What did I do wrong? Topic

I used to think I was a decent HD coach. Then I had this team:  http://whatif.cincinnati.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=14105

Livingstone was the highest rated team in Phelan DII by > 20 points over all other teams. Yes, I know overall ratings are misleading, but bear with me. We were a FB/press squad with eleven 3rd/4th year players with an average IQ of just over an A. Athleticism and speed were decent for a press team but not elite, but we were excellent in every other area - rebounding, ball handling, passing, stamina, defense, low post, on and on.

Yet I couldn't beat good teams. For the year, we finished below .500 against human coaches, losing 3 games to teams rated 70-80 points below us. In the first round NT, I lost to a team 75 points lower by being outrebounded by 11 despite the opponent playing +1 and me having a +10 rebounding margin all season. I tried multiple starting combos, distributions, defensive settings, foul aggressiveness. We turned the ball over like crazy, shot free throws worse than the prior season despite practicing FTs heavily and having all 11 returning players, and let good teams consistently shoot 50% from the field.

How did I screw up this team? Was it that poorly assembled, or did I just coach it into the ground?

10/1/2012 12:41 PM
I haven't coached d2 in ages, so take it with a grain of salt, but it looks a bit like a team with a ton of SFs on it to me. While you have 4 guys who can really rebound, you've got nobody who's an LP stud. Same with shooters-- tons of OK PER, but nothing outstanding. And likewise at PG-- 2 guys who can play it, but don't look like championship caliber guys. I think your high team ratings in several categories are kinda skewed by uselessness, like an extra few LP in a G who won't use it.

You lost REB by 11, but you missed 10 more FTs than he did... and started a 49REB PF.

Also, it appears that you went 9-6 vs humans. So you lost a close game here, mainly on fluke FT shooting (18-20 vs 19-31). I don't think this is anything too too crazy, but I'm sure I'd have wanted to win it.

10/1/2012 3:43 PM
I'm not that great of a coach so my opinion might not mean much, but from a quick view I noticed you ran uptempo in all the games you lost. Even though your shooters shoot for a decent percentage on the season, you do not have any elite shooters. Add to that you're running uptempo on teams with good or at least above average defenses which I've noticed can hurt you unless your scorer is elite.

Take a look at your points scored in your game log. the 6 games you lost were 6 of your 7 worst scoring games. I'm starting to think the only way you're going to make uptempo work against teams with good defenses is if you are a highly athletic team (more athletic than the opponent with good defense) that draws a lot of fouls.

your 3pt% is fairly low in a lot of the losses as well.

It just seems your team production in general is down quite a bit against some of the good teams. (less rebounds, more turnovers, less assists, less steals, more fouls, less FTA)

Like I said, it's a quick look, but I'll lean towards the uptempo as one possible problem and your guards aren't that good of scorers imo.
10/1/2012 3:44 PM
I agree with the comments so far, and honestly I think the team performed about like I would expect at a glance.  The Ath and Spd are a little bit backwards.  The guards have pretty good Ath and only ok Spd.  The bigs have good Spd and not so great Ath.  Those guys with 40s Ath and 90s Reb will probably dominate weaker teams (thus the +10 Reb margin), but struggle some against good teams with better athletes. 

A better mix of players might've helped.  Say a big with terrific Ath/Reb/Def/LP who sucks at Spd/Per/BH/Pass..replace Bowman with that hypothetical big and I think your team is better.  Same for guard.  I think a guy with 90s Spd and Per who gives up some in other areas would've helped your team.

The really good IQ definitely counts for something, but this doesn't look like a clear #1 team or anything to me, despite the OVR rating.  All that may seem nitpicky, but we're talking about why an RPI 15 wasn't even better..so it sort of has to be nitpicky.
10/1/2012 4:47 PM

I don't think your speed/ath/defense are good enough.  It should be much  closer to 70/50/70.

10/1/2012 5:03 PM
Posted by Trentonjoe on 10/1/2012 5:03:00 PM (view original):

I don't think your speed/ath/defense are good enough.  It should be much  closer to 70/50/70.

Seeing as though I'm in three other D2 worlds that are currently playing right now, and NOT ONE D2 team in any of those three worlds can claim to hit all three of those benchmarks at the same time, maybe that's not the main problem?
10/1/2012 6:01 PM
Appreciate all the comments - I'm just very frustrated with the 2 losses to Shaw that cost me seeding, and the opening loss to WV St - all teams > 70 points lower. I agree with all the warts identified, but even with those I felt we were clearly better than both of those teams and lost all 3 of those games. Starting with a C prestige made it difficult to find guys who hit those qualifications, especially on speed / ath, so all 11 guys who were recruited started with at least 6-7 high potential areas and at least two high-highs.

The other thing that bothered me is the turnovers - good ball handlers/ passers (not elite, but good throughot the roster), we committed more turnovers this season than last season when the group was soph/junior. Thought all the A+ IQs would make an impact, but we actually went backwards - a game with 32 turnovers, and twice turned it over at least 25 times vs. a slowdown.

Figured this team was worth an elite 8, possibly a FInal 4, but definitely not speedy enough for a title. Just venting and looking for some future tips.
10/1/2012 6:19 PM
Posted by dcy0827 on 10/1/2012 6:01:00 PM (view original):
Posted by Trentonjoe on 10/1/2012 5:03:00 PM (view original):

I don't think your speed/ath/defense are good enough.  It should be much  closer to 70/50/70.

Seeing as though I'm in three other D2 worlds that are currently playing right now, and NOT ONE D2 team in any of those three worlds can claim to hit all three of those benchmarks at the same time, maybe that's not the main problem?
Those numbers are hard to hit but they should be close if you want to be Final Four material.   Here are some teams in knight that are close:

  School Players A SPD REB DE BLK LP PE BH P WE ST DU FT TOT
1. Christian Brothers 12 68 53 31 72 26 31 38 41 42 67 78 63 C+ 611
2. Incarnate Word 12 67 54 44 65 35 43 53 46 44 54 74 54 C 633
3. Stonehill 12 66 57 40 64 33 45 53 54 50 47 76 68 C+ 654
4. N. Michigan 12 65 57 36 65 25 46 45 51 46 64 77 68 C 646
5. Grand Canyon 12 65 47 54 66 43 38 39 44 46 63 73 54 C 633
6. Paine 12 63 54 41 61 36 49 39 42 33 55 79 54 C+ 607
7. Harding 12 63 57 40 63 34 32 35 42 37 52 79 66 C+ 600
8. CSU, Bakersfield 12 62 50 42 66 33 43 42 39 45 70 78 63 C 632
9. Rollins 12 62 51 36 65 25 39 38 44 44 58 70 60 C 592
10/1/2012 7:49 PM
I'm with TJ. You have to be near that ballpark. Here is Allen D2:

  School Players A SPD REB DE BLK LP PE BH P WE ST DU FT TOT
1. U. of DC 12 72 54 27 70 20 36 49 50 40 58 75 54 C 606
2. Christian Brothers 12 69 53 42 67 34 38 47 44 42 51 74 61 C 622
3. California, San Diego 12 68 51 41 72 35 49 42 46 45 55 74 69 C+ 647
4. Arkansas Tech 12 67 55 43 69 33 43 34 45 35 55 73 59 C 611
5. Harding 12 66 57 35 62 30 44 52 49 45 60 74 60 C 635
6. Findlay 12 65 57 36 67 29 32 41 49 47 56 78 53 C+ 610
7. S. New Hampshire 12 63 53 39 63 32 49 42 46 38 58 74 55 C 612


10/1/2012 7:54 PM
another note from my own experience is that running an uptempo always screws me if I'm playing a team running a slow down if they have good defenders and are not that much worse than me.
10/1/2012 11:17 PM
I went through your team and decided that it was a pretty good D3 team, then I saw your post and realized it was D2.  Honestly, your bigs don't have the athleticism to compete with good D2 teams.  You are also lacking in scoring ability.  You turned the ball over a lot because your guards are bad ball handlers.  Your overall rating is deceiving you into thinking you have a better team than you actually do.  Reading over this post it seems harsh, but if you want to make a D2 elite eight or final four, you're going to have to recruit better players.
10/1/2012 11:35 PM
Just wanted to recirculate this post to say thank you to the contributors. I took the advice to heart when rebuilding this senior laden group from four seasons ago, focusing more on defensive ratings, backcourt ballhandling and athleticism in bigs, and it paid off with my first ever HD title after nine years and 3,100 games. Thanks, guys.

http://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=14105
2/6/2013 5:58 AM (edited)
Good lord. That team is ridiculous, trey. Congrats!
2/6/2013 6:03 AM
great job, and I agree that's a beastly team. (for bonus thrills for me, I used to coach that team a while ago and my super stud player from that era is still the school's all time leading scorer )


2/6/2013 8:46 AM (edited)
Posted by treyomo on 2/6/2013 5:58:00 AM (view original):
Just wanted to recirculate this post to say thank you to the contributors. I took the advice to heart when rebuilding this senior laden group from four seasons ago, focusing more on defensive ratings, backcourt ballhandling and athleticism in bigs, and it paid off with my first ever HD title after nine years and 3,100 games. Thanks, guys.

http://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=14105
congrats, really nice team!
2/6/2013 12:19 PM
12 Next ▸
What did I do wrong? Topic

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.