I have been play this game for some time, but for some reason I cant understand why my team is struggling. So I am hoping some fresh eyes will be some help.

https://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=7438

I don't play D2 so maybe my advice isn't the best... but here are a couple things I see.

-Seaman (great name) and Reece have HORRIBLE ath/def. And it looks like they have no potential to really improve there. Unless they are studs in other areas (PER, BH, Pass, Reb), I'm not sure you can handle many guys like that on your team.
- You have Coyer starting at PF and he has very poor rebounding for a Big. He should be a SF. But you have Wray who is basically the same guy (who I see isn't playing much). And then Haber and Larry who is also a SF.. So within the same class you have 4 guys who are meant for the same position and you need to force fit a guy (Coyer) into a position he's not suited for. Also, now you have a Senior (Wray) who has only played in half the games... I'd probably give him minutes over Reece and Seman even if his BH/Pass is lower... but I dunno, not great situation there.
- Mahan seems like your 2nd best Big and is a C for sure, but maybe you could try him at PF alongside Whobrey. He's getting way too few minutes.
- Gotta get a better PG. You have only 1 guy over 60 pass and he's your starting SF. Not good.
- Why are Coyer and Paul Pierce (Paul Pierce!) taking 3s? Set those guys to -2.
- Not sure what Jackson's potentials look like but 9 WE is really low and he doesn't have great starting 'core' ratings. You redshirted him this season and your best bet is to start him all next 4 seasons. He still won't get that much improvement though. He's another SG/SF looks like.

Overall, I think you gotta get more talented guys (no more <30 Ath/Def unless they kick *** in other areas) and work on your team structure. Don't get multiple guys in the same class that are suited for the same position. When you recruit, know what position he's going to be playing when he's a Jr/Sr and is starting. Make sure they all mesh together and have a specified role on the team (distributor, scorer, rebounder, etc). I wouldn't be afraid to give up some def for some Per/BH/Pass but that should mean he's got that role on the team. Then you can make up his lack of defense elsewhere because he adds a lot to your offense. But getting a bunch of guys who have avg ath/spd/reb/def is tough since they don't do anything really well.

Its not a very good team. I can see why you are struggling but don't know what your expectations are.
1) Team speed is bad. Only 1 player above 70
2) Team rebounding is bad. Only 2 players above 50.
3) Team athleticism is bad. Only 1 player above 70
(so right there you are weak in 2 of the 3 main components of all teams. Your defense is OK)
4) Your distribution is poor. Jackson, Coyer, and Whobrey take most of your shots and Jackson is shooting 43% and Coyer is shooting 48%. I went to see who should be increased but you don't have many good scoring options. So let me change this to "your offense is poor".
5) Not a single ball handler above 65.
6) Not a single passer above 65.

In essence, a weak team with no particular strengths. You may do well in conference vs. the SIMS but I don't see you making a post season.

Hopefully this isn't too harsh! It's not meant to be. Just an honest assessment. Straight Talk.

Thank you everyone for the help.

When recruiting, you have to somehow factor in Potential. You also have to take players who have certain attributes at certain positions. This thread for what to look for in Attributes at each position is still very good.

In my opinion, you need to try to have one PG on your team who has > 70-75 passing, you need a Scorer to start at SG who has > 80 at PE and > 65 at BH. All Guards need speed > 70. All Guards need DEF > 50 (or, if they are really good in other areas, as close to 50 as you can get them). And from the 'win at D2/D3' thread above, guards need 120 for ATH+SPD. All these numbers are the players max projected attributes. You take their current ratings and add in Potential.

For PF and C. All your bigs should have ATH .. I try to have ATH > 65 for all of them. Rebounding should be > 70 for as many PF and C as you can. DEF > 50 (or as close to 50 as possible if they are really good in other areas). If you want someone to score, they need LP > 70, with good ATH as well. You can substitute good PE+SPD+ATH and lower LP if you have a guy like that for a 'stretch 4' at PF, but I don't usually try to do that.

For the overall average team scores .. you want to have ATH and DEF both > 60.

What I would recommend that you do is take the top 5 teams at D2 in every world from here: Overview

That link as a w=7 at the end.. you can use any number between 1 and 10 to look at a specific world. so w=1 is Naismith, w=2 is Wooden, etc.

Click the division you are interested in (in this case Div-II) and then look at the Collegiate Insider Top 5 teams one by one (or even create a spreadsheet) and average the Attributes for each starting position.

If you did that for all 10 worlds (it would be 50 teams), then you could get a feel for what attributes the coaches of the best teams think are important.

Also look at the Average Attributes for those teams .. as an example, right now in world 7, looking at the top 5 teams from Collegiate Insider Top 5 for D-II .. the Average scores for DEF are 64, 74, 62, 66, 74. The average scores for ATH are: 64, 70, 59, 61, 66. Your Average DEF is 55 and your Average ATH is 48. You are not going to be able to compete with good teams with those averages.

I'll take the number one team in World 7 Div 2 (Mt Olive) for just an quick analysis. His guards all have SPD between 68-97. Guard PE are between 81-96. Guard PASS is between 53-90 .. with 2 guys above 81. Guards DEF one guy at 22 (who has WE of 85 and gained 11 DEF this season, so likely will be > 40 DEF as a JR/SR) .. the other guard's DEF are 41, 43, 71, 78. Guards BH are between 68-90.

You can look at and analyze the PF and C for that team for ATH, REB ,DEF, BLK, LP (or LP+PE).

And the whole team for STA.

The bottom line is, if you want to win, then look at what the winning teams do, then pattern yourself after what those team do. Are there other ways to win? Sure. But almost all of them require good team DEF and decent team ATH. You can substitute some SPD for ATH or DEF (especially in Guards) and some BLK for DEF in Bigs, etc.

Hughesjr, that is one of the most useful posts I have seen in quite a while. Thank you and well done.

Posted by hughesjr on 11/12/2016 8:45:00 PM (view original):
When recruiting, you have to somehow factor in Potential. You also have to take players who have certain attributes at certain positions. This thread for what to look for in Attributes at each position is still very good.

In my opinion, you need to try to have one PG on your team who has > 70-75 passing, you need a Scorer to start at SG who has > 80 at PE and > 65 at BH. All Guards need speed > 70. All Guards need DEF > 50 (or, if they are really good in other areas, as close to 50 as you can get them). And from the 'win at D2/D3' thread above, guards need 120 for ATH+SPD. All these numbers are the players max projected attributes. You take their current ratings and add in Potential.

For PF and C. All your bigs should have ATH .. I try to have ATH > 65 for all of them. Rebounding should be > 70 for as many PF and C as you can. DEF > 50 (or as close to 50 as possible if they are really good in other areas). If you want someone to score, they need LP > 70, with good ATH as well. You can substitute good PE+SPD+ATH and lower LP if you have a guy like that for a 'stretch 4' at PF, but I don't usually try to do that.

For the overall average team scores .. you want to have ATH and DEF both > 60.

What I would recommend that you do is take the top 5 teams at D2 in every world from here: Overview

That link as a w=7 at the end.. you can use any number between 1 and 10 to look at a specific world. so w=1 is Naismith, w=2 is Wooden, etc.

Click the division you are interested in (in this case Div-II) and then look at the Collegiate Insider Top 5 teams one by one (or even create a spreadsheet) and average the Attributes for each starting position.

If you did that for all 10 worlds (it would be 50 teams), then you could get a feel for what attributes the coaches of the best teams think are important.

Also look at the Average Attributes for those teams .. as an example, right now in world 7, looking at the top 5 teams from Collegiate Insider Top 5 for D-II .. the Average scores for DEF are 64, 74, 62, 66, 74. The average scores for ATH are: 64, 70, 59, 61, 66. Your Average DEF is 55 and your Average ATH is 48. You are not going to be able to compete with good teams with those averages.

I'll take the number one team in World 7 Div 2 (Mt Olive) for just an quick analysis. His guards all have SPD between 68-97. Guard PE are between 81-96. Guard PASS is between 53-90 .. with 2 guys above 81. Guards DEF one guy at 22 (who has WE of 85 and gained 11 DEF this season, so likely will be > 40 DEF as a JR/SR) .. the other guard's DEF are 41, 43, 71, 78. Guards BH are between 68-90.

You can look at and analyze the PF and C for that team for ATH, REB ,DEF, BLK, LP (or LP+PE).

And the whole team for STA.

The bottom line is, if you want to win, then look at what the winning teams do, then pattern yourself after what those team do. Are there other ways to win? Sure. But almost all of them require good team DEF and decent team ATH. You can substitute some SPD for ATH or DEF (especially in Guards) and some BLK for DEF in Bigs, etc.

As someone looking to get into HD with the new system, this post was immensely helpful.

You have seven good players but the worst five on your team are just bad at Ath/De. BTW thanks Hughes for the third greatest post I have seen on a forum (aejones guide to DII and DIII and Chapels guide to 3.0)!