So my D2 team in Iba somehow snuck into to NT (I was fully expecting to be in the PI) as a 16 seed. I'm playing the #1 D2 team in Iba in the first round. I'm a 31 point underdog. I have a virtually zero chance of winning.

I started to think "what can I do to better my chances", but then realized that it's pretty much a fool's errand. I'm going to get crushed. So I pretty much did my standard game plan against a vastly superior opponent, I'll wake up tomorrow morning, take my L, and take the WIS credit for making the NT.

But it did make me wonder (just to prompt discussion here in the forum): what were some of the craziest things that other coaches (i.e. you) have done in a game plan that's actually worked for you?

-5 slowdown from a team-gameplanning standpoint. very effective, especially again man/zone teams that don't have enough shooter.

from a depth chart standpoint, I've thrown a few 100 spd low reb 100 per low lp guys at the 3 on +2 with a big distro boost if I felt I needed offense and an opposing 3 was slow in some D1 title games. Filled in a backup defensive guard behind them.

player game plan, nothing. no reason ever to do anything crazy. maybe double 3 guys or something.

Following up on cub- most of the time I've thrown out crazy gameplans it's backfired. There have been a few times I've completely switched up my depth chart in the postseason and surprised some very good teams.

I will say you can mess with player distro on occasion. It will more often than not backfire but I run triangle on my D3 squad and try to keep the distro even across my top 3 scorers. Depending on my opponent I'll rotate who those top 3 are. Combining that with depth chart swapping, it's easy to catch opponents off balance and have a typical reserve drop 15-20 points. But it requires a well balanced team with serious depth.

Big upsets are unlikely as a human coach (too bad you’re not a sim) but there are things you can do to try to disrupt their gameplan. That is essentially your goal.

Slowdown, -5, double the shooter(s) is the common upset special. You can do that. Most high seeds will be well prepared to withstand that most nights, but bad sims happen to all of us, and if you get the juice that night, it can be glorious for you. But again, most high seeds have more than a couple shooters (they don’t have to be 3pt shooters to blast a -5) so that heavy negative is more often than not just increasing their margin of victory. But on the other hand, you’re rolling the dice for an upset, not trying to decrease the final spread. That’s why this one is very popular.

If you press, you can’t double specific players, but you can move guys around to line them up against their most effective scorers, and I do that in a pinch. You don’t control where the help comes from, but we can assume the listed SF is at least involved in defending the 3 area most of the time. The “lockdown” concept is clearly not as strong as it is in man, but it’s not nothing. Moving guys around also makes you less predictable, and as a disruptor, that’s good.

Another approach - I’m much less worried about modulating distribution than some of the other opinions you’ll get, especially in this instance. You are the disruptor. It is not in your interest to be predictable. If your opponent game plans, it is likely they will just look at 3-pt tendency, some efficiencies, and move on. They are unlikely to double anyone (as that can backfire and increase team efficiency) so choose a spot to attack and put your most efficient guy (hopefully a 3 point shooter) there. Maybe go up to half the distribution on the floor (I normally don’t go over 33% for any one player, and very rarely reach above 40%) if you have one dependable scorer. Roll the dice with him having a good night.

Ultimately, to beat a clearly better team, they will need to draw the “sucks to be you” card, because at this spread, you can seriously outcoach them, but you’re only looking at decreasing that margin by 10-12 points most nights, against most of those caliber teams. Regardless, you want to approach these things from a disrupting standpoint, think about the things you can do that might take them away from what they’re trying to do.