Novice Trials and Tribulations..The Big Rebuild - Hoops Dynasty

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Its Season 53 in Naismith, and I have been offered the coaching job at Grinnell. (Ok, I took it as a challange, but for the narative, I was hired.)

First a little background on me. I am a novice with this game, the following running commentary on the rebuilding of this team may contain items, comments and or strategies that are down right stupid. I do not purport to be an expert at this game, nor to I infer a greater knowledge of basketball in general than anyone on this site.

I simply decided to do this so that if a new player is looking at this game for the first time, I can hopefully encourage them to give it a try.

Those of you who have more extensive knowledge, please feel free to chime in when you read something that you feel you can expand on for the benefit of myself or others and or add a contrasting view or alternate strategy that you have found successful.

Next: The School.

7/15/2011 8:50 AM

tbarket

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(From Wikipedia)

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa known for its strong tradition of social activism and rigorous academic environment. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College.

But enough of that nonsense.... : ) For 14 of the last 16 years the school has been coached by the sim. In season 51 Ironman 2011 took a 7 and 20 team and won the conference Championship. The sim followed up with another Championship in season 52.

Then the debacle. The team currently need 10 players. Only 2 are returning from a 20 and 8 squad, one senior and one junior.

So we have our work cut out for us.

Our list of positives are: 1. We have $19,386 to spend on 6 recruits. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with HD recruiting, you can only fill six scholarship spots per year on a roster, specifically to stop something like this from happening, the other 4 spots will be walk-ons.) The school played a motion offense and press defense, which I don't have a lot of experience coaching. So as this season is going to be a long one, with little chance of competing, I am going to change up the defense to a man to man. At least from that stand point I have the ability to recruit kids who have some experience with that and with 4 walk ons with a press offense I won't have stamina to keep the good kids on the floor.

On the negative side, having open scholarships at the end of recruiting means that any money I have left over won't carry over to next season so I have to spend it all now. Never, ever, ever, ever offer scholarships to walk ons. They are POORLY skilled and a waste of a position spot, then when you dump the scholarship the next season to open up a spot you take a hit for rescinding. Don't do it. Secondly, with more than 2 walk ons, my team is going to suffer greatly on the practice court this season, so I need to be sure to draft kids with good potential, and high highschool GPA's. I cannot have freshman with 2.5's comming in and have a slower developing freshman year on top of the reductions in growth due to walk-ons.

Next: The returning players.

I have decided to take 3 freshmen, and 3 transfers / juco players, as I want to have this team with no more than 4 players in a particular class, within 4 years. If I cannot get enough transfers / juco kids, I will redshirt one of the 4 freshmen.

7/15/2011 9:15 AM

tbarket

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Taking a look at my 'leaders' for the team this season is pretty bleak. With only 2 returning I will be hard pressed to find wins.

My senior is Pedro Vargas, a sim signing from Aguas Buenas, PR. He is a 6'6" 213 lb small forward. Last season he averaged 14 minutes 6.5 points 2.7 rebounds and shot 46% from the floor, 38% from 3, and madee 75% of his free throws. His ratings are:
A:     8     Spd:     40     Reb:     36     Def:     9     SB:     50     LP:     74     PER:     49     BH:     18     P:     34     WE:     78     ST:     73     DUR:     99     FT: B+

His motion IQ is an A+, and his press is an A- with man to man being a D-.   So he's pretty stiff, below average in speed, can't defend, dribble, or pass. On the plus side, with his back to the basket he has a good shot, and can step out and hit the 6 to 10 footer an acceptable amount of time.

Junior Darrin Gustafson, was recruited by ironman2011, from Cottonwood, MN. He is a 6'10" 231 lb power forward. Last season he averaged 20.9 minutes 5.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, shot 43% from the floor, 16% from 3 point land, and hit a whopping 53% of his free throws. His ratings are:
A:     35     Spd:     33     Reb:     83     Def:     38     SB:     80     LP:     33     PER:     13     BH:     17    P:     17     WE:     63     ST:     72     DUR:    48     FT: C

His motion IQ is a B and his press is an A- with man to man being a D-.   Another guy who is a little more atheletic than the rec league guys playing in the gym in the off season. He does an acceptable job defending the rim, and his strong suit is pulling down boards. Other than that, we don't want him near the ball. His distro will be the lowest of any starter or significant minute bench player.

Well it isn't pretty at the outset, but I guess it could be worse. I will know more once I receive the practice thoughts email after the first exibition game.

Next: Initial recruitment strategies.

7/15/2011 9:31 AM

_hannibal_

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FYI: the 6 recruits rule is per class, not per recruiting year. So you can recruit 6 freshman and 4 JUCO/transfers and fill all your spots if you want. Given the high turnover I wouldn't hesitate to make the offense/defense be exactly what you want.

7/15/2011 9:39 AM

alblack56

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It's generally not a good idea to post how much recruting money you have. Although, with all those openings, we know it's lot!

You can edit that from your post, if you so wish.

On another point, if you feel that you can improve on the previous season, you may opt to not fill all the openings. Next season, you may have better prestige and can attract better recruits.

7/15/2011 9:46 AM

a_in_the_b

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Frankly, as you are going to struggle anyway, I wouldn't even start that senior and start one of your recruits instead to give them the WE boost. . .also, given the number of slots you have, you can gain some good leverage by promising some starts/minutes.

7/15/2011 9:46 AM

tbarket

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First up, I am going to use the FSS this season. With the extra bit of cash, I am going to spend $1,461 on Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, that will provide me some advanced scouting on 225 players, and still leave me with over $18k or $3,000 per scholarship available.

Its pretty easy to get buck fever when your are recruiting, it is my favorite part of the game. i have to keep telling myself, that I am really looking for no more than 4 freshmen and would prefer 3 total. I need smart (3.0 or higher hs gpa), with good work ethics and high potential in required skills. Also I want to stay as close to home as possible, but did open up the additional states for the FSS in case I can make a run at someone who wants to go far from home to school.

I need 3 juco's or transfers as well. For the freshmen, I am hopeful I can pull down a fringe DII guy, or maybe a guy who falls back to DIII when the DII schools don't come to call. (They can be expensive to chase though, and I have to set up the freshman properly.

One unique feature of this game is that if your in it for the long haul, you can't ignore your future considerations for immediate gratification. The guys I pick up this season will impact me for 2 to 4 years. It's very important that you don't strikeout on a guy, nor burn to much cash at this level fighting for a guy with another school then not having enough money to offer a scholarship to a second or third choice. I have to remember that I have already spent $600 (the cost of scholarships) even before I start to recruit.

I want to get some of the skill positions from Juco's or transfers, especially the PG. I wil have enough problems without having press teams absolutely kill my guys because we have no one who can handle the rock.

Next: FSS results and why I pick who I pick. (Setting up the watch list)

7/15/2011 9:46 AM

tbarket

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Posted by alblack56 on 7/15/2011 9:47:00 AM (view original):
It's generally not a good idea to post how much recruting money you have. Although, with all those openings, we know it's lot!

You can edit that from your post, if you so wish.

On another point, if you feel that you can improve on the previous season, you may opt to not fill all the openings. Next season, you may have better prestige and can attract better recruits.

Yeah, didn't really consider that. But I won't be fighting anyone, not this season anyway. : ) So I won't be battling.

7/15/2011 9:48 AM

alblack56

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Don't post the FSS results in detail...that's frowned on by WIS, as well as sharing that information privately.

Even posting your watch list can be construed as "he must've scouted those players and found them talented. Now I don't have to scout them!"

7/15/2011 9:49 AM

tbarket

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Posted by _hannibal_ on 7/15/2011 9:39:00 AM (view original):
FYI: the 6 recruits rule is per class, not per recruiting year. So you can recruit 6 freshman and 4 JUCO/transfers and fill all your spots if you want. Given the high turnover I wouldn't hesitate to make the offense/defense be exactly what you want.

See thats why I thought about doing this, hannibal makes a great point and one I didn't know. With 6 per class I can try to fill everyspot and avoid walk ons. If I can get lucky and get a couple of recruits signed for little money, I might be able to avoid a year of low progression. : )

Thanks hannibal.

7/15/2011 9:50 AM

tbarket

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Posted by alblack56 on 7/15/2011 9:50:00 AM (view original):
Don't post the FSS results in detail...that's frowned on by WIS, as well as sharing that information privately.

Even posting your watch list can be construed as "he must've scouted those players and found them talented. Now I don't have to scout them!"

Thanks, I wasn't planning on using names, just a description of basic skills like: Good rebounder, ballhandler, etc. Nor was I going to say were they were from or use names, but thank you for the reminder.

7/15/2011 9:52 AM

a_in_the_b

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I actually WOULDN'T fill every slot. Be willing to take at least two walkons. Make sure you get the guys you WANT with the extra money,.,
THen, perhaps, if you still have money left after getting, say, those solid six players signed, go after some bargains.

7/15/2011 9:56 AM

tbarket

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A quick initial look gives me 4 potential transfers that I think I have a shot at. I don't like to look at the overall rating, that is to easy to misconstrue (is that spelled right?). I look at core skills, and then a sort of tie breaker is the potential of complementary skills.

For big men I look at Atheletism, Rebounding, Low Post, Shot Blocking and Defense. If they have some speed great, if not I try at least to avoid guys with low potential in that department. If a big has a little ability in PER or Passing thats good. The PER gives a big man the ability to step outside and hit the short jumper, hook etc. which can be a advantage when matched up against a guy with a low defense.

For guards, BH, P, SPD, PER (especially for SG), and DEF. Atheleticism is helpful to. I like speed guys because a speedy PG can penetrate and find open guys, or work past a slower guy in man situations, and a SG with speed can get himself open for shots.

Small forwards are tough for me, I don't like the fact that most at the DIII level have low starting skills and you have so many area's to improve, something is always going to be lacking.

Potential Transfer Player A is a case in point, he is a SF naturally, with decent speed, a decent PER and decent Passing. But his Def is poor, his work ethic is worse, and his ball handling is not up to par. I think I will pass on him.

Thats kind of a glimps into how I am looking at players. For a guy to have a low GPA, he must have high skills or good skills with high potential. It does me no good to have a transfer or juco with limited time waste a tonne of it in study hall.

A look at the initial recruits netted me a potential list including 4 point guards, 3 shooting guards, 3 power forwards and 7 centers. From here I will make some phone calls when recruiting begins and see what interest levels they have. Hopefully I can use what hannibal suggested and avoid having a walk on alltogher

7/15/2011 10:33 AM

tbarket

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Thinking more on what hannibal said, i am adjusting the recruiting slightly and am going to try to fill the spots to get 3 per class. So I am going to be looking for 3 true freshman, 3 transfers with 3 years of eligibility, 2 juco or transfers with 2 years remaining and 2 transfers with 1 year remaining. That would balance out the classes, and give me a little flexibility if there is a guy in one class who is superior and I need to go with 4 in a single class.

7/15/2011 11:17 AM

dahsdebater

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Most of the better affordable recruits are freshmen. I think you'll do best if you sign at least 4 or 5 freshmen, and be willing to recruit all 6. My first season at Rochester I recruited 6 freshmen, ended up redshirting 2 of them in the first 2 seasons, and very quickly got back to balanced classes. And I didn't even really have a clue what I was doing at that point. Point being, if you really hate unbalanced classes it doesn't take as long as you think to work them back to evenish, and right now with 10 spots to fill I wouldn't hesitate to have 6 freshmen. Given that everybody who has more than 6 openings is going after JUCOs and transfers and some guys looking to add a piece to balance their classes or help with a championship run will go after the older guys as well, decent 3-year JUCOs often cost a bit more than freshmen (plus they went JUCO 'cause nobody wanted them in the first place) and 1- and 2-year players usually cost a fortune if they are any good at all.

7/15/2011 12:57 PM

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