Posted by thewizard17 on 2/25/2014 10:54:00 AM (view original):

Posted by killbatman on 2/25/2014 10:15:00 AM (view original):
As someone who's sold out before on Ath/Def to the tune of 70+ in D3 like this..the problem is you've completely neglected just about everything besides Ath/Def.  I understand that was part of the point, but you're going too far with it.

41 team Spd in a Press with no listed guards above 54 Spd won't cut it.  I think that's the biggest reason the defense isn't playing more like you're expecting. 

You also have absolutely zero shot blocking and rebounding, which hurts the interior defense a lot.

I'm thinking man to man would work a little bit better. However, on the flip side of the coin, I think you have to press to compensate for the low rebounding ratings by getting TO's off a FCP. However, even with the low IQ grades, I would still go man to man and maybe by the end of the season, you can get them into the B range with 20-25 minutes of practice.

I've thought about going man as I have seen that teams that have given my team fits for quite a few seasons now are man teams. Just haven't been willing to pull the trigger. 

Man will lower your opponents FG%,   My NYU teams runs under 40% allowed with ATH and DEF in the lower 60's.

I think offensively you'd be better with FB than Flex.  Make full use of that ATH with limited LP and PE, esp. if you're going to go 12-deep like you are this year.  So before giving up on your current approach, I'd give that a shot first.

Also, check your fatigue settings on Leonard.  He's playing too fatigued at many points in the games.  Again, use that depth you have.  I recognize you think he's your best big man, but his 66 ST is going to limit him obviously, but then I think you're overdoing it by having him play much too winded.

Also, why would you go slowdown vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor?  And just normal vs. NJC?  I think you're not selling out hard enough for 40 minutes of hell with your vastly superior ATH/DEF.  And your ST is certainly good enough at this point to make it work.

Lastly, I'd put more distribution on your guards and have them slashing more to get to the line more.  You're FT% of 67% is pretty mediocre for those grades imo, which tells me you're not using enough of your high ATH guards going to the basket and inducing fouls. 

You're "75% all-in", but not quite there imo.  Uptempo nearly all the time, switch to FB, reduce Leonard's fatigue settings (in fact, I'd have all of them playing at FF if they aren't now), get your guards slashing more and with higher overall distro.

REB will still be an issue, but I think if you can promote an uptempo style that gets the other team in foul trouble and makes them play their lesser players, this will mitigate some of the REB disparity.

Just my opinions...

Posted by jdno on 2/25/2014 11:53:00 AM (view original):
I think offensively you'd be better with FB than Flex.  Make full use of that ATH with limited LP and PE, esp. if you're going to go 12-deep like you are this year.  So before giving up on your current approach, I'd give that a shot first.

Also, check your fatigue settings on Leonard.  He's playing too fatigued at many points in the games.  Again, use that depth you have.  I recognize you think he's your best big man, but his 66 ST is going to limit him obviously, but then I think you're overdoing it by having him play much too winded.

Also, why would you go slowdown vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor?  And just normal vs. NJC?  I think you're not selling out hard enough for 40 minutes of hell with your vastly superior ATH/DEF.  And your ST is certainly good enough at this point to make it work.

Lastly, I'd put more distribution on your guards and have them slashing more to get to the line more.  You're FT% of 67% is pretty mediocre for those grades imo, which tells me you're not using enough of your high ATH guards going to the basket and inducing fouls. 

You're "75% all-in", but not quite there imo.  Uptempo nearly all the time, switch to FB, reduce Leonard's fatigue settings (in fact, I'd have all of them playing at FF if they aren't now), get your guards slashing more and with higher overall distro.

REB will still be an issue, but I think if you can promote an uptempo style that gets the other team in foul trouble and makes them play their lesser players, this will mitigate some of the REB disparity.

Just my opinions...

Well what do I have to lose? I'm not going to win the title playing the way I've been playing it. I'll try your suggestions. Thanks.

And you were 100 percent correct about Leonard. 

Excellent. But just to be clear, only switch to FB after you've practiced it a while. More of a multi season strategy there.

Posted by jdno on 2/25/2014 2:45:00 PM (view original):
Excellent. But just to be clear, only switch to FB after you've practiced it a while. More of a multi season strategy there.

Not to start an argument, but wouldn't the lack of speed hurt him running fastbreak like he had with the press? How much does athleticism play with a fast break offense. I'm asking because I'm not sure. What about lack of ball handling and passing skills? I do agree with the rest of your assessments in the above posts.

IMO, FB makes better use of ATH and also doesn't require solid LP and PE to make the offense work.  While more SP would surely be helpful, I think if he generated more offense, his overall team performance would be better.  He has ATH and DEF to burn with good-enough ST and a 12-man roster, so switching to FB would make better use of his team's strengths (ATH, good FT shooters in the backcourt, reasonable ones in the frontcourt) while mitigating some of his offensive weaknesses (namely low LP and PER).  So as long as his pedestrian (low?) SP, BH, and P aren't negatively affected too much -- if at all -- by going to the FB vs. the Flex, then I think he'll come out ahead in the overall scheme of things.

I think a possible upgrade he should consider would be to recruit a speedy PG who may only be 30-40 in DEF but who can run the offense (strong BH and P) and hit 80+ in PE as an upperclassman.  Easier said than done of course, but teams will eventually start to collapse their defense by going -2 or -3, so having a kid like this would be a nice weapon even with perhaps less than elite DEF.  Not to mention he'd help the offense flow better as a true PG.

I had actually practiced it a little last season so I have no F's except for my one Freshman, as mostly everyone is a D. I will pack in the practice time and try it against the weaker opponents. Should be fun to see if they can play better.  As far as the speedy point guard goes, I have virtually taken the same tactic (high ATH and DEF) with Eureka, my other team. They are playing at a much higher level and I have a PG there is a legit All American. I am still doing the flex and we are playing pretty well. 

Posted by Trentonjoe on 2/25/2014 11:40:00 AM (view original):
Man will lower your opponents FG%,   My NYU teams runs under 40% allowed with ATH and DEF in the lower 60's.

That is what I have experienced in playing against man teams. 

Posted by dshook30 on 2/25/2014 5:03:00 PM (view original):
I had actually practiced it a little last season so I have no F's except for my one Freshman, as mostly everyone is a D. I will pack in the practice time and try it against the weaker opponents. Should be fun to see if they can play better.  As far as the speedy point guard goes, I have virtually taken the same tactic (high ATH and DEF) with Eureka, my other team. They are playing at a much higher level and I have a PG there is a legit All American. I am still doing the flex and we are playing pretty well. 

I think it becomes a choice of: 1) Stick with Flex/FCP and balance your recruiting attributes, or 2) Change to FB/FCP and keep recruiting like you have. But you certainly would not want to change to FB this season just because it matches this seasons roster better.

Posted by thewizard17 on 2/25/2014 3:09:00 PM (view original):

Posted by jdno on 2/25/2014 2:45:00 PM (view original):
Excellent. But just to be clear, only switch to FB after you've practiced it a while. More of a multi season strategy there.

Not to start an argument, but wouldn't the lack of speed hurt him running fastbreak like he had with the press? How much does athleticism play with a fast break offense. I'm asking because I'm not sure. What about lack of ball handling and passing skills? I do agree with the rest of your assessments in the above posts.

I have always thought that the FB was a BH and SPD-based offense, and wasn't based on ATH. I can't see why it would produce terribly different results, but I have been killed by speedy/ballhandling-y FB/FCP teams.