Quote: Originally posted by hatton98 on 4/29/2010Hi, all --

I've been playing HBD for quite a while now, and decided to give Hoops a shot. (Because what fun is actually playing a sim game *in season*, after all?)

I've been reading through as many FAQs, guides and helpful old threads I can find, but still have a few questions -- some about the mechanics of the game itself, and some related more to the team I've taken over. Any help or advice in any of the areas below (or just in general) is greatly appreciated.

If it helps for reference, it's currently Suffolk in Tark that I'm in the process of trying not to steer off a cliff.

First, the (probably easy) game mechanics Qs:

- Do the player rating bumps related to practice planning update on regular cycles (e.g., the 2am/pm game slots, every 3 hours a la recruiting cycles), on some other schedule, or intermittently?

They should be updating or be updated after each game.

(I've got no problem obsessively checking for the latest progress, but if I can obsessively check 2-4 times a day rather than 8-10, that'd be okay, too.)

- Ditto the above for IQ bumps. Are all player attributes (potentially) updated on the same cycle(s)?

- Is it common for games to 'double up' in a single cycle? I just had an off day in today's AM cycle, and game-planned for the next game on my schedule. But the next two games appear to have simmed at once in the PM cycle; I've got box scores (and narrow losses) for both. Oddly, it's the 1st of the two games that shows up on my main page under 'Last Game', not the 2nd.

It is common for this to happen since you are in a world that plays twice a day. It should be 2am and 2pm each day the games are played. I do game planning in the evening for early am game and then first thing in the morning for pm game.


Now that I look closely, they both have '04/29/10 pm' listed for the date on the schedule page. I'll definitely keep a closer eye on this in future, but is this common? And is there an effective way to game-plan for the 2nd game, where strategy would differ from the 1st?

Quote: Originally Posted By hatton98 on 4/29/2010



Specifically regarding the Suffolk team, I did my best to heed the advice I found -- I recruited locally, covered the region w/FSS as best I could, steered clear of recruiting battles, and tried to get the best combos of SPD/ATH/WE and core position attributes that I was able to see.

Unfortunately, I probably didn't pick the easiest team to transition into. It's been AI-run for the last 8 seasons, had just 2 seniors and six scholarships to fill. What I get for picking a school by location rather than situation, I suppose.

A couple of things I've been chewing on / wondering about as I head into my first conference game, ever:

- I've been concentrating on OFF/DEF (24-25 min.), Conditioning and Footwork (for better D) in practice, then the position-specific categories. Does it make the most sense to beef up these 'basics' first, on a team where I expect to (and have) taken some lumps right away? Or should I try to focus 1-2 of the higher-ceiling guys into specialists early on?

First you should understand that you hit diminishing returns after 20 min (some say 25). The only time I ever put 25 in anyone is after they have maxed thier potential in all other catagories. As far as prioritizing, there are differant schools. Personally, I tend to keep it rounded out (roughly 10 per cat), pulling minutes to min once a catagory has maxed and putting them into 1) conditioning 2) footwork then whatever that player needs the most. Tends to work for me, but others might maximize an attribute before addressing others; especially non-core attributes for a position.


-I've been playing downtempo most games, seeing that I'm usually at a disadvantage in IQ and some of the core ratings. Other than adjusting +/- on D and doubling down on a big scorer (if there is one), are there any other per-game adjustments that make good sense for a team younger than most opponents? And do things like double-teams tend to be more or less effective with (mostly) raw defenders?

Again differant schools of thought, but I tend to shy away from slowdown. While it is supposed to optimize possessions, myself and others tend to think that having more attempts at normal tempo is still a better option for an undermanned team (think of it like this: I'm going against a superior team and I slow it down, this gives them as much time to set their defense as it does for me to find an opening, if is set up more quickly, I at least have a chance they aren't in position). I wouldn't take this so far as to say go uptempo, because this is a differant beast and there is where you WILL get owned by better players.

- I've got the 2 Srs. and 3 Frs. starting (one FR with a promise that probably wasn't necessary). One returning Jr and one So are pretty useful, but there are two So SFs I'm just not thrilled with, threw way down the depth chart, and now they're squawking for PT.


Is it generally better to get these guys in the rotation to keep reputation up (again, if competing for a title's not in the current cards), or let them squawk (and walk, perhaps) and take the hit? With a smaller class to fill next year, I might rescind one or both, but didn't want to try juggling 7-8 open slots right out of the gate. If I plan for that, does it matter much if I keep them marginally happy in the meantime -- or should I actually prefer them to walk in the offseason?


Worry only about the players YOU recruited, those are the promises you must keep. If you have a legacy player you simply MUST have, then keep them happy. Otherwise it's your decision, but it won't affect your rep. Just be aware of how many minutes you can distribute before you recruit.


- The useful soph is also squawking for more time, with the problem being that he's a PG backing up a solid senior, who also happens to have a 97 STM (and 99 DEF, which is sorely needed).

I'd prefer to stay with fatigue settings on the depth chart, rather than target minutes, so I moved the soph to #2 in the SG rotation and set the starting (promised) SG to FF, but I'd be interested if there are more creative ways to boost just one guy's PT. With my limited knowledge, I like him better as a PG -- but not nearly as much as the Sr. Right now, his minutes are all over the map (5-18), depending on the game.


Well, first off, personally I'd start that soph at PG. There is a good new coach thread here stickied, but I'll give you the Cliff's version. At PG, you are looking for SP and ATH then DE, PA and BH (in debatable order). STA is great, but not a deal-breaker for who starts, especially when we are talking 97 vs. 80 (which is improving) and you are running zone. The soph is faster and a MUCH better passer. You do take a hit on D, but in D3 I'd take that in order to have more assists and fewer turnovers... He's also a better shooter and he's only going to get better than the SR in most catagories.

But to your question of getting guys time. You need to prioritize who you want to keep happy (see above) understand that it isn't always neccesary to give minutes to recruits, only do so when you need to (in a battle with someone else for them) and keep it as low as possible. Same with starts. To maximize time, you can put players at multiple positions as well (if they aren't starting) so they can see more minutes at other positions to keep them happy.

Again look at the stickies and understand that SPD and ATH will almost always trump STA and DUR. The latter can keep players in a game, but I'd rather have the most atheletic and fastest guys out there and spell them if their STA indicates it.


Thanks again for any help, and sorry for the book of a post. I'm definitely looking forward to building this team for several seasons, and seeing where things go down the road. Cheers.

Quote: Originally Posted By castorhos on 4/29/2010

Quote: Originally posted by hatton98 on 4/29/2010

I jumped into a Div. 1 school under the same circumstances you did. 8 season of sim coaching heading into my first season.

The first lesson I learned coaching a rebuilding team was patience. It is not going to happen the first, second or third year. Do the best you can recruiting wise and work to increase your teams prestige. Schedule better human teams to play each season and that should help you recruit better players.


As for practice. I keep offense and defense to 20 in order to get a few more practice teams for each player. Some people says it helps other says it does not.

For each player the rule of thumb I read in a couple of different posts was put no points at all in anything under 20. I also do not put any points into passing for pf's or centers. Likewise I put no rebounding points in for pg's or sg's. If they have over 20 in any of these I may put 7 points in so they do not fall.


I have to disagree with you here, especially since they are going to put some emphasis on LP for guards (or at least utilize it). There is no catagory that I will ever tank a player on if they have anything over 5. You want guards who can do a bit of rebounding and C's absolutely need passing, so I wouldn't consider not putting minutes into them.

As for specific areas for practice I mix and match. I have a couple freshman starting this year and have their core abilities set to 20, e.g. my sg has 20 condition, 20 fw, 25 per. I have a couple freshman forwards that I spread their points out anywhere from 10-15. This is a little slower but they are only getting 2-5 minutes a game and usually only when they are blow outs.

I'll repeat what I said earlier, and say you need to address other catagories. Your guards need passing and bh, so you can't have everything so high. When they max out somewhere, yes, but you'll find your players will improve better by spreading out the spectrum rather than glutting catagories.


My second season in I got rid of 2 or 3 players over from the sim coach. I took a hit but did not really seem to effect me and I was able to recruit far better players to fill those holes and help me increase my teams overall prestige.

Playing time for whining................I have had a few and the one thing I did for them if they were third in line was to place them in two different positions at backup. I had a sg third in the rotation that I also put in at third in the sf rotation. Same for a center who was third, I placed him third in the pf rotation. It gave them enough minutes we stopped dropping and I got no more hate mails from them. you could also make sure you have the mop-up selections are both checked in the team game plan page at the bottom.


http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/threads.asp?ForumID=30&TopicID=408031&PagePosition=1


You may want to read a bit through that as you gain experience and some insight to this. I know after spending a few seasons questioning some of my moves as a coach I read that and made some changes that seem to be working better than what I had even if they were only slight and minor changes.