Posted by dahsdebater on 7/15/2018 11:44:00 AM (view original):
This is 180 degrees off of correct - all of the evidence is that fastbreak does NOT fatigue your opponent's team significantly, while it increases your own fatigue substantially. It also reduces your field goal percentage and increases your turnover rate. The advantage of uptempo is what shoe referenced - by increasing the number of possessions, it decreases variance. So your average per-possession advantage is actually reduced, but your variance is also reduced. If you have a big enough advantage, this can mean you'll see less upsets. But my experience has been that uptempo is rarely worth it unless you're playing a team that could be really decimated by foul trouble (IE has at least one or two positions with questionable depth).
I absolutely do not agree with your last paragraph. I very rarely see any team running any set make the F4 while leaning heavily on uptempo. There are some, but I would definitely say they are a minority. I got knocked out of the NT last season by a team that ran slowdown every game (while pressing) because they were shallow.
It’s true, uptempo affects your team more than your opponent, which is why the key here, I think, is whether the team is really built for uptempo. If you are subpar in ath, speed, defense (because you need to avoid foul trouble), or ballhandling, you’re not built for uptempo. Even more applicable for stamina. Ideal FB/press teams have those bases covered, and don’t have any problems running uptempo. Every final 4 caliber team I’ve had at ACU, I’ve run uptempo most of the season, even against most humans, and even in the tournament. That won’t be true this year; then again, we are probably not F4 caliber this year, having been beaten up in recruiting, so bench is weak, and team stamina is lower than ideal.
Now, whether or not the team under discussion here is that caliber is not clear. Defense and athleticism are lower than I would like for FB/press uptempo. But against sims, I probably would not have worried about it.
ETA I misread the defense at 60. Team defense of 69 is fine, so strike that part.
7/15/2018 4:30 PM (edited)