both teams run up-tempo:  way more total possessions in the game to be shared between all players.  Always be prepared for both teams running up-tempo, because the best teams are up-tempo and therefore the ones you'll have to face in the playoffs are likely going to be up-tempo.  If a team is obviously superior to yours, you actually benefit from running slow down as it gives less chances for outliers to normalize and therefore determine the outcome in your favor.  But most of the time it's going to be up/t vs up/t

Thanks guys.

how much is the team/individual penalty? i always have a high minute 1st tier guy on my team with either a 2nd or 3rd as well but not too much thought to the usage of the reserves. does those 8-10 possible minutes in a game of less than 10 usages points mean that much??

It can have a big effect, yard.   In fact I just found out the hard way that even 3-4 mins can be a big deal.

My issue was Danny Granger's 30 min per game season at about 30% usage.  When I played him 33-34 mins per game the team was great, when under that, the team was a turnover machine due to Kobe and Hardaway getting too many possessions.  I didn't have anyone else that I could start to bring Granger off the bench either so I was stuck.  We're talking up to mid-20 tos vs. 17 with those few extra minutes.  Just how the sim subs guys in which is not based on usage.

If you can keep both starters and bench at about 12-14 you will be in good shape. 

Thanks for starting this post Ash.  I'm in your Over The Hump II league, and as you can see, from my 12-65 record, I've never even looked at usage %.  Usually I pick enough minutes to get to 48 at each position, and guys with high FG%, and some rebounders.  I looking at my team, I have 16 from my starters.  When my backups enter, they may just reach 10, but these aren't great players, and I'm assuming they're being called on for more possessions then they should be.  I'll draft my next team with usage % in mind.

is there a performance penalty for too much usage? or just the wasted $/poss.??

waste = you are probably not getting enough of something else at the expense of too much usage - although in higher cap leagues it probably makes no never minds

Thanks so much ash. The fact that are willing to share knowledge that benefits all of us is great reflection of your character.

Thanks for that, man.  It means a lot to me.

Great job, Ash.

Thanks for helping me win  2nd championship. I did the first without this knowledge, but the second was totally based around this. Good stuff, Ash. Appreciate it. 

I appreciate that you were able to learn something.  Congrats on your two rings!!

Ash, thanks a ton for the info on usage.  I have been using it since you published the info.  I have a question for you...It seems like simply adding the usage % for the players on the floor would be simpler than the tier system you describe which are fairly close to one another.  However,  I am going with the tier system you describe but am curious how did you ever learn about this tier system? Did WIS publish this info at one time or did you learn thru trial and error (which would seem very difficult). Thanks for your input in advance.

WIS published the info after much discussion back & forth between several owners & myself. I agree adding it up would be simpler (and a better system), but alas, they use the tier system.  That means a guy with 27.0% usage has the same effect on your team's possession penalty as a guy with 22.2% when in reality, there's a huge difference.  Individual possession has the same effect, however.

Bump.  This thread should be pinned.