BuzzerBeater Forums

Concept question: would you prefer the draft, or something ala a HT "youth academy"?

I can say from having played HT for a spell before and after youth academies, the academies do a great job of rewarding effort & thought put into the player generation process, and level out some of the randomness. That being said, they do a GREAT job rewarding effort -- if you half ass your youth academy, you ain't gonna get anything out of it. So from that perspective, the draft (or HT's older "youth pull" system) is much nicer for casual players and maintains more of a level (albeit capriciously distributed) system.

Concept question: would you prefer the draft, or something ala a HT "youth academy"?

I can say from having played HT for a spell before and after youth academies, the academies do a great job of rewarding effort & thought put into the player generation process, and level out some of the randomness. That being said, they do a GREAT job rewarding effort -- if you half ass your youth academy, you ain't gonna get anything out of it. So from that perspective, the draft (or HT's older "youth pull" system) is much nicer for casual players and maintains more of a level (albeit capriciously distributed) system.

If you wish to maintain an NBA-style format, then the draft is fine.
What I would like is to have the same level of interaction during the entire season that you have with the HT youth academies, here in the BB draft. I don't think it's an impossible thing to achive if the scouting process is done the right way.
At the moment though, there is simply no comparison between the youth system in HT and the one in BB.

I disagree. The draft is sort of medium risk- high reward. The money spent is not that big of a deal to me. And you really will not find quality trainees on the market for less than 600k. Sure you could get crappy 3.1k guys with maybe allstar potential for 100 or 200k, but that's not really what I hunt for. Transfer prices for trainees are seemingly even higher than they are for established stars. And if you plan on buying a 4.5k 18y/0 SF or PG with perennial allstar or higher potential, LOL good luck. They are going for 1.2mil minimum. Some allstars and stars are going for a million as well.

TL is too expensive. I didn't draft exceptionally well this year, but a 4.5 salary 19 SG isn't TERRIBLE. And would cost be 250k anyway. Plus I get another player for free.

But you'd put poor Slobovich out of a job.

Lord knows he'd prefer cruising solo on the backroads of Indiana looking for kids shooting at hoops on the sides of their barns than sit crammed into the pressbox at the United Center while well-heeled players with three digit numbers on their backs are measured for their vertical leap.

C'mon, think of the boozehound. (Though Joe says the press food table at the United Center isn't bad at all. Not bad at all.)

It would be nice if there was a bit more interaction throughout the season with the draft system. Maybe fewer scouting "points", but you may choose where to allocate them?

However, I feel the draft is not a total waste. It depends on 2 factors:
1 - How much information is available to you
2 - How much information is available to opponents who select before you

First off, you need to be able to see the talent in order to choose it properly. However, if your opponents can see the same information, the best talent will most likely not fall to you. This gives a benefit to teams who are in BOT leagues, finish lower in standings, and whose opponents decide not to invest in scouting.

Luckily for me, I have chosen very trainable players in the 2 drafts I was actively scouting even though I have been a consistent playoff team. I even pulled a 5* ability, 5* potential 6'10 18 year old forward in the most recent draft. My second round picks have been a top 10 ranking player on my draft board.

Here is a thought that just ran through my head: Talent distribution in the draft depends on how much total money your league has entered into the draft. If you are in a bot league, you will probably get the top talent in the draft, but he won't be on par with a full user controlled league top talent. If you are in a fully user controlled league maybe you get the 10th best talent, but he will be more trainable than the 10th best talent in a BOT league. This idea has holes, such as potentially widening the gap between lower and higher divisions, though.

YA rocks.

but thats football! no club in NBAl have some youth academy...

Last edited by LA-CubONE at 3/31/2010 7:26:52 AM

but thats football! no club in NBAl have some youth academy...

Right but in e.g. Germany we don't draft rookies from High School or College. They're coming from the youth teams

but thats football! no club in NBAl have some youth academy...

Right but in e.g. Germany we don't draft rookies from High School or College. They're coming from the youth teams

I think you can extend that concept to pretty much every nation in the world except for the States. However, BB is clearly modeled after the NBA, so I don't have a problem with the draft, as long as it is vastly improved.

but thats football! no club in NBAl have some youth academy...

Right but in e.g. Germany we don't draft rookies from High School or College. They're coming from the youth teams

I think you can extend that concept to pretty much every nation in the world except for the States. However, BB is clearly modeled after the NBA, so I don't have a problem with the draft, as long as it is vastly improved.

Promotion and relegation is DEFINITELY not an NBA concept, which is why I would suggest the NBA-style draft (sans lottery) is not so compatible here. A draft is built for a system where all the teams are in a league are consistent, and draft order is meant to give the weakest teams an advantage by picking first. Here, the bottom teams drop down to a weaker league, and that helps the team get wins.

And I'm going to disagree with some of the above posts regarding what you can't buy on the TL. I got a pair of all star potential, one at a $3,307 salary and the other at $2,846 salary, for $40k and $36k respectively. Anyone who thinks these sort of players cost $100k on the TL is not correct (or has been overpaying). $76k for a couple of sure-thing 18-year-old all stars I think is better than $100k+ of question marks. That has been my point all along.

Both of these players are better than all three of my draftees this season, and I had a lot of scouting information (my first pick was my 3rd choice, a "5-star" with unknown potential, and I lost the the gamble on the potential, not that I had better choices given the information I had since all the players I had double information on except one either had poor potential, poor attributes, or were 19 and average). It's been 3 seasons since I've had a good draft (I got lucky that draft since I didn't spend much on scouting that season since I was the best team in my league that season and figured I'd get lousy picks).

I'm not necessarily saying the draft needs to be ditched. I'm saying the risk-reward ratio of the draft needs to improve so that it's too hard to make the case that saving cash for the draft crumbs on the TL isn't more reliable/economical than the draft.

but thats football! no club in NBAl have some youth academy...

Right but in e.g. Germany we don't draft rookies from High School or College. They're coming from the youth teams

I think you can extend that concept to pretty much every nation in the world except for the States. However, BB is clearly modeled after the NBA, so I don't have a problem with the draft, as long as it is vastly improved.

Promotion and relegation is DEFINITELY not an NBA concept, which is why I would suggest the NBA-style draft (sans lottery) is not so compatible here. A draft is built for a system where all the teams are in a league are consistent, and draft order is meant to give the weakest teams an advantage by picking first. Here, the bottom teams drop down to a weaker league, and that helps the team get wins.

And I'm going to disagree with some of the above posts regarding what you can't buy on the TL. I got a pair of all star potential, one at a $3,307 salary and the other at $2,846 salary, for $40k and $36k respectively. Anyone who thinks these sort of players cost $100k on the TL is not correct (or has been overpaying). $76k for a couple of sure-thing 18-year-old all stars I think is better than $100k+ of question marks. That has been my point all along.

Both of these players are better than all three of my draftees this season, and I had a lot of scouting information (my first pick was my 3rd choice, a "5-star" with unknown potential, and I lost the the gamble on the potential, not that I had better choices given the information I had since all the players I had double information on except one either had poor potential, poor attributes, or were 19 and average). It's been 3 seasons since I've had a good draft (I got lucky that draft since I didn't spend much on scouting that season since I was the best team in my league that season and figured I'd get lousy picks).

I'm not necessarily saying the draft needs to be ditched. I'm saying the risk-reward ratio of the draft needs to improve so that it's too hard to make the case that saving cash for the draft crumbs on the TL isn't more reliable/economical than the draft.

I agree with every word.
When I said BB was modeled after the NBA, I was referring to the actual games (48 minutes instead of 40, etc. etc.). I think that promotion and relegation are of course mandatory if you want to allow managers the chance to rise to the top.
But your points are correct (both on the draft not being compatable with promotion and relegation and on what you can and can't find on the TL), and I would be the first to welcome a change to a youth academy.
However, since I can't really see that happening anytime soon (unfortunately), I would be satisfied with at least having an improved draft system...improved to the point that it isn't by far the worst aspect of the entire BB experience.