly salary: $ 3 486
Age: 18
Height: 6'9" / 206 cm
Potential: superstar
Game Shape: strong
Jump Shot: mediocre Jump Range: mediocre
Outside Def.: respectable Handling: inept
Driving: average Passing: average
Inside Shot: mediocre Inside Def.: pitiful
Rebounding: respectable Shot Blocking: awful
Stamina: inept Free Throw: awful
Experience: atrocious

All have been trained to now, but I will stop training Jotaro Kinjo in a week or two and will instead train my draft pick who has all star potential. Jotaro Kinjo is a strong player for my team who can play 3 positions for me, but I can't see him making the U21 team. Do you agree?

Lord Toranaga,

Sorry for the slow response, I'm in India this week on business and my time has been tight.

Looking at these guys I think I would give a slight edge to Kinjo. Mainly because his Stamina and FT are far better and that can make a big difference in performance. It would take many weeks invested into the other guys to get up to those levels. After that I would probably prioritize the high potential 18 year olds.

I do think Kinjo can make a contribution by 21 with good focus. Unfortuanately, the bar to make the team isn't that high for us. We don't have that high level of talent that some of the bigger countries have.

As far as focus areas, Def, Handling, JS are key but don't completely neglect the other guard skills. Having good balance is inportant.

I thank you. Now I am unsure again. I have 4 players I must train but 3 spots.

I had decided on
Daisaku Kawaida (16975170) Shooting Guard (Best skills)
Hisanobu Mitsuharu (18297153) Shooting Guard (Superstar)
Noritada Konoe (18297019) Small Forward (My draft pick)

But you say I should still train

Jotaro Kinjo (17728125) Small Forward (starter potential but original player)

This week is stamina but soon I must choose. Only days to decide.