Hey guys,

Would just like some opinions on the fastbreak offense if you would please.  My team is substandard but I think this offense has costed me a couple very winnable games...I guess I'd just like to hear some pros and cons, if you like it or you don't...perhaps rank the 4 offenses top down...just looking for some insight here because I think fb is weighing me down.

Thank you and take care.

Trevor

I don't think the problem is the FB, per se, its that you don't have the right ratings for it;  what is absolutely killing your team this year is turnovers.  You also need to get Whelan in the starting lineup and more playing time STAT.  He is the most FB suitable player it looks like you have.

Edit:

 

To expand, you are relatively low on Athleticism, speed, and ball handling.  

Trying to run a fastbreak offense while starting two freshmen at guard is a recipe for major pain. . .

Thank you, I'm thinking of mucking it all together...I tend to have more success with triangle/motion/flex.

And those woudl probably suit your roster better.

there is no ranking on the 4 offenses. its totally dependent on the team. there are some reasons why one may or may not be as suitable for a particular division as others, but largely the game is designed so you can win with any offense at any level. every offense has its pros and cons, so the best way to go, IMO, is to pick one, study it, and try to build around it. it will take you several iterations (meaning 4 season windows) to really settle in to an offense, at least it did for me, so IMO the worst way to go is to jump around from offense to offense without ever getting comfortable with any of them.

i will add that fast break is the most likely of any offense to be the most difficult to play when you are still learning a lot about the game. it was the first offense i played and i was totally lost, i would definitely not recommend it to any new coach.

I believe the motion offense is probably the easiest to learn. I say this because you can use so many variations...2 guards, 3 forwards...3 guards, 2 post players, etc., etc., and make the offense fit your players. You can also run this offense from the inside out or the outside in, according to where you are the strongest. Just my humble opinion...

I think FB offense you need teams with very high ath/spd at all positions. I have seen coaches take bigs with 60 ath 50 spd, but reb/def/lp in the 20s.

FB is only for the insane.  It's a much worse offense than any of the other 3 (tied for 1st, FB being a distant 4th).  It used to have the advantage of wearing out the other team, but they changed that so offense has no affect (or at most very little) on the fatigue of your opponent.

I guess the key to running it is to have a good defense and good rebounding.  You won't run it off of made baskets, so you really have to get stops and then get those missed shots.  I've found that passing doesn't really help all that much (although I've recruited a big man with high potential in passing...hoping that kickstarts the FB).  Ballhanding is much more important than passing though.  And, of course, speed/ath/stamina are probably the most important aspects.  

Posted by udm_mike on 10/18/2010 2:41:00 PM (view original):
FB is only for the insane.  It's a much worse offense than any of the other 3 (tied for 1st, FB being a distant 4th).  It used to have the advantage of wearing out the other team, but they changed that so offense has no affect (or at most very little) on the fatigue of your opponent.

I guess the key to running it is to have a good defense and good rebounding.  You won't run it off of made baskets, so you really have to get stops and then get those missed shots.  I've found that passing doesn't really help all that much (although I've recruited a big man with high potential in passing...hoping that kickstarts the FB).  Ballhanding is much more important than passing though.  And, of course, speed/ath/stamina are probably the most important aspects.  

no offense, but too many people have been successful with the FB for me to buy this. from my own limited experience, i think the fb is fine. i think the fb is just harder to wrap your head around.

as a disclaimer, the first time i played fb, i vowed never to play it again. but, it was also the first school i ever coached. i had a couple teams that were on par with the best in the country, who played the regular season as such, and then tanked in the NT. but in retrospect, that was much more a function of me being a new coach than the fb. i since have played fb once, recently, in a fb/zone d1 experiment, and it was just as productive on offense as any other offense, as best i can tell. i was hindered initially by having no idea how to play the zone or the fb, but after a while i felt like the fb was fine, and honestly, quite a bit of fun. you can do more with less lp/per than any other offense, i think there is little doubt about that. and even though i dropped that team (due to having too many), i eagerly look forward to playing the fb again.

also, distro wise, fb is awesome. the most awesome of any offense i would say, speaking as a massive fan of the triangle, which distro wise is quite a bit more awesome than motion (which i am also a big fan of). im not sure where exactly i would place flex but definitely between motion and fb in terms of distro awesomeness. hope that makes some sense :)

I thought that in FB the DIstro actually meant a bit less, as it would only come into play if the break. .'broke down'?

With my only NC coming from a FB/press team, I can vouch for the fact it can be useful. The downside I find, is that you can lose to anybody on a given day with it. I find I lose a lot more upsets with this offense than I do with any other offenses, however I feel I have greater success against some better teams than I might expect if my Press IQ is very high (ie I can be the upsetting team more easily). Forego great perimeter and passing if you must, to get great athleticism and speed. Also, poor stamina will KILL a FB/press team. I've learned this lesson the hard way too often. Ballhandling is the next thing I look for after Ath/SP/STAM. This has been succesful for me. I would definitely not recommend a FB/Zone as these two often require different skill strengths, making it too easy to spread yourself thin.