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holy smokes. DeSouza went off for 41 pts. against a very good guard on a very good team last night. wow. i have to say Tucumcari is playing like a 2-peat.

i also glanced to see how the USA was being represented in the B3. ozone had an extraordinarily difficult schedule thrown his way, with every single team at or below his national ranking. on the other hand, Delta 9 is living right -- i could see him winning all his games, and moving on to the knockout round.

and i have to take my team back to the schoolroom for some clarification about what a "motion" offense is. judging from last night, where my guys only had 11 assists, i think they believe the "motion" is using the player with the ball to use his hand to tell the other players to clear out and let him go one-on-one.

Everyone has a different view on this and I understand everyone's situation is different as well. But I'm personally not a fan of tank & rebuild strategy ..unless you already achieved what you can do in the NBBA and it's just time to try something new (like Bullish's case).

I am not a fan of tanking in general, and the idea of not competing....that said, the way BB has constructed the game and it's Economy, it can make it favorable in some instances. I was enjoying some success in the NBBA but my team was getting older & less and less valuable (monetarily), particularly my guards that I trained up.....It's difficult enough to have a solid consistent training program anyway, but trying to train players, especially out of position, while competing against the best teams/owners in the game, makes it even more difficult.

My plan in my recent stint in the NBBA after winning the cup was to retire after winning the NBBA Title that same season.....After coasting through the regular season with the best record in the league and HCA through the Finals, and a team I loved and felt was the best in the country, my staff was already ordering confetti, cake, balloons & Dancing Girls for our Championship/retirement celebration....However, Bullish Mentality didn't share my Bear outlook for his team in our Finals clash, and we were crushed in the finals and I had two choices....quit and give up on my dream of winning the NBBA title, or start over.

I decided it would take 4-6 seasons to rebuild the way I wanted to, and fighting against the grain to stay in the NBBA didn't seem appealing. Plus, and again, the way BB structured this game, there really are no rewards for finishing 2nd or lower...I know at the highest level the 2nd place team get's a losers trophy, but other than that accolade, finishing 2nd pretty much means you overspent to not be the best team in the league. As much as this can be frustrating, it does work into my personality though, because my mentality when competing is always to fight for the big prize. I am not in it to not win it.

Building my team around a core group of trainees served me well in this game, so I figured that was a place to start in my rebuild. The current group of trainees I had were nearing old age, and their value was going down by the season, so I figured it was time to sell, move on, and rebuild. So that is what I have been doing....working on my trainees and banking money. I spent a ton of money to acquire a SF that is better than any I have ever had in the past, and he has many, productive seasons left....so when I get back to the NBBA, I will have 3 starting positions solidified, and millions of dollars to spend to round out my roster and be ready to compete from Day 1, while still having training upside with my trainees who will be very competitive and still getting better by the week.

Personally, I think when teams tank, and put ultra crap rosters out there, their attendance should reflect that.....if you play in the NBBA and field a roster full of crap, you aren't going to see more than 10% of your seats filled if that were real life...but in this game, the penalty isn't harsh enough to dissuade it....That said, this game features so many aspects that cost you money and make it difficult to sustain, let alone grow, they will probably never address that unless they do a complete overhaul that rewards teams for being competitive while at the same time not creating a huge gulf between them and those who are not super competive.

While I hate tanking and think it takes away from the competitive spirit of the game, it does create an atmosphere of fresh blood in the top leagues....How many teams are in the NBBA that were here for 4 seasons ago? Without checking, i am guessing 2, maybe 3. Personally, I like longevity and I think Dynasty's are cool...but it's nice to see everyone have an opportunity to achieve the highest level in the game too.

Last edited by Jason at 2/8/2015 2:03:15 PM

Yeah, I wasn't happy when I saw my B3 schedule. It really sucked the fun out of my first shot at B3 competition to get a schedule like that. Good luck to Delta 9! It would be nice to see one of the USA teams have a good showing.

I 100% agree that tanking sucks. But I appreciate the many different sentiments expressed this debate. For me it was simple, my D2 was much easier than it should have been. I feel as though I was on a plan to be here in another 2 or 3 seasons but I saw an opening last season. So I sold off some trainees, bought some older players that were cheaper to help me advance and here I am. I played the crazy market to start the year, sold my roster for 7 million that I bought for far less than that. I can sit here and bank my 350 a week plus cup and fix some of the financial problems I was experiencing. Had I been in a harder D2 I wouldn't have been able to promote so cheaply so this money grab wouldn't have been as profitable. But if an advantage presents its self, sometimes you gotta go for it.

I have kicked around staying up but as I sit here with lots of cash, that honestly I can't believe my competitive side hasn't kicked in and spent yet, but that will be determined by when players start to return to a somewhat normal value. I'm not seeing many deals out there yet.

I am open to whatever path the market takes me on. Buying D1 guys to potentially fighting to stay up or buying streamlined D2 players that will give me major bang for my salary buck to fight off the demotion penalty with as light of salary as possible while still winning some games.

Last edited by Hoosier at 2/10/2015 4:37:19 AM

my own experience was shaped by my initial season or two in DII. getting out of DIII had been a struggle, and the team i had in DII, i soon realized, had no future in DII -- the players were all of a late-prime age, and i was never going to generate the income necessary to save money to replace them and stay at that level -- demotion was only a matter of time. still one of the toughest decisions i made in this game, i jettisoned the team at the beginning of a season, spent a season training and losing, demoted, and barely hung on in DIII until my youngsters got their feet on the ground.

a couple of lessons i learned:
-- the importance of constructing a team that will survive the next level. this is tricky, for not only is it necessary to win at the lower level, but i wanted the core of that team to be good enough to survive at the next level.
-- this is complicated by the vicious competition at the lower level. this may be too self-revealing, but i am guided by not losing rather than winning absolutely. i have a real aversion to relegation, and the idea of dropping down and then going through that process of promotion (with all the randomness involved as well as teams spending wildly the last three weeks of the season) -- no thanks.
-- my view of "winning" is skewed -- i think the amount of luck involved is important, and i have often seen seasons where the best team did not advance. or, in my case, that a lesser team did indeed win.

so, my approach to this game is building a franchise that lasts, that does not achieve and flame out -- my model is san antonio, and my goal is not the NBBA championship, but rather making that list magiker has of teams winning 100 games at this level. eventually this game will catch up to me, but i think for me the challenge is fighting all those forces trying to tear down my team.

I've never had anything other than a level 1 Basic trainer since I began promoting from D5. When I ran my original team I did not see as good of a return as I would have liked purchasing a Level 5/6 trainer and spending countless amount of points on the draft. As many of you know more than most drafts are big busts even if you have a top 5 selection. You can easily spend $260k-$520k just on draft points in one season plus a high level trainer is easily another cool million. I chose to be a cheap arse and just buy and sell players as I promoted from one level to the next.

I think he was losing at least that.

As many of you know more than most drafts are big busts even if you have a top 5 selection. You can easily spend $260k-$520k just on draft points in one season

In the past I'd agree with you completely. But the new changes that let you see actual skill levels as well as 19 year olds getting Strong instead of Respectable skills, means it's a bit more viable.

For my last draft, I had a bit of a gamble (that failed). Great trainee, height was around what I wanted, but only 4 ball potential. I believe that's supposed to be a 50/50 shot between Perennial All-Star and Superstar. He was the former. If he was actually a Superstar, he'd be a perfect pick. The next version of my team needs trainees with specific skill/height combos. So this weeds out all of the guys who don't fit the criteria. After that it's just hoping they're Superstar minimum.

So if you're just looking for generic high potential youngsters, I don't advise spending points on draft picks. If you're doing something funky with your training and builds, then it's more likely to be worth it.

B3: Ya, so far, my schedule is like having an extra scrimmage each week ... that pays. I'd just like to say that B3 should not pay, as it just rewards the really, really good teams (who don't need $$). I'd like to see it a money-less league, for bragging rights & fun only. That said, Delta 9 is enjoying the extra cash: maybe we can stay a really, really good team for a bit longer ...

B3:, really good teams (who don't need $$). ..

Sounds like a good problem to have!! If you feel that you don't need any extra money, let me give you the account number for the Arizona Desert Storm...we can always use more $$!!!