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I don't know for sure what would give problems as far as offense goes. I am a long way from having the team in place that will be successful in Princeton. My current center is not built for it, he is a place holder until I develop one to take over. I just sold my sg who was built pretty well for it, but had a couple flaws. The placeholder I have at SG is not built at all for Princeton. All of that being said, the dynamics of the inside/out offense is really intriguing. You will post significant game ratings in outside scoring. This would lure teams into playing a 3-2. I think 3-2 against a well built Princeton team is a mistake. When the flow is correct your guards get 5-8 ft jumpers near the basket and your bigs and sf will take 12 footers. All presumably in the soft spots in the zone. These are all really guesses but fairly educated. I have played it enough and even watched teams at higher levels games. You can see when mismatches are exploited and I think you just have to sell out your builds to make it work. I think Manon has a really good handle on how to build it.

I don't think there are specific offenses that would give the offense issues because I don't think the GE operates that way. I don't think one offense puts your team in a position to not get back well on defense compared to others. It should but I don't think it does. I think LI should have difficulty getting back on defense against RNG teams or other LI teams, faster paced. It would make sense, since the offensive guys are attacking the basket and I don't believe it is in the form of an iso clear out. The offense to stop is LI but not because of the style of offense you play. LI is the easiest, mindless to build offense out there. Granted there are well built LI teams, but even bad ones, if you throw enough cash at them, are mildly successful. The TL is full of players that are successful in this offense. The issue is the rebounding advantage obtained by running LI. To combat that, I believe your Princeton PF and Center will need to sacrifice IS for Reb. It would also be wise to have significant rebounding on your SF. I have seen some upper level teams stipulate that high JR is required to run Princeton. I think team passing is way more important, and if you implement a high level of passing, the offense runs completely different than if you plug your RNG team in offense. A good RNG team gives the appearance of jacking up three point shots at an incredibly slow pace when running Princeton. Add passing, and that all changes. It becomes a methodical attack on the weakness in the defense.

These are just my thoughts. I have no hard core data or proof it will work. I just have to take the BB's word that the game is not broken and everything is on even keel. I really enjoy the game, but my goals are different than most. If I never make the NBBA, that is ok with me. I would rather explore the unknown and break the mold. I haven't seen many teams at the highest level run Princeton successfully, at least not in large countries.

I'm on the same boat as you friend and youre perception of the offence is the same as mine maybe at some point we can exchange thoughts.

I have a few thoughts. Going to fire you a BBmail

Thank you for your thorough reply. Even more so, thank you for clarifying that you had no core data or proof. I am often quoted as saying something along those lines on Hattrick (where I feel I have a better understanding of the match engine then I do here)

Not being a numbers guy, sometimes it is easy to be discounted. I appreciate your thoughts and your approach.

Thank you for your thorough reply. Even more so, thank you for clarifying that you had no core data or proof. I am often quoted as saying something along those lines on Hattrick (where I feel I have a better understanding of the match engine then I do here)

Whoa there, hoss, your best player on Hattrick is a girl. ;)

I've used Princeton a little, and it definitely affects the ratings, but I think a team with a lot of driving and good perimeter shooting all around might be able to use it effectively.

Thank you for your thorough reply. Even more so, thank you for clarifying that you had no core data or proof. I am often quoted as saying something along those lines on Hattrick (where I feel I have a better understanding of the match engine then I do here)

Whoa there, hoss, your best player on Hattrick is a girl. ;)

I've used Princeton a little, and it definitely affects the ratings, but I think a team with a lot of driving and good perimeter shooting all around might be able to use it effectively.

She's still better than any player you've ever coached. Yeah.. I went there!

Yes, although I understand their game engine way less :D

Last edited by Big Dogs at 6/5/2012 2:26:32 PM

Hattrick has match engine?

Yeah, in the sense that weighted coin flips based on some generated ratings can be considered a match engine. Not a good one, of course!

A lot of research was put into this so here goes:

Princeton is an offensive strategy that emphasizes constant motion, passing, backdoor cuts and disciplined teamwork. It is designed for 5 players who can each pass, shoot and dribble at an above average level. Positions are less important. Having a strong post player is effective because the player is critical to passing to backdoor cutters, and can draw a double team to open outside shots. The defensive team attempts to pack the paint to prevent backdoor cuts, the offense then utilizes three pointers from the perimeter. All 5 players should be competent at making a three point shot. Like my friend, Yuck said, 'Power Forward is the most important position. Passing is required, jump shot is a must, jump range is bonus and handling and driving are required. The tactic is best against 2-3 Zone and sorry to oppose you Yuck but it is worst against 1-3-1 Zone and 3-2 Zone.

I'll add my observation. Each tactic takes into consideration player's best skills. For example, LI: If your player has better DR than PA, he will drive more and pass less.
Same with Princeton or Motion: If your player has more JR, he will shoot from bigger distance. If he has much more JS than JR (for example, 17/10), he will try more midrange jumpers.

So a lot depends on players' builds. I've seen a lot of Motion games where players shot a lot of 3s. Then I saw a lot of Motion games where players didn't shoot 3s at all, or had the same number of attempts as in LI for example. In some games, PG took most shots. In others, it was PF. You can really change the tactic itself with how you build your players. Take two different teams, play same tactics and the outcome will differ a lot between those two teams.