Johnson & Wales planning thread, season 61 Topic

So I'm making this thread for a few reasons.  I liked Washington's thread from last season and wanted to do something similar.  It helps me keep track of my plans when I type them out, and maybe it will give some other people ideas for their own teams.  Plus it's just good for the general interest in the world when more people are talking.

Coming up on recruiting tomorrow, I wanted to summarize what JDub brings back so I can make sure I know what pieces I need to find.  I've definitely gotten caught up at times with trying to sign the best available players instead of the ones who really fit what I need.  I think having pieces that fit together instead of a bunch of similar players is pretty important.

Note that positions are where I will play them, not necessarily where they're listed.

PG:  Travis Fuson (JR); no backup
This is a pretty clear need, as Fuson is the only player returning that I'm comfortable with at point.  54 BH is a little low for my liking even, but it will creep into the 60s during the season.  Fuson does still have High potential in Per (67), so he'll be a real nice player these last 2 seasons.  I need to sign a FR to back him up for 2 seasons and then take over after he leaves.  Since he'll be playing a major role from the start, I'll be looking for someone already near or above 60/60 BH/P.

SG:   Marc Tolley (SR); Eric Pabst (SO)
It never hurts to have more Per shooters, but I don't really need another SG right now.  Tolley is a man among boys in D3 (when he's not hurt!), and Pabst is a slightly worse version of him.  Roy Black, who I'm listing at SF, can also play some at SG.  I might sign and RS a SG, or I could wait until next season to find one.

SF:  Allen Woods (RS SO); Roy Black (JR)
Woods is a player that many probably wouldn't even consider, but I love having this type around.  Ath and Def will approach 100 this season and Per and Pass should get to respectable levels.  His Reb is light for playing SF, but I think I'll get over it.  Black is a real nice player to have around, maybe it's kind of a disservice that he isn't starting.  But he'll give me quality minutes at SF and SG, and probably a few emergency minutes at point.  I might start him at SF some if Woods' Reb seems like a problem.  Really no need for a SF in this class, but I might pick one up to RS.

PF/C:  Chester Tarter (SR); Rickey Persaud (SO); Douglas Redwine (RS SO)
I really treat PF/C as mostly interchangeable, so I'll just list them together.  Tarter is a near perfect defensive player, so he'll have C on lockdown.  Persaud and Redwine are both just under 60 Reb, so I'd probably rather have them as 1-2 at PF.  Persaud still has High potential in Ath (70), so he's a freak of nature..basically Allen Woods with Reb instead of Per.  Ideally I'd like to sign another elite Reb to backup Tarter and maybe a 5th big with some scoring ability to play off the bench.  Most likely I'll end up promising a FR big a start and playing him at PF, with Persaud backing up C.

Recruiting targets:
1 backup point, focus on BH/P, scoring not important
1 elite rebounder to either backup C or start at PF
1 PF/C to be the 5th big; Ath, Def, LP main focus
1 best available to RS; either SG or SF most likely
8/30/2012 5:07 PM
Hardin Simmons recruiting plans this season: poach as many of JW recruits as possible!
8/30/2012 7:25 PM
Coming up on recruiting tomorrow, I wanted to summarize what JDub brings back so I can make sure I know what pieces I need to find.  I've definitely gotten caught up at times with trying to sign the best available players instead of the ones who really fit what I need.  I think having pieces that fit together instead of a bunch of similar players is pretty important.

I like this quote from the man with back-to-back national titles.... clearly this approach has REALLY  hurt your team.  Granted his statement is true, but I think you've done just fine.
8/31/2012 8:42 AM
Ha thanks Brian.  I really meant that in the past I've had a problem with that and it has hurt my teams at times.  I like to think I learned my lesson on that one and don't do it anymore, but it's still worth reminding myself. 

I feel like it's extremely easy in this game to lose sight of small details like that.  Class/position balance is another good example.  I much prefer a balanced approach to loading up on big classes, and sometimes my teams have slipped towards the latter without really meaning to.  Planning the team multiple seasons ahead of time goes a long way.

My biggest concern with this team is probably scoring in general.  Departed SRs Lore, Stone, Drozd, and Jantzen were all quality scorers..and we weren't exactly explosive on offense most games even with them.  The last 3 were the only LP threats on the team last season, so we'll be lacking there unless I can recruit some LP.  But really Tolley and Fuson are the only guys I would call legit scorers at this point.  Might be some 50-48 type games in our future.

8/31/2012 10:53 AM
I just noticed you have a 71 average on Athleticism...  I think we need to have a doping policy in place!  You may be able to repeat again!
8/31/2012 10:32 PM
Well recruiting didn't go badly by any means, but not quite as well as I was hoping.  There were two players I REALLY wanted, and both were 30 miles from campus and on my D3 search to start out (big benefit of being A+ prestige).  Aside from being awesome looking players, they perfectly fit my two most important needs, a backup point and a big to start at PF (and grow into a rebounder).  I was only able to sign one of them, but I'm excited about him.

James Arena, now of Suffolk-Great NE, was the PG I wanted.  I did a few scouting trips and HVs on the first cycle and showed up on the list with Suffolk and Emerson, both in my conference!  I noticed Suffolk had 6 open spots and decided that it was a fight I couldn't win with 4 spots.  I saw that Emerson kept fighting for a while, but with only 4 open spots it was an uphill battle.  With VERY highs in Def, Per, BH, and ST (didn't find out about Spd myself), that kid should be amazing.

Jay Bird is the 2nd player I really wanted.  I actually spent even more on him than Arena 1st cycle, figuring that I needed a well rounded scoring big more than a PG.  I showed up on his list alone and hoped I would be good.  I figured only a D2 human coach would think about coming after a player 30 miles from an A+ school with 4 open spots, and I was prepared to spend obscene amounts of money in that case.  To my surprise, Emerson showed up on the list at 10pm.  It was clear I was still winning, but I was confused as to why he would try to take on another major battle.  To be fair, he was also extremely close to both Arena and Bird, but I could have told you at 10pm that first day that Emerson wasn't getting either player. 

I ended up spending about 8k on Bird, mostly just piles of HVs.  I kept trying to knock Emerson off the list and I think barely missed several times.  I believe I was well in the lead the entire time, and was prepared to spend 10-12k if need be.  My advice to the Emerson coach would be to pick battles better, and I 100% don't mean that as a "stay away from my players."  But I think both of those battles were ill-advised, especially since we are all conference mates.  You have to know when you can't win a battle and move on.  Don't get "pot committed" and hurt yourself worse.  I was tempted to do that with Arena and had to really fight the urge, but I've been there and made that mistake.

More tomorrow probably on J&W's signees.
9/4/2012 6:14 PM
Ha, Bird was on my wish list but glad I was smart and realized I had zero chance of getting him from you.  Phenomal player for me, he should be a good fit for you as well.

This really helps, as a new player any details on how successful coaches do it is a big help, thanks spasticity

9/5/2012 11:13 AM

spas, please don't tell RTE he needs to stop battling you. The rest of us outside of the evil empire don't need you guys getting guys too easily :-b

9/5/2012 5:41 PM
Here's some detail on the 4 new Wildcats, all are true FR.

PF/C - Jay Bird, cost $7745 including a start and 15 min promise
Absolutely the star of my class, and someone I was willing to spend my entire bank to get.  I did not get to do any SVs to check for high-highs, but those will just be a bonus.  Bird is High in Ath, Reb, Def, LP, Per, Pass, ST, FT..Avg in Blk, BH..Low in Spd.  43 WE is only ok, but that should approach 50 after he starts at PF all season.  He'll end up 65+ Ath, 80+ Reb, 70+ Def, 65+ LP..good "secondary" skills (Per, BH, Pass for a big) and ST..weak at FTs, but I don't even care really.  4-year starter in principle, although my players rarely start every game.

PG - Stanton Hill, cost $779
Not a bad player, but definitely not my #1 choice.  I really needed a backup point, though, and locked him up when my #1 option didn't pan out.  High in Spd, Per, BH, FT..Avg in Pass, ST..Low in Ath, Reb, Def, Blk, LP.  27 WE downright sucks, so he'll likely be a career backup.  48-low Defense will probably tempt me to cut him throughout his career.  The plan is to have him spell Fuson for 2 seasons, then probably sign a better FR to start when Fuson graduates and keep Hill as the backup.

PF/SF - Alan Holmes, cost $1088
Not a world beater, but solid player.  I mainly signed him for his scoring ability, and everything else is acceptable.  High in Spd, Def, LP, Pass, ST..Avg in Ath, Reb, BH, FT..Low in Blk, Per.  36 WE is a concern, but he doesn't have so much potential that it'll be a problem.  He'll be a nice 5th big this season with some LP off the bench.  Long-term will depend on how he develops.  He has 45 Ath and 50 Reb and avg in both..he'll be a little disappointing if those both turn red soon.  If they're on the upper end of Avg, then he'll be a nice player.

SF - Phillip Pierce, cost $982
Already agreed to take a RS without informing during recruiting.  I'm sure a lot of people stayed away because of the 12-avg passing, but I can live with it.  He reminds me a lot of my recently graduated SF Kevin Stone (and he maxed at 14 pass).  I like having players who contribute something positive and have a weakness.  High in Spd, Def, LP, Per, BH..Avg in Ath, Reb, Pass, ST..Low in Blk, FT.  So he should be 75/55 Ath/Spd, 20s Reb, 70+ Def, 70+/35+ LP/Per, 40+ BH and 20s Pass..sounds like a useful player to me.  50 WE and a RS year should really help him develop.

Overall I'm happy with this class.  I filled crucial needs and added some more scoring ability.  It's always my goal to get at least one "star" in each class, and Bird fits the bill.  I really wanted to sign a big starting out around 70 Reb, since now we have Tarter (88) and four guys in the 50s..but Bird will probably break 70 this season.
9/6/2012 5:15 PM (edited)
J&W went 2-0 in exhibs against bad D1 teams.  I especially enjoyed the 2nd one against Rhode Island, our home state school.  Always nice to take home the state championship. 

Both games we used the same lineup we'll show most of the season.  Fuson, Tolley, Woods, Bird, Tarter.  I'll try to get spot starts for some of the bench players as much as possible throughout the season.  We played normal tempo and -2 positioning in both exhibs and it seemed to work well.

I'll try to keep up with posting after each regular season game with my gameplan thoughts, but I'll probably skip some..especially if it's a sim team.

9/6/2012 3:31 PM
9/6/2012 4:43 PM
Thanks jack, I fixed the link to Pierce above.
9/6/2012 5:19 PM
Game 1:  #12 J&W (0-0) @ #20 Martin Luther (0-0), line J&W by 2

I didn't have the luxury of checking out any previous lineups, as ML didn't play exhib games.  You do still practice without them, so those are mainly for fun anyway.  Most people would probably look at ML's two 90+ Per shooters and play a + defense.  But fortunately J&W is extremely blessed with defense at the 2 and 3, where those guys play, so I continued using a -2 defense.  We aren't the strongest rebounding team, so it's nice to get a little help from the -2. 

Normal tempo will be what I use most of the time.  I've pretty much stopped using uptempo altogether as I think it makes too many strange things happen.  And I'll only use slowdown in rare cases.

Turned out to be a pretty strong showing for the Wildcats.  FR Jay Bird got in early foul trouble in his first real game, but J&W stretched out a 47-30 lead at the half and cruised to a 84-59 win.  Beleaguered SR Marc Tolley led the way with 24 points, while Roy Black and Eric Pabst combined for 26 off the bench.  For ML, SR Richard Davis had 19 pts and 7 reb, but struggled shooting against Chester Tarter.  Perimeter snipers Cilley and Sweeney both had 14, but missed too many shots.

Next up is a trip to St Louis to face Washington(MO). 
9/7/2012 3:46 PM (edited)
drinking the kool-aide on uptempo, are you spasticity?  I ran it for so long, makes me wonder if I cost myself some games.  Legendary coach billy_g is pretty strongly against uptempo these days.  I figure he's a good person to trust.
9/7/2012 2:21 PM
Posted by brianxavier on 9/7/2012 2:21:00 PM (view original):
drinking the kool-aide on uptempo, are you spasticity?  I ran it for so long, makes me wonder if I cost myself some games.  Legendary coach billy_g is pretty strongly against uptempo these days.  I figure he's a good person to trust.
Yeah I'd had my suspicions about it for a while, and seeing his thoughts on it (and others, I think alblack said the same thing) only convinced me more.  I'm 100% sure I've cost myself games running uptempo, so I just refuse to do that anymore.
9/7/2012 3:41 PM
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Johnson & Wales planning thread, season 61 Topic

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