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I'm in the same boat I feel like. I didn't even win the last division, just got moved up from being in the finals. Seems like I either have to accept just losing a lot of games to maximize training but running lesser lineups, or try and win but set myself back in the long run.

Looks to me like you have a nice foundation to build with. I'd say to err on the side of training and commit to the guys you think are going to be those guys. Easier said than done I know, but IMO once I figured out who I could build around when I began my rebuild, I've been better off for it. If I didn't have the guy, I went out and found a young guy I felt I could build with.

My rebuild began with Joy Beko and Walt Pasman.

Day 8 (Tuesday 15 October 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Eternityz Rostah 72 - Anchorage Allstars. 100
K8be4L 111 - brooklyn knicks 127
Nanooks of the North 59 - The Dachshunds 128
Cleveland Heat Lakers 78 - GloryBoyz 115
Linndale 129 - AZ Sunburn 94
Andersonville Alligators 105 - Defenseless Babies 128
Organization XIII 122 - Fondy Cardinals 68
Duke Devilz 81 - Las Vegas Red Pandas 137

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 137 : Las Vegas Red Pandas
Rebounds : 76 : Las Vegas Red Pandas
Assists : 36 : Linndale
Steals : 14 : The Dachshunds
Block Shots : 14 : Organization XIII

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 45 : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks)
Rebounds : 24 : B. Macis (AZ Sunburn)
Assists : 12 : B. Medeiros (The Dachshunds)
Steals : 4 : L. Shtrbev (Organization XIII)
Block Shots : 4 : D. Shilov (Anchorage Allstars.), L. Shtrbev (Organization XIII)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : Y. Xiao (GloryBoyz) (26 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Shooting Guard : J. Collante (Andersonville Alligators) (37 Points, 4 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Small Forward : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks) (45 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 45
Power Forward : B. McAlinden (Las Vegas Red Pandas) (15 Points, 17 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Center : D. Shilov (Anchorage Allstars.) (10 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 4 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 23

MVP of the evening
Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks) (45 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 45

The bad performance of the evening
A. Junghans (Eternityz Rostah) (6 Points, 4 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -9

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : J. Slimani (Fondy Cardinals) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : E. Shtern (AZ Sunburn) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : E. Shtern (AZ Sunburn), K. Trent (AZ Sunburn) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks) : 6 Three points

The best performer : A. Di Massimo (GloryBoyz), J. Šlianderis (Organization XIII) : Rating : 17.0

The worst performer : D. Kendrick (Organization XIII), C. Gates (Organization XIII) : Rating : 4.5

I came up once but my trainees weren’t near ready to really compete so I just kept training and quickly got demoted. My only word of caution is going back down to D4 really causes some financial hardship. Be prepared to really watch your payroll because your trainees will be more expensive and revenue will be less. It was rough…I think I had to sell a few dudes off before I could right the ship and start expanding my payroll again. Ultimately it paid off as you can see as I’m ready to compete in a tough division right from the jump o with promotion .

Last edited by ehoosier at 10/15/2024 11:04:31 PM

Day 9 (Saturday 19 October 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Anchorage Allstars. 108 - K8be4L 84
brooklyn knicks 122 - Nanooks of the North 117
The Dachshunds 90 - Cleveland Heat Lakers 54
GloryBoyz 121 - Linndale 109
AZ Sunburn 96 - Andersonville Alligators 117
Defenseless Babies 115 - Organization XIII 131
Fondy Cardinals 119 - Duke Devilz 135
Las Vegas Red Pandas 92 - Eternityz Rostah 90

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 135 : Duke Devilz
Rebounds : 69 : Anchorage Allstars.
Assists : 35 : Defenseless Babies, Fondy Cardinals
Steals : 15 : The Dachshunds
Block Shots : 11 : K8be4L, The Dachshunds, GloryBoyz

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 31 : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks), Y. Kaifang (Nanooks of the North), R. Lian (Duke Devilz)
Rebounds : 21 : D. Walchshofer (The Dachshunds)
Assists : 13 : M. Milo (Fondy Cardinals)
Steals : 4 : B. Barkley (Cleveland Heat Lakers), A. Carter (AZ Sunburn)
Block Shots : 7 : A. Bedonia (GloryBoyz)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : Y. Kaifang (Nanooks of the North) (31 Points, 5 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), A. Harrani (Organization XIII) (26 Points, 6 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Shooting Guard : R. Lian (Duke Devilz) (31 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Small Forward : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks) (31 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Power Forward : B. Marsili (Duke Devilz) (26 Points, 18 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Center : D. Walchshofer (The Dachshunds) (12 Points, 21 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33

MVP of the evening
B. Marsili (Duke Devilz) (26 Points, 18 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39

The bad performance of the evening
L. Crouse (Cleveland Heat Lakers) (2 Points, 1 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -5

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : V. Ravagnin (K8be4L), L. Randhawa (Duke Devilz) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : E. Delgado (K8be4L), O. Cheng Chang (Nanooks of the North) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : E. Shtern (AZ Sunburn) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : Y. Kaifang (Nanooks of the North) : 7 Three points

The best performer : A. Harrani (Organization XIII) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : D. Kendrick (Organization XIII) : Rating : 3.5

Monday, on the practice courts, Pio Reina takes his team to task…

Saturday night’s game was inexcusable. Unacceptable. Embarrassing. You should be ashamed of yourselves. We got destroyed on the boards. That is not Linndale basketball!!! We had two quarters where they scored 35 points, and a third where they scored 29. Again, that is not Linndale basketball!!! They don’t fear coming in to the paint! No one does!!! We allegedly have 4 shot blockers, so somebody make me understand why we are dead last in the league in blocking shots. No one have any answers?!? Are we no longer going to defend the rim?!? There’s going to be some changes on the front line; I can’t tolerate that kind of garbage. They outworked us on the offensive boards and defensive boards. I need someone to explain to me why that’s ok, because I don’t ever recall coaching that it was. I know Coach Helm isn’t coaching that!

To the shooters, keep it up. I don’t want to have to shoot 35 threes a game, but you have a path to convince me it’s the way forward. Make me believe it. You’re looking much better than you did at the beginning. Coach Allnite, nice work with the outside shooting improving and the turnovers decreasing. The last four games, we’re at 7 turnovers a game and shooting 51 percent from the outside. I like the way that’s trending. Keep it up.

Some of you guys are a little too comfortable. That’s your first mistake; you think you’ve made it. Allow me to relieve you of that notion. Look around the room. A new face that isn’t a rookie walked in and took ownership of the starting point guard spot immediately, and got improved play from other players as a result. That is what leadership looks like. Who else can say they are the guy at their position? Since it seems that some of you think you have a starting job or don’t realize there is always competition for said job, let me help you out. Walt Colenbranden is my starting point guard. Walt Pasman is a starter. Joy Beko is a starter. The rest of you get in where you fit in. You know what I want. Give me what I want, or we’ll find someone else who will. To that point, we have a new young shooter in the room. Give me what I want, or we’ll find someone else who will. Last season, we preached versatility. We have 3 defined starters. The rest can get in where you fit in on any given night. You want to keep starting? You know what to do. Play defense, protect the ball, and make me have to play you. Be exceptional. Force me to have to make tough decisions.

Mr. Simmons, you have a very interesting skill set. We’re going to get you up to speed on what we do and how we do it here. As you can tell, I demand defense, ball security, and accountability. I see you’ve been playing a lot of man defense and running a run and gun offense from the point. I will assume that Coach Allnite has already told you what we expect from you. You have an opportunity to carve a role out here. We will challenge you to improve, and you will improve. It’s hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen a guard come through with a stroke like yours. The last one we had refused to play defense. He’s no longer here. You have a better stroke, and I think you’re hungry. I expect you to put in the work and stick around. Your job is to force me to make tough decisions.

Tomorow night, Gian-Luca Twaruschek and Roman Bodura will start. Those not starting, your job is to simply force me to make tough decisions. Get with the program or get your bags packed. Saturday’s performance was something that is not tolerated here. Period. Give me what I want, or we’ll find someone else who will. I believe I have made myself clear. Coach Allnite, you're running practice while I meet with our GM. Coach Helm is with you. Coach Richards is going with me. Run them until they puke, then make them run some more. Put them through hell.

Coach Helm smiled...

Day 10 (Tuesday 22 October 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Nanooks of the North 70 - Anchorage Allstars. 104
Cleveland Heat Lakers 97 - brooklyn knicks 124
Linndale 68 - The Dachshunds 87
Andersonville Alligators 105 - GloryBoyz 123
Organization XIII 141 - AZ Sunburn 124
Duke Devilz 65 - Defenseless Babies 114
Eternityz Rostah 102 - Fondy Cardinals 90
K8be4L 83 - Las Vegas Red Pandas 121

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 141 : Organization XIII
Rebounds : 64 : Defenseless Babies
Assists : 34 : Anchorage Allstars.
Steals : 12 : Las Vegas Red Pandas
Block Shots : 9 : Nanooks of the North

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 33 : L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers), F. Di Matteo (AZ Sunburn), M. Milo (Fondy Cardinals)
Rebounds : 21 : A. Silva (Duke Devilz)
Assists : 9 : V. Laihinen (brooklyn knicks), M. Silver (Defenseless Babies)
Steals : 4 : W. Yi Fung (Las Vegas Red Pandas)
Block Shots : 5 : A. Stadnichenko (Nanooks of the North)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Milo (Fondy Cardinals) (33 Points, 6 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Shooting Guard : L. Shtrbev (Organization XIII) (29 Points, 2 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 27
Small Forward : V. Corte (Las Vegas Red Pandas) (21 Points, 5 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Power Forward : B. McAlinden (Las Vegas Red Pandas) (22 Points, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Center : A. Di Massimo (GloryBoyz) (18 Points, 15 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

MVP of the evening
A. Di Massimo (GloryBoyz) (18 Points, 15 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots), B. McAlinden (Las Vegas Red Pandas) (22 Points, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

The bad performance of the evening
A. Timpanaro (Duke Devilz) (6 Points, 3 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), A. Stockton (Duke Devilz) (0 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -4

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : R. Landherr (K8be4L) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : H. Chunda (Nanooks of the North), M. Gatard (Nanooks of the North), J. Beko (Linndale), A. Kulacs (AZ Sunburn), R. Lian (Duke Devilz) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : R. Landherr (K8be4L) : 42 Minutes

The shooter : A. Kühn-Rechenmacher (brooklyn knicks) : 6 Three points

The best performer : A. Di Massimo (GloryBoyz), J. Šlianderis (Organization XIII), M. Silver (Defenseless Babies) : Rating : 16.5

The worst performer : D. Kendrick (Organization XIII), A. Stockton (Duke Devilz) : Rating : 3.5

Damn I don't even get a write up thooo

Haha, its alright those low scoring matches are my least favorite part of this game and it should be fixed imo

It's coming.

Real life makes things interesting sometimes.

As for low scoring games, I generally don't mind them. I tend to use them (and the high scoring games) to self scout, and if necessary, course correct.

The short version: You played our brand of ball better than we did, you were more aggressive on offense than we were, and my shooters are exactly what I thought they weren't. Congratulations on the win, and I am impressed with the defense. I already know what I need to fix; thankfully I already had plans for that.

Damn I don't even get a write up thooo

Haha, its alright those low scoring matches are my least favorite part of this game and it should be fixed imo

Immediately after the 86-67 loss to The Dachshunds, the players held a players only meeting...

Joy Beko stood at the front of a dejected locker room. Walt Pasman stood with him. Carlos Frias started to come up to join them but was waved off by Pasman. Beko spoke.

“We didn’t do anything out there good enough. Those boys over there beat us at what we do. We rebounded. They were a little bit better. We defended. They were a little bit better. I’ve been here long enough to know three things: this ain’t what a championship team looks like, it ain’t what Coach Reina and the staff expect from us, and the coaches aren’t the ones who have to do better; we are. We have to pull this together. We have to work harder. Starters and the bench. I’ve been off the bench; I don’t care if I start of come off the bench. Whatever coach wants from me is fine. I know I’m not a shooter. I’m not the guy that’s going to score 20 a night. I’m not a shot blocker. I defend, I rebound, I take care of the ball. I’m gonna have to be better. Walt here, defends. Walt is not a scorer. Walt can rebound. Walt has quietly worked to make himself an outside threat. Walt puts in work to make himself better. Walt knows what Linndale basketball is, just like I do. What we do is excel where a lot of you don’t, because you excel where we don’t. That’s complementary basketball, and we need to get back to it. None of us are doing enough.”

Pasman spoke. “Frias, I know you’ve been here as long as we have, but you need to sit and listen. This is not your team anymore. PG Walt, get up here. This is your team.”

Walt Colenbranden hesitated, then walked to the front of the room.

Pasman continued. “We shoot better in practice than games. We shoot well enough to get the coaches hopes up, then we fall flat. The coaches said something last week that stuck with me. We got a bunch of guys who are supposed to be shot blockers. How come we don’t see that in games? Cafer, you and me need to get that part of our game activated. If the shot blockers need help, let’s help them. Uzek, nobody knows what you are yet, we’re going to find out. You look like a shot blocker. Vendrell, you Corro and Ozver all look like shot blockers. Corro and Ozver you look like you can defend in man situations. Start doing it. Bigs, start defending the paint and cleaning the boards. Everyone, play defense. Play Linndale defense. If you think you’re trying, you ain’t trying hard enough. PG Walt, what do you need from me on offense?”

Colenbranden took comtrol. “Frias, I didn’t come here to take your job. I’m here to help turn you into the weapon. Stop being so passive. Attack. Drive. Shoot. Leao, keep doing what you do. Uzek, we got to get you better everywhere. Simmons, we know you’re new. We don’t care. 1 shot in 15 minutes? That ain’t what you’re here for. Shoot it. Walt P., we’re going to get you attacking the rim more. Enfes, you ready to work? Score, then score some more. Bodura, they keep telling me you’re a shooter. Show me. Beko, keep doing you. G-L, bad night shooting. We get it. Go out and attack. That makes you more dangerous as a shooter. Vendrell and Ozver, I hear you got a stroke. Own the paint and we’ll get you those looks. Corro, did anyone ever tell you you were a big? Act like it. Next time we play those boys, we all better do something. Me? I gotta shoot less and pass more. I was too aggressive. If I didn’t call you out, it’s because I haven’t learned your games yet. Y’all gotta get better too. This was an embarrassment and I didn’t come here to get embarrassed.”

Outside the locker room…

“Marshall, I want the entire staff in the lab. The second we get home.” Pio was boiling.

“Yes sir.”

Earlier today in the staff meeting...

Pio Reina: Marshall, I know you have something cooked up you’ve been wanting to unleash. Spill it.

Marshall Richards: Everyone in here knows how much you hate playing zone.

PR: Can you blame me?!? Look at the guys we have in the building!!!

MR: I know. We all get it, but hear me out. Something isn’t clicking. Individually I’ll put our top defenders up against anyone and live with the results. Maybe we need to cut down on the defensive responsibilities individually and focus on the group. Right now, our 2nd group doesn’t quite have the defensive ability or rebounding as the starting group. That will change and we both know that. We just don’t know when. A wise man tells me development isn’t linear. You can’t change the groupings without consequences, and if the idea is to put our best defensive lineups put there, iwe need to think outside the box. We know we can deploy Pasman on anyone. Same for Beko. We have two guys we can deploy in the backcourt specifically to make life difficult in Frias and Colenbrander. That means our fifth defender can be Enfes or Bodura; Twaruschek isn’t there yet. Corro is an option, and lets us move Beko out the middle. I’d rather go Corro and keep Beko out the middle. I doubt there’s a center that’s taking many outside shots and on the chance someone has a perimeter threat at power forward we can play him there. I also like the versatility of him and switching responsibilities with Pasman. We are close to playing the matchup games we’d like, but we need a little bit more.

PR: We have to get it out of this group. Byron, thoughts?

Byron Helm: Ozver needs seasoning, but he could be my anchor. Vendrell is another one. Right now, Twaruschek plays like a big small forward. I’d like to see Frias get tougher inside.

Air Allnite: You move Frias inside, you’re putting a weaker perimeter defender on the floor. We’d have to play games to cover that. You’re going to lay down the law of the defensive end with this group, aren’t you?

PR: Gonna have to, unless Roberto goes out and gets us a Christmas present. What’s the one thing you want for this game Marshall wants to run?

AA: This isn’t gonna surprise you at all. Another lock down perimeter guy, one as good as or better than anyone we have.

PR: Marshall, what’s the one thing you want for this game you want to run?

MR: A Beko sized defender who can guard the perimeter like Pasman, protect the paint like Beko, and block shots at a ridiculous level. Since you’re asking, that is.

PR: Byron?

BH: An anchor. The big guy in the middle who cleans glass, protects the paint, and blocks shot with no regard for the welfare and safety of the opponent. Then can drop 25 on the other end.

PR: Have you seen the training schedule lately? I‘ve made some changes. We’re at that point.

MR: Time for the really heavy lifting now!

PR: Air, you and Marshall are going to raise the perimeter game of Vendrell and Ozver this season. Byron, you’re going to do the same for their inside work along with Twaruschek. We’ll add who needs work in those areas on a case by case basis. Make sure Pasman and Simmons get work with the bigs. Air, Simmons and Bodura are your priority. Marshall, bring it all together defensively. We want to kick things up a notch for this group. I think we've all shown restraint with the players, and for good reason. Time to really push them now. They can handle it. Leaders are starting to lead in the locker room. Let's see who takes the next step on the court.