I just signed up for a new team.  I only have one player to recruit(I didn't want to try recruiting too much until I figured out what was good so I didn't mess myself up and saddle myself with bad players right off)  What things should I know when trying to take over a new team?  I see the new player guides, but I figure live people might have more pertinent advice while I wait for my new team to come available on the 26th. (In IBA)

(d'oh.  I meant crum.  Duh.  Iba is the one I didn't take)

not to sound standoffish, but your best bet is to read those guides first and then ask any followup questions you might have. You can sitemail anyone from the mentors list, or me if you want...

What I am trying to figure out is what would constitute an 'average' or a  'good' rating in a category(At division three)  Obviously its different by position.  But, for example, for a point guard what would be a benchmark passing rating?  What would be a benchmark rebound rating below which you are getting a bit weak for a center?  Are we talking a 40, a 50?  60?

If you are looking for some averages, take a look at the top 25 teams in your world and take a look at what type of players they sign and what ratings they value for each position. This will help you get a sense of what ratings are important for each position.

By the way, what team did you sign up for in IBA?

Posted by ryandaniel on 3/16/2011 9:37:00 PM (view original):
What I am trying to figure out is what would constitute an 'average' or a  'good' rating in a category(At division three)  Obviously its different by position.  But, for example, for a point guard what would be a benchmark passing rating?  What would be a benchmark rebound rating below which you are getting a bit weak for a center?  Are we talking a 40, a 50?  60?

you can view the average team ratings by looking at the Rankings - Team Ratings tab. You can sort by any ability, and can view the top 25 of the division - Check those values - that's what I did when I recently decided  to give a decent D III a shot - since I don't play much D III I used this to see what the top schools averaged for things like ath and def,etc...

Long day at work, but it was Crum, Not IBA.  HAd a brain freeze there, and trhe team is Williams.

Hope this paste works:
 

	Yr.	Pos.	A	SPD	REB	DE	BLK	LP	PE	BH	P	WE	ST	DU	FT	TOT
Phillip Cunningham	So.	SF	40	62	41	36	27	19	56	47	22	86	86	51	B	573
Joe Meade	Jr.	PF	63	27	80	44	61	55	9	21	7	73	78	52	B-	570
Gary Schiller	Jr.	SG	36	74	14	28	5	1	51	72	60	50	79	98	B-	568
Doyle Yanes	Jr.	SG	32	61	10	30	2	2	83	68	68	42	81	76	C	555
Calvin Lyons	Jr.	C	35	10	93	27	81	79	1	9	23	48	75	28	D+	509
Phillip Patrick	So.	C	46	20	71	28	66	57	1	5	1	62	75	73	B-	505
William Schaub	So.	PG	34	73	2	18	1	1	66	67	59	26	80	58	C+	485
Rolland Jolicoeur	Jr.	SF	24	58	40	16	33	12	47	49	46	27	69	50	C	471
Tracy Wolters	So.	PG	14	69	1	2	3	1	74	72	38	46	70	69	B-	459
John Deacon	So.	C	34	22	75	24	56	69	1	14	29	17	50	60	C-	451
Lawrence Lage	So.	PF	32	35	37	35	26	47	9	17	32	26	74	61	C+	431
Eugene Owens	Fr.	PF	12	27	7	7	21	12	19	15	2	81	57	50	C+	310
Averages	-	-	34	45	39	25	32	30	35	38	32	49	73	60	-	491

I don't know why it won't post the headers.  Sigh.  Here's a link then.

http://whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=8486

Posted by dacj501 on 3/17/2011 4:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by ryandaniel on 3/16/2011 9:37:00 PM (view original):
What I am trying to figure out is what would constitute an 'average' or a  'good' rating in a category(At division three)  Obviously its different by position.  But, for example, for a point guard what would be a benchmark passing rating?  What would be a benchmark rebound rating below which you are getting a bit weak for a center?  Are we talking a 40, a 50?  60?

you can view the average team ratings by looking at the Rankings - Team Ratings tab. You can sort by any ability, and can view the top 25 of the division - Check those values - that's what I did when I recently decided  to give a decent D III a shot - since I don't play much D III I used this to see what the top schools averaged for things like ath and def,etc...

I'll try that once the team opens.  Right now, I just have the copy of the current players I pasted into Excel until the team actually opens up so I can play around with it.  I have it reserved anyway.

is there any point to recruiting a player with a 17 work ethic?  Or is he pretty much never going to improve?

 

I'm a relative newbie myself, but I've been told to stay away from anyone with a 25 WE or less. However, I recruited a 29 WE this year and he is improving VERY slowly...so I might bump that number up to 30 WE next year.

You might want to take my newbie advice with a grain of salt though...

Glad you signed up for HD though...this game is incredibly fun (and addicting).

a 17 will improve slowly, and shouldn't lose everything between seasons. If he is pretty good already it can be worth it, just don't expect to max out all the areas of high. I typically don't go after players with less than say 25 or 30.

Posted by ryandaniel on 3/16/2011 9:37:00 PM (view original):
What I am trying to figure out is what would constitute an 'average' or a  'good' rating in a category(At division three)  Obviously its different by position.  But, for example, for a point guard what would be a benchmark passing rating?  What would be a benchmark rebound rating below which you are getting a bit weak for a center?  Are we talking a 40, a 50?  60?

The answer depends on what type of offense and defense you are running.  I can speak to the passing because I also run a motion offense with my DIII team.  I would consider 50 a benchmark passing rating for a PG in motion.  That may be lower than if you were running say, triangle or flex.  You will want your ballhandling to be at least 60, and ballhandling is important for any player you want to be a scorer in a motion offense.  Obviously, the more you want your PG to score, the less emphasis you need on their passing, and the converse is true.

As for rebounding, in a zone, it needs to be higher than it would for, say, man-to-man.  I run man-to-man and have found 70 to be acceptable for a center (assuming he is a good athlete), but in a zone, I would think 80 or maybe even 90 for a center's rebounding.  It seems like there are an awful lot of 90+ rebounding centers out there. 

Keep in mind that you do not need to recruit players that start at these levels, you just need to recruit players that will grow to these levels by the time you want them to be major pieces in your rotation.  So, use the FSS and pay attention to their potentials.  This ties into the question you have about work ethic.  17 work ethic is very poor and I would advise against it, in general.  If you take on a player with work ethic below 35, then be prepared to start that player and give them lots of playing time in order to raise their work ethic and thus speed up their growth.  So far the lowest, I have taken was a 22 work ethic and that has been bordeline regrettable. I don't regret it yet, but if hadn't dedicated a couple seasons to rebuilding, there is no way it would have been worth it.  But, the two best players I ever had were both sub-30.  They had enormous potential and played lots of minutes and had lots of starts, even early in their careers.  It seems to me like anything below 20 is asking for regrets.  You could  find an exception, which would be a player that is so overwhelmingly talented that is doesn't matter, but beware that work ethic also effects their IQ improvement rate so a low work ethic and a low starting IQ will mean that player will probably never get to A+ IQ.  And you also will not want to redshirt a player with a low work ethic because they will just sit there and barely improve during the redshirt year.  So, think of a low work ethic player as something that requires a commitment on your part to play and start them and nurse them along from early in their career.  Some players are self-starters and some are not.

I have an exception to the 'don't redshirt for low WE' - that player is STILL improving their IQ, and if you are relying on their current ratings instead of rating improvements, the extra season of IQ improvement could actually be critical to getting use out of the player..

Posted by arssanguinus on 3/28/2011 7:27:00 PM (view original):
I have an exception to the 'don't redshirt for low WE' - that player is STILL improving their IQ, and if you are relying on their current ratings instead of rating improvements, the extra season of IQ improvement could actually be critical to getting use out of the player..

good point

By the way, there is no penalty for playing players out of position, so Schiller would make a fine PG, certainly a lot better than Wolters.  You may want to cut Wolters unless he has a ton of potential.