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Game Shape Guide - please read

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From: Soel
This Post:
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127791.1
Date: 1/13/2010 9:26:27 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
88
Soel's Game Shape Guide

Game shape is a very important part of the game. Perhaps one of the most important; if it's ignored you could be putting your players, and team, at a real disadvantage.

Game Shape is the fitness level of a player, and like in real life sports if you play too much your fitness level will go down, play too little and it goes down too. Managing game shape is therefore all about managing your players minutes. The golden number is 72 minutes per week. However with the game engine and the nature of basketball it is difficult to get just one of your players exactly 72 minutes in a week, let alone all of them. It's therefore recommended you try and get all your players between 60 and 79 minutes. This is a more realistic goal, and achievable in most circumstances.

If you manage your minutes well your player's game shape should improve on Friday morning during the training update. However, game shape is not an exact science. I've had a player get exactly 72 minutes before but actually go down in game shape. However, in general, your player's game shape should improve over the season if you manage their minutes well. Game shape starts at respectable (7) at the start of the season and can go up as high as proficient (9).

So what is the effect of game shape? Well, if it's high (7+) your player will play better. There are various ways to judge a player, let's take player rating as an example. A player who averages 8.0 with respectable game shape would expect to average 9.0 with proficient shape. With mediocre game shape it would be expected he would average 7.0. This is just an example of course, but I think it gives an accurate impression. If you use salary as a way to judge a player then a player on $40,000 a week will play like a player on $20,000 a week with mediocre game shape. If you apply the per-player basis to your entire team it becomes clear that your team will play better if you manage your minutes well.

So how do you manage your minutes? Well, you need an extended roster. You play 3 matches a week at 48 minutes with 5 players playing which gives 720 total minutes available. If you're good at maths you'll see that means you need 10 players; averaging 72 minutes per player. It is advised, however, to use 11 players and aim for 65 minutes per player as it is better to go under 72 minutes than over. This means that your best players will not be able to play every game, meaning somewhere during the week you will have to make concessions and play a slightly weaker team than you may like. After the cup season ends your scrimmage game will be the game each week you will field a weaker team, as the outcome of scrimmage games doesn't matter. During the cup season you may need to play slightly weaker teams during your league games, but don't forget you don't have to have just one game per week where you take out all your best players, you could take some out for the Saturday league game and some out for the Tuesday night game. I'm getting bogged down in the details here, but I hope you can work out what works best for your team.

The most common worry of managers is that they need their best players playing all the time. I hope by reading this guide managers realise that if they play their best players all the time they'll quickly become not their best players any more. You have to make sacrifices in certain circumstances in order to improve your team over the course of the season. One way I achieved this when I started out is by sitting my good players during games I had no chance of winning, especially during the start of the season. If it's an unwinnable game you may as well work towards the future, give yourself a better chance to win the games that are 50-50.

One last comment – never train game shape. Only do this if you love love your national team coach or maybe before key playoff weeks. If you manage your minutes during the season you should never need to train game shape. Ever!

Last edited by Soel at 1/13/2010 9:30:26 PM

From: Soel

To: Soel
This Post:
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127791.2 in reply to 127791.1
Date: 1/13/2010 9:29:25 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
88
I hope this guide has been helpful. Please feel free to ask me any questions relating to game shape, or anything at all for that matter! Thanks.

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127791.4 in reply to 127791.3
Date: 1/14/2010 5:36:27 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
22
Try to use strictly follow the deep chart. With that, your starter will do 30-40 minutes. In case of blowout, it will be around 28 minutes for startes and 20 for subs

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127791.5 in reply to 127791.3
Date: 1/14/2010 5:50:58 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
387387
Buy a better back up. However, if this is Singleton we're talking about, sell him to me

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127791.7 in reply to 127791.6
Date: 1/14/2010 6:02:14 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
22
No problem. I'm here to help :) By the way, was that google translator? because if it was, it did a pretty good job xD

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127791.9 in reply to 127791.8
Date: 1/14/2010 6:56:34 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
22
Nota-se as influências do espanhol na tua forma de escrever. But I think it's unfair to talk portuguese in an English forum, so I think we should stop it.

It's good to know I'm not alone here xD

From: Soel

To: red
This Post:
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127791.11 in reply to 127791.10
Date: 1/15/2010 7:25:59 PM
Overall Posts Rated:
88
While I have absolutely no mathematic proof to back this up I expect that game shape effects all stats.I believe it actually changes the skill values used to calculate the outcome of a game. So a player with 12 rebounding might play as if he has 10 rebounding with mediocre or worse game shape, maybe 13 with proficient game shape.

I've only come to that conclusion based on what I've seen from my own team and the opponents I play against; my players seem to get better at everything as the season progresses and their game shape gets better, both offensively and defensively. My point guards get less turnovers, my bigs block more shots and my shooters seem to take less 20-foot 2 point attempts with 16 seconds left on the shot. Obviously it's not a massive difference, but I have a suspicion game shape affect all stats with the exception of free throws and stamina.

I'd love to do an actual study but I don't have the time to do it right now, with the University course I'm doing. But all's I know is better game shape means better results for your team!