http://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Roster.aspx?tid=2982

Dont know what I am doing wrong with this team and would welcome any and all suggestions. Made a good run in the PI last year and was returning all 10 players (I had 2 walk-ons last season). Some of the players had some really good off-season improvement to so I was really excited about that. I was ranked #7 in the preseason and looked good in my two preseason games. But have played like **** so far during the season. I realize I have played a tough schedule so far but I would have expected a better record than 1-4 at this point. I have never been this confused with one of my teams. Thanks in advance!

I would change up your game plan in the following ways:

Load up Distro on Davis. That 96 per 94 bh is a killer. He should easily be your most dominant scorer. Get his distro up to 28-35ish range (drop it if he's somehow taking 25-30 shots and shooting inefficiently). I would have him set at +1, but can see a case of 0, so he can get to the line a little bit (utilize the 94 bh). To get most out of Davis, switch him around based on matchup and avoid matching him up with your opponents best scorer. Davis is pretty much going to foul out against any good D2 guard. 

Drop distro on players like Lino, Byron, etc. to 0. They shouldn't be taking shots when they are on the court. 

Set Grotha/Voight to -2 and have them go to the line more often. Davis got the 3 ball covered so you really don't need to worry about your opponent sagging to -1 or -2 against you. 

You are mainly getting killed on defense, but there is little you can do about it now. Athleticism is a tad low for D2 and that's causing alot of problems. 

tianyi, what is your recommendation for ATH per position at D2?

Posted by caesari on 2/20/2012 10:57:00 PM (view original):
tianyi, what is your recommendation for ATH per position at D2?

My rule of thumb for guards is ath+spd>120 as the bare minimum. Ideally 140+ target by SR year. For bigs, it's quite fluid. I would easily grab a 90ath/50reb and plop him in the PF slot, or take a 45-50 ath big with 90+reb/sb/lp (rarely do 50 ath big have DE over 70) and put him in the C spot. Ideally, I want to have at least 1 dominant rebounder on the court at all times. 

The OP's starters are pretty good, not uber studs but also not liabilities by any means. I have a feeling when the backups come onto the court, that's when the defense falls apart. 

Davis also need to be micromanaged. Can't just put him in SG and forget about it. Need to shift him between pg/sg/sf to avoid the opposing team's scorer. The wrong matchup really hurts the OP's team because Davis gives up a ton of points, fouls alot, and when he's in foul trouble, has to sit on the bench and won't be able to carry the scoring load. 

tianyi, when you say switch davis around based on matchup, you think he should play PG sometimes? So, basically switch him and Voigt between PG and SG and have Davis guard whoever is the lesser scorer?

In the past I had just always played Voigt at the point because of his 91/89 in BH and Pass, but your advice makes sense. Will Voigt still be effective enough at games where I have him playing SG (meaning will this diminish his BH/P ratings, which are his best attributes, since he isnt running the offense)?

edit: was typing this up before I saw your last post

I haven't seen any convincing evidence that putting the player with best PG stats (bh/p) at SG/SF will weaken your team's offensive efficiency. But assume it's true, you can always move Davis to SF, or have Davis as 1st backup for pg/sg or sg/sf and have him come in with the 2nd unit. 

Grotha can easily start at SG and allow you to hide Davis, so Davis gets matched up against your opponents 2nd unit. He will avoid some foul trouble.

I'm also a little confused as to why Maxwell is in the starting lineup. while Shatz is in SF. My starting 5 would be the following:

C: Davenport
PF: Shatz
SF: Grotha/Davis
SG: Davis/Grotha
PG: Voight

Have Maxwell be first backup for both Davenport and Shatz. 

I haven't done a huge in depth analysis, so these are just suggestions, and not "here's your problem" comments.

1. Voight's ratings show he's elite, so I can see why he gets the distribution he does. But, he's shooting poorly. I wouldn't fight the engine. I'd ignore what his rating is and bump down his shooting to your other studs. You have three guys who are shooting the ball over 50%. He's still dishing out great assist numbers, but his turnovers are up. Lower his distro and I bet he cuts his TO, raises his shooting and assists.

2. You play with tempo and + - a lot. You may be over thinking it. In your Nazarene game, I would have said you have a big rebound advantage. Yet you went +2 and totally negated it. I'd also not go fast paced very often. I've ran triangle for 100+ seasons, and just don't think it does well. If anything, I've had elite teams I've ran slowdown with, because I think the triangle really suits it. If it were me, I'd stick with normal pace, slowdown versus press teams, and go 0 or -1 if the guy has a huge rebound advantage on me. You've got strong rebounding, so I don't see that happening too often.

3. You haven't really done badly. Your games you lost were on the road to quality opponents. Your team is still pretty young with only 3 SR. As the season progresses, and your iqs improve, you will be really tough. My Montana St Billings team went 20-11 a couple of seasons ago, mainly from going 2-8 in the non con against tough competition. I was rewarded with a 16 seed in the NT. I made the elite 8. So dont get too worked up yet. Winning on the road against tough foes is hard. Just keep plugging away.

Hmm, McGrotha is a JUCO with mediocre offensive IQ. So you shouldn't load distro onto him until later into the season. He is at A- in M2M defense with good ath/spd, so he's probably the best defender on your team. 

all interesting points to hear. It is great to get some perspective from some great coaches. I will probably play around with some of them and see what works the best. Hopefully can turn things around. Other than Voigt and Schatz the other guys still have pretty good improvement left, so as long as I can make the NT I think I will be able to do decent.

Tianyi, if I go with the lineup where Shatz and Davenport start (with Maxwell backing up both spots), who do you put behind Maxwell? I guess the only choices would be Byron and Lino. I use the fatigue settings, so which if any players would you put on the "getting tired" setting?

Personally, I would put both Shatz and Davenport at getting tired, because I think they are both better than Maxwell. Maxwell comes in as first backup to both with fairly fresh. Those 3, if you avoid uptempo, should be able to handle most of the PF/C duties. They are already playing 77min/gm combined.

Having said that, you can make a case for having all 3 at fairly fresh because the margin among them are not astronomical, and then have Byron backing up Maxwell.

I'm fairly certain your current lineup is not the optimal one. Something about McGroth sitting on the bench while starting a big at SF is bothering me.