Hi guys,

Relatively new to the game - this will only be my 3rd season playing. Need some help figuring out what's wrong with my team this year. I'm the highest rated team in my conference by a decent margin, and yet I'm getting blown out by far less talented teams. What am I doing wrong? Fatigue doesn't seem to be an issue so the only possible thing I can point to is low player IQ in my system since my players are young, but my players aren't that low in IQ.

Would appreciate any suggestions or feedback on what I should do to improve as a coach.

Thanks.

Biggest things that stand out to me...

1) Your defense ratings are not that good. Especially with your big men. You're going to get eaten alive in the paint.
2) Passing ratings aren't that great either. You aren't getting killed in turnovers, but poor passing can put scorers in a less ideal shooting position and FG% will be lower.
3) You're running a half court press which requires good athleticism ratings and yours is average at best
4) You're doing 2-3 Zone which requires good rebounders and outside of your starting PF and C you don't have much there either.

Agree with above. Defense and passing has to improve since you can’t run an effective offense with your players. Find at least one big rebounder or more per class to function around the rim. Also go to your depth chart page and look at your stats. Consider moving around some of your distro to guys shooting 50% or better. It can’t hurt from a game flow standpoint. Find a good PE player next class too so you can at least start to balance an inside/outside game. Doesn’t take too long can be done in a single class or two.

Posted by kped0088 on 10/16/2020 3:08:00 PM (view original):
Hi guys,

Relatively new to the game - this will only be my 3rd season playing. Need some help figuring out what's wrong with my team this year. I'm the highest rated team in my conference by a decent margin, and yet I'm getting blown out by far less talented teams. What am I doing wrong? Fatigue doesn't seem to be an issue so the only possible thing I can point to is low player IQ in my system since my players are young, but my players aren't that low in IQ.

Would appreciate any suggestions or feedback on what I should do to improve as a coach.

Thanks.

Overall rating isn't a good way to figure out how good a player is. most of your superior overall rating is in WE/STA/DUR, which isn't very useful. Most coaches break the game down into scpring, defense, ball handling, and rebounding.

Generally, if a player is good at 2 of them (and at least decent at defense) they are adding to your team.

Your first goal should to be to hit averages of about 55/55 in team ath and defense. I recommend you don't sign any bigs in D3 with ATH lower than 50 as well, its the most important rating for a big (which is a little counter-intuitive). Ath in bigs plays a huge part in scoring, defense, and rebounding ability.

I might suggest trying to steal some more minutes at the 4 with Capel. His 15-30 point advantage in athleticism will make up some for his lower ratings in other areas. His defense is also higher and with anth factored in its a good deal better.

As said before some of the bigs’ (Fields, Thomas, and Reason) defense is bad. Reason is worth playing because he’s the 2nd best rebounder you have. But Capel is 4th-best and much closer to Thomas than the 25-point difference in reb rating looks like.

I agree with cubcub's comment that overall rating isn't a good way to evaluate a player. It's the cores for each position that count.

Take a look at the "Player Roles" page under the "Coaching" tab. That's not perfect either, but it will give you an idea of what "skill" attributes you should be concentrating on when recruiting. You can create customized roles so that you can play with the numbers. I always add more points to defense and athleticism . . . take points away from other categories as needed. I take all the points away from STA/DUR and reallocate them to the skill attributes for each role.

As a new coach I feel like that player roles mess will confuse you. More than anything, I recommend getting a mentor. Taking time to talk with one coach at first, that can explain some of the basics of HD. And how to view everything with the right mindset. There is I pinned thread with a list of mentors happy to assist you. Look at their profile and see if they are the right coach to help you

once you feel like you understand the basics, then proceed to talk with anyone and everyone for different tips. There's PLENTY of winning methods at this game. But with 10 different coaches throwing 10 different mindsets at you, you may get jumbled up at first. Once you can learn to walk, then take off running afterwards

Guys this is GREAT feedback, I really appreciate everyone's comments. I will correct one thing that we don't run a 2-3 zone but rather halfcourt press/man to man.

Seems like priorities for me should be to recruit a shooter as well as athleticism and defense, especially with my bigs. I did already know that to an extent, as I signed Thomas before I read about the importance of ath/def and now basically realize I need to replace him on my roster. Fields will develop into a competent defender so he'll likely jump in on the depth chart at some point. Also totally agree with the Capel at 4 point - he actually plays a lot there already but probably need to give him more minutes overall.

Also a super good suggestion about changing up the value for player roles and reallocating away from stamina and durability. And will see if I can find a mentor as well. Thanks again everyone, happy to be a part of this fun community!