I have notice that there is always this one game in your schedule that you think o hey this is going to be a definatley win for sure. Since I had no data on the team and couldn't gameplan around there weaknesses I end up losing my first game being favored by -10 @#$%^& 10. Now I have to go all day started off feeling miserable....... Well on the brightside atleast this random game came on the first game and I am use to losing the first game as my teams usually starts off poorly.

There are some really bad Sim AI teams on your schedule coming up. You'll probably lose your first three, then the wins will start.

your opponent had played an exhibition and as a SIM that tells you their starting lineup - some potential for game planning with that info

Posted by CoachWard95 on 7/23/2016 2:43:00 AM (view original):
I have notice that there is always this one game in your schedule that you think o hey this is going to be a definatley win for sure. Since I had no data on the team and couldn't gameplan around there weaknesses I end up losing my first game being favored by -10 @#$%^& 10. Now I have to go all day started off feeling miserable....... Well on the brightside atleast this random game came on the first game and I am use to losing the first game as my teams usually starts off poorly.

What info did you need other than their starting lineup.....the offense they would run...the defense they would run...etc.....
I don't think you started off poorly. After 0-54 you pretty much started on track.

Posted by mamxet on 7/23/2016 5:00:00 AM (view original):
your opponent had played an exhibition and as a SIM that tells you their starting lineup - some potential for game planning with that info

They won there only scrimmages.

Posted by kcsundevil on 7/23/2016 4:41:00 AM (view original):
There are some really bad Sim AI teams on your schedule coming up. You'll probably lose your first three, then the wins will start.

Thanks I have gameplan for the queens u game

Ward, a hindsight look at your game. First of all, try to remember that Sim teams usually, usually shoot more threes than your average human coached team does. Now knowing that, look at Francis Marion's roster. Even a quick glance should tell you that they are more likely to score from the perimeter than the low post. Sure enough, 10-18 from the three point line against you was THE main reason you lost that game. In hindsight, you probably should have thought about running a +1 or maybe even a +2. Does that make sense?

That's just a VERY basic way to gameplan but even doing one or two little things like that will give you a better chance of winning those games instead of coming up short.

Posted by emy1013 on 7/23/2016 11:30:00 AM (view original):
Ward, a hindsight look at your game. First of all, try to remember that Sim teams usually, usually shoot more threes than your average human coached team does. Now knowing that, look at Francis Marion's roster. Even a quick glance should tell you that they are more likely to score from the perimeter than the low post. Sure enough, 10-18 from the three point line against you was THE main reason you lost that game. In hindsight, you probably should have thought about running a +1 or maybe even a +2. Does that make sense?

That's just a VERY basic way to gameplan but even doing one or two little things like that will give you a better chance of winning those games instead of coming up short.

So sims shoot more threes? Yes I don't like losing to the game engine. I think its set in the game engine for 1 game atleast to be a upset i've been keeping track since I started.

+1 versus sim ai

Posted by CoachWard95 on 7/23/2016 9:04:00 AM (view original):

Posted by mamxet on 7/23/2016 5:00:00 AM (view original):
your opponent had played an exhibition and as a SIM that tells you their starting lineup - some potential for game planning with that info

They won there only scrimmages.

I dont understand what you said, but whether they won or not doesnt matter. Its a SIM so it will play the same in a regular season game as in an exhib

You can look at the exhib, see who starts and learn a lot.

Feel free to ignore that possible information - just sharing how you could learn to play better

I know running (+1) or (+2) against sims was mentioned in another thread a few months back but man...I can't ever recall running a (+) defense against simmy. The vast majority of sims shoot 3's as 1/4-1/3 of their total shot selection, regardless of how good their players' PER ratings are. Running a (+) affects 3-pt shooting in two ways. First, the bigger impact is on the # of 3's the opponent will take (the more (+) the less 3's attempted). The 2nd (and smaller) result is the higher (+) you go the better you will defend against the 3-pt shot. If your team is good defensively then there's absolutely no reason to run (+) against a sim team. Personally, my goal is to have sims shoot as many 3's as possible because I know they aren't going to make very many of them.

In looking at my 4 teams that are roughly at least at the midway point of the season (they also happen to be the 4 teams that are in mostly or completely full conferences) they all give up between 30% and 32% from 3's and I don't think I've ran a (+) defense in a single game with any 4 of those teams. Point being if you're good defensively then that'll take care of the opponent shooting 3's more than running a (+) defense, AND you don't get hurt on the rebounding side.

In glancing at Ward's game, two things come to mind. First, the spread means absolutely nothing-don't even bother looking at it as it's just window dressing. Second, that Francis Marion team isn't very good and I think 10-18 from downtown was just back luck for Ward. Ward's team is average defensively but Francis Marion is far below average from PER, BH, P, and SP. Actually...the fact simmy was on the road that game and shot that well basically convinces me that result was more of an anomaly than anything.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one Darnoc. From my observations (and granted it's mostly just eyeballing the boxscores), Sim teams tend to hoist a bunch of threes when they're behind. My thinking about going to a + defense is, bad shooter or not, why not make their chances to score even worse by pressuring them from the perimeter? Let's be honest here for a minute though. Without trying to sound too arrogant, your teams and mine are generally good enough to beat Sim teams no matter what settings we use. Not boasting or bragging, just a fact. With the advice I gave Ward, I'm thinking more about an average human team with a very new coach.

As I said, I guess my thinking is that if I have the team behind and I "know" that they're going to start shooting a ton of threes I want to make their chances worse by getting all up in their jerseys. Even if they ARE bad shooters, why not decrease their chances of making the shot even more? It really comes down to each coach's personal preference though. I don't mind a bit playing a +2, 3, 4 or even 5 if my opponents stats dictate it. Some coaches don't like to play a + and instead prefer to pack the defense in. Some coaches will never run a + defense. Either way can be successful, its just what the coach likes to do. I can't say I've NEVER run a - defense against a Sim team because I did it this just afternoon on one of my other teams. But that's only because I get lazy and might not change my settings for several games in a row. I'll say this though, if I were actively gameplanning every game I would run at least a +1 on a Sim team every single time I played them. 100%. Just my own personal preference. The nice thing about the game is that a coach can be successful with a variety of strategies and settings.

One other thing that I saw and forgot to mention. Yes, I know that the +/- settings are supposed to affect rebounding but, again personal opinion, I think that most coaches overestimate the extent to which it hurts/helps. I'm sure at the extreme settings (+4, +5, -4, -5) that it might become more visible but if a team has good rebounders they'll rebound the ball regardless and if they don't, they won't.

Yes, for the very elite teams those fine margins might be enough to give one team the edge over another and that's probably why I haven't won as many titles as I should have. But I've also had a team auto pilot it's way to the Final Four for whatever that's worth. I guess if I really took the time and dug into the stats and the engine and the fine margins at the very edges I could probably be even more successful than the decent career I've managed so far but I just don't take the "game" that seriously. In fact, I often chuckle to myself when I play a coach that I KNOW has dug every bit of info out of the numbers that he or she can and all I've done is look at how many threes their team shoots and I end up winning when I've devoted roughly 20 "seconds" to my gameplan and the other coach has wasted 20 "minutes". It happens more than you'd think too.

Now before you get ****** at me Darnoc, none of this post is directed at you specifically, I just happen to be responding to something you wrote. You're obviously a VERY successful coach, more so than I, but we just coach our teams in a slightly different way. I have nothing but the utmost respect for what you've accomplished (especially lately) and very much enjoy competing against your teams. I hope that I haven't offended you in any way with this response but if I have please know that was certainly NOT my intention.

Im with you EMY. Defend the 3 with + defenses.

If your team is good enough, either way works really. For a team like Ward's, I would have went +1 or +2 in that game. The Sim had basically no inside threat, plus the fact that it's a Sim team, and a + defense would seem like the way to go for me. But Darnoc is a helluva coach and his rationale makes sense as well.

Like I said, it's personal preference of course and whatever you're comfortable with as a coach I suppose.