BuzzerBeater Forums

I just want to start this off by saying that I think both the Manager Formerly Known as Chuck D and RiP88 are doing a great job as managers. I also want to say that I think 25th internationally isn't a terrible world ranking and I am starting this thread mostly to try to get some more conversation happening on this forum.

Canada is 25th out of 96 teams in the world. Part of this can be attributed to the size of the country but some countries with similar sized user based (Belgium and Croatia for example) do better than us and some much smaller countries are more successful, at least terms of ranking. So it can't just be user base. Looking back at previous tournaments it seems like Canada got out to a fast international start and then other nations caught up.


So I am wondering why people think Canada has somewhat struggled?
What can we do in the long term as users to try to contribute to Canada's international success?

Switzerland only has 345 users, is currently ranked 3rd in the world, and has an amazing roster. I think they are a great example to look at, and can help explain the current state of Canada's national team.

If you look at Switzerland's current roster, most of their best players were drafted in season 4 or 5, have MVP or hall of famer potential, and have been well trained for 6 seasons or so. If you look at Canada's roster, there aren't any players like that at all. For whatever reason, there were several seasons where the best Canadian prospects didn't get developed, and this has put Canada behind many other countries in the overall world rankings.

Looking ahead, there are some higher potential guys being developed now (like Saint-Arnoud and Abu-Kaleel). However, there aren't enough of these guys in the pipeline yet, and the ones being developed are a few seasons younger than the current best players in the world. Long term, Canada needs more of its best 18 year old prospects (preferably with MVP+ potential, or even hall of fame+) to end up in good training situations. Canada also needs its already existing most important prospects to receive very good training (and several young players I know of are definately in good situations currently, and projecting out well).

As a community, I think that there are some things that would help with the development of the best young players. One thing would be to continue to raise the overall level of interest in the national teams, and the current managers have done some great things in this area. Another thing would be to just raise the overall activity level of the Canadian community, and I think discussions like this one can only help. :P

That's my take on things at least,

~TM

So I am wondering why people think Canada has somewhat struggled?

We got out to a fast start because we were one of the 1st BB teams, so we had a head start over many nations. One of our former managers played run and gun all the way and managed to make it into the world tournament. So I don't think a lot of our early success came because of fantastic tactical managers.

There was also a dead zone in there, where great Canadian talent was not being trained and no one was tracking it. Our players with high potential languished and went to teams that did not train them. I am not putting the blame here on past U21 or NT managers, I don't really think it is the job of them to do this task. I think the community as a whole should step up on this one. Because of the great job RIP did on this, for some reason that keeps falling on the U21 and NT managers. But I think you have to realize that if one person is doing this, it burns them out in a hurry.

Anyhow, as I said, because of the great job RIP did at scouting and tracking talent, last season's U21 team was one of our best (if not the best). So we had a good chance, I just dropped the ball. But you can see from the consolation tournament so far that we are better than our ranking indicates. We should end up 7-1 if I play my cards right. I'm disappointed with our crop of talent for next season, but the team will still be better than what we had 2 seasons ago. I think that was more about luck than anything else, though, Canada just had a bad draft overall that season.

My take on what needs to be done going forward:

-more scouting needs to be diverted away from the NT and U21 managers. Although, the jury is still out on this for me. I feel like some of the volunteers are doing a great job here, but I am still waiting for updates from at least one person. If there were people who could be counted on 100%, I personally would love to not have to do any of this.

-more people need to sign-up on the off-site forum and start commenting on what the U21 managers are doing right/wrong. Either that or post your comments in this forum.

-get more division I and II teams training high potential Canadian players. These are the teams with the resources to buy level 6+ trainers, and who know how to train. Maybe a select few division III teams would be in this category.

-get the word out to new teams to sell their high level prospects as soon as possible.

-save as many high potential prospects as possible every season from teams about to go bot.

-get more people out to run and vote in the elections.

I'm sure I can think of more, but I'll see what everyone else has to say.

Last edited by HeadPaperPusher at 1/28/2010 3:08:00 PM

I feel like some of the volunteers are doing a great job here, but I am still waiting for updates from at least one person. If there were people who could be counted on 100%, I personally would love to not have to do any of this.

Ouch! Sorry bud!

Due to some pretty crazy work requirements as of late I will fall into this catagory. I do however have a pretty solid feel for the group of players I scouted, and will send you the updates when I m back home. Many of the agents are still contacting me and will hopefully continue to do so.

Once again, sorry HPP. My home computer is where the spreadsheet is, so as soon as I am home I will forward it to you.

Otherwise your post is bang on imo.

My home computer is where the spreadsheet is, so as soon as I am home I will forward it to you.

I'm not trying to ride your ass, it is just getting to the time when I normally contact managers a 2nd time to see how their prospects are developing. Maybe I am micro-managing this but I really like to watch these guys develop.