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With my job I am playing around on BB and the off-site all the time so I would be able to respond to mail from the community and any discussions we had going at all times essentially. I'm typing these responses from my phone.

As far as ideas to get the community more involved and by doing so create a bigger pipeline... I'm going to preface it by saying i don't know what the limitations are as far as being able to provide supporter etc...

1. Create a private league system with our top prospects at each age group pitting players coming up through the ranks against each other and trying to create rivalries and competition that enticed managers to stay the course. This is where the supporter comes in... If managers get prospects to a certain point they would get it and get put in a PL with other players to start these rivalries.

2. Use the off-site to create training strategies for propects (which we already have) but then take and deliver this to the managers personally. Again I think having the coach personally contact then will get people more excited that aren't already a part of the NT.

3. Create mentor programs uniquely built around their prospects to help them promote and therefore be able to sustain their players on their team for longer. Give them realistic monetary numbers as far as potential merchandising and ways to build their team around their player to advance through the game. And again I as the NT Coach would deliver these programs.

Etc.

Last edited by southpaw17 at 2/10/2012 2:56:31 AM

I will say this again... I agree the staff is great and the way they are set up is great, but, I still feel the coach personally needs to be out in the community and having more contact. I think this is a big reason we don't have a connect between U21 team and national team. They operate as 2 separate entities, and to a point they are, but the NT manager needs to personally be on top of the pipeline along with the staff to keep things moving in the right direction.

I have to agree with this. Even if the NT coach sent out a common message to everyone with a good trainee it would encourage them to train that player because they just got contacted by the "NT Coach". That is a big deal to some people. Scouts help out a lot by putting together the reports of what each player is being trained in and how they are looking but all these trainers need the motivation from the NT and U21 coaches themselves. The scouts can tell the owners of these players that "they can train them and and they will help their teams" or "they can sell them and make lots of money" but really that isnt goiing to do anything. They need motivation by the NT and U21 coaches to feel special like they are really part of the NT.

This is a very superficial view of the game decisions. (1) Almost all of the threads for the major games do not end up in a single solution. Everyone who has been coach will tell you that every major game involves a couple of days of agony. The threads at best lay down the pros and cons of each approach. When you're playing Venezuela in the round robin, there isn't much else that needs to be done. But if you're playing Chile in the semis you will change your mind many times and the offsite people will try to talk you into all kinds of bad ideas.

(2) Matchup and personnel choices are often a lot harder than the game tactics decisions.

As I've said I'm new to this so that may have been the case in the past. This past couple of seasons though I felt as a group we were on the same page by gametime when it came to personnel, tactics, and matchups. I realize decision making is involved, however I don't see how its as difficult as you make it out to be.

I will say this again... I agree the staff is great and the way they are set up is great, but, I still feel the coach personally needs to be out in the community and having more contact.

Why?

Because the only way we're going to be grow as a nation is to get more activity and I think having the NT Coach contact people, having that title when you do will give you more credibility and give us the chance to grow the community the way we want and need.

I don't follow. How does "[being] out in the community" help forge a connect between the two NTs? And what would that connect be, other than having a single pipeline, which we already have?

Because from what I've read and been told its almost like you either pump primaries ans try to get them on the U21 team or you make a more rounded player and go for the NT. It honestly looks from the outside like its 2 different things and I think we need to have the coach get out there and bridge that gap so we don't lose prospects as soon as they are done with the U21 team and lose that merchandise.

P.S. I don't mean any of this as casting doubt on your eligibility as a coach. I think all prospective coaches are mostly unaware of this. But decision-fatigue is the #1 reason why NT coaches don't run again I just mean this to rebut your challenge to me that I wouldn't be doing the "important" stuff.

No offense taken. I understand it is a task, and there will be a ton of second guessing. I just feel with the community that the correct decision will be made.

A question to all the candidates,

One of the most important issues with our top players seems to be ‘empty salary’. In other words, what you're paying on a weekly basis doesn't reflect the maximum benefit you can gain from having a player of a given salary.

Take Joe Bronson for instance, one of the best guards in the world. He’s been on the TL for over a week now, the starting bid is down to 2 million, yet he hasn’t received a single bid. Why? It’s not that no one can afford him, the problem is that he’s not efficient relative to his salary. You could essentially pay the same 308k for a player that has all the skills of Bronson, plus 20 ID and 20 SB.

Naturally, it’s impossible to train a player like that, but the point is that an efficient player sells for significantly more on the TL, benefits a club team significantly more, and would give us an edge over other NT’s. Just as a small edge in primaries gives a big advantage, so too, though perhaps to a lesser extent, does an edge in secondaries.

So, my question is, will you try to encourage the creation of players that are more efficient relative to their salary, and if so, how? Additionally, do you feel that there is a difference in how an NT player should be developed early on as opposed to a U21 player?

As I wrote in a previous post...

I think number 3 is the way to go, however its going to take some time to where we can get there. I know a few managers have talked about taking on the project of developing some of the specialty players which is awesome because as proved by poland, specialty players can pose problems but when push comes to shove the only way to make it successful is to still have the meat and potatoes type guards and big guys as a base and then mix in those specialty players to create the advantage they were designed for.

... I too believe that secondaries are a way we can close the gap on the rest of the world.

Additionally, do you feel that there is a difference in how an NT player should be developed early on as opposed to a U21 player?

I do... And I'm implementing that with my pf prospect. Right now the standard is to pump primaries early and get to secondaries later.... I don't agree with this for 2 reasons...

1. For our specialty guys they most likely aren't going to make the U21 anyway so I think getting secondaries trained first is critical because often it is gonna train slower and so while they are young get them pumped out ASAP.

2. The idea of going back and training secondaries last is asinine for the simple reason that you have a huge salaried player that is already hurting your team economy and now you have to play them out of position so they are hurting your team further? C'mon. Get the secondaries done in their first season to season and a half and then pump the primaries. This would apply to everyone but mostly pf's and inside playable guards.

Edit/side note

I think #2 is the reason our bigs fall short... We get them to the point where they are on the fringe of being on the NT and then we tell the manager we need you to play your center at pg to get a passing pop or he doesnt have enough handling etc. And they get frustrated because they have been following our training plan and its still not good enough.

Last edited by southpaw17 at 2/9/2012 4:48:31 PM