This is my 4th season in Tarkanian and I have done okay. I just had the #4 recruiting class and thought I would have a good chance of going undefeated in conference play. I have already lost two games in conference play and have lost a few other games I really didn't think I should lose. If you guys have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=12718 

First thing I notice before even looking too far in, you have horrible ATH for an A- D3 team. Ath is the most important stat for almost everything and you have players who are very very low in it.

You have the #4 recruiting class but that is because you took 2 transfers. Recruit class rankings are misleading because they basically only count overall rating, you took in 2 transfers but do they play your O and D or are they having to learn it just to play in your system. A Jr transfer who doesn't play your O and D isn't much use to you because of the importance IQ holds.

I haven't gone through game to game or anything, but I would wager those are 2 big things that are leading to your surprise in your team.

You also have 2 players with  horrible WE on your team, pretty much anyone under 25 is never going reach potential. the player with 2 is pretty much never going to improve at all. The small gains you see each year will reset during the offseason

Your athleticism is poor.  Gary Kurth is terrible.  He started at 403, which isn't good, and had a 10 athleticism and a 29 speed.  Even if both those were high potential he is a red-shirt that might be useful in 3 seasons.  Based on his development to date, I think he was only average potential, which means a max of 30 ath and 50 speed. 

You need to be signing guys that will max in the 60s and 70s in those categories (C/PF need ath, guards need 60-80 speed).  Without better athletes you will never have a better team that 18-8, 16-10 type squads that get by based on IQ and skills. 

Also my final thought but it isn't about this year.

To best learn this game and improve you need to stick with a team. You seem to be bouncing from team to team trying to find the best team possible that somebody else built. Play this game however you want, but in order to be good, you need to build a team yourself. Stick there for 4-5 seasons at least to see all of your players through. If you are seeing success on a team that is 100% your players then you are doing something right. If all you do is jump team to team you are only learning how to survive on other people's recruiting classes.

None of the 7 losses you have are to teams that I thought you would have beaten.

Posted by mjp8 on 7/16/2012 11:20:00 AM (view original):
Also my final thought but it isn't about this year.

To best learn this game and improve you need to stick with a team. You seem to be bouncing from team to team trying to find the best team possible that somebody else built. Play this game however you want, but in order to be good, you need to build a team yourself. Stick there for 4-5 seasons at least to see all of your players through. If you are seeing success on a team that is 100% your players then you are doing something right. If all you do is jump team to team you are only learning how to survive on other people's recruiting classes.

Maybe this is another Fredpaull alias.

Hey metal, RECRUITING is the key. It is improtant to be able to recruit to your level to keep your prestige and recruiting potential up. At A- Prestige your very weak in ath. Very weak in team "D" especially for a man "D". You need minimum 40+ to start and 50+ down the roster to be able to play man. Your bigs are weak in the LP.
You have 2 players who are no value now or in the future because of WE. If you have a chance in the future, they are both "cuts". Your record is about right. Your competitve level at this time is about a "C". Stay someplace, recruit for 2-3 years to get the team you want.

I'd also chime in that, for a M2M team, you probably need guys with higher DEF ratings. 

Don't pay attention to the recruiting rankings. You did not have the 4th best recruiting class

Kurth is worthless. His 15 ATH and 19 DEF makes him such a liability he shouldn't even see the floor. I'd recommend aejones' thread, "How to win at D2 and D3." Read it all.

Thanks for all the advice. Each of my transfers played at least my offense or defense. My guy with 2 work ethic is going to get cut after this season. When I was recruiting him i just saw all the high highs he had and forgot to look at WE (Which I know is completely stupid).  I also think I am going to stick with this team one more year and then possibly transfer to a better conference and stay there for a long time. 

I read aejones thread just last week actually.

So with the team I have, which 5 would you start?

Posted by metalthread on 7/16/2012 5:00:00 PM (view original):
Thanks for all the advice. Each of my transfers played at least my offense or defense. My guy with 2 work ethic is going to get cut after this season. When I was recruiting him i just saw all the high highs he had and forgot to look at WE (Which I know is completely stupid).  I also think I am going to stick with this team one more year and then possibly transfer to a better conference and stay there for a long time. 

I did that once, and I definitely had more than 4 seasons' worth of experience at the time.