I think I've finally done it. I think I've finally built a team that can contend. However, I'd like opinions on how to utilize players the most effectively over the next two seasons.

Shepherd-- this is the team. I have only one player ( a role player) who has a DEF rating under 50, and only 1 (excluding the walk on) with an ATH rating under 50. I've been told that those are the two ratings really worth building, so I focused on those and then looked to find players who had good attributes elsewhere.

Since I will have one scholarship in the upcoming season, I am thinking I need to recruit a scorer. Any position, but I feel my LP/PER ratings leave something to be desired. Am I wrong to think this? 

Basically I have a couple questions:
A. Looking at this team, can it make the postseason and succeed in the post season? (Sweet 16? E8? 1st Round?)
B. With one scholarship, should I be looking for a scorer? A transfer who can play immediately perhaps?

Teams built exclusively on high ATH/DEF, but lacking of LP/PER, usually top out around the Sweet 16.  A few seasons back I built a gimicky team at Findlay that had 3 starters with ATH/DEF of at least 85 each (other starters were also quite high but better rounded), but who brought little else to the table.  I cruised into the S16 but got destroyed by the first elite team I played.  I feel like I did as good of a job I could have in building a team exclusively around ATH/DEF, and it wasn't even close to contending.

I don't think you have enough PER/BH/Pass to get past the S16, might be tough to get into the S16.  I would try to grab a JUCO PG with higher BH/PASS and ideally a shooter, but you're not going to get everything you want in a recruit outside of high D1.

While true that ATH and DEF are the 2 attributes that most D2 championship teams seem to have plenty of, they also tend to have 3-5 good scoring options, including at least 2 premium scoring options.  You need to at least 1 guy with a PER of 85+ (preferably 2) and at least 1 guy with a LP of 85+ to contend with the style of team you are building.  Keep in mind that for the 85+ PER guy(s), good SPD and BH would be nice too (along with B- or better FT), and the 85+ LP guy(s) needs to have 70+ ATH and not be a horrible FT shooter.  I agree with dahs as well on the PG.  You don't have a true PG from what I can tell.  You would be in better shape if you had a guy who is at least 80/80 in BH and P (and from the looks of how much he improved in each this season, maybe Newcomb can be that guy), but I've had winning teams where I didn't have that guy, but rather an extremely athletic and fast guy with decent enough BH and P ratings playing point guard (look at my current starting PG on St. Mary's TX for an example).

Also keep in mind, you have 6 rising Juniors, this will make it impossible for you to bring in another Junior, and most of the JUCO's are Juniors. So I think best case scenario, you find a high per/bh/pass guy with decent DEF senior transfer who runs your offense and defense. It might be wise to wait until near the start of signing period in hopes of getting a guy like this (it's unlikely, but possible). But personally, I think Newcomb will develop into a nice PG (75 passing and maybe 80 PER, good LP, and ATH/SPD by the end of next year, although the BH is a concern). Your team still has a TON of developing to do, so next year I think Sheperd loses in the first round of the NT, but in 2 years, I think S16 is a possibility. I think your team will have a lot of depth so up-tempo often is a good idea. GL man, lemme know if you have any further questions!

At D2, you should be trying to average 70 in ATH and DEF.   

Posted by clouseb on 8/13/2013 12:57:00 PM (view original):
Teams built exclusively on high ATH/DEF, but lacking of LP/PER, usually top out around the Sweet 16.  A few seasons back I built a gimicky team at Findlay that had 3 starters with ATH/DEF of at least 85 each (other starters were also quite high but better rounded), but who brought little else to the table.  I cruised into the S16 but got destroyed by the first elite team I played.  I feel like I did as good of a job I could have in building a team exclusively around ATH/DEF, and it wasn't even close to contending.

I pretty much won all my titles by going ath/spd/def. It can take you really far if the team is built correctly. Having said that, OP's team isn't elite in terms of ath/spd/def when compared to d3, much less for d2. 

Thanks for all the feedback. I realize I am not elite in any field- after all, I've only had the team for two seasons. I feel like we are going in the right direction and am excited to likely contend for my Conference Championship. That said, I am trying to figure out how to improve.

Clouseb, thanks for that. I didn't mean to focus exclusively on ATH/DEF just that they were my priorities. Interesting story too.

Dahs, I didn't even think about the BH/PASS predicament. I guess that will probably hurt me against human teams. I only have 1 scholarship, so do I go after someone who can captain the offense with high BH/PASS or do I try and find a scorer? 

MDH, thanks. Good to hear from you. So basically there is a consensus on the two types of players I need, and yet I only have one scholarship. SO, which one is more pressing? Should I cut someone and try and fill 2 schollies?

Vince, I appreciate it. Yes, we are young and we are growing out the whazoo, which is exciting to watch. I have a fairly easy schedule this year so I am hoping that helps as far as ranking/seeding goes, but who knows. Newcomb is probably the player I am most excited about, so I will be interested in keeping tabs on him.

TJ, that seems high to me. Obviously if you can do that you should go for it, but I don't feel like that is entirely plausible. Besides, only had this team for two seasons, so it would've been hard to reach those standards anyhow. (ATH average is 58 and DEF is 59).

tianyi, do you tend to agree with TJ as far as the ratings averages go? What would be elite in D3? I feel like having 60 in both categories would be more than enough at D3, but I haven't exactly had success so your opinion is something I'd like. 

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to add the link in the first post. Just added it.

Posted by tianyi7886 on 8/13/2013 1:38:00 PM (view original):

Posted by clouseb on 8/13/2013 12:57:00 PM (view original):
Teams built exclusively on high ATH/DEF, but lacking of LP/PER, usually top out around the Sweet 16.  A few seasons back I built a gimicky team at Findlay that had 3 starters with ATH/DEF of at least 85 each (other starters were also quite high but better rounded), but who brought little else to the table.  I cruised into the S16 but got destroyed by the first elite team I played.  I feel like I did as good of a job I could have in building a team exclusively around ATH/DEF, and it wasn't even close to contending.

I pretty much won all my titles by going ath/spd/def. It can take you really far if the team is built correctly. Having said that, OP's team isn't elite in terms of ath/spd/def when compared to d3, much less for d2. 

Yea I didn't place enough emphasis on SPD.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 8/13/2013 1:33:00 PM (view original):
At D2, you should be trying to average 70 in ATH and DEF.   

It should be noted this is extremely hard to do and typically only a handfull of D2 teams in a world will average 70 in both ATH and DEF at the end of a season.

"That's a pretty lofty goal, Herb."
"Well, yeah, that's why I want to pursue it."
    -Miracle

70/70 Ath/Def is definitely not easy to accomplish at D2, but it will pay off if you can do it without completely neglecting the rest of the ratings.  Same for 60/60 at D3. 

You are building a solid D2 team. However there is something else that should be considered in your drive for NT success. If you went undefeated this year and next you are probably not going to get out of the second round. The reason is your schedule. You don't play anybody! With this schedule there is no way for you to get your RPI and SOS low enough for a seeding in the top 32. With your weak conference,If you want to get up there you need to play at least 9 human coaches in Non Conference. 6 or 7 of those need to be top 100. At least 3 need to be top 50. After recruiting comes scheduling. You are doing a good job of taking you program in a good direction. But if you want to be one of the big boys you have to play with the big boys.

60ath/55spd/55-60 def is elite for D3. Elite for D2 is 70/60/65-70. It's good if you can get one or two 3pt shooters (90+ per) and hit those average, but not necessary. I had a few teams winning championships shooting less than 100 3s all season, and simply winning with superior ath/spd, drawing fouls, and going to the line. 

Posted by Trentonjoe on 8/13/2013 1:33:00 PM (view original):
At D2, you should be trying to average 70 in ATH and DEF.   

That's rare and very difficult. Once you're in the 60s in ATH and DEF, your team can definitely compete. I've even seen some excellent teams where ATH and DEF both averaged in the 50's, and they had high cores elsewhere.  

70 is not a realistic goal. It's pretty hard to pull off. 

In DII Allen, 24 games in, there are no teams with 70 ATH (the highest is 69) and there are only 4 teams with 70 or above DEF. 

In DII Iba,  17 games in, there are no teams with 70 ATh (again, highest is 69) and there are only 3 teams with 70 or above DEF (including my Longwood squad)

In DII Crum. 12 games in , there's one team with 70 ATH (Wilmington - the next highest is 66) and only one with 70 or above DEF (again, Wilmington)

I would not completely sacrifice core ratings for ATH and DEF. If you make it to the 70s, you still need to have some talent in the cores as well to be elite. 

Yeah I gotta call bs on the 70/60/70. I'm not sure what world allows you to recruit that, but I'm in 5 worlds, and no championship team has even sniffed that in recent memory. There's many ways to win, and we all know ath/spd/d is one, and the most successful. But those numbers aren't legit.

In Knight, St Augstines is superclassed fully, and is 685 rated and they are 59/63/63. That's superclassed, in Knight, arguably a very weak D2 world. In Phelan, Angelo St is 703, 10 man superclass, 58/66/63. W Alabama is the most ath laden team, at 71/49/71. Still not even close. In Tark, Wa Adventist won the NT with 666, 9 man superclass, no FR, 64/53/64. D2 Tark is very competitive. There isn't a single team in the world with 70 ath, and only 4 with 70 D.

So yeah, even superclassed in less populated worlds, I've not seen anyone hit that. In competitive worlds, i dont think any school can legitimately recruit that. Certainly not the championship teams are rolling out 70/60/70 numbers.