Developer Chat

This is your chance to find out what's in the works for HD. If you haven't already, please see the highlights of upcoming changes found here.

With assistant coaches now existing, will dilemmas be turned on with your AC taking care of it if you don't? (asher413 - Hall of Famer - 12:54 PM)

Yes - the addition of assistant coaches will serve as the foundation for numerous future enhancements such as the assistant coach handling discipline decisions (if you choose to allow him to do so). Assistant coaches will have a discipline rating so you can hire someone that matches your philosophy.

Will the Assistant Coaches act like recruits in the fact that they will favor experience, success etc.? Or will they go to the higher bidder? Thanks. (muskie1 - Veteran - 12:56 PM)

Yes, but to a MUCH smaller extent - the biggest factor will be salary.

The new pbp includes phrases like "uncontested shot," and wide-open jumper." Is this a result of a double team? Although only a few games have been played with the new pbp, it seems like teams are only taking a few (2-3) "wide open" shots per game as a result of a DT. Is that about what you envisioned? (Rails - Hall of Famer - 12:59 PM)

Yes and the number of shots will vary (I believe the average number of open shots for 1 double-team is 7-8 range) based on how many double-teams are in effect as well as how good of passers your players are on the floor.

How will the introduction of potential effect Work Ethics? I mean if a player has reached his potential in all categories, then what good is his work ethic? Is Work ethic going away? (drichar138 - Hall of Famer - 1:02 PM)

Work ethic works in conjunction with potential. For example, if you sign a PG with poor outside shooting skills but who has the potential to be a good to great shooter, his work ethic will either accelerate or decelerate how quickly he reaches his potential as a shooter. If he reaches his potential mid-way through his Junior season, then you can focus on improving other areas.

You stated that assistant coaches with varying levels of skill in different aspects of the game shall be signed to contracts and can be hired away by other coaches. Is it fair assume that all contracts will be for one season (an AC cannot break his contract and cannot bolt mid-season)? And will we now be subject to budgetary concerns, deciding how much of the budget will go to our assistant coach and how much will be devoted to recruiting? (sordie - Hall of Famer - 1:05 PM)

Yes, that's correct - an assistant coach can not leave your program midseason. There will be additional dollars made available to each coach's budget to account for the salary of your head assistant coach (btw, you'll only be dealing with one assistant coach).

Will our present Asst coaches now be rated and can we keep them or are they all going to be thrown into a pot and all teams will have to hire? (twmiles - All-Star - 4:50 PM)

Everyone will be hiring new assistant coaches.

In regard to the hiring of assistant coachs, how will we sign them to contracts? Will this be done with money taken out of the recruiting budget? And will the coachs be like recruits in the sense that we will need to outbid other schools to get them to sign with our school? (paladn24 - Hall of Famer - 5:01 PM)

There will be a large pool of potential assistants to choose from prior to the start of recruiting. You will have additional dollars added to your budget to pay your assistant coach and the dollars will increase by division. You may use part of your recruiting budget to pay for a more seasoned assistant coach or you may pay him less and have extra money for recruiting.

Will we be able to sign assistant coachs to long term contracts? Or will it work similar to how HBD works with the signing of coachs. (paladn24 - Hall of Famer - 5:02 PM)

No, it will be fairly straightforward and one year contracts.

How much/what kind of an advantage will, for example, an elite school have over a high or mid major when it comes to hiring and retaining assistants? (fobermeyer - Hall of Famer - 5:05 PM)

They will have a minor advantage due to their prestige, but it will be minimal.

If assistant coach's have attributes that impact player improvement, what about head coaches (us) having attributes (reflective of our success and failures) that also have impact on player improvement? (infinitebob - Hall of Famer - 5:19 PM)

Currently there is no way to work on the virtual you - that's reflected in the choice you make for your assistant coach. Mini-me?

About assistants 1. will it be easy to fire the assistant when you take a new job, without penalty? 2. if not, will there be full info available about the existing assistant in the jobs process? 3. will some assistants be BETTER than others - more talented - or will it just be a different allocation of their skills - some good at recruiting, some at coaching DEF, some at coaching REB, some at developing DUR? (metsmax - Hall of Famer - 6:54 PM)

There will be no reputation or loyalty penalties for you if you do not renew your assistant coach's contract. There will be a wide range of assistants available with varying salary requirements.

4. will the ability of an assistant simply apply a multiplier to effort in an area - say practice minutes are worth 105% in his areas of strength - or will it work differently? 5. I hope assistants do matter much - small, marginal effects - please please (metsmax - Hall of Famer - 6:55 PM)

The head coach is still in charge but the assistants will have an impact (it will be marginal) in the areas outlined above.

Can you discuss what significance the new assistant coaches will have and what areas of the game they will influence (recruiting, actual game situations, improvement of players, etc.)? Thanks. (Rails - Hall of Famer - 6:57 PM)

All the assistants will be rated in various categories such as reputation (is he willing to help you cheat, would he lie to a recruit), loyalty (how easy will it be to resign him next season), scouting (you'll be able to send him on scouting trips of upcoming opponents and he'll give you a report), talent evaluation (how accurate are those evaluation visits?), discipline (how will he respond to dilemmas if you choose to let your assistant handle them), offense (offensive IQ improvement), defense (defensive IQ improvement), offensive fundamentals (ball handling, low post, perimeter, etc.) and defensive fundamentals (defense, shot blocking).

With the upcoming asst coach hirings when do you foresee turning dilemnas back on? (rmj97 - Hall of Famer - 6:58 PM)

Once assistant coach hirings are in place, we will the focus tying your assistant coach's disciplinary style into it so he can make decisions for you if you so choose. Once that's in place, dilemmas will be reactivated.

Can you take your Asst. coach with you? (fflbeer - Hall of Famer - 7:01 PM)

Yes, you can rehire your assistant coach if you change jobs.

Can we hire more than 1 AC? Will it be like 1 at DIII, 2 at DII, 3 at DI? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:04 PM)

No, only 1 assistant coach per school.

Can/will ACs improve from season to season? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:06 PM)

Although it hasn't been finalized, right now it appears that they'll improve from season to season.

A couple of categories mentioned that ACs can improve are loyalty and reputation. How will hiring an AC improve those areas? Can hiring a bad AC lower those areas? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:07 PM)

Those are actually in reference to your assistant coach (their reputation/loyalty, not yours).

Will an AC be able to improve a player's GPA? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:08 PM)

No, skills and IQ only.

If I don't hire an AC will I automatically be assigned one from the bottom of the barrel? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:10 PM)

If you don't hire one or forget to renew the contract of your current coach, you will get your current coach back assuming he's still within your budget and he hasn't left for another program otherwise you will be assigned one randomly within your hiring budget.

You mentioned earlier that an AC's reputation will help determine whether he'll lie to a recruit or help you cheat. If you have an AC with a poor rep, could he offer booster gifts without your knowledge or consent and land your program on probation? (professor17 - Hall of Famer - 7:12 PM)

No, only the head coach can offer booster gifts or make promises - but he may not help in your recruiting efforts if he has a poor reputation.

Will AC's have specialties, ie flex offense & 2-3 zone? (blackmink18 - Hall of Famer - 7:13 PM)

No, but they may be more helpful with your offense than your defense or vice versa.

Will the salary requirements of the ACs be known (posted), or will we need to make offers and await feedback similar to CRD? (groomsie - Hall of Famer - 7:14 PM)

Their minimum salary requirements will be published.

If a recruit projects to be low in Defensive improvement but I hire an AC with strong skills in improving Defense, will that offset the player's weakness? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:15 PM)

No - an assistant coach can help a player reach his potential in a specific area faster but he can't raise a player's potential.

Will player potential only be revealed during recruiting, or can we learn about it after a player is recruited? (asher413 - Hall of Famer - 7:20 PM)

Both - it will be mentioned in player evaluations during recruiting and your assistant coach will also contact you if he has concerns or ideas about improving a player throughout the season once he's been signed.

incorporation of player potential: players will no longer simply increase in each area linearly based on playing time, practice time and work ethic. Players will have potential in each area, e.g. a good shooting guard in HS who doesn't improve his shooting in college but becomes a much better defender. Are they going to have a "potential" bar or rating? and how will this affect our present\returning players? (twmiles - All-Star - 7:21 PM)

There will be no impact on current players - those will continue to improve as normal. Only new signees after the introduction of player potential will be impacted.

Will any of the new features you mentioned be released in the new couple weeks? Which ones? (jakurus - Hall of Famer - 7:29 PM)

The timeline of the changes will be 1.) post-season administrative job review (next couple of weeks), 2.) players transferring (last August, early September), 3.) new interface (late September), 4.) assistant coach hirings (October), 5.) player potential (early November), 6.) dilemmas (November).

If I take over a different team, how can I find out what the player potentials are? Without knowing potentials there is no effective way to set the practice plan or know what type of AC to hire. (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:32 PM)

Even if you didn't recruit the player, you'll still receive in-season messages from your assistant coach regarding each player and if there could be a more useful distribution of their practice minutes.

Based on this new player potential, will Work Ethic no longer have an impact on player improvement? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:33 PM)

Work ethic is still very important as it, along with playing and practice time, will govern how quickly a player can reach his potential in a given area (e.g. free throw shooting). If he's reached his potential early in his Junior year, you could then move those minutes to another area.

How limiting will potential be? At D-III for example, will most 430-450 range recruits still have the potential to be 600 players by their sr. year? I guess my worry is that potential will make all teams more average. (decepticons - All-Star - 7:39 PM)

That will still be possible - but it will now also be possible (but very rare) to sign a Devean George or a Scottie Pippen who can increase even more dramatically and yes, you'll also have players who are highly recruited out of high school that just don't really pan out. On average the numbers for Freshman to Seniors will look the same, but you'll have more variety.

Will there always be some area a player can improve in? Can a player max out his potential? (bigbuck75 - Hall of Famer - 7:39 PM)

Yes, a player could certainly max out. He may have a great work ethic but he's just not going to be a great basketball player.

As happened in GD- will elite schools always expect great things- in one GD world, the Big 10 has 4 elites that all expect conference championships... obviously coaches were going to get fired there. Will this be the case in HD also? (asher413 - Hall of Famer - 7:42 PM)

There will be a lot of pressure on the elite coaches - at the very top levels getting to the NIT on a consistent based is not going to be enough. The harder the school was to get, the more pressure will be on that coach.

Can you be fired for reasons other then record? i.e. disiplinary problems, players not making grades, etc. (fflbeer - Hall of Famer - 7:44 PM)

Yes, if you are giving kids plasmas and cars at Yale (for example) and the WCAA finds out, you're going to lose your job. Other schools may be more forgiving based on your success and they'd be willing to overlook a couple of accidental plasma shipments.

if a coach is going to be fired, at what point will he be notified, end of reg season, conf tourny? And will that coach who is fired, will he still be limited to 3 schools for a new job offers? (twmiles - All-Star - 7:47 PM)

Firing will occur after the conclusion of the national tournament - unlike Mike Jarvis, you can not be fired midseason. Fired coaches will be able to apply for open positions with other returning coaches. If they don't get a job with one of their 3 applications they can apply with all the new coaches after the job change period.

I want to know my history. What world was I in? My school ? My record ? (olie - Hall of Famer - 7:48 PM)

With the introduction of firings, you'll be able to see which worlds you've coached as you'll be listed as 'unemployed' in those worlds.

Will firings affect our resumes negativly? (nfet - Hall of Famer - 7:50 PM)

No, if your success is below the standards of Villanova but above that of Cleveland St., you could be coaching in Cleveland the following season.

Will schools start to contact coaches about open positions or even offer jobs? Will this ever be a part of HD? (nfet - Hall of Famer - 7:51 PM)

Yes, eventually this will be brought back but I don't have a timeframe for it yet.

So if you make the wrong choice in your 3 applications after being fired, you could end up back in DIII? From say Duke? (bigbuck75 - Hall of Famer - 7:54 PM)

No, you'd still be able to apply for DI jobs (in that scenario) when the new coach signup period begins.

With the introduction of potential, will we see a change to the slow-imporvement skills (for example, if a player is has an 05 Athleticism but high athleticism potential, will he improve quickly in that skill if given substantial practice minutes/play time)? (decepticons - All-Star - 7:55 PM)

That's a great question - yes, the days of the stuck at 01 defense will be over (assuming he has decent potential in defense).

Will post-season administrative reviews have any impact beyond a coach being fired? Are there rewards for good reviews or any other consequence? (istafic - Hall of Famer - 7:57 PM)

Yes, your job status can either get worse, stay the same or improve based on how your doing.

Will transfers sit out a year? If so, how will this year of eligibility be handled? (asher413 - Hall of Famer - 7:58 PM)

We haven't made that decision yet - if they're moving down divisions they do not have to set out a year anyway but we haven't decided if we'll make them sit if they transfer within DI.

Will the number or % players who are cut or quit be increasing? (nfet - Hall of Famer - 8:01 PM)

Yes, but not dramatically - the players who have promises broken will still be the majority of transfers but now you'll also be seeing players who don't get the minutes they think they should get leave as well. It will be a small percentage.

Can you comment on how transfers will work? Will transferring players contact a few random schools they are interested in? Ones that recruited them previously? Or will they just go back into the recruiting pool? (professor17 - Hall of Famer - 8:05 PM)

Both - they will contact schools near their hometown (could be a division below their current school) and notify the coaches that they are transferring. That player will appear as considering those schools perior to the start of the recruiting period but he can still be recruited by other schools.

Will a school's record (performance) impact a player's decision of whether to transfer? Or will it only be matters of promises and playing time that could cause a player to transfer? (professor17 - Hall of Famer - 8:06 PM)

It will be primarily broken promises and playing time.

Can you name some college players who stopped improving completely at a skill? Healthy players only, please. (jakurus - Hall of Famer - 8:09 PM)

Shaquille O'Neal - free throw shooting.

Will Prior recruiting efforts impact a transfers decision on where too play? (twmiles - All-Star - 8:10 PM)

It depends on when he transfers - if he transfers after a couple of seasons then no - if he transfers after his freshman season then yes.

a new look. Can you give use a more indepth details? I mean is this a haircut or an extream makeover? (twmiles - All-Star - 8:13 PM)

I would say this skews more in the extreme makeover direction. From what I've seen, it will have a much more college-centric feel, e.g. if you coach at Ohio State you'll see scarlet and grey and if you coach at Michigan you'll see more maize and blue.

The new stats in the box scores are great. Are there any plans to expand these to include a complete box score with individual player stats broken down by first and second halves? (jasonrawson - All-Star - 8:13 PM)

Currently no, just the team stats by half.

When HD gets its new look, will the Top 25 media polls be fixed? They are almost universally disregarded by HD coaches because they make so little sense. Trying to simulate subjectivity is one thing, but the polls are so far out of whack that they're a running joke of HD. (jasonrawson - All-Star - 8:16 PM)

Actually we've put out a change to the polls a few weeks ago. The one issue that still needs to be addressed is when teams have off days they can sometimes get re-penalized if their last game was a loss. We're working on that issue.

While the new look use the same format as HBD? (jakurus - Hall of Famer - 8:16 PM)

No, it will be a different look than HBD.

What does this change "lessened impact of double-teams on offensive distribution" really mean?? Does it mean that double teaming would be less effective?? How is it less effective?? More shots attempts?? More shots made?? (zactex - Hall of Famer - 8:22 PM)

The engine already accounts for defensive positioning when it comes double-teams, e.g. double a guard and playing a -5 will not only have less of an impact on the number of shots he takes, but it will have a decreased impact on his shooting since it's more difficult for the defense to react. The adjustment was just a tweak to how much the doubled player would be able to shoot in those situations.

I'm looking forward to reading the enhanced pbp as it relates to who's left open during a DT(s). It was announced that the new update will lessen the impact a DT has on offensive distribution. Does it also lessen the impact or effectiveness of a double team as a whole? (Rails - Hall of Famer - 8:23 PM)

No (see above). Just a minor tweak to how many shots that player would be able to take relative to his offensive distribution.

It's been mentioned that the offense makes "automatic" adjustments during the course of a game (and that is why you allow for the defense to change positioning at halftime). All else being equal (ratings, lineups, etc), can you talk about what automatic changes the offense specifically makes if were to "see" a +5, -5, or 0 defensive position. Thanks. (Rails - Hall of Famer - 8:25 PM)

The offensive gameplan won't change, i.e. if you're practicing all week to get the ball inside and the other team is practicing their low post defense all week and preparing for that (-5), your big guys will still have the same number of plays run for them and the same for your perimeter players - but your perimeter players will take more 3s since that's what the defense is giving them

Does the makeup (various skills/ratings and IQ) of a defender reduce the offensive distribution of a player or only if the player is being double- teamed? Thanks. (Rails - Hall of Famer - 8:26 PM)

Only if he's double-teamed. If your gameplan is to give the ball to your SF who is being guarded by their best defender, your SF will still shoot.

what is the status of the change in the engine to fix the problem in which it was too easy to press with low IQ? am I right that that fix HAS been introduced in all worlds except not yet 1,2 and 3 and will be introduced in those when they start their next season? (metsmax - Hall of Famer - 8:29 PM)

The issue was that they were able to play a halfcourt press defense at the same IQ level as their halfcourt defense, i.e. they were not being penalized if their press defense IQ was D and their zone defense was A. They'd play the halfcourt press at the A level. This was fixed for all worlds except for Wooden and Rupp (both in progress and will be fixed when they switch the new engine release at the conclusion of the current season).

Is there any correlation between "recruited by" and "drafted" with recruiting? In other words, do potential recruits look at how many former players that you recruited are in the NBA?? Also, what determines for a player to be drafted?? Productivity (avg pts, rebs, asst, etc) or ratings (PE, LP, REB, etc)?? (zactex - Hall of Famer - 8:32 PM)

Currently you must both sign the player and be the coach during his last season before he is drafted. With regards to the NBA draft, they're looking at stats - but also the strength of the teams they were put up against so scoring 20ppg in the MEAC is not the same as putting up 20 in the ACC. They are also looking at ratings which is why you see some players leaving early.

Will there be anyway to head off problems with players leaving over pt? If you know a PG can't see significant minutes until he's a jr, can you let him know that ahead of time? It would allow you to recruit a different type of recruit. (bigbuck75 - Hall of Famer - 8:36 PM)

You can't let him know that but he'll let you know that he wants more PT. It's then up to you if you want to give it to him or risk him transferring.

follow up on the budget for the AC. Will all schools have the same budget? Or will there be a difference between levels D1, D2 and D3. In short can a D3 coach hire a D1 asst. (twmiles - All-Star - 8:37 PM)

Yes, schools will have different hiring bugets at different divions.

You said potential will not impact returning players. Will dilemmas? Do I need to start recruiting with that in mind now? (istafic - Hall of Famer - 8:38 PM)

Yes, dilemmas will impact returning players.

As always, thanks for taking the time to submit your questions and comments!