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Homegrown teams (II)

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From: Wagner

To: MrJ
This Post:
00
324689.411 in reply to 324689.410
Date: 3/13/2025 8:00:28 AM
Wagner College
II.2
Overall Posts Rated:
211211

Thanks, T-Lit. Looking forward to the challenge and journey...

I'm going to get pretty badly beaten up in the first season of the HGL, but I look forward to the day when I'm in the mix.


This is the spirit that I appreciate, and I'm really glad that you show many managers a good example by participating (especially as you are one of the most active managers of the HG community, and I believe your participation/presence will have a major impact in HGL by making this community more active) while at the same time realizing, that you're not going to be winning the title in HGL yet on this season...
Part of being homegrown, I think, is understanding that it's a process that does have different stages. You can't "buy yourself out of trouble", but you need to slowly dig yourself out of the pit, which is a lot more satisfying feeling as you eventually manage to do so.

From: MrJ

This Post:
00
324689.412 in reply to 324689.411
Date: 3/13/2025 8:06:34 AM
Swan River Serpents
III.2
Overall Posts Rated:
343343
Second Team:
Westopian Tigers

Thanks, T-Lit. Looking forward to the challenge and journey...

I'm going to get pretty badly beaten up in the first season of the HGL, but I look forward to the day when I'm in the mix.


This is the spirit that I appreciate, and I'm really glad that you show many managers a good example by participating (especially as you are one of the most active managers of the HG community, and I believe your participation/presence will have a major impact in HGL by making this community more active) while at the same time realizing, that you're not going to be winning the title in HGL yet on this season...
Part of being homegrown, I think, is understanding that it's a process that does have different stages. You can't "buy yourself out of trouble", but you need to slowly dig yourself out of the pit, which is a lot more satisfying feeling as you eventually manage to do so.


Agreed, Wagner. Although, if I'm honest, running a scant 10-man line-up has me slightly concerned about player injuries and the impact that would have on my training and ability to get good minutes for all players. But this is the challenge, right?! I mean, like you say, I cannot buy my way out. No more fast firings and quick hirings, injuries or not.

I have had to change my thinking. I have created multiple training schedules to best utilise 10 players while training 3 or 4 of them. I won't be able to train 6 of them (2-position training) until the following season when I have 13 players.

So, yeah, a little concerned about possible roadblocks, but very excited none-the-less.

I have also had to prioritise training and won't be able to implement that fully until I know what my draftees look like. Exciting stuff.

Last edited by MrJ at 3/13/2025 8:07:53 AM

Home Grown; for teams who like a challenge!
From: T-Lit
This Post:
11
324689.413 in reply to 324689.411
Date: 3/13/2025 8:10:14 AM
Buckner Bandits
IV.20
Overall Posts Rated:
7676


"Part of being homegrown, I think, is understanding that it's a process that does have different stages. You can't "buy yourself out of trouble", but you need to slowly dig yourself out of the pit, which is a lot more satisfying feeling as you eventually manage to do so" ~ Wagner

Thank you for the kind words, but THIS EXACTLY, it is the process and journey! There is a cycle when even the long time home growners will have ty cycle out their squad, just is the nature of the beast, and maybe they dont get great draftees. I totally agree with Wagner, that you cant buy yourway out of an issue or even worse, injury.

This process is just like how you would have to eat an elephant.... one bite at a time, one season at a time!

Excited for this new journey with you all! :-)

From: MrJ

This Post:
11
324689.414 in reply to 324689.413
Date: 3/13/2025 8:21:14 AM
Swan River Serpents
III.2
Overall Posts Rated:
343343
Second Team:
Westopian Tigers


"Part of being homegrown, I think, is understanding that it's a process that does have different stages. You can't "buy yourself out of trouble", but you need to slowly dig yourself out of the pit, which is a lot more satisfying feeling as you eventually manage to do so" ~ Wagner

Thank you for the kind words, but THIS EXACTLY, it is the process and journey! There is a cycle when even the long time home growners will have ty cycle out their squad, just is the nature of the beast, and maybe they dont get great draftees. I totally agree with Wagner, that you cant buy yourway out of an issue or even worse, injury.

This process is just like how you would have to eat an elephant.... one bite at a time, one season at a time!

Excited for this new journey with you all! :-)


Well said.

If I recall, you are also a teacher, T-Lit. As we know, planning is crucial. I have plans for many possibilities, but it is the things that I haven't thought to think about as a HG team that will be challenging.

Drafting has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I have played for a combined 53 seasons in BB and I have never thought about the draft in terms of longevity before. Yes, I have drafted and trained U21 NT players, but I've never had to think about rotating through the seasons drafting. Ie. invest in maximum draft points and draft maybe every second season. In the meantime, thinking seriously about what to train and when while keeping in mind the type of draftees I will need next.

For example, I focused more on guard skills with my trainees this season with the focus on getting 3 bigs in the upcoming draft and training big skills next season. But it wasn't that simple. I had to start looking more closely at my current trainees and thinking about what their final builds will look like taking into account the draftees coming in next season...and then 2 seasons after that! I've been using Buzzer Manager to map out TSP caps and potential builds. It's been fun and I am engaged in BB in a way I haven't been before.

This is HG.

Last edited by MrJ at 3/13/2025 8:22:09 AM

Home Grown; for teams who like a challenge!
From: T-Lit

To: MrJ
This Post:
00
324689.415 in reply to 324689.414
Date: 3/13/2025 8:34:59 AM
Buckner Bandits
IV.20
Overall Posts Rated:
7676
Yes for sure it adds a whole new aspect to the longevity of the team, (and maybe even the type of staff to have??)

We may be in the same boat, for 4 seasons I've been training guard skills and I hope to got for bigs in this upcoming draft and will be training them, I "think" I will be going with 1 position training, but will see!

Congrats for training up U21 NT players! Thats really cool! That is a "soft goal", (cool if it happens, but I am not going to worry if it doesnt) of mine.

I just hope everyone participates to the best they can.

I am sure that there will be games missed and bumps in the road, but we just keep in mind, you all are starting something from scratch.... we have all burnt eggs before, it takes practice... :-)

From: MrJ

This Post:
00
324689.416 in reply to 324689.415
Date: 3/13/2025 8:40:43 AM
Swan River Serpents
III.2
Overall Posts Rated:
343343
Second Team:
Westopian Tigers
Yes for sure it adds a whole new aspect to the longevity of the team, (and maybe even the type of staff to have??)

We may be in the same boat, for 4 seasons I've been training guard skills and I hope to got for bigs in this upcoming draft and will be training them, I "think" I will be going with 1 position training, but will see!

Congrats for training up U21 NT players! Thats really cool! That is a "soft goal", (cool if it happens, but I am not going to worry if it doesnt) of mine.

I just hope everyone participates to the best they can.

I am sure that there will be games missed and bumps in the road, but we just keep in mind, you all are starting something from scratch.... we have all burnt eggs before, it takes practice... :-)


Yep. All true. I have calculated I will have about an $80k roster! LOL Now, that's starting small.

Home Grown; for teams who like a challenge!
From: T-Lit

To: MrJ
This Post:
11
324689.417 in reply to 324689.416
Date: 3/13/2025 8:44:11 AM
Buckner Bandits
IV.20
Overall Posts Rated:
7676



Yep. All true. I have calculated I will have about an $80k roster! LOL Now, that's starting small.

You got this!!!

And you know, if you go intense with the training and get good prospects, that salary will balloon quickly! :-)

Will be fun to watch! :-)

From: MrJ

This Post:
00
324689.418 in reply to 324689.417
Date: 3/13/2025 9:53:59 AM
Swan River Serpents
III.2
Overall Posts Rated:
343343
Second Team:
Westopian Tigers



Yep. All true. I have calculated I will have about an $80k roster! LOL Now, that's starting small.

You got this!!!

And you know, if you go intense with the training and get good prospects, that salary will balloon quickly! :-)

Will be fun to watch! :-)

Yeah. Salaries can jump quickly.

Home Grown; for teams who like a challenge!
From: Wagner

To: MrJ
This Post:
00
324689.419 in reply to 324689.408
Date: 3/13/2025 9:00:53 PM
Wagner College
II.2
Overall Posts Rated:
211211


Thank you very much, MrJ!
And also thanks for all your contributions, which have been very helpful as I've mentioned many times.

I hope you all enjoy HGL as much as I will! I think we have something great on our hands in form of HGL that, if given the care and commitment it needs, has a great potential to make this HG community even more active (in forums) and more invested in their homegrown team projects in the long run, and could also work as a means/as a tool to bring other interested managers into the positively addictive world of homegrown teams!




I hope you are right but only time will tell.


Indeed. I'll at least give my best shot at it, and hopefully it'll be enough to get things rolling 'by their own weight' to some extent. (No, I have no plans to quit - still have inspiration left, of course). No, scores still are not hopping to the league table itself, or all messages sent automatically when needed etc., but what I meant is that if I'd be able to infect some of this excitement that I feel about HGL to other managers in our community - and perhaps to some managers already homegrown and not yet participating or future homegrown managers as well - then I think that energy and enthusiasm might/would keep things rolling almost by itself (for instance, if many managers are starting to chat on the forum, it in many cases creates 'a positive avalanche' and conversation will keep on and keep active almost effortlessly).

On the other hand, conversation on this thread between yourself and T-Lit during the last 12 or so hours, while including only 2 managers, is very inspiring read and definitely paints at the same time intriguing, realistic and yet at the end (due to your attitude and approach towards it, and deciding to make conclusion that challenge is actually one of the greatest strengths of this HG play style/philosophy) very realistically positive image of what being a homegrown manager is.

So this kind of conversation is more or less a pure joy to read, and I don't mind that not more than 2 managers exchanged all these words. If the same sort of spirit and inspiration can be read from your future messages as well, I believe we will have more and more managers seeing the value in the challenge, value of not taking the easiest route, and eventually joining the conversation as well. So please keep up the great conversation! :)

From: Wagner

To: MrJ
This Post:
00
324689.420 in reply to 324689.412
Date: 3/13/2025 9:38:14 PM
Wagner College
II.2
Overall Posts Rated:
211211

Agreed, Wagner. Although, if I'm honest, running a scant 10-man line-up has me slightly concerned about player injuries and the impact that would have on my training and ability to get good minutes for all players. But this is the challenge, right?! I mean, like you say, I cannot buy my way out. No more fast firings and quick hirings, injuries or not.

I understand that very well... maybe I can lend you some players, I have plenty ;) Oh, I just realized it might not be allowed in this league :D
But yes, worrying - sometimes excessively - can be a part of this process as well, I can assure you (or then it's just me). But it will be alright.. as you so well have written throughout the day, it is wise to try to be prepared for things that might prove to be challenges with your 10 player roster, yet it's so difficult to be prepared for everything. But if something is difficult, it doesn't mean it shouldn't be tried - there is actually the greatest reward in most dificcult things in my opinion. :)

No matter how well you plan, injuries could steal part of the season from you (training wise, and in terms of winning games if one of best players), but (as you very well know, so I don't know why I even write about this, so please don't take it the wrong way) if you want, you could try to minimize the risk by for example getting a good level doctor with massage skill, which would partly tackle that problem (game shape drops due to excessive weekly minutes, and, well, good skill level lessening the severity/length of injuries). Injuries are unfortunate, but as I tend to hire doctors with quite good skill levels, injuries have hardly been a serious issue to me during those seasons. (For instance, I can't even recall when I had 2 players injured simultaneously).


I have had to change my thinking. I have created multiple training schedules to best utilise 10 players while training 3 or 4 of them. I won't be able to train 6 of them (2-position training) until the following season when I have 13 players.

So, yeah, a little concerned about possible roadblocks, but very excited none-the-less. :)

I have also had to prioritise training and won't be able to implement that fully until I know what my draftees look like. Exciting stuff.

What is also exciting to me in your message, is how you want and decide to see chanllenge exciting - I can relate to that 100%, and I love to hear others see it like that as well. Nothing worthwile comes easy, say some. :)

I'm sure you're able to make best out of your situation as you already seemed to have thought about many scenarios, and like you mentioned, things will get easier season after that with 13 players.

For me it's so enjoyable to follow and have these kind of conversations, for so many reasons. First of all, we all play in regular BB leagues, in which any team (with adequate cash) can acquire players with, say, $1M of wages which changes the league balance totally. Not here, at least not that dramatically. So it's a breath of fresh air, as I don't have to fight against windmills, but only against teams that are deservedly developed (unless we take account the salary benefit exception, but that's another story).
Maybe most inspirating in reading/participating these is because I like to read/hear people having vision/plans and patience, and are all the time willing to optimize their plans/strategy, and trying to wonder what challenges they could face.
Having an experience, that this is hard, but still reaching a positive conclusion - that's what's often inspiring to me.

Sharing these kind of thoughts/worries also helps all of us to develop our thinking - I'm sure many that will read your posts, may never even have come to think of it from that standpoint. And even if they have, they might get the 'been there, done that' experience by reading it, which also can have positive effect by connecting managers throughout the world.

From: Wagner

To: MrJ
This Post:
00
324689.421 in reply to 324689.414
Date: 3/13/2025 10:17:25 PM
Wagner College
II.2
Overall Posts Rated:
211211

As we know, planning is crucial. I have plans for many possibilities, but it is the things that I haven't thought to think about as a HG team that will be challenging.

Drafting has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I have played for a combined 53 seasons in BB and I have never thought about the draft in terms of longevity before. Yes, I have drafted and trained U21 NT players, but I've never had to think about rotating through the seasons drafting. Ie. invest in maximum draft points and draft maybe every second season. In the meantime, thinking seriously about what to train and when while keeping in mind the type of draftees I will need next.

For example, I focused more on guard skills with my trainees this season with the focus on getting 3 bigs in the upcoming draft and training big skills next season. But it wasn't that simple. I had to start looking more closely at my current trainees and thinking about what their final builds will look like taking into account the draftees coming in next season...and then 2 seasons after that! I've been using Buzzer Manager to map out TSP caps and potential builds. It's been fun and I am engaged in BB in a way I haven't been before.

This is HG.

I seriously tried to cut some parts of your message in order to make reply shorter (I would almost always want to quote when replying, but then messages tend to become so long, as I don't have the special skill of writing short messages;), but cutting any part of it would be a disservice to it, as it really gives a good overview/example in a short package what kind of thought patterns you might have to go through in your attempts to optimize everything as a HG.

It's also a good reminder that person can learn new things fast and relatively easy, if they find it inspiring. (For me making such observations for the first time was really inspirational aha-moment, and it kind of reminded me on some more complex board games, where looks can be deceiving - sometimes game looking relatively simple can have enormous amount of strategical depth and difficulty built in it). I'm not trying to say process for new to it will be easy, I'm just saying it will be worthwhile. And sometimes that's exactly what we need, instead of easy. The feeling of achieving something beautiful. That is also at the core of HG mentality in my opinion. :)

Couple of sentences stroke to me most in your post.
"Drafting has taken on a whole new meaning for me", "But it wasn't that simple." and especially the last one; "It's been fun and I am engaged in BB in a way I haven't been before."
Exactly my experience (apart from playing partly also due to some sentimental reasons), as the HG mentality has got me in it's hook big time and I can confirm is totally engaging especially compared to typical - for me nowadays lame and boring - play style, where you just buy yourself some success. (Yes, unfortunately I have purchases in my team history, but those days are long gone).

So excellent post, I'd like to read more of these so please share your thoughts and experiences, ups and downs and challenges (of which you likely are able to turn into something positive) that you face down the road!

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