BuzzerBeater Forums

You make 2 good points there. Yes our schedule is nicely back loaded so we can build up enthusiasm but what happens if the teams from the other pools have also figured this out? Is it just going to be best for us to simply play to win every time we send our boys out on the floor?

Hi HPP, thanks for the question.

It is difficult for me to really say that Ali would be the clear cut starter at SF all season. He will be trained fully this season and will continue to improve but I am sure that there will be times when there might be another player with more of an inside focus who might fit the tactics for that match better. There is also the possibility that that somebody overtakes Ali with a better skillset, but right now I really don't know exactly who that would be. Whoever is manager will also have the option to start Ali at SG and have him defend the SF position because of his ability to defend well inside.

That's a pretty solid answer, actually. In spite of what The Mogul said, I think we have 3 good options at SF going into next season, that can be used in different situations. But the nice thing about Ali is that he is versatile and can play just about all 3 small positions. So I guess it is true that, provided he has good game shape, it would be hard not to find him a starting spot.

Which players to save, at certain points in the season, is an interesting question. If it is possible to save players at no cost to the national teams (in terms of competitiveness in non-scrimmages), then I think it makes sense to save the best young players possible for those weeks (including longshot types). If a valuable season-long roster spot is to be tied up on a prospect, then who to save becomes a tougher question.

Potential is a limiting factor on development, and looking at the current NT scene (including developing players in the pipeline), I think that Superstar+ potential will be needed everywhere in the future. I could even see MVP+ potential being needed almost everywhere in the near-ish future, depending on how some key players develop.

For the U21 team, though, you can get very effective players with allstar or perennial allstar potential, especially at the guard spots. For big men, I think that U21 quality big men really should have perennial allstar+ potential, although allstars can contribute to the Canadian team (and have in the past).

Overall, I would say that I would want Superstar+ potential for NT track guys, and P.Allstar+ potential for most U21 players, although a very high quality allstar could also be worth saving (for U21 purposes). I can't really say what salary cutoffs I would rely on, as it really depends on the particular player. If it turns out that there are very high potential players, that also have good skills, then I would prefer to use spots to save those players. However, if a really good U21 only type player is retiring, then I think it makes sense to consider a player like that as well. I wouldn't rule them out, at least.

Wading into the saving players debate I'd have to say that I would probably be inclined to save allstar players and above during the early part of the season, but as the season progressed only concern myself with the players with higher potential. Its my belief that allstar players would probably only make the U21 team if they were single position trained right from the beginning of their rookie season.

In terms of a salary cutoff I'd probably only be interested in the higher end of the scale with a cutoff of around $4.5k maybe. I think that we'd really want to be saving the very best players to be developed for the U21 and NT. Saving slightly better than average players probably doesn't really do a lot for the Canadian national team setup.