Hi there all--
  In my most recent game, against Drew, the computer had us as even in the prediction but I lost by a measley 39 points.  Can anyone help and tell me what I did wrong?  Should I have slowed my tempo or pounded that ball inside more?  I am truly at a lost and since still learning how to get my players to follow instructions, don't know if my settings made it even worse?  Thanks for any suggestions on why this went so terribly bad.

62 FT's is a place to start.

You also played a +2 despite the guy only have one player shoot a three

WHOOOOAAAAA

62 FTs is where you went wrong. They made 41. You could have easily won that game.

first of all the point spread means absolutely doo doo... Don't even look at that to judge the game. Second of all you played probably one of the best coaches in this game who is well seasoned and has more experience than you can imagine. And lastly you ran uptempo with a team averaging 75 stamina running a press D against a team who went normal with pretty much equivalent stamina. That explains all the FT's and why you lost so decidedly. Why did you run uptempo offense? 

you need to work on your recruiting. i looked at the players you got and they are awful. btw i don't sugarcoat it, so don't get upset. you need to focus on ath/spd/def/ to begin with. you should read as many threads about recruiting as possible and read over the FAQ.

Thanks guys for the help, Really appreciate it as I have a difficult time turning the player guide into results.  Guess I need a microsoft version :)--  I don't know any better is the simple answer but I am glad to hear I should have slowed it down.  Would u guys slow it down against any team with a high stamina or I was thinking that was more related to Ath, BH, etc.  In other words, I thought I should run uptempo to increase my steals but it apparently did the oppositte.  My fouls have consistently been high so am thinking about slowing it down permanently.
   I am glad you brought up the three pt issue-- I was playing +2 to shut down his outside shooters even though I knew going in only the one guy shoots three's.  Is that +2 or +3 for that matter more for stopping three pt shots or for helping to guard the outside shooters when a team has a weak inside game?  I played a +4 earlier to try to test that out and that ended very badly.
   P.S.  At half time, I told them to quit fouling or no cheerleaders for the week but even that didn't work.

Yes, I also agree with the recruiting,  didn't know pulldowns needed scholarship offers so tracymcgrady left me with a wonderful team and a lot of recruiting money, and I like Mabie and and Johns, but the others, not so much. 

to play a +2 the other team would need to have close to 20 3pt attempts per game.  

Posted by piratehoops on 1/31/2012 12:37:00 AM (view original):
to play a +2 the other team would need to have close to 20 3pt attempts per game.  

Unless it was just a TERRIBLE rebounding tm

Would u guys slow it down against any team with a high stamina or I was thinking that was more related to Ath, BH, etc.  
It's related to several things, but the biggest is overall talent. There are others, including depth, etc. but when you are at a clear talent disadvantage, you should generally be slowing it down.

In other words, I thought I should run uptempo to increase my steals but it apparently did the oppositte.  
That's very overly simplistic. It doesn't matter if it increases steals -- with more possessions in an uptempo, theoretically everything will increase. You have to measure the effectiveness on a per possession basis.

My fouls have consistently been high so am thinking about slowing it down permanently.
Probably a good idea.

   I am glad you brought up the three pt issue-- I was playing +2 to shut down his outside shooters even though I knew going in only the one guy shoots three's. 
So why say "outside shooters" if you know there's only one, lol? You should use defensive positioning to help combat your opponents strengths.

Is that +2 or +3 for that matter more for stopping three pt shots or for helping to guard the outside shooters when a team has a weak inside game?  I played a +4 earlier to try to test that out and that ended very badly.
More for stopping the outside shot.

And yes, you need to work on recruiting in a major way. Next season you should probably cut a couple of the guys you signed, you don't want to be saddled with them for four years.

I've been in your shoes, tbird.  I won't pretend I've mastered HD by any stretch of the imagination, but the advice given you here is good advice.

I had 3 veteran coaches talking to me in sitemail, and they helped me immensely (get thee a mentor) but possibly the biggest help starting out was just reading this board, searching on terms, and asking lots of dumb questions.  Once I started recruiting players with better cores, lights came on and the game actually started being fun.

Good luck.

I will repeat what they are saying here.  If you have good ATH, def and Speed, (THinking now, I might add stamina) allot of sins can be hidden.  You have that combo and you will cause allot of fouls and draw a limited number yourself, which puts you on a good path.

high altitude notes

1. read lots of forum threads - dont believe all that is said - but even the bits that are wrong are instructive

2. watch out about thinking too much about real basketball - this is a simulation and the only things that happen are what is programmed.  So, for example, you might think pace would have lots of effects all it really does is cause more possessions.  Now, THAT, has effects, but they are limited.  You can think yourself into a mess if you get your mind too much in the mode of real hoops.

On the other hand, just last  Saturday I had the ninth grade team that I coach shift to a minus 2 or minus three running our zone and it worked really well.  Fortunately, I did not tell the kids "minus 2, minus 2" !!

yah, I think you nailed that one-- trying to separate basketball and the game is difficult.  I often find my changes in settings having the exact oppositte effect I wanted to I am thinking maybe about doing the oppositte of what I think is right and maybe that will turn out golden.  I appreciate the help and will continue to read more although I think I have read most of the threads.  Will try not to lose my temper this go around as I love the concept, just not the interface.  Have a great week all and good luck in conference play.