I am currently in D2. I took about 2 years off from the game and want to learn more about game planning and how it can affect the outcome of the game .. my team is bad but improving this is my second season.  Last season i lost several close games in the last half.. already this season i have lost both exihibition games.   Any help would be great  Thanks

i am guessing either this is the wrong forum or no one i willing to give out info on game planning

I am no expert, but I can tell you what I do for game planning.

I use my spreadsheet (either TeamMatchup.xlsm {for MS Excel} or TeamWorksheet.ods for OpenOffice.org) to compare my players and create my lineups.  I also use the spreadsheets to scout the other teams and to set my distribution settings.  I don't blindly do what the sheet recommends, but I do use it for input.

There are instructions and spreadsheet files available for download here:

Hoops Dynasty Folder

I glanced at the boxscores from your two exhibition games and it looks like you just had bad luck both times. In fact, in the second loss each team made the same number of shots, the team you lost to happened to make one more three pointer than you did.

I know you're asking for gameplanning advice but your team runs a M2M and you have a lot of poor defenders at the DII level. Also a Flex offense needs good passers and outside shooters to be really successful and you're a bit short on that too. Just constructive criticism.

As for gameplanning the biggest part is playing to your strengths while exploiting your opponent's weaknesses. If their starting SG is taking 25% of their shots, maybe make your best defender the starter to try and slow him down. Or double team him. If your offensive IQs are much higher than their defensive IQs then go Uptempo and get your guys to the line when they foul you more. Playing a strong rebounding team? Maybe move your PF to the three slot and play two centers in at the 4 and 5.

The little things can swing a game for you and it takes time and experience to learn the nuances. Good luck

thanks Pablo.. would you reccomend a different offense and defense??

enchant - there used to be a very good help guide on the site, I looked for it and do not see it any longer - if anyone else knows if the guide is still around, please post the link here to help enchant.

I would not switch offenses at this point.  The only way I would switch defenses is if you plan on staying for a long time.  Often, guys who take this serious, move around at first, because they realize they made some mistakes at first.  I doubt I stayed with any of my first teams, although one of my second teams I stayed with for near 20 seasons.  Reason I say this, is it takes about a season and a half for even a vet coach to switch over off or def, so if you only plan on staying with your current team 2 seasons, keep your offense and defense the same.

I looked at your team, you appear to have them practicing reasonably well, as they are improving quite a bit.

A couple of ?'s for you, do you have your shot selection set to all zero's?  Same page, do you have your distro set to all zero's?  If they are all set to zero's that is the default, many vet coaches program that, to give your best players more touches than your worst, and your inside guys more inside shots, hence -2 or -1 vs zero.

On the lineup page, do you have tiredness set to fatigue or target minutes?  For starters, the best settings are fatigue, and either fairly fresh or getting tired?  A star more likely getting tired than an average player.

For starters, I would recommend going 2 deep at each position, then place a 3rd guy at each position who already was a sub on the 2 deep roster, which will give you a ten player rotation.  

hope i did not confuse you - sitemail me if you want more help, else just ask ?'s here and someone should pipe in with an answer

Posted by hughesjr on 11/4/2010 7:15:00 PM (view original):
I am no expert, but I can tell you what I do for game planning.

I use my spreadsheet (either TeamMatchup.xlsm {for MS Excel} or TeamWorksheet.ods for OpenOffice.org) to compare my players and create my lineups.  I also use the spreadsheets to scout the other teams and to set my distribution settings.  I don't blindly do what the sheet recommends, but I do use it for input.

There are instructions and spreadsheet files available for download here:

Hoops Dynasty Folder

do any of the worksheets work with Office 2008 for the Mac? the macros werent working on TeamMatchup.xlsm for me

Uggghhhh, spreadsheets.  Just a bit too serious for me, but to each his own.  Whatever works for each coach and whatever you're comfortable with I guess.  :^)