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Season 73 brings us the consolation tournament.

We feel we have a strong squad by our standards and will be looking to qualify past the league phase.

The draw could have been kinder to us. Germany and Latvia look quite strong. Peru and Azerbaijan clearly well coached teams with good young players.

I think we can get 5-3 record from the fixtures at minimum which should be enough to qualify in most seasons with a reasonable point differential.

Matchday 1

Scotland u21 95 - 88 Peru u21 (85934)

Quite a tough match away to Peru to kickstart the campaign, the game shapes as expected in the early season were not perfect neither for us nor the opponent.

It was a very closely contested matchup on equal effort. Our starters coped very well with their counterparts and it was our bench that sealed a win for us with some quality minutes.

We went for the low post on offence whilst Peru opted for an outside isolation. We forced a lot of free throws of which we shot only 60% but that is not a disaster at u21 level but is something we would hope could be better.

Our tough defence forced the opponent to take a lot of 3 pointers of which they shot only 6-26

The next match was Azerbaijan in our home opener. A tough opponent who have defeated us 3 times including 2 overtime losses in recent seasons.


Last edited by BlueJaysFan (Scotland u21) at 8/25/2026 12:10:01 PM

Matchday 2

Azerbaijan u21 72 - 84 Scotland u21 (86003)

Both teams had some game shape or injury issues. We had Obree unavailable through injury for this one which was a tough loss given his strong bench performance in the match vs Peru.

Against a tough coach like Bill, we are always concerned about GDP possibilities however neither side opted for any guesses. Azerbaijan did play with more effort than us though. Despite this our home advantage was able to come through and we survived a late charge by the Azeri's who played a fine 4th quarter.

A great victory and very pleasing to finally break the hoodoo against Bill who has been a thorn in our sides in the previous matchups.

Up next is a trip to Latvia, we played them a few seasons back when both teams were much weaker but they look a strong opponent and it will be a good benchmark for us.

Last edited by BlueJaysFan (Scotland u21) at 8/25/2026 12:05:57 PM

We have played 8 quarters so far and won 6 of those with 2 ties. This is very impressive for me as both matches were against competent teams.

This leaves us in good position to qualify. Thank you to everyone training our players and I ask you to keep your players fit and health and keep the training plans in place! Hire at least a level 4 sports psychologist if you can afford it, you will notice the difference!

Matchday 3

Scotland u21 96 - 115 Latvia u21 (86046)

A game that was played competitively until the 4th quarter. We played well in the first quarter before Latvia eventually took a small lead into half-time.

We were correct in our suspicion that a double GDP would be required to have any chances. We managed to get 1/2 predictions correct but it was unfortunate that a few of our better players were not in the best game shape so could not put in any meaningful contribution in what ended with a 19 point defeat.

Up next is Ireland who pulled off a thrilling comeback win vs Andorra, it is not a match that we can take for granted however we will be confident of our chances of victory.



Last edited by BlueJaysFan (Scotland u21) at 9/1/2026 11:43:21 AM

Matchday 4

Ireland u21 75 - 109 Scotland u21 (86056)

A masterclass from start to finish. Ireland played with more effort than us but our class showed through. A real team performance with no standout performers. A much needed win to get back to winning ways after the defeat against Latvia.

15/26 from 3 points is impressive but irelands outside defence was poor so we will likely face much tougher exterior defences.


Last edited by BlueJaysFan (Scotland u21) at 9/21/2026 7:00:38 PM

Matchday 5

Scotland u21 87 - 78 Indonesia u21 (86110)

I was reasonably confident we could get a win despite a bad injury to one of our key bigmen Michael Obree. It is unfortunate but these things happen.

The match itself was interesting. There were no GDP guess by either side however Indonesia played with more effort than us. We got off to a hot start but Indonesia kept within touching distance for most of the first 30 minutes or so before we went on a big run to take a comfortable 18 point lead into the 4th quarter.

Indonesia huffed and puffed in the 4th but we were never really in any danger. MacGruer was a dominant force inside with 22 rebounds including a number of offensive rebounds at crucial moments whilst the match was close. He also had 5 steals and whilst he had a tough night offensively, 5-6 from the free throw line was dependable.

The bench played well and we did well to contain their high scoring SF especially at the end up the match when they were starting to whittle down the lead.

This win gave us a 4-1 record going into a huge match against Germany where we had home advantage but were hoping for Michael Obree to be back from injury in time! Stay tuned.

(You're doing a great job)

Likewise you too are doing a great job of your own with Azerbaijan Bill keep it up.

Matchday 6

Germany u21 82 - 87 Scotland u21 (86149)

Firstly our players were in excellent shape, thank you to the coaches who made the efforts for this it is very much appreciated.

We did not manage to get our talismanic big man Michael Obree back but we were ready to battle for a victory in his absense!

We elected to go for a GDP focus prediction of 'Inside' however credit to the Germany coach who decided to mix it up and go for an outside offence to surprise us. We went for Look Inside ourselves looking to attack inside. Germany went against their previous tendencies and elected to go for 3-2 zone rather than man defence. I was a bit concerned about this but was also happy that Germany had seemingly given up their rebounding edge due to this. The missed GDP prediction was a concern but not a major one as I felt Germany are much stronger in the inside tactics from looking at their previous matches so they were perhaps not playing optimally

The match was very tight with Scotland holding a small lead for the majority of the first half, we went in to the half time break up 6 and feeling confident of an upset.

The 3rd quarter was a wild one with many swings. We quickly opened up a 10 point lead but Germany eventually clawed it back and actually took the lead with a minute to go in the 3rd, their first since early in the second quarter. We rallied and regained a 2 point lead going into the final quarter.

Then the 4th quarter arrived. I don't think anyone could see this coming. We were magnificent, coming flying in against Germany, taking the game too them and taking a commanding 13 point lead which we held onto despite a flurry of late 3s by the germans which narrowed the lead to 5.

A serious win against a serious BB nation which well and truly will raise a few eyebrows in the consolation tournament. We have been relentless and battled through a tough schedule. We were ruthless in the big moments in the big matches none more so than this victory.

This leaves us in a good position with 5-1 record and 2 very winnable matches away to Iceland and then at home to Tunisia. This could be a very very memorable season when all is said and done.







Last edited by BlueJaysFan (Scotland u21) at 9/28/2026 4:03:31 PM

Congratulations on making past the group stage and into the knockout rounds!

Sets up an exciting tie against the Auld Enemy.