This is my 1st year in a Hoops Dynasty. I took over a pretty bad program. We’ve played 2 non conference games so far. In both games I was up big in the 1st half (15 pts,20pts). We ended up losing both games by 11 points in both games. Is this a fatigue thing? Outclassed? Game planning?

Thanks

It's not your fault, but you don't have a good team. It will take some time and good recruiting on your part to make your team competitive.

As for right now you'll probably want to play slow down tempo all year, as most teams are going to better than you and this will cut down on to's, fouls, etc.

You should also shorten up your bench. Only play your best 9 or 10 depending on how good their stamina is.

If you plan on sticking around you'll probably want to pick up a mentor to help you out with your first couple recruiting classes.

It's true, not your fault, but that team is pretty bad. I can't see you winning too many games until you get some recruits to your liking in there. You don't have many options at guard, but I wouldn't be playing that 11 DEF rated guard 20+ mins./game. In your position, I would start my best defensive lineup and play slow down every game. Not much you can do. Hang in there man.

Thanks for the responses. I switched up the defense to a 2-3 zone. Hopefully that’ll help me not get my doors blown off in the second half.

Keep in mind, switching to zone is not ideal for your team. If you haven't checked out team IQ, you need to immediately, to understand what type of intelligence you're putting on the floor. In this game, it takes time (seasons) for players to learn an offensive or defensive style of play.

All of your players have low IQs in Zone (because you likely don't practice it). It's best to choose a style of play, practice that style, and stick with it. No matter how bad your players are. As others have said, you're going to lose games, period. You have to build your team over time. Don't get discouraged. This game doesn't have many quick fixes

If you want to play a zone, that's fine, but it would be ideal for you to decide now if that's the defense you want to be playing in the future and adjust your practise time accordingly, likewise on offense. Like topdogggbm said, check your IQ's. No sense playing a zone if you aren't practising it, it will be of no use.

Posted by Heyhowareya on 8/16/2018 1:13:00 PM (view original):
If you plan on sticking around you'll probably want to pick up a mentor to help you out with your first couple recruiting classes.

I definitely agree with picking up a mentor. I played the game before, but took some time off (as in years - lol...). When I started playing the game again, it had changed a little bit. There has been several players who have helped me get back into the swing of things.

Here are some tips I’ve gotten from a couple veteran coaches (and one that’s my own idea):

- In D3 run flex/press
- Recruit D1 players only. Make sure you get guys who can defend.
- Play slowdown almost exclusively
- stick to -1, 0, +1 defense depending on your opponent.
- don’t put a ton of time into team practice:10-14 minutes in each of your two sets.

Doing that got me two D3 national championships. One at Pacific 5 seasons after taking over a train wreck and one at Cal Tech 6 seasons after taking over a mediocre team.

Posted by bad_luck on 8/17/2018 4:54:00 PM (view original):
Here are some tips I’ve gotten from a couple veteran coaches (and one that’s my own idea):

- In D3 run flex/press
- Recruit D1 players only. Make sure you get guys who can defend.
- Play slowdown almost exclusively
- stick to -1, 0, +1 defense depending on your opponent.
- don’t put a ton of time into team practice:10-14 minutes in each of your two sets.

Doing that got me two D3 national championships. One at Pacific 5 seasons after taking over a train wreck and one at Cal Tech 6 seasons after taking over a mediocre team.

10-14 minutes in each of your two sets..... huh? Isn't that waaaaaay too low? And kind of counter productive? As in, you'll have high player ratings really fast, but you'll still be in the B IQ range when they're seniors.

What's wrong with the standard 20? You'll still max your guys fairly easily, but you'll have some A+ IQs, and everyone will surely reach A IQs as seniors (I personally use much more than 20. But that's not relevant to my point. It's just a personal preference)

Posted by topdogggbm on 8/17/2018 9:08:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 8/17/2018 4:54:00 PM (view original):
Here are some tips I’ve gotten from a couple veteran coaches (and one that’s my own idea):

- In D3 run flex/press
- Recruit D1 players only. Make sure you get guys who can defend.
- Play slowdown almost exclusively
- stick to -1, 0, +1 defense depending on your opponent.
- don’t put a ton of time into team practice:10-14 minutes in each of your two sets.

Doing that got me two D3 national championships. One at Pacific 5 seasons after taking over a train wreck and one at Cal Tech 6 seasons after taking over a mediocre team.

10-14 minutes in each of your two sets..... huh? Isn't that waaaaaay too low? And kind of counter productive? As in, you'll have high player ratings really fast, but you'll still be in the B IQ range when they're seniors.

What's wrong with the standard 20? You'll still max your guys fairly easily, but you'll have some A+ IQs, and everyone will surely reach A IQs as seniors (I personally use much more than 20. But that's not relevant to my point. It's just a personal preference)

Personally, I don’t think here’s a huge difference between A and B IQ. And if it means I get players at their max ratings for longer, the small difference in IQ is worth it.

Posted by bad_luck on 8/17/2018 4:54:00 PM (view original):
Here are some tips I’ve gotten from a couple veteran coaches (and one that’s my own idea):

- In D3 run flex/press
- Recruit D1 players only. Make sure you get guys who can defend.
- Play slowdown almost exclusively
- stick to -1, 0, +1 defense depending on your opponent.
- don’t put a ton of time into team practice:10-14 minutes in each of your two sets.

Doing that got me two D3 national championships. One at Pacific 5 seasons after taking over a train wreck and one at Cal Tech 6 seasons after taking over a mediocre team.

You don’t recruit any D2 players? Obviously I don’t have the success to back this up, but there are definitely gems to be had in D2. I could especially see recruiting D2 players really beneficial early in a rebuild.

I usually scout D2 guards within 500m as options in case my D1 guards all get sucked up by higher level teams.

At 10-12, your freshmen who start at F will get to C/C+, sophs will get to B-/B, JRs to B/B+, and SRs to B+/A-. Give or take a little based on HS GPA and work ethic. 10-12 is probably optimal, as in more than that starts to yield diminishing returns. But everything has diminishing returns, so unless you’re running a combo defense and practicing FB as a late game strategy, you’re probably “wasting” minutes somewhere. It’s all about what you value enough to max potential; ratings, IQ, something else.

Ok but I don't think this is a preference thing. Either an A+ is important for IQ, and important enough to "wait" for your players to max around junior/senior season. Or IQ isn't important, so maxing your players out immediately is more important than getting past a B+.

To be honest, I haven't heard many people say they use that little amount of minutes for team sets. I've always had a personal goal of not giving much distro to any players until they reach A- IQ (obviously unless I had to, maybe due to a young team with no seniors). If I used that few of minutes, I wouldn't have a single player with a distro of more than 1 or 2, their entire 4 year careers!

But I don't have any titles either. So have I been taught completely wrong this whole time? I know there are so many ways to win at this game. But the value of A+ IQ and its difference between B+ IQ doesn't seem like something that isn't "solved" by now. With all the successful coaches and the studies and time invested.