emy, don't get me wrong I never said that D works perfectly in HD.
My comment was directed at the thought that "D means nothing" - Which is incorrect. It might not mean as much as an individual would like, fine I can agree with that, but D does mean something and that is a fact.
I would agree with you in saying that it could be looked into where a lower Defensive rating means more fouls, but again I have already seen this. Does it happen as often as you would like? Apparently not, sure I'll agree it is something to discuss.
I know that in D2 Rupp I had good success with many players with low D ratings and Elite SPD/ATH ratings (Bigs usually 70+). In my many years there (and in other worlds) I noticed that my defense was much more unpredictable then when I had higher D ratings. There would be games where I would scratch my head, we should have won or won by more IMO but our inconsistent D was a drawback. I tried to counteract that with High IQs and would sacrifice some individual player development for the team IQ that would be all As with upperclassmen.
Again, I am not saying that D is perfect, I think that there is always room for improvement in HD and likely in D's also. The fact is D is not "meaningless" it does have its roll.
This likely won't be fixed until the FCP goes away and is replaced as an add-on to any other DE as it should be. If this were to happen I think that many would see that D does have a much greater affect then they believe.