Going into this season, I thought I had assembled one of my most well rounded CNU squads (on paper at least).. yet they continue to choke against top teams..  My top guards; David Moore & Dean Wealty despite solid rating, turn into foul machine against top teams despite having the 120 Ath+Speed, and 58+ DEF (and high IQ).

My last game baffles me the most...  [See Here]
   Despite forgetting to game plan for this game in particular, there is NO WAY my team should have lost to this squad, let alone given up 45 FTs!?!  Any insight/pointers would be greatly appreciated..

The FCP defense fouls more than any other.

For that reason, I almost never play a more negative positioning than - 2 in full court press.. specifically because of fouls. You played a - 4 in the second half. They only shot 5 free throws in the first half when you played - 3. And 40 in the second half.

The SIM adjusted your team from - 3 to - 4. Never let the SIM adjust your positioning.. Especially in the press.

Also your guy Edmond Lemley is shooting over 50% right now for the season, get him the ball more! Honestly I'd consider making him your primary threat and working inside out. He is rarely shooting over 10 shots a game and even at that he's almost averaging 10 points. If he is shooting potentially 11 or 12 a game he could be a 15 a night scorer for you easily...

Take a look at:

Who they are covering and what type of shots they are taking. If they are covering guards with 60+ ATH and some LP, the are going to be less effective on defense and foul more.

Where are the fouls? If they are early in the other teams possession, it's a product of IQ/SPD/DEF being lower than your opponents SPD/BH/PASS/IQ. I suspect that isn't the case.

Also check your fatigue, tired players foul more often.

Lastly, remember good coaches are good for a reason. Look and see what they did to attack your team and try to learn from it.

That's only one bad beat on the road.  There's not much to learn from it, except don't forget to gameplan.  

That said, I think bagger may be on to something about Lemley.  Even though I don't really like him that much, I would start Cisowski at the 3.   The lineup: Welty, Moore, Cisowski, Lemley and McDonald is probably your best.  Edmund Williams could come off the bench 1st at both 2 & 3 and still play a ton of minutes and get a bunch of distro and really create problems for your opponents.  That would give you a proper 4th guard as well.  

Awesome pointers, thanks guys!

Rogelio, I had actually made that lineup change right before making this post. Cisowski didn't developed how I envisioned and because of his lackluster def. I've kept him on the bench until now.  So we'll see how it goes in a 20mins or so.

I WOULD NOT START Cisowski period.  To low Ath and Def for press.  Your total Ath is low even for DIII for FCP.  I would start Welty, Moore, Ussery, Lemi, McDonald.  Ussery has great Ath and Def.  Remember Flex likes Per guys, don't need a lot of LP on offense.  I'd up Moore's distro and Williams of the bench.  I'd use Lemley to for offense fire power.

When you say 120 (Ath + SP) you need to know where to use them.  FCP you need more on the Ath side( 70 Ath, 50 SP)  at least (65 Ath and 55 Sp)  40 and 30 ATH in FCP is going to give up a lot of fouls

Cisowski had a 2 game trial as a starter but as expected, he didn't fair too well.  You could argue I might of pulled out the W over #5 Piedmont if he didn't get the start.. oh well.  I'll bring Ussery back into the swing of things.. he's a shut down stud, but pretty useless otherwise. Hopefully the extra minutes will help boost his WE..

 I remember reading the 120 rule but never took into consideration the distribution between the two.  In regards to my team's overall weak Ath.. I realized a couple seasons back that I needed to key in on recruits with greater Ath/Speed potential.. All my Freshmen/Sophomores are/were High/High in Ath and/or Speed (Including Ussery).. so I should be set going forward. Thanks again for the advice!

I wouldn't throw Cisowski under the bus on this one.  Piedmont is just the demonstrably better team.  Edmund Williams had a bad game and that hurt.  Ussery got too much time at 2 and Ray played way too much for a player that is not ready for prime time.  Given all of that, CNU had the lead with 7 seconds remaining.  

I don't see Ussery being able to play at the 2.  For this season, he is only a backup 3 (next season, when his passing has improved, he can start).  That means, for your depth chart, you're forced to play Williams as your primary backup 2 and give Cisowski starts at 3.  How Ray seems to be above Perkins on the depth chart at 1 is absolutely beyond my understanding.  

Anyhow, it's your team, I'm more taking issue with terps' position.  I still maintain that the best starting lineup includes Cisowski (at no more than fairly fresh).

Why would anyone start Cisowski. Don't you agree his ath and def is to low for fcp? Ussery won't score but his def is 100 times better.

Ussery is a no-position guy.  With his lack of speed, ball handling and passing, he can't start at the 1-3.  He's obviously not any kind of big man.  I agree with rogelio - you can stick him at SF as a backup and hope his defense helps you more than his offense hurts you, but even that defense is compromised by his low speed rating.

Optimally, Cisowski is your scorer off the bench.  He could be fantastic in that role.  Welty/Moore is clearly your starting backcourt.  I actually think Lemley is your best choice at SF with this team.  He can at least handle the ball a little bit - he's no worse than Ussery and Cisowski - and thrown in there with McDonald and Rogers in your frontcourt, suddenly you're absolutely dominating the boards.

Back to Ussery for a second... That guy is the very definition of a "trap" recruit.  That defense looks beautiful - "I can use that guy!"  But then as his ratings future comes into focus, well, what do you do with him?  You can't really put him anywhere in the lineup.  Bill James used to call this type of player a "Juan Samuel."

I would start ussery at the three and give him a zero distro.

Moore and welty would be my pgs. Williams would be my sg with welty being the back up 2 as well. I would play cisolwoski at sf2 and sg3. Also shoot for more threes. All those guys with 60+ perimeter should be shooting more.