Right when I think I have this game figured out... I lose to a SIM AI team that I am favored by over 40 against. I ram uptempo because I figured I had a significantly better team and I lost...

Should I not have run uptempo? Is there something I am missing when looking at this loss with disgust? 


http://www.whatifsports.com/hd/GameResults/BoxScore.aspx?gid=7736736

At a glance, against a sim-coached zone team you shot only 5 threes.  That means that, knowing your opponent was going to play a 2-3 zone at (0), you tried to feed the post all game long.  My opinion would be that you made a mistake not trying to take advantage by letting your high perimeter rated guards shoot.  On the defensive side, I think playing at +3 is probably a mistake against a team that hasn't shot more than 20 threes in any of its games (maybe 0 or +1).

The last bit, your poor defenders got used.  I don't think you can start both Lumpkins & Jackson on a man-to-man team and hope to win consistently.  If either of your freshman PFs has any upside, then you might consider sliding Daniels over to SF and feeding them minutes.

Cant figure that one out.

Seble lowered the randomness of the engine, but at least we know some crazy upsets still happen,

rogelio - I thought about moving Daniels to SF because Horton has quite a bit of growth. I knew Lumpkins is not a great SF, but I was hoping he was servicable until I was able to recruit someone new. Will Daniels be able to handle SF with his low PE? 

Against sims I range between -1 to +1, with higher tendency toward the +1. The reason is that I was told the sim automatically can shift from shooting outside to feeding the post in the same half - so if correct, the sim can "read" a +3 and shift to exploit a low post offense, while you will still be over playing the perimeter.

When you're not that confident about the defense you're running you might want to play an anytime defensive gameplan.  I dont understand going plus +3 and can't imagine you were that confident and I'm guessing you went with an if losing defensive gameplan.  When you play an obviously inferior sim team like that it's almost always a good idea to play a 0 anytime early in the season when their isn't a proven succesful defense against the team.

I think Daniels can handle being played at 3 as long as you play him at -2.  I suggest experimenting with your lineups to hide the poor defenders (e.g. Horton at 4 & Daniels at 3 or Eddy at 3 and Daniels at 4.  I would probably start Hillard at the 2 over Jackson.   Jackson can backup 1 & 2 and Lumpkins can backup 2 & 3...unless it is proven that they can't.

I appreciate the feedback, I think I was blinded by Jackson's 89 PE, but not looking at it Hillard is pretty similar with better defense. I will be tinkering with the lineup, I wasn't sure how much the defense was hurting me. 

In my four games I have given up 67% shooting to opposing starting SG as well as 50% from three point and averaged 16.5 points per game... Clearly now I see an issue with the defense of my SG.

Posted by m4284850 on 12/27/2011 5:07:00 PM (view original):
When you're not that confident about the defense you're running you might want to play an anytime defensive gameplan.  I dont understand going plus +3 and can't imagine you were that confident and I'm guessing you went with an if losing defensive gameplan.  When you play an obviously inferior sim team like that it's almost always a good idea to play a 0 anytime early in the season when their isn't a proven succesful defense against the team.

For what it's worth, I disagree with this.  

And for what it's worth, you went +3 and they still shot 8-19 from 3.  Yeah, I probably would have gone 0 or +1, but it's possible they shoot better than that on more 3s, and you lose by more.

isack24 - I was surprised to see them shoot 8-19 with me at a +3, I feel like that was more an issue with my defensive ratings. I had read on the forums in the past that if you were playing a SIM AI you should pretty much be at +3 because SIM AI teams shoot more 3's.

I think it's team specific.  Even if they shoot a bunch of 3s, I don't see the point of going +3 if they don't have any 3-pt shooters and you have decent def ratings.  

Just because MORE threes are shot doesn't mean that it's enough to warrant +3 every time. Like isack said, it depends on the team. The highest I go v. SIMs is +3, but very rarely. Most of the time I stick to +1 or +2, and that works pretty well for me.