I've played this game a long time and due to some misfortune in attrition and recruiting, I have 3 good players, 1 decent player, 2 role players, 3 frosh and a walkon (my other 2 are a redshirt and nq).  So I'm wanting to just play 5 or 6 players similar to what Calipari is doing with Kentucky this year.  This is totally new to me and I'm not sure how to pull it off in HD.  What have others done and had success doing this?  Here's what I'm doing and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Offense: Motion / Slowdown - The assumption here is normal would tire my guys out quicker. Uptempo seems out of the question.
Defense: Press/Man. But I'm playing only man in games. Will whip out the Press/Man only on Losing Late
Defense +/- settings vary on the opponent. Or should I set these based on my playing 5 players strategy.
Starting 5 all set to Foul Trouble Only, 4 reserves set to Fairly Fresh.

Game 1 was met with mixed success. My starting 5 was better than his starting 5, my refreshed 5 was better than his 5, but my tired 5 was not so good against his refreshed 5 late in each half.

1st half:
15:00 Up 9-3
10:00 Up 15-3
6:01 Up 21-16, Full TO (2 :30, 3 full remaining)
5:00 Up 26-18
0:00 Up 35-30

2nd half
15:00 Up 45-36
10:00 Up 51-43
7:41 Up 56-50, Full TO (2 :30, 2 full remaining)
5:00 Up 58-56
2:56 Down 60-62, Full TO (2 :30, 1 full remaining)
2:22 Down 60-64, Full TO ( 2 :30 remaining)
1:38 Down 60-66, :30 TO (1 :30 remaining)
0:55 Down 62-68, :30 TO (none remaining)
0:00 Lose 67-73

The TO's seemed to be called at the right times by the sim, so I see no complaint there.  Any ideas besides "recruit better"?

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't play anyone on foul trouble only.  Performance really seems to drop off a cliff once you get into the "tired" category.
If you have 2-3 reserves who can play some, I'd use them to back up 2-positions each and set the starters to sub when "tired."

I'd take the RS off that SF, especially since he'll see minimal improvement with only a 13 WE and he souls be able to contribute.

I think there are times you have to step back and look at the bigger picture. This may be one.... your young, your bad, you can't rebound,,,, your in the SEC with about 5 ranked teams.... you will have only 2 open schollys next season..... You are gonna get your head handed to you no matter what you do this season. I truely believe you might squeek out 2-3 more wins with the perfect strategy... maybe none.  The RS really doesn't help on the 13 WE guy... except he WILL be a viable player one season more this way due to his IQ's being higher. Your prestige is a C... it won't fall alot more... nor is there a thing you can do to raise it this season. You only have 2 openings... and will need a GOOD guard next season... nothing else really.
IMHO, take your lumps, play your 5-6 best guys until they puke to maximize their development.... and be better down the road for it.
Breath deep, embrace the losses.... if / when they come and say,,, Thank you,,,, may I have another please, as your kids get better.
Just one option rather than fighting the frustrating season that's comming your way.

If I'm going to be a Razorback for awhile (heaven forbid), I would look at this season, and say, what can I do today to make this team better for seasons to come. 2 or 3 more wins doesn't do anything... better players down the road will.... Rather than spending alot of time on game-planning on games I'm gonna lose anyway... spend an extra few hours making sure your NC schedule next season has the 10 best games I can schedule on it.... so I enter next seasons conference games as an asset to the SEC and a viable opponent for those guys who kicked my head in this year

PS, not saying tank the season by any means, however... there are times our options are limited and it's good to back up and survey the big picture..... GL

I'd definitely rather play the freshmen than anybody tired.  Not to mention as long as you're going to lose a ton of games you might as well play the freshmen as much as you can...

I'd blow it up-- start your frosh SF (maybe even the RS guy) instead of that SR whose only real edge is DEF-- get as much improvement out of the guys as you can to be able to compete better next season. The G rotation is probably about right, though i'd play everyone at Tired, as someone above suggested. The bigs, same thing-- let the frosh improve as much as they can, and give the distro to your good players.

I agree with miz and dahs. (Except for play your 5-6 best players til they puke.) This is going to be a major down season any way you slice it, get your frosh some PT, help them improve. And honestly, I think you'll be better off on the court having the frosh pick up minutes anyway vs. trying to run a 5/6 man rotation.

does playing time or starts have any effect on IQ improvement rate?

Zero point to rs-ing that guy.  Give him minutes and let him improve his WE some.  Even in the long run he's not good enough to be a major contributor anyway.  With a 12 WE he'll lose half of what he gains in any given year in the offseason.

thanks for the feedback all.  I actually went 15-13 (7-9 in conference) with the same 5 players playing all the time last year.  The difference was I had sucky SRs with good IQs instead of sucky FRs as my backups.  I did have a pretty decent PF graduate though.  Thus the reason I was thinking playing those 5 again, but play them more, would be worth the effort to hit .500 again.

As for the RS, I put it on him simply because he took it.  The reasoning is with his low WE, I was hoping he'd hit his maxes by his 4th & 5th year and be serviceable.  But might as well play him as I may be fired by then.  ;)

My other frosh SF didn't play the 1st game with the guy ahead of him playing all 40 min, so I removed it from the SF with the lower WE and put it on him.  Hopefully he takes it.

Posted by dacj501 on 2/8/2011 2:57:00 PM (view original):
does playing time or starts have any effect on IQ improvement rate?

CJ, it does, but indirectly.  What I mean is, PT and starts tend to improve WE faster, whcih in turn improves IQ's faster.  However, the rate of improvement is probably negligible.  Just can't really get enough of a WE boost to make THAT much of a difference.

i agree with miz. spot on!

anyway... aside from breaking my team down, has anyone had success in HD playing 5 or 6 players ala what John Calipari is doing at Kentucky this year?  If so, how did you do it?  slowdown, zone, and foul trouble only with high stamina at all positions is the only way I can think of.

Posted by uglyskunk3 on 2/8/2011 8:24:00 PM (view original):
i agree with miz. spot on!

I've read miz's post 3 times and I still have no idea what he's suggesting.  Best I can gather is pick my 5 or 6 best guys, play them 40 minutes each, and schedule the Top 10 teams in the nation as non-conf opponents next year.