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And the journey continues!

I have scouted all U21 players and updated our database. Please continue to sell draftees that you don't plan to train so that others may have a chance at starting to train them as soon as possible. If you're looking for help with training plans, feel free to reach out to me.

In particular, 18-year-olds drafted this season will be key players for Season 56's African tournament so please train or transfer list them! Our pool is shallow but we'll just have to do our best to make the most of it.

I anticipate this season to be very different than our last one since we'll partake in the World Tournament where the competition is much fiercer. We'll be looking to cause an upset where we can, experiment with different tactics, and train and get experience for our future players.

If anyone is looking to stay more connected with other managers training South African players or to participate in game-planning, come check out our Discord (https://discord.gg/dHJ2ZZ6QMR)!

The World Tournament schedule is out and as anticipated, it is going to be rough for the Baby Boks.

Our round-robin group, where only the top 4 teams will advance, includes USA, France, Deutschland/Germany, Philippines and Romania. All of these teams rank within the top 17 U21 teams in the world and boast players that have significantly higher salaries. For example,

- France has 125k and 74k bigs
- USA has 91k, 59k, 55k and 54k bigs
- Deutschland/Germany has 83k, 63k and 62k bigs
- Philippines has 69k and 51k bigs

The closest team to us would be Romania but even that doesn't mean a whole lot since they have 6 players that have a higher salary than our highest salaried player.

The World Tournament is just a whole other beast so the coaching staff will be looking to gain experience, test out new tactics, train players for next season's Africa Tournament and swing for the fences as we get to play the underdog in these games!

Last edited by A Warrior at 04/13/2021 23:25:20

As usual, the WC is a huge mountain to climb. Good luck!

Game 1: Pilipinas 102 vs. South Africa 88 (60098)

Record: 0-1

Standing: Currently 5th place
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 4 of 6 teams on each side will advance after each team has played one another.)

Well, we gave it our best to try and win this one. The coaching staff took some risks guessing inside and fast and played a creative offense that we felt might give us a chance at an upset but the team still fell short despite a valiant effort.

- Shafilshuna Machemko tried to carry the team as he played out of position to exploit mismatches while putting up 48 points on 45 shots. He shot a solid 21/45 (46%) from the field but the referees also swallowed their whistles when he had the ball as he only shot 4 free throws all game.
- Elphus Siamusiye led the team in rebounds with 9 but struggled to take advantage of his own mismatch as he shot 5/22 for the game.
- Even with the correct double guesses, the inside offense of the Philippines bigs was just too much for a team that is looking much smaller without last season's starting bigs as Umi Mugabe graduated to the senior squad and Gonasilan Sono put on a lot of weight in the offseason and is having trouble getting back into shape.

Player of the Game: Shafilshuna Machemko (48727512) trained by A Warrior

While a loss is always disappointing, we're realistic with what we're up against here as Ebene stated, this World Championship tournament is a huge mountain to climb and it's only going to get bigger.

Up next is the Romanian squad, who finished 2nd in the always deep European tournament last season.

Game 2: South Africa U21 99 vs. România U21 118 (60100)

Record: 0-2

Standing: Currently 6th place
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 4 of 6 teams on each side will advance after each team has played one another.)

We gave it everything we had in this one and it just wasn't enough. While we were able to become the African U21 Champions, there's still another level we have to reach to compete at the World stage.

- 20-year-olds Thikhathali Zibi and Shafilshuna Machemko came out firing as they poured in 33 and 23 points respectively. These two studs are already showing how talented they are and hope to display it even further next season.
- Zibi and Derek Dingane both had double-doubles as their grit wrangled the rebounding advantage away against Romania's 8 power forwards and centers, all with salaries over 15k.
- While the team's offense was keeping pace for much of the game, the team's defense once again struggled, particularly against an inside-oriented offense from a superior team.
- Somehow Romania shot 42 free throws in the game compared to our 10 for the game. We're hoping the referees give us a little more respect next season.

Player of the Game: Thikhathali Zibi (48727515) trained by A Warrior


This will most likely be my last update for this season. We face stronger teams the rest of the way so I realistically don't believe we'll have another chance at a win. We did our best to try and pull a win off against the two comparatively weaker teams in our group but our team just isn't strong enough yet. I will now shift my focus to connecting with trainers and developing the pipeline for future seasons. I am hoping to run for at least another term as the U21 manager, if you all would have me, but either way, I'll do my best to make sure that future U21 players are being trained to give us the best chance each season.

In some exciting news, you may have seen it already in the midseason news but there will be more South African trainees that should be joining the ranks through Utopia teams next season! This does benefit us as well as other African nations but it'll be great to have a deeper pool of trainees.

On a related pipeline note, I recognize that we may have a number of South African teams going bot in the coming weeks, which mean there'll be some South African prospects hitting the market for those that are interested. I'll be sure to make a post about them when that happens too.

Thanks for the news. :)

Will have 1 or 2 spots this / next season

The official season is over for the South African U21 and we're ready to move forward to what's next. We'll schedule scrimmages and continue to train players for future seasons.

One bright spot from this season is that I was able to recruit multiple managers who are interested in investing in South African players coming out of the next draft. This may give us our best chance possible at someday being a little more competitive in a future world tournament so if you're able to invest at all in the draft this upcoming season, that'd be greatly appreciated as it'll be a team effort on everyone's part to help the team reach new heights.

Good news. Fingers crossed for some high potential rookies.

With the teams' final scrimmage having been played, we take a look back at Season 53. While the team was unable to pull off a regular-season win against very tough competition in the World Tournament, they played well in scrimmages and gained valuable experience. Training plans were also further developed so players would be ready for the upcoming season.

Accomplishments
- We tried our best to cause an upset in the first game of the World Tournament (60098) but fell short despite using more enthusiasm and getting a correct double-guess. We hope to someday be victorious in matches at the World Tournament.
- Point guard Elphus Siamusiye (48754191), one of my trainees, ends his tenure with the U21 team on a high note, leading the team in assists (54) and coming in 2nd in points (223) for the season. He ranks 8th in All-Time Total Points (547) and is tied for 5th in All-Time Total Assists (148) in South Africa U21 history. He now sets his sights on training to someday represent South Africa at the National Team level.
- The ever-versatile Derek Dingane (48405795), trained by Lesley 1226, also concludes a successful stint on the U21 team tied for 6th most performances (42) for the U21 team. This season he led the team in rebounds (89) and was 2nd in assists (50). During his team with the Baby Boks, Dingane showed what a great player he was by having played in every position for the team.
- 20-year-old Superstar Shafilshuna Machemko (48727512) was the team's leading scorer (347) and was 3rd in assists (26) this season. The youngster has already broken into the record book ranking 5th in All-Time Total Points (576) and having the 4th highest scoring U21 season (347). He looks to continue to improve his skills and further his ascent in the record books.
- Thikhathali Zibi (48727515), also 20-years old, was 3rd for the team in both points (192) and rebounds (78) this season. He looks to play an important role for next season's squad as well.
- Big man, Lizwelicha Legodi (48727506), trained by FeelThePressure, rounds out our top performers this season as he ended the season as the team's 2nd leading rebounder (87). A late-season injury kept Legs from climbing higher on the list.

Special thanks to our trainers for the team this season - boksburg, Cabrusan, DonnyTheWay, Ebene5, FeellThePressure, Lesley1226, maniac77, mathew13693 and Sandy!

This upcoming draft class may be a historic one as the dual citizenship from Utopia will introduce more South African players than ever before and several new managers were recruited to help train players for future teams. So please, invest in the draft and either train or sell your draftees!

Now the team looks forward to defending our title as Africa's reigning U21 champions.