Posted by m4284850 on 9/22/2012 8:26:00 PM (view original):

Posted by vegask on 9/22/2012 1:15:00 PM (view original):
One of the biggest things thats helped me is that I always start my recruiting search with ONLY players with 45+ work ethic (WE). Players with low WE will most likely never max out on their potential or it will take til his Sr season with a RS.

Not good advice (no offense).  Some of the best players I've ever had have lower than 25 WE.  I would set my search filter at 20 WE (but would only sign the guy if I can give him starts/PT in his first 2 years, preferably first year.)

Well yeah, you would have to start them right away...

My rosters are usually pretty deep and guys dont get starts until JR/Sr season..

Posted by dacj501 on 9/23/2012 6:33:00 PM (view original):
HIGHS

GRACIAS!

And, Gillispie. Thanks for the practice info. I too fall into the "I don't wanna lose points" category.

Posted by vegask on 9/23/2012 6:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by m4284850 on 9/22/2012 8:26:00 PM (view original):

Posted by vegask on 9/22/2012 1:15:00 PM (view original):
One of the biggest things thats helped me is that I always start my recruiting search with ONLY players with 45+ work ethic (WE). Players with low WE will most likely never max out on their potential or it will take til his Sr season with a RS.

Not good advice (no offense).  Some of the best players I've ever had have lower than 25 WE.  I would set my search filter at 20 WE (but would only sign the guy if I can give him starts/PT in his first 2 years, preferably first year.)

Well yeah, you would have to start them right away...

My rosters are usually pretty deep and guys dont get starts until JR/Sr season..

You don't have to start them right away.  Minutes certainly help, but I stand by my original statement.  If you're excluding anyone under a 45 WE, you're missing out on some damn good players, whether that agrees with some other coach's theories or not.  But again, to each their own. 

Posted by vegask on 9/22/2012 6:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by emy1013 on 9/22/2012 1:59:00 PM (view original):

Posted by vegask on 9/22/2012 1:15:00 PM (view original):
One of the biggest things thats helped me is that I always start my recruiting search with ONLY players with 45+ work ethic (WE). Players with low WE will most likely never max out on their potential or it will take til his Sr season with a RS.

You can go lower than 45 and still have players reach their potential.  Honestly, if you're using 45 as a cutoff and are never looking below that, you're missing out on some really, really nice players.  But, to each their own, I guess.

It's been successful so far... I just followed AeJones guide when I first started

http://whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=453763&TopicsTimeframe=30

I recruited a guy who had 37 WE "Accidently", he is a SR now and I have Sophomores better...

And I would say then that the 37 WE player wasn't that good of a find in the first place, especially if you've got players two years younger than him that are better.  I'm not saying that all players with lower WE's are worth recruiting, just like there are players with extremely "high" WE's that are not worth recruiting.  But if you're not even willing to look under a 45 WE, you're theoretically cutting nearly half of your possible recruits out right from the get go.  That's okay though, you can leave 'em for me, I'll find the studs that are left behind! 

artie, I just wanted to chime in on one thing you said - that you'd like to get more well-rounded players. I'm not sure how literally you meant that, but at D3, trying to get well-rounded players can be a trap, because every player has significant weaknesses. A guy who has (as an example) a 50 rating in every category will look fine in overall rating, but he can be exploited by all kinds of opponents - guys who are faster or more athletic than him, guys who rebound better, etc.

Most of the time, it's much better to get guys who specialize and excel in 1-2 things. Examples: the PG with really high SPD, BH, and PAS, but really low LP and PER. Or the high-ATH, REB, DEF, BLK defensive center who can't score at all. This lets you dictate matchups a lot more, and it gives you a better chance to win games against teams that seem more talented than you. Most teams only need 3-4 guys who can really score (maybe more if you play motion). You only need about 3 really good rebounders, and 2-3 guys who can really handle the ball. I'm not saying I wouldn't love to have more than that, but at D3, it's all about managing tradeoffs.

For me personally, playing M2M, the one thing I won't compromise on is DEF - I want all my guys to be able to defend because a poor M2M defender is the easiest thing for an opponent to exploit. And I want ATH for everyone, though I might make an exception for 1-2 of my guards. But except for those two ratings, I'm really flexible in how I recruit. But they have to be really good at something.

Thanks Bhan, I think that's some good advice. My study of my teams has been a haphazard part of my recruiting thus far. I have, at least, known that I want to have high athleticism and def (at almost every turn I look for these characteristics), but I have come up short by not really finding the role players who can score, or the distributing ball-handler to supplement these teams. I play a M2M on one of my teams and have really endeavored to not have a weak spot on my defense, and that emphasis has made my team pretty tough (I think) this season. However, I know I have a definite ceiling due to an overall lack of offensive firepower. My other team plays a zone (where I switch btw 2-3 and 3-2, believing but not knowing that this can create small advantages) and that team is in better position because I have, at least, one very good scorer (but certainly not elite).