BuzzerBeater Blog

U21 Champs Update

test@testing.com (Ralph54) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:54:00 GMT

With one game left before the World Championship Playoffs, the 4th contender has not yet been decided. The game to watch in the final round is España vs. Schweiz, as whoever loses will be knocked out of the competition. On paper Spain should win, but after coming off a loss, anything could happen.

Focus On: United States, they have only lost 1 game int the past two seasons. To me, consistency is key, and having a record like that, there is nothing much more the US can ask out of their coach, magiker. I know some of you will argue that anybody given a team like the US's could win that many matches, but really, I don't think so.

Here are the current standings before the last game:

1: Poland, Record: 5-1, Point Diff.: 105

2: United States, Record: 5-1, Point Diff.: 100

3: Italia, Record: 4-2, Point Diff.: 53

4: España, Record: 3-3, Point Diff.: 16

5: Schweiz, Record: 3-3, Point Diff.: -30

6: Hong Kong, Record: 2-4, Point Diff.: -33

7: Philippines, Record: 1-5, Point Diff.: -88

8: Deutschland, Record: 1-5, Point Diff.: -123

NBA Playoffs Are Almost Here

test@testing.com (The Banks) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:18:05 GMT

The NBA playoffs are almost here, fans all around the world are really excited to see their favorite teams go at it to win a championship title.With the ups and downs the New York Knicks are the 7th seed in the eastern conference standings but are they able to continue this run without their star point guard Jeremy Lin, Lin is out for the season due to his knee problem if the Knicks are able to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs Lin is expected to come back by then. Also Dwight Howard is out for the season because of his back issues,Howard doesn’t want to be in the Orlando no more and he wanted the coach to be fired,everybody is asking is Howard and the coach going to be with the Magics next season?

Here are the top 8 Eastern conference and Western conference standings right now:

Eastern Conference

1- Chicago (47-16)

2- Miami (45-17)

3- Indiana (41-22)

4- Boston (37-27)

5- Atlanta (38-25)

6- Orlando (36-26)

7- New York (33-30)

8- Philadelphia (32-30)

Western Conference

1- San Antonio (46-16)

2- Oklahoma City (46-17)

3- LA Lakers (40-24)

4- LA Clippers (39-24)

5- Memphis (38-25)

6- Dallas (36-28)

7- Denver (34-28)

8- Phoenix (33-30)

We're Back!

test@testing.com (Ralph54) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:51:39 GMT

Sorry guys, but we're still here, you didn't think you could get rid of us that easy, did you? We aim to post at least one article every 2 days, and this time we are serious. In the past month or so, I have been caught up in personal life, and the rest of the bloggers have had other things on their mind. Anyway, we're back, and you can't this time...

So, without further a do, begin "The BuzzerBeaterBlog Lets Get Readers So We Have A Purpose" Attempt 2.

The Boys Are Playing!

test@testing.com (Ralph54) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:22:25 GMT

After 2 rounds of U21 Champs basketball, not much can be said, but who cares, I'm going to say something anyway! All I can say is don't be fooled by the standings so far. Australia will come back and win a couple of games after 2 losses to top 5 sides. Poland be top by the end and US will drop. In Pool B look out for the Philippines and Germany, who will begin to rise soon. Below is what I think the final pool tables should look like:

Pool A

Poland, Spain, United States, Hong Kong, Australia, Senegal

Pool B

Italia, Phillippines, Switzerland, Germany, Brasil, Al Jazair

That's it basically, not much, but enough said in my eyes. And of course I am not a time traveller, so all of this could be wrong.

On a different topic, the blog's team now consists of 6 BB bloggers, and soon there could be seven, we hope to bring you a more active blog soon!

There is a new Blogger in town

test@testing.com (The Banks) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:35:03 GMT

Allow me to intoduce my self, my buzzer beater name is The Banks and if you don't recognize me I'm the club manger of Bulls2k a division V-100,USA. We are 9-0 this season and this is my 4th season in buzzer beater.

I'm the new blogger of buzzer beater and I'm really happy that I'm a part of it. I'm going to bring you guys the news of what's happening in the NBA. Instead of going to espn or NBA.com you guys can just come to buzzerbeaterblog.com and read my articles about the NBA.

I hope you guys enjoy my articles and I look forward to this.

Allow Me to Re-Introuduce Myself

test@testing.com (Bballin) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:17:41 GMT

Hello all, it is yours truly, Bballin here as a
blogger once again!

Again? You might ask.
Yes again. I was one of the original BuzzerBeater Bloggers, but when Real Life
started getting hectic I was not able to keep my post, but I am back and better
than ever! I consider myself OB (original blogger for you slow ones out there).
Here is a little tidbit of information on myself in BuzzerBeater.

I manager the Lighting Thunder (do not ask me what the name means, I do not know myself). A division II team in Canada. I am starting my 9^th season in BuzzerBeater and loving every second of it. You can find me on many forums throughout
BuzzerBeater and I Love this community. Right now my team is in shambles,
sitting at an abysmal 2-6 record. I am also Canadas U21 manager in my first
term at the helm. Also, I am a Mod. Yeah that’s right, I am the guy who gets to
moderate forums and gets a cool ‘Mod’ prefix to my name. It is pretty awesome.
I am planning on bringing you all regular content to the blog and I hope to
edutain you all!

Now, to conclude does my new job as BB Blogger, my position as U21 manager of Canada, my managing of
a division II team and my moderator powers make me better than anyone reading
this? Yes. Yes it does.

I look forward to this, see you all soon!

What is going on the NBA right now?

test@testing.com (The Banks) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 05:33:51 GMT

Everybody got their eyes on Jeremy Lin from the New York Knicks since he is a rising superstar and the first Asain-American NBA player who graduated from Harvard. But NBA teams should really put their eyes on is Dwight Howard from Orland Magic, The Magics are looking to trade him and the Chicago Bulls really got their eyes on him. If the Bulls want D-Howard they are going to have to let go Jokim Noah and in my opinion I don't think that's a really good idea because Jokim Noah is really a big help to the Bulls and since they got the best record in the League right now they don't really need D-Howard. So what going on with LeBron saying he doesn't want to be MVP this year what he wants is a ring, could LeBron lead the heat's to the finals again this year but the only competitive team that can stop Miami from reaching the finals is the Bulls with their star point guard Derrick Rose. What about the Minnesota Timberwolves how are they doing ths year the Wolves are really good this year they are the 8th seed in the western confrence their record is (21-20) but the question is can they keep up like this.

Here are the NBA top 10 points per game leaders

Kobe Bryant,LAL 28.7ppg
Kevin Durant,OKC 28.1ppg
LeBron James,MIA 27.7ppg
Kevin Love,MIN 25.5ppg
Russell Westbrook,OKC 23.8ppg
Derrick Rose,CHI 22.5ppg
Deron Williams,NJ 22.4ppg
Dwayne Wade,MIA 22.4ppg
Monta Ellis,GS 22.0ppg
LaMarcus Aldrige,POR 21.6ppg

The Truth About Shotblocking

test@testing.com (SREZ) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:41:02 GMT

Shotblocking: a skill that has been debated again and again throughout BB history. Despite the BB's constantly telling us that it is useful and should be trained, many have decided not to believe them, thinking they must "see it to believe it." In fact, BB-Charles even went out of his way to train SB, only to go bankrupt before he really proved anything. So what is the real deal about the skill of shotblocking? Is it useful, or necessary even? Could this be a skill that people have overlooked for seasons and seasons? I went to the streets to find out:

The Non-Supporter

First I talked to...

bballin, Canada II.2, Canadian U21 Manager

Q: Do you think SB is useful for club teams?

A: I think it could be useful, but just not enough. There are better things to specialize in or train than SB. Having SB is not bad, but financially I do not think it is worth it. If I go on the TL searching for a big and come across a 14/14/14/14 player and a 14/14/14/7 player with the same secondaries, but the second was cheaper with a lower salary. Heck I am taking the second one!

Q: Do you think SB is useful for the U21/NT level?

A: Obviously SB is useful everywhere. Necessary? That's a different question. I personally think it is not necessary at all. I barely look at SB when looking for players for the U21. I also do not advise training it to any managers with trainees for the U21.

Q: Is it worth training at all, or should it just be left to cross-training?

A: I think if you have a solid financial foundation and a big or guard with a high potential then go for it. Otherwise I say let the crosstraining do its work :)

Q: Would you ever consider training SB on guards?

A: No. IS, ID and REB are much more important on a guard and only with a high enough potential.

Q: What do you think of the idea of building a team of players with high SB to run a 2-3 zone?

A: I think, as we have been told, SB seems to be the only way to make 2-3 work. If that's the case then I do not think it is worth it. If you cannot beat the LI revolution (without SB), then join the LI revolution ;)

Q: What do you think of BB Charle's statement: The skill that determines defense the most, is SB, because SB pressures the shooter at the moment of the releasing of the shot?

A: Well, it confirms that I believe that SB is useful. If I could train ID and OD vs SB though I will.

Q: Any additional comments?

Lastly, SB is useful, but not necessary. Training it adds unnecessary salary and takes away from the 3 primaries of a big man and the primaries of a guard. ID can improve SB and with crosstraining there is a lot of opportunity for SB to pop. Just have to wait. If SB started getting trained consistently though, LI teams would be easier to stop. Is it foolproof, I doubt it. I will wait for someone (SREZ) to do some research. I need to get back to my igloo, the moose will not groom itself, eh?

The Supporter

Next I talked to rubbercube, a strong supporter of SB who wants his opinion to be heard. I asked him the same questions as above, but got much different answers...

rubbercube, Finland III.3

Q: Do you think SB is useful for club teams?

A: In my opinion, SB is just as useful as any other skill in BB. And obviously the skills overall can be described as “useful” for club teams, because they, in general, try to be better than other clubs, which is to a large extent decided by the players’ skills.

Q: Do you think SB is useful for the U21/NT level?

A: Currently, as Look Inside offense is very popular at this level, it can be said that SB is more important than many other skills, because it is clear that it plays a great role especially in stopping those guards driving to the basket.

Q: Is it worth training at all, or should it just be left to cross-training?

A: If one wants to make a big man who can defend inside, he’ll need SB close to as much as ID. That won’t happen without training it, so yes, I would (and will) train SB.

Q: Would you ever consider training SB on guards?

A: The sentence in the game manual is pretty clear: “(SB) Not very useful for perimeter players.” To me it doesn’t seem to be quite like that, though. I believe SB isn’t that useful at the perimeter. But if you defend man to man, when opponent’s guards drive to the hoop, your “perimeter players” will follow and try to reject the inside shot. That’s where they need their SB, so I would train it on guards too if it was lower than 6 or so.

Q: What do you think of the idea of building a team of players with high SB to run 2-3 zone?

A: A nice idea considering the current LI-boom we have in B3, but unfortunately a team like that is very difficult to build at this time, because there simply aren’t required players in the TL yet. One would have to train them thereselves and that takes time as we know. Maybe in the future, though. Also SB on guards isn’t that important if playing zone only, because they stay at the perimeter.

Q: What do you think of BB-Charles’ statement: “The skill that determines defense the most is SB, because SB pressures the shooter at the moment of the releasing of the shot”?

A: The way I see it, ID is the skill that has the most influence (SB too, but less) on the Inside defense rating, which is then compared to opponent’s Inside offense rating and used in the calculations. I think that thing is first checked in the GE and in addition to that there is a chance that the shot gets blocked, whether it was going in or not.
That is my theory and mainly based on the SB’s little influence on ID rating. So, I’d say ID and SB are pretty much neck to neck when it comes to preventing inside scoring. I’m not saying BB-Charles has been lying, but that things can look different depending on the angle we’re looking at them.

Q: Any additional comments?

A: SB is no special skill, just a normal one. Like JS.

There. It was a pleasure to get to tell people what I think of these things :)

And there you have it. Two people's opinions on SB. So what can we take from this as an individual you may be wondering? Well, honestly nothing. At the end of the day this guy will have his opinion about SB and that other guy will have his opinion, and we may never really know how useful (or not useful) it really is. Until that day when maybe we do figure out, you are free to form your own opinion, and I hope you use this as a guide :) Cheers

-SREZ

And the winner is...

test@testing.com (Ralph54) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 04:10:17 GMT

Congratulations Lemony! You have won our competition and now have your username on the blogs banner.

Lemony's suggested improvements were the bloggers' favourites, and we will try to make what you suggested happen.

Here is what he said:

Have more advertisement? I don't think a lot of managers even know that there is an official blog for Buzzerbeater. I may be wrong, but it would increase views, allowing you bloggers to have more inspiration to write more enjoyable posts for us readers!

Who Will Perform?

test@testing.com (Ralph54) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:28:50 GMT

The World Champs tip off in less than a week, here is my preview of all the teams.

Hong Kong

Game____Playing 1st round: Spain - Odds: HK $1.45, ESP $1.55

Season___Odds to win: $7.00 - Pool: A

Australia

Game____Playing: United States - Odds: AUS $3.40, USA $1.25

Season___Odds: $25.00 - Pool: A

United States

Game____Playing: Australia - Odds: USA $1.25, AUS $3.40

Season___Odds: $6.00 - Pool: A

Poland

Game____Playing: Senegal - Odds: POL $1.15, SEN $4.50

Season___Odds: $6.50 - Pool: A

Spain

Game____Playing: Hong Kong - Odds: ESP $1.55, HK $1.45

Season___Odds: $15.00 - Pool: A

Senegal

Game____Playing: Poland - Odds: SEN $4.50, POL $1.15

Season___Odds: $30.00 - Pool: A

Al Jazair

Game____Playing: Switzerland - Odds: AJA $3.50, SWI $1.50

Season___Odds: $30.00 - Pool: B

Brasil

Game_____Playing: Phillippines - Odds: BRA $1.95, PHI $1.95

Season____Odds: $10.00 - Pool: B

Germany

Game_____Playing: Italy - Odds: GER $1.95, ITA $1.85

Season____Odds: $7.00 - Pool: B

Phillippines

Game_____Playing: Brasil - Odds: PHI $1.95, BRA $1.95

Season____Odds: $10.00 - Pool: B

Switzerland

Game_____Playing: Al Jazair - Odds: SWI $1.50, AJA $3.50

Season____Odds: $11.00 - Pool: B

Italy

Game______Playing: Germany - Odds: ITA $1.85, GER $1.95

Season_____Odds: $7.00 - Pool: B

Good Luck to all national teams for this season.

Ralph54

Over And Out!

*Odds are based on my opinion. **For those who don't use cash odds, the lower the number the more chance of them winning.