oh, and by the way - I guess I didn't fully read the OP - I don't do "plan A" to such an extreme as was intended in the question. I put about 25 min of team practice in both "O" and "D" for the seasons with 6 frosh and jrs.

although i am not the most accomplished coach it seems that 25-30 on offense and defense has worked for me and does not cause the players to max out as fast. and in theory there are many teams in the real world that get by with a little less talent if they are diligent and knowlegeable about the teams defensive and offensive schemes. IQ may a larger part of it and A+ IQ's take a long time to get to.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have been trying to get to A+ with one offense and two defenses. I have been spending about 65 minutes doing this and my individual ratings have suffered. But I find that recruits with high individual ratings at positions like PG and SF really struggle at the offensive end with turnovers and low shot %, so I would like to improve their IQ right away.

This plan is not working, however, Ihaven't made a real postseason run just yet.

i am going to agree that in the extreme form neither A nor B makes any sense. however, i will also stick my neck out, and disagree with OR/davey. i think B is better than A. i generally have a remotely balanced team (at least say 4 upper classmen and under classmen) so i don't really vary my team practice minutes. but, if/when i do, i tend towards more team practice for young players. why? volatility. i hate it, and i think you stamp it out way faster with team practice than individual. also, your players are going to mostly max junior year anyway in ratings, but not in iq. so i think i prefer to put more in team practice than the average coach.

that said, the biggest range i would change is 5 minutes per category, i.e. 25 press vs 30. so its probably not that big of difference either way.

I was thinking that players improved on individual skills faster when they are Freshmen. Mine do. If you sacrificed individual skills practice for IQ ratings, are you running the risk of your players never reaching their full potential? With 15 to 20 min team practice, you should have plenty of minutes to quickly improve skills. When the skills start maxing out, then you can increase team practice. Thats my thoughts.

Critics?

Quote: Originally posted by mykids_31206 on 12/14/2009I was thinking that players improved on individual skills faster when they are Freshmen. Mine do. If you sacrificed individual skills practice for IQ ratings, are you running the risk of your players never reaching their full potential? With 15 to 20 min team practice, you should have plenty of minutes to quickly improve skills. When the skills start maxing out, then you can increase team practice. Thats my thoughts.Critics?

i am pretty sure a player's class is not a factor in their improvement. however, distance from maximum ratings is a major factor in rate of improvement. thus, those with the most room to improve, i.e. freshman, tend to improve the fastest. but, by delaying a little of that growth until future seasons, you are just giving up a little time, not a special freshman growth rate or anything like that.