Friday, May 31, 2019

ACC: Carmelo (22 ppg) Puts Syracuse Atop Rugged ACC

The last thing the four National Champions competing in our greatest ACC teams of the century tournament needed was Carmelo Anthony and his 2003 Syracuse national champions. With every other team splitting their first two games except for 0-2 Georgia Tech (2004), first place came down to a showdown between Jon Scheyer's 2010 Duke Squad and Carmelo Anthony and company.

Duke led until 10:19 to go in the game, when Warrick drew a crucial 5th foul on Singler and hit a free throw to make it 62-61. Despite Miles Plumlee coming off the bench to finish the game, Syracuse's Duany hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 to play to make it 82-79, and it appeared over when Duke had to foul McNamara and the 90% free throw shooters drained them both for the 84-79 lead. However Duke's Zoubek scored at the other end and drew a foul, and then hit the free throw despite being only a 55% free throw shooter (1-11 good, 12-20 miss on the dice). Scheyer then hit a game-tying shot only to have Duany hit a buzzer beater.

Here are the top five in each category we track in the game, which you can play for free here.

Most points per game ACCPtsRebStealsBlocks
Anthony, Syracuse 200322.07.51.50.0
Smith, Duke 201021.50.50.02.0
Williams J, UNC 200518.09.51.01.0
Duany, Syracuse 200317.02.00.01.0
Scheyer, Duke 201016.54.52.50.0
Most rebounds per game ACCPtsRebStealsBlocks
May, UNC 200510.513.51.51.5
Warrick, Syracuse 200316.013.00.50.0
Williams J, UNC 200518.09.51.01.0
Blair, Pitt 200911.010.02.00.5
Thomas, Duke 20103.08.00.50.0
Most steals per game ACCPtsRebStealsBlocks
Scheyer, Duke 201016.54.52.50.0
Jerome, Virginia 20198.51.02.01.5
Blair, Pitt 200911.010.02.00.5
Manuel, Maryland 20028.55.52.00.5
Felton, UNC 200513.02.02.00.0
Most Blocks per game ACCPtsRebStealsBlocks
McHenry, Georgia Tech 20043.02.50.02.0
Smith, Duke 201021.50.50.02.0
Jerome, Virginia 20198.51.02.01.5
May, UNC 200510.513.51.51.5
May, Maryland 20029.04.50.01.5
McCants, Maryland 20024.52.00.01.5
Key, Virginia 20190.50.00.01.5

Every team has shown the ability to explode and score, and because the ACC is so loaded I am giving them four spots in the tournament while the others all get just the 1st and 2nd place team. All six champions get a huge advantage because they start in the Elite 8, while the other teams must win back-to-back playoff games to reach the Elite 8.

Therefore even though that one last shot by Syracuse dropped Duke from 1st to 4th in the ACC, they would still be in the tournament with UNC 2005 and UVa 2019 if it started today.


Below are the first seven box scores. While the columns look a little funny to the right, that is because the information there is intended to show people playing the game the suggested positions as well as which of the 44 posssessions we usually play each player.


G-FPossPitt 2009PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
Pitt 200970UNC 200564
G-FPossPitt 2009PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1Fields18410Pitt 2009
2Dixon1210Pitt 2009
3Biggs10801Pitt 2009
4Young22510Pitt 2009
5Blair6710Pitt 2009
BenchPitt 2009
Gibbs0022Pitt 2009
Robinson0000Pitt 2009
Brown2430Pitt 2009
McGee0122Pitt 2009
Wanamaker11100Pitt 2009
Total7032115Pitt 2009
G-FPossUNC 2005PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1Manuel3131UNC 2005
2Felton17200UNC 2005
3McCants16400UNC 2005
4Williams J9811UNC 2005
5May61033UNC 2005
BenchUNC 2005
10320UNC 2005
Noel3000UNC 2005
Thomas0100UNC 2005
Scott0302UNC 2005
Williams M0100UNC 2005
Total643397UNC 2005
Virginia 201972Syracuse92
G-FPossVirginiaPtsRebStlsBlksTeam
133-1Clark7300Virginia 2019
244-34, 32-1Jerome17143Virginia 2019
3allGuy26411Virginia 2019
444-33,30-1Hunter11201Virginia 2019
525-1Diakite3301Virginia 2019
BenchVirginia 2019
0000Virginia 2019
0000Virginia 2019
1,2,444-31Key1003Virginia 2019
539-26Salt6200Virginia 2019
544-40Huff1102Virginia 2019
TO97216511Virginia 2019
G-FPossSyracusePtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1allMcNamara7110Syracuse 2003
233-1Duany15101Syracuse 2003
343-1Warrick181510Syracuse 2003
4allAnthony31730Syracuse 2003
520-1McNeil2300Syracuse 2003
BenchSyracuse 2003
0200Syracuse 2003
0000Syracuse 2003
244-34Pace3100Syracuse 2003
3/544,31-20Forth0100Syracuse 2003
144-31Edelin3100Syracuse 2003
TO4Total793251Syracuse 2003
Duke 201067Georgia Tech 200456
G-FPossDuke 2010PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1allSmith14103Duke 2010
2allScheyer19740Duke 2010
3allSingler13510Duke 2010
427-1Thomas31000Duke 2010
527-1Zoubek14800Duke 2010
BenchDuke 2010
0000Duke 2010
4,544-28Plumlee, Mi3300Duke 2010
527-21Kelly0120Duke 2010
539-31Dawkins0100Duke 2010
544-40Plumlee, Ma1100Duke 2010
673773Duke 2010
G-FPossGeorgia Tech 2004PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
140-1Jack13510Georgia Tech 2004
244-4,28-1Elder15110Georgia Tech 2004
334-1Lewis3200Georgia Tech 2004
421-1Muhammad2400Georgia Tech 2004
533-1Schenscher8600Georgia Tech 2004
BenchGeorgia Tech 2004
1,244-29Bynum0000Georgia Tech 2004
344-35Moore11200Georgia Tech 2004
444-26McHenry2502Georgia Tech 2004
425-22Brooks2220Georgia Tech 2004
544-40Tarver0200Georgia Tech 2004
Total562942Georgia Tech 2004
Pitt 200955Maryland 200264
G-FPossPitt 2009PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1Fields8110Pitt 2009
2Dixon6500Pitt 2009
3Biggs10411Pitt 2009
4Young10511Pitt 2009
5Blair161331Pitt 2009
BenchPitt 2009
Gibbs0000Pitt 2009
Robinson0000Pitt 2009
Brown5100Pitt 2009
McGee0100Pitt 2009
Wanamaker0132Pitt 2009
Total553195Pitt 2009
G-F+114110:113PossMaryland 2002PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
125-1Manuel171041Maryland 2002
240-1Felton7510Maryland 2002
327-1McCants9203Maryland 2002
429-1Williams J9501Maryland 2002
544-30,18-1May18503Maryland 2002
BenchMaryland 2002
0000Maryland 2002
144-26Noel0000Maryland 2002
2,344-41,28Thomas0200Maryland 2002
344-29Scott0102Maryland 2002
4,544-30,29-19Williams M4320Maryland 2002
Total6433710Maryland 2002
Virginia 2019Maryland 20020
G-FPossVirginiaPtsRebStlsBlksTeam
133-1Clark0000Virginia 2019
244-34, 32-1Jerome0100Virginia 2019
3allGuy0100Virginia 2019
444-33,30-1Hunter0200Virginia 2019
525-1Diakite0200Virginia 2019
BenchVirginia 2019
0000Virginia 2019
0000Virginia 2019
1,2,444-31Key0000Virginia 2019
539-26Salt0100Virginia 2019
544-40Huff0100Virginia 2019
TO90800Virginia 2019
G-F+114110:113PossMaryland 2002PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1Manuel0100Maryland 2002
2Felton0200Maryland 2002
3McCants0200Maryland 2002
4Williams J0300Maryland 2002
5May0400Maryland 2002
BenchMaryland 2002
0000Maryland 2002
Noel0000Maryland 2002
Thomas0100Maryland 2002
Scott0100Maryland 2002
Williams M0100Maryland 2002
Total01500Maryland 2002
Duke 20100Syracuse 20030
G-FPossDuke 2010PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1allSmith29001Duke 2010
2allScheyer14210Duke 2010
3allSingler4101Duke 2010
427-1Thomas3610Duke 2010
527-1Zoubek5700Duke 2010
BenchDuke 2010
0000Duke 2010
4,544-28Plumlee, Mi8600Duke 2010
527-21Kelly9000Duke 2010
539-31Dawkins8200Duke 2010
544-40Plumlee, Ma4100Duke 2010
842522Duke 2010
G-FPossSyracuse 2003PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
1allMcNamara15200Syracuse 2003
233-1Duany19301Syracuse 2003
343-1Warrick141100Syracuse 2003
4allAnthony13800Syracuse 2003
520-1McNeil0400Syracuse 2003
BenchSyracuse 2003
0000Syracuse 2003
0000Syracuse 2003
244-34Pace3100Syracuse 2003
3/544,31-20Forth12200Syracuse 2003
144-31Edelin10200Syracuse 2003
TO4Total863301Syracuse 2003
Georgia Tech 2004UNC 2005
G-FPossGeorgia Tech 2004PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
140-1Jack3210Georgia Tech 2004
244-4,28-1Elder10200Georgia Tech 2004
334-1Lewis6130Georgia Tech 2004
421-1Muhammad13411Georgia Tech 2004
533-1Schenscher7511Georgia Tech 2004
BenchGeorgia Tech 2004
1,244-29Bynum3020Georgia Tech 2004
344-35Moore6302Georgia Tech 2004
444-26McHenry4002Georgia Tech 2004
425-22Brooks0000Georgia Tech 2004
544-40Tarver0100Georgia Tech 2004
Total521886Georgia Tech 2004
G-FPossUNC 2005PtsRebStlsBlksTeam
125-1Manuel1100UNC 2005
240-1Felton9240UNC 2005
327-1McCants9700UNC 2005
429-1Williams J271111UNC 2005
544-30,18-1May151700UNC 2005
BenchUNC 2005
0022UNC 2005
144-26Noel10000UNC 2005
2,344-41,28Thomas3100UNC 2005
344-29Scott3100UNC 2005
4,544-30,29-19Williams M0100UNC 2005
Total774173UNC 2005


Thursday, May 30, 2019

SEC Leaders: Pts-Davis KY 2012, Reb-Lewis GMU 2006, Steals-Okeke Aub 2019, Blocks-Spencer Aub 2019

Three SEC teams started 2-0 in the Greatest Teams of the Century play with Kentucky 2012 nudging out Auburn 2019 and Florida for first place based to a slight edge in point differential. The winner of the 6-game round robin will play in and 8-team tournament, while the second place team will need to win playin games to make the Elite 8. Here are the leaders in four categories we record in the game (to play games yourself, click here):

Points (2 SEC Gms)PtsRebStealsBlocks
Davis, Kentucky 201224.59.00.51.0
Thornwell, South Carolina 201720.06.01.00.0
Green, Florida 200619.08.02.00.0
Okeke, Auburn 201917.53.53.50.0
Mitchell, T, LSU 200616.05.00.00.5
Rebounds  (2 SEC Gms)PtsRebStealsBlocks
Lewis, George Mason 200613.510.50.51.5
Horford, Florida 200610.510.02.01.0
Davis, LSU 20069.010.01.00.5
Davis, Kentucky 201224.59.00.51.0
Mitchell, T, Kentucky 201214.59.00.51.0
Steals  (2 SEC Gms)PtsRebStealsBlocks
Okeke, Auburn 201917.53.53.50.0
Kotsar, South Carolina 20171.03.03.00.5
Horford, Florida 200610.510.02.01.0
Green, Florida 200619.08.02.00.0
Purifoy, Auburn 20194.04.52.00.0
Brewer, Florida 200611.53.02.01.0
Spencer, Auburn 20192.03.02.02.5
Bradenburg, VCU 20113.01.52.00.0
Blocks  (2 SEC Gms)PtsRebStealsBlocks
Spencer, Auburn 20192322.5
Noah, Florida 2006134.51.52
Thomas, LSU 200644.502
Lewis, George Mason 200613.510.50.51.5
Butler, George Mason 2006142.511.5

Sidarius Thornwell (South Carolina 2017) had the biggest scoring game of any game in an conference so far with 33 vs. VCU, however, due to only scoring 7 in their first game loss to Florida he still trains Anthony Davis (Kentucky 2012) in points per game - as Davis is the only player to top 20 in both games. VCU 2011 led Florida with six minutes to play, but Taurean Green was unstoppable in a 20-0 run from that point - the biggest we've had in any game, to win going away.

Al Horford has been a dominant rebounder along with Big Baby Davis from the LSU 2006 squad, BUT Jai Lewis showed the 6'7, 275 pound dominance that let him lead George Mason 2006 past UConn and into the Final 4, and he is the top rebounder.

The balanced Auburn 2019 attack includes by far the best defense through two games, averaging allowing just 54 points a game to Kentucky's second best 61. This is partly due to Chuma Okeke leading in steals (3.5) and Horace Spencer in blocks (2.5).



The following are the box scores for all SEC games we've played so far. We will post a similar wrap up as the ACC, Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten and Big East wrap up two games a piece. The info to the right of each player is the four stats we track. The info to the left is for players playing the game to give suggestions for each team on possessions and which of the 44 possessions we use each player based on their endurance as we roll the dice. For example, we play Auburn's Harper at the "1" (point guard) and we have him sit only for the "44th" (counting down, so the first of the game) possession so the possessions he plays in our games are 43-1 - the final 43 possessions of the game.

This game he scored 13 points, and happened to get by far the most rebounds of any guard yet with 8 - which the team needed since Big Baby grabbed 15 and his backup center Roll grabbed 9 for a ridiculous 24-8 edge on the Board over Auburn's center.

Auburn 69, LSU 56


G-FPossAuburn 2019PtsRebStlsBlks
143-1Harper13800
244,41-1Brown13110
315-1Purifoy3330
435-1Okeke13230
514-1Wiley11400
Bench
1/244-42McCormick5222
344-16Doughty3000
444-36Dunbar5430
529-15Spencer0222
544-30McLemore3200
Total6928144
G-FPossLSU 2006PtsRebStlsBlks
1AllTemple0211
2AllMitchell, D8300
3AllMitchell, T20500
427-1Thomas5500
541-1Davis91510
Bench
0000
0000
Team Reb0100
444-28Lazare8200
544-42Roll6900
Total564221
VCU58Florida76
G-FPossVCU 2011PtsRebStlsBlks
130-1Nixon8010
2allRodriguez9030
322-1Rozzell13200
4allBurgess14310
540-1Skeen2811
Bench
Team Rebound0000
44-31 (1)Theus4000
44-40 (3)Rddic2200
39-32 (3)Bradenburg4220
44-41Veal2000
TO8Total581781
G-FPossFlorida 2006PtsRebStlsBlks
137-1Humphrey4201
244-38, 28-1Brewer13311
3allGreen231110
437-33,26-1Noah18733
532-1Horford61001
Bench
8200
Team Reb2200
44-38 (1), 37-29(2)Hodge2100
44-38 (4)Moss0100
44-33 (5), 32-27Richard0120
TO14Total764076
South Carolina71George Mason62
G-FPossSouth Carolina 2017PtsRebStlsBlks
143-41Notice1110
244,34-1Dozier13400
344-35,30-1Thornwell33910
428-1Kotsar2430
523-1Silva11700
Bench
1/2/344-31Gravett3020
444-29McKie4200
544-41Keita0100
540-36Gueye0102
535-24Felder4200
TO5713172
G-FPossGeorge Mason 2006PtsRebStlsBlks
140-1Campbell12000
241-1Butler6213
344-42,36-1Skinn0100
444-37,31-1Lewis211610
541-1Thomas161201
Bench
0020
144-41Team Reb4300
2/344-37Norwood0002
344-41Carter0000
544-42Hernandez3000
TO15Total623446
VCU 201151Auburn61
G-FPossVCUPtsRebStlsBlks
130-1Nixon4011
2allRodriguez8200
322-1Rozzell10300
4allBurgess9300
540-1Skeen11810
Bench
Team Rebound0000
44-31 (1)Theus3030
44-40 (3)Rddic2000
39-32 (3)Bradenburg2120
44-41Veal2100
TO8Total511871
G-FPossAuburn 2019PtsRebStlsBlks
143-1Harper7210
244,41-1Brown9310
315-1Purifoy5610
435-1Okeke22540
514-1Wiley2300
Bench
1/244-42McCormick2000
344-16Doughty4302
444-36Dunbar2500
529-15Spencer4423
544-30McLemore4200
Total613395
South Carolina 201766Florida 200667
G-FPossSouth Carolina 2017PtsRebStlsBlks
143-41Notice17411
244,34-1Dozier14311
344-35,30-1Thornwell7310
428-1Kotsar0231
523-1Silva8411
Bench
1/2/344-31Gravett0000
444-29McKie12000
544-41Keita8100
540-36Gueye0200
535-24Felder0100
TO662074
G-FPossFlorida 2006PtsRebStlsBlks
137-1Humphrey12400
244-38, 28-1Brewer10331
3allGreen15530
437-33,26-1Noah8201
532-1Horford151041
Bench
0000
Huertas7000
44-38 (1), 37-29(2)Hodge0100
44-38 (4)Moss0200
44-33 (5), 32-27Richard0100
TOTotal6728103
LSU 200658Kentucky 201283
G-FPossLSU 2006PtsRebStlsBlks
1AllTemple11500
2AllMitchell, D17210
3AllMitchell, T12501
427-1Thomas3404
541-1Davis9511
Bench
0000
0000
Team Reb0000
444-28Lazare6030
544-42Roll0100
Total582256
G-FPossKentucky 2012PtsRebStlsBlks
144, 42-1Teague6101
244-43,39-1Mitchell, D6310
344-40, 35-1Mitchell, T16701
444-36,34-1Thomas17411
544-36,33-1Davis28901
Bench
0000
0100
Team Reb0100
4Miller6300
5Wiltjer4200
Total833124
GMU64Kentucky 201266
G-FPossGeorge Mason 2006PtsRebStlsBlks
140-1Campbell9530
241-1Butler22310
344-42,36-1Skinn13231
444-37,31-1Lewis6503
541-1Thomas9501
Bench
0000
144-41Team Reb0000
2/344-37Norwood0100
344-41Carter5120
544-42Hernandez0100
Total642395
G-FPossKentucky 2012PtsRebStlsBlks
144, 42-1Teague10130
244-43,39-1Mitchell, D7310
344-40, 35-1Mitchell, T131111
444-36,34-1Thomas8300
544-36,33-1Davis21911
Bench
0000
0000
Team Reb0100
4Miller3102
5Wiltjer4100
Total663064

dddd

Monday, May 27, 2019

Email summary of season after every team has played once

Complete email sent 5.28.2019 below

As Draymond Green prepares to take the court against the Toronto Raptors for the NBA title this week, his 2009 Michigan State squad won on a buzzer beater against the last team that Bobby Knight recruited at Indiana in the free basketball game I developed. That link includes player cards for the 42 teams listed in the standings below, as I've now played each team at least once.

The NBA Finals also feature Fred VanVleet, whose Wichita State 2013 team pulled a minor upset of Arizona in the expanded Pac-12 conference I created for the game (see standings below). However it is the Oregon 2017 team which lost 72-70 to the Memphis State 2008 team of John Calipari and Derrick Rose in the game but now has players on both sides of the NBA Finals with Oregon's Jordan Bell and Toronto's Chris Boucher. I still contend if Boucher were not injured for March Madness that year then the Oregon Ducks would be National Champs and they may well have won it a second time this year if Bol Bol were not injured (down a superstar in each year the lost by one to eventual champ UNC in the 2017 semifinals, then by four to eventual champ Virginia this year).

If you voted for the person in college basketball in the last 20 years who combined incredible talent with fiery competitiveness, you might start your list with Green and Knight, who I happened to talk with in New York a couple of years ago about the last undefeated team in college basketball (1976). When my program generated the cards - which measure each players ability to get open, score, draw fouls, rebound, block shots, steal and stop opponents on defense all adjusted precisely for their level of competition faced - I realized things such as four of the top six players on Indiana's 2002 Final Four team actually played on Knight's last team before his firing in 2000.



 The criteria for consideration was making the Final Four or finishing in the top 5 in www.kenpom.com, and each school could only have one team. In this post I noted that six teams featured at least six future NBA players, while the three had none (George Mason 2006, VCU 2011 and Loyola 2016) but as fans know, sometimes NBA talent plays well and sometimes they are freshmen putting in one season to get to the pros.
1Kansas 2008742Big 12 (A10)Brandon Rush 10, Darrell Arthur 10, Mario Chalmers 9, Cole Aldrich 8, Darnell Jackson 3, Sasha Kaun 1, Sherron Collins 1
2UCLA 2006651Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Arron Afflalo 11, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute 10, Jordan Farmar 10, Ryan Hollins 10, Darren Collison 9, Cedric Bozeman 1
3Michigan 2013648Big TenCaris LeVert 11, Trey Burke 10, Nik Stauskas 9, Tim Hardaway 9, Glenn Robinson 7, Mitch McGary 2
4Connecticut 2004647Big East (past & present)Ben Gordon 11, Charlie Villanueva 11, Emeka Okafor 11, Hilton Armstrong 6, Josh Boone 4, Marcus Williams 4
5North Carolina 2005640ACC (past & present)Marvin Williams 13, Raymond Felton 13, Sean May 5, Rashad McCants 4, Jawad Williams 3, David Noel 2
6Duke 2010630ACC (past & present)Lance Thomas 7, Kyle Singler 6, Miles Plumlee 6, Mason Plumlee 5, Ryan Kelly 4, Nolan Smith 2
If you ever want to play off teams yourself you can click on this link or the photo below of the scoresheet we provide, and pick up four dice of your own and roll 44 times for each team (plus extra rolls sometimes to see who gets a rebound or to take free throws). We were able to make the game highly accurate but to keep the playing time down to 25-35 minutes, it could not be precise. By that I mean, a player who shot 88% from the line will make a free throw on rolls of 1-18 on a 20-sided die and sow will a player who shot 92% - they both round to 18 of 20.

I know most gamers play videos on TV or computer - but as someone who spends long hours most days working on my computer while monitoring TV news on the TV screen behind my computer, I prefer to leave the computer and TV off a good bit on a three-day weekend and go back to my dice and scoresheets for a change of pace. Luckily others at Facebook sites of Sports Simulations as well specific games like my first sports game love Statis-Pro baseball and I do get thousands of hits on my www.pudnersports.com and Value Add Sports Facebook page.
I am glad one of the Oregon Ducks will have a chance to get a ring with Toronto or Jordan Bell will get a second one with Golden State since that great 2017 team.
John Pudner
404.606.3163

Kansas Leads All-Time Great Teams with 7 Future NBA Players

While playing off the great college teams of the century, I went through to check and see how many future NBA players were on each team. The 2008 Kansas Jayhawks were the only team with seven future NBA players. However, when I add total years played and projected years remaining in a player's career, three teams top the total 42 NBA years of that Kansas squad - UCLA 2006 (51 combined NBA seasons), Michigan 2013 (48), UConn 2004 (47), Florida 2006 (46, but could end up higher than my projection for Horford, Noah and Brewer).

The only three teams in the Great Teams of the Century game with no NBA players are 2006 George Mason, 2011 VCU and 2018 Loyola-Chicago. I ranked everyone else by players and then total years.

Everyone you need to play the game yourself except for a few dice is on this link.

Note for fellow nerds on projections: I added projected remaining years of NBA play based on a player in the NBAdraft.net top 10, will play 10 years, top 20 will play 9 years etc., but for players already in the league I adjusted based on their trend (e.g. Michael Conley, Anthony Davis and Draymond Green will end up with very long NBA careers while a high draft pick whose minutes have dwindled the last couple of years likely does not have many years left.


RnkAll-Time GreatNBA PlayersYearsAll-Time ConferenceNBA Players with Actual + Projected Years
1Kansas 2008742Big 12 (A10)Brandon Rush 10, Darrell Arthur 10, Mario Chalmers 9, Cole Aldrich 8, Darnell Jackson 3, Sasha Kaun 1, Sherron Collins 1
2UCLA 2006651Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Arron Afflalo 11, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute 10, Jordan Farmar 10, Ryan Hollins 10, Darren Collison 9, Cedric Bozeman 1
3Michigan 2013648Big TenCaris LeVert 11, Trey Burke 10, Nik Stauskas 9, Tim Hardaway 9, Glenn Robinson 7, Mitch McGary 2
4Connecticut 2004647Big East (past & present)Ben Gordon 11, Charlie Villanueva 11, Emeka Okafor 11, Hilton Armstrong 6, Josh Boone 4, Marcus Williams 4
5North Carolina 2005640ACC (past & present)Marvin Williams 13, Raymond Felton 13, Sean May 5, Rashad McCants 4, Jawad Williams 3, David Noel 2
6Duke 2010630ACC (past & present)Lance Thomas 7, Kyle Singler 6, Miles Plumlee 6, Mason Plumlee 5, Ryan Kelly 4, Nolan Smith 2
7Florida 2006546SEC (Colonial)Al Horford 16, Joakim Noah 14, Corey Brewer 13, Chris Richard 2, Taurean Green 1
8Villanova 2018540Big East (past & present)Mikal Bridges 11, Jalen Brunson 9, Omari Spellman 8, Donte DiVincenzo 7, Eric Paschall 5
9Oklahoma St. 2004536Big 12 (A10)Tony Allen 14, John Lucas 9, Joey Graham 6, Stephen Graham 6, Ivan McFarlin 1
10Illinois 2005523Big TenDeron Williams 12, Luther Head 6, Dee Brown 2, James Augustine 2, Roger Powell 1
11Maryland 2002435ACC (past & present)Steve Blake 13, Chris Wilcox 11, Juan Dixon 7, Lonny Baxter 4
12Ohio St. 2007431Big TenMike Conley 17, Daequan Cook 6, Greg Oden 6, Othello Hunter 2
13Kentucky 2012425SEC (Colonial)Anthony Davis 16, Darius Miller 4, Marquis Teague 3, Doron Lamb 2
14Georgetown 2007424Big East (past & present)Jeff Green 10, Roy Hibbert 9, DaJuan Summers 4, Patrick Ewing 1
15Louisville 2013423Big East (past & present)Gorgui Dieng 10, Montrezl Harrell 10, Russ Smith 2, Peyton Siva 1
16Oregon 2017422Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Tyler Dorsey 7, Dillon Brooks 6, Jordan Bell 6, Chris Boucher 3
17Memphis 2008421Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Derrick Rose 10, Chris Douglas-Roberts 6, Joey Dorsey 4, Antonio Anderson 1
18Wisconsin 2015421Big TenSam Dekker 10, Frank Kaminsky 9, Duje Dukan 1, Nigel Hayes 1
19Marquette 2003331Big East (past & present)Dwyane Wade 15, Steve Novak 11, Travis Diener 5
20Arizona 2015328Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Stanley Johnson 10, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 9, T.J. McConnell 9
21St. Joe's 2004328Big 12 (A10)Jameer Nelson 14, Delonte West 8, Dwayne Lee 6
22LSU 2006324SEC (Colonial)Garrett Temple 8, Glen Davis 8, Tyrus Thomas 8
23Georgia Tech 2004323ACC (past & present)Jarrett Jack 13, Will Bynum 8, Luke Schenscher 2
24Texas 2003321Big 12 (A10)Royal Ivey 10, T.J. Ford 9, James Thomas 2
25Virginia 2019320ACC (past & present)De'Andre Hunter 10, Ty Jerome 7, Kyle Guy 3
26Wichita St. 2013317Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Fred VanVleet 9, Ron Baker 6, Cleanthony Early 2
27Pittsburgh 2009312ACC (past & present)DeJuan Blair 7, Sam Young 4, Brad Wanamaker 1
28Butler 2010226Big East (past & present)Gordon Hayward 15, Shelvin Mack 11
29Syracuse 2003224ACC (past & present)Carmelo Anthony 16, Hakim Warrick 8
30Michigan St. 2009217Big TenDraymond Green 16, Kalin Lucas 1
31Auburn 201929SEC (Colonial)Chuma Okeke 7, Austin Wiley 2
32South Carolina 201727SEC (Colonial)Sindarius Thornwell 5, PJ Dozier 2
33Purdue 201826Big TenCarson Edwards 5, Vince Edwards 1
34West Virginia 201024Big 12 (A10)Devin Ebanks 3, Kevin Jones 1
35Gonzaga 201722Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)Killian Tillie 1, Zach Collins 1
36Oklahoma 2016112Big 12 (A10)Buddy Hield 12
37Indiana 2002111Big TenJared Jeffries 11
38Cincinnati 2002110Big East (past & present)Jason Maxiell 10
39Texas Tech 201919Big 12 (A10)Jarrett Culver 9
George Mason 200600SEC (Colonial)No NBA Players
Loyola-Chicago 201800Pac 12 (WCC, MVC, CUSA)No NBA Players
VCU 201100SEC (Colonial)No NBA Players

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Greatest Basketball Teams of the 21st Century Standings - Updated Regularly after Value Add Basketball Games

We consolidated all instruction blogs for Value Add Basketball to this Master Instructions Blog.

Below we will update the standings and grid of match-ups as we playoff the greatest teams of the 21st Century in Value Add Basketball. The 6 conference champions after the 6-game round robin in their conference will advance to the Elite 8 tournament, while the runners-up will join the ACCs 3rd and 4th place teams in two double play-in games - meaning each of them must win twice to be one of the two non-conference champs in the Elite 8.

We played all 42 teams in at least one game, while one team in each 7-game conference has played twice.









Big Ten: Buzzer Beater Kicks Off Play in Illini 2005 vs. Wisconsin 2015 Showdown

My Big Ten replay season started with my first game-winning buzzer beater between two teams that deserved a National Champion but both ran into hot Tobacco Road teams in the Nation Championship.

Frank Kaminsky, from the 2015 Wisconsin team with the most impressive win of the century over Kentucky, scored with 37 seconds left to give Wisconsin a 68-67 lead. Deron Williams, whose 2005 Illinois team that went 37-2 with only a regular season ending one point loss at Ohio State and a 75-70 loss to an NBA loaded and hot UNC team for the title, then put up a 3-point buzzer beater to give the Illini the 71-69 win.

The first photo is the entire setup of the game, followed by a zoomed in photo of the scoresheet where we track the game.


Here is the closeup of the scoresheet. Playing advanced rules we play each player as many possessions as they can (e.g. Williams plays "all" 44 possessions while Brown skips the first two possessions to play the 42nd down to the 1st possession). If we were playing Simple rules then all reserves would play the first column, then all starters would play the second three columns where we keep the running score. We often write some highlights at the bottom, and give each players total points after adding each player's proportional points from the 20-20 tie and we add 50% to all steals, turnover, and rebounds total to account for the beginning of the game.


Big Ten Standings - Greatest Teams of the Century

We plan a round robin of the Big Ten and the other five 7-team conferences to determine the Big Ten 21st Century champion. Michigan State's 2000 National Championship was the last year of the 20th Century.


Thursday, May 23, 2019

Rolling the Dice on 3-day Weekend for Basketball and Baseball All-Time Greats

With Giannis Antetokounmpo (the Greek Freak) hoping to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a win tonight to get them back to Marquette's home court for Game 7, and the great three day weekend full of major league baseball as well as the college baseball and softball playoff picks - I have a rare chance to get off the work computer and roll dice to replay great old basketball and baseball match-ups.


Yes my brothers make fun of me for playing dice and card games - but for me the break from spending 12 or 14 hour work days staring at excel sheets, or a screen for getting through my phone calls, or writing, all with cable news in the background my break is one that does not involved video games. Instead, I like to turn off the computer and pull out the dice and my free baseball and basketball replay games  by clicking basketball game here for current instructions and player cards for Value Add Basketball or here for players and instructions for Statis-Pro baseball - where you can find the gold standard for cards for all players by following the Statis Pro Baseball Advanced page.

Should match-up the unhittable Bob Gibson from the 1960s against Joe Morgan and the Big Red Machine on the 1970s  in Statis-Pro baseball left of 2nd photo) or maybe the 1984 Detroit Tigers against one of the greatest Yankees teams of all time from 1927 (Ruth and Gehrig), 1939 (DiMaggio) or 2000 (Jeter). Or the same dice could let the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks that stunned John Calipari's Memphis see if they could do the same against him with the greatest college player of the Century Anthony Davis (see right and center of Value Add Basketball game). Or maybe one of the old Big East Powers of Carmelo Anthony and 2003 Syracuse or 2004 UConn against the 2018 Villanova or UNC or Duke from the ACC?

Here are the two games side-by-side with the same dice needed for both except a second 8-sided die needed for baseball. I hope you enjoy however you break away from work this weekend in preparation for remembering those lost defending our freedom to play silly games and remember the great sports we've enjoyed living in our country made safe by their sacrifice. - John Pudner 404.606.3163



Saturday, May 18, 2019

Would you rather have MU's defense - blind comparison

I've been surprised at the number of people who believe MU did not have a good defense in 2019, and turning it into one of the "unfair" attacks against Wojo. I lined up a comparison of Marquette's defense against a mystery team so you can do a blind test.

I know the table is not that easy to read, but the overall top number is Ken Pomeroy's master calculation - adjusting how many points are allowed per 100 trips adjusted for the opposing offenses.

Clearly from the outset MU was much better than the other team, and in fact the mystery team played in an era in which fewer points were scored, so MU was the 45th best defense in the land compared to a very mediocre 109th.

MU was elite on the most important stat, holding opponents to only 46 percent eFG% (effective Field Goal percentage, which gives teams and extra half  "shot made" for 3-pointers) - so Wojo had excellent defense. MU was also a very good defensive rebounding team at 81st in the country while the mystery team was one of the worst. MU was the better shot blocking team.

The only place the mystery team was better was at steals due to one player being very good at steals, though other than that both teams had very few steals (often the trade off when you shut down opponents' shooting like MU did this year or Wisconsin does many years).

So anyone going into a game would much rather have Wojo's excellent defense than the very poor defense of Team A. And Team A is ... (go below chart)

CategoryTeam AMU
Adj. Efficiency99.2 10996.7 45Team a much worse than MU at overall defense, adjusted for opponents.
Four Factors
Effective FG%:47.3 7546.3 18MU much better at denying opponents shots.
Turnover %:18.1 30616.6 297Both teams terrible at forcing turnovers, MU a few spots better.
Off. Reb. %:34.3 25126.1 81MU way above average on defensive glass, while Team A much worse than average when they played.
FTA/FGA:32.5 7535.9 252Only thing Team A better at is not fouling, and slightly better at steals.
Misc
3P%:33.2 8532.4 65MU slightly better at denying 3-pointers.
2P%:45.9 7645.1 19MU much better (19th) at stopping 2 pointers, though Team A played when 2-pt % much lower.
FT%:69.2 14667.9 38The one we joke about - FT defense - teams shot terrible free throw percentage against MU :-)
Block%:9.1 12611.2 81MU much better at blocking shots.
Steal%:8.8 2496.9 325Both terrible at steals, though Team A better due to one player who was great at steals.


... the awful defensive unit of the 2003 Final Four Marquette team.

I realized just how bad that defense was when playing the game I invented with 42 great teams, and realizing how bad MU's 2003 defense was compared to other great teams and then realizing they were just bad compared to most major conference teams.

Obviously having the No. 2 offense in the country and the most dominant player in the tournament in Dwyane Wade covered up a very poor defensive team, but to those who keep pretending Wojo did not put a very good defensive unit on the floor are simply deniers.

Those who say watching Ja Morant, the likely No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, destroy MU's defense proves the former National Defensive Player of the Year Wojo is not a good defensive coach should go back and look at Kansas running a first half track meet against MU in the Final 4. Did that one game prove that MU 2003 really wasn't a great team and that the wins over three of the top 6 teams in the country culminating with the win over No. 1 Kentucky did not really mean anything.

If you are willing to look at facts, Wojo put the most improved defensive unit in the country on the floor last year, and this is a sign of good things to come.

Friday, May 17, 2019

SEC Early Standings in Value Add Basketball Game

Click here for current instructions to play Value Add Basketball.

The playing cards are divided into six conferences of 7 teams each. We started with games in the SEC as the round robin will including each team facing the other six.

Here are the standings with record, then point difference as the tie-breaker.

Kentucky 2012 (2-0 record, points 149-122) - Barely escaped a pesky George Mason defense, never taking the lead until Anthony Davis blocked a shot, kept the rebound and went to to the other end to give Kentucky their first lead of the game at 56-55 with 6:05 left. The stunning close call was not repeated - they jumped all over LSU in the second game as the incredible front court of Kidd-Gilchrist (18 points), Jones (20) and Davis (30) outscored LSU by 10 points by themselves in an 83-58 final.

Auburn 2019 (1-0, 61-51) - The only player besides Anthony Davis who scored 30 points was Okeke, and his accounted for almost half of the points in Auburn's 10-point win over VCU. Great defense and doubling up VCU's contested rebounds was the difference.

Florida 2006 (1-0, 67-66) - The two-time national champs was in control against South Carolina until the strategies in the game worked perfectly in the closing moments (see below). Horford was the dominant rebound and added 5 steals.

South Carolina 2017 (0-1, 66-67) - Trailing the whole game by at least several points, two of the games strategy options came into play. South Carolina chose to go for the steal and then foul while putting in two extra 3-point shooters and trying for 3-pointers if possible. Trailing 67-61, Sidarius Thornwell stole the ball in between a 2-pointer and 3-pointer from Rakym Felder off the bench to make it 67-66 before Florida forced a turnover to hold on.

George Mason 2006 (0-1, 64-66) - It's doubtful George Mason could repeat their near stunning upset of perhaps the best team - Kentucky. Butler scored 23 points to combine with great defense.

VCU 2011 (0-1, 51-61) - The Rams balanced offense and pressure defense was led by Skeen's 15 points in a low scoring loss.

LSU 2006 (0-1, 58-83) - Glenn Davis should dominate some at center, but he was no match for Anthony Davis and Kentucky's dominant line.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Value Add Basketball Board Game - How to Play with Clicks to All-Time Great and Current Player Cards

We consolidated all instruction blogs for Value Add Basketball to this Master Instructions Blog.

What You Need to Play - Links on this Page and 4 Dice

To play Value Add Basketball you only need these instructions, to print the playing cards for two teams (pick from 48 great teams or any current team from the bottom of this post), the scoresheet and the rebound chart. and four dice pictures - one 20-sided, one 8-sided and two 6-sided of different cards. Here is where we track our season and give you summaries of the 42 great teams and how many NBA seasons each of their players played.



To set up the Value Add Basketball game pick two teams to play and print their cards. For this sample, we printed the Virginia 2019 squad and the Kansas 2008 team - teams who won two of the most exciting NCAA championship games of the century. You can play the entire game reading only the Simple rules below, or you can add the advanced rules in italics for an even more accurate game.

Introduction Overview of Game

The Value Add Basketball game is a board game that allows you to replay basketball games using player cards that simulate each players abilities, but also the random aspect of dice that gives the underdog roughly the same chance to pull and upset as if the game were played live (for example, a team who is a 5 or 6 point underdog usually wins about one out of every three games against the better team).

The game starts with the score tied 20-20 and each team gets the ball 44 more times counting down "possessions" from 44 to 1 before the game ends. The dice and cards simulate the three things that happen every time a team has the ball:

1. YELLOW DIE 1-8. Determine which player gets the ball and forces the defense to stop him (8-sided yellow die and red left-sided column of players cards).

2. RED and WHITE DICE 11-66. Determine if the defensive player can stop him, fouls him or lets him get by for a layup or dunk (red and white 6-sided die and middle black column of the players card and the opposing defender)

3. GREEN DIE 1-20. If not stopped or fouled by the defender, then the offensive player takes a shot and either makes a 3-pointer or 2-pointer, misses a shot, or is fouled while shooting.

An extra die roll is needed if a shot is missed and the offense has a chance at the rebound or the player needs to shoot foul shots,

The only thing a player needs to record is how many points the team scored before rolling for the other team - and this is the first column from a game we played between Oklahoma 2016 (left column) and Kansas 2008 in which Oklahoma took a 30-24 lead by the end of the column:



Setting up the Starters (Kansas 2008 as example) vs. Virginia 2019

The first five player cards that print out for each team are the recommended starters in order. In the case of the Kansas 2008 team you would start the simple version with the following line-up in this order. This means Russell Robinson in the first spot is the point guard, Mario Chalmers in the second spot is the shooting guard, all the way to Darrell Arthur in the fifth spot as the Center.

Strategy tip: The further down a player is placed the more likely he is to fight for a rebound. In the top "1" spot Robinson's Off Reb 1-1/Def Reb 1-2 means he only gets a rebound on those rolls and will lose rebounds on a 2-6 on offense and 3-6 on defense but not many chances come to the point guard. You would not want him in the bottom "5" center spot because they get the most chances at rebounds so having Arthur at the bottom with an Off Reb 1-6 (gets them all in offense) and Def Reb 1-4 (gets all but 5 or 6 on defense) is very important. Players with the extra "7" or "6 and 7" numbers can get the ball to shoot more often if they are placed higher up, so in this case Arthur does get fewer shots because in this case the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th players all have an extra "7", but the top player actually gets the "6", the next player down gets the "7" and the third player down gets the "8" so in this case there is no extra number left for Arthur so he only gets the ball on a roll of his position number - a "5."

However, if a player has a "6 and 7" on his card he gets those numbers no matter what position he plays and only the "8" is left for the players listed in the first spot that has a "7." Also because a defense may put a defender with many steals and blocked shots against a player with a "6 and 7," if a "7" is rolled for a player with a 6 and 7 (Kansas and most teams do not have one) then on a roll of "7" for one of those players the 11-66 roll is ignored and you go straight to the 20-sided die for the result.



In the simple version these five players will play the entire second half or from possession 33 down to possession 1 at the end of the game.

In Value Add basketball, you actually play the reserves first. You start to play the game with a 20-20 tied score with 44 possessions left, and the reserves play to the end of the half or the end of the first of four columns. Some teams have 10 players, meaning this first column is played with all five of their reserves. However, Virginia's 2019 has 8 players cards meaning two of their starters will play with the reserves, and Kansas' 2008 team has 9 player cards meaning one of the starters will play the whole game.

For example, we kept the box score from below for a game between Duke 2010 and Syracuse 2003. If we played the basic version, then all players under "bench" for each team would have played possessions 44-33, and then the top 5 players for each team would play possessions 33-1. Because Duke has four reserves and Syracuse has three, one of the Duke starters and two of the Syracuse starters would play the whole game.

However, in the Advanced version, you try to play each player the number of possessions their card indicates they can play. Because Smith, Scheyer and Singler for Duke and McNamara and Anthony for Syracuse all have cards indicating they can play all 44 possessions (or more) we right "all" next to them to indicate they can play all possessions in the game, but since Thomas and Zoubek can play just 27 possessions we need bench players need to play longer than just possessions 44-33 like in the basic game. You can do a little math to fill in all 44 possessions at every position, or click here for all of our box scores and just use the same possessions we do when playing.


G-FPossDuke 2010PtsRebStlsBlks
1allSmith29001
2allScheyer14210
3allSingler4101
427-1Thomas3610
527-1Zoubek5700
Bench
0000
4,544-28Plumlee, Mi8600
527-21Kelly9000
539-31Dawkins8200
544-40Plumlee, Ma4100
842522
G-FPossSyracuse 2003PtsRebStlsBlks
1allMcNamara15200
233-1Duany19301
343-1Warrick141100
4allAnthony13800
520-1McNeil0400
Bench
0000
0000
244-34Pace3100
3,544,31-20Forth12200
144-31Edelin10200
TO4Total863301

To further explain, each starter above comes into the game when his "Can Play ___ Possessions" equals the number of possessions remaining to play in the game. Robinson would come in one possession earlier than in the Basic game - the 34th possession or last possession of the first half and in the bottom of the first column. You would write him in at the top of the scoresheet as Kansas starting point guard and then look through reserves to figure out who can cover possessions 44-35. Since both Rodrick Stewart and Cole Aldrich below can only play five possessions each you might play Stewart for possessions 44-40 and Aldrich possessions 49-35 to cover the whole game at the 1 possession.

Chalmers can play the final 37 possessions so only needs a substitute for for the first seven possessions, so Sherron Jones could play the first 7 possessions for him (44 to 38) and because he can play 22 possessions total he would still have 15 possessions left to play. Since Darnell Jones is a starter can can only play 29 possessions, you could have him play those first possessions while Jones is playing for Chalmers, but then use his remaining possessions from possession 37 to 23 for Jones so that Jones plays his 29 possessions total before and after. As you can see, it takes a little bit of a puzzle to get each player the correct number of possessions, so if you just want to play the basic game of subs in the first column and starters the final three columns (2nd half) that is a much quicker way to start.

If you are playing advanced rules then a player becomes tired if he continues to play after he uses up the number of possessions on his card. If he plays tired, then a 1 and 2 on the 20-sided die becomes a missed shot (see below for 20-sided die) and every number in his second column is one worse (steals and blocks are reduced by 1 while turnovers are increased by 1).

In advanced rules you can play a home advantage by letting the home team juggle their line-up to create the match-ups they want. For example, if the visitor has a starting shooting guard playing in the second spot as a shooting guard who gets the ball a lot, then if you play home advantage and the home team has a great center with great defensive ranges of 11-16 to steal the ball and 21-26 to block a shot, the home team could line the center up with the shooting guard so that every time the shooting guard gets the ball the center can stop him from scoring on rolls of 11-26.

However, returning to the simple rules, the only thing the left column "Can play ___ possessions" figure is used for is to find the starter or starters with the highest numbe and let them join the reserves in the first half if there are fewer than five reserves. In the case of Kansas, Mario Chalmers has the highest number at "37" so we put him on the court with the four reserves and you can put the reserves in any order you want. We put Chalmers in the 1st spot as the point guard with the reserves and left the four reserves in order to take the 2 through 5 possessions to form this line-up:

Kansas Reserve Line-up to play Column 1 - Possessions 44 down to 34




First Dice - Use 8-sided die roll and bottom right number for each player


While all four dice can be rolled at once, you first look at the 8-sided die which would be the yellow die roll of "3" in this roll.



The 8-sided die determines which player gets the ball. Using the five cards below, the rolls correspond to the order of the cards on rolls of 1-5.

While the serves line-up plus Chalmers is in the game:

1 = the first player, Chalmers

2 = the second player, Stewart

3 = the third player, Collins

4 = the fourth player, Aldrich

5 = the fifth player, Kahn

The 6, 7 and 8 determine if there are go-to players on the court who can create shots to keep the offense from stalling.

Advanced Rules: In the advanced rules, if a team does not have a player with a "0" or "1" in their lower left corner, then they are playing without a point guard in the game If that happens, the rolls of 6, 7 or 8 do not go to anyone and all the dice are rolled again immediately. If it happens a second time on the same possession then the team turns the ball over (as below).

If a player has a 6 and 7 he gets the ball on either roll and the 8 roll goes to the highest other player with a "7." Most teams do not have any players with a 6 and 7, so just look for which players have a 7.

6 =  look for the first player who in addition to their first number in the lower left also has a "7." In this case Chalmers, the first player, has a "1 7" so the 7 (which can be turned into a 6, 7 or 8 in a given line-up) gives Chalmer the ball on a roll of "6" in addition to the roll of "1."

7 = look for a second player who also has a "7," and in this case the player after Chalmers - Stewart - does not have a 7 so the ball cannot go to him, but the next player Collins does have a "7" so the roll of 7 goes to Collins.

8 = look for a third player with a "7" on his card. In this case the players after Collins - Aldrich and Kahn - do not have a 7 so noone gets the ball on a roll of "8".

If noone has the number of 6, 7 or 8 that is rolled on the 8-sided die, the roll all of the dice again. If the same thing happens on the second roll then the result is a shot clock violation, the team does not score and the other team gets the ball. If the 8-sided die does yield a number that a player has and it goes to the 20-sided die, all off numbers (1, 3 ... 19) become missed shots and the defense gets the rebound (this reflects a player needing to to rush a bad shot to beat the shot clock). If that happened on the first possession, then the team would still have 20 points so simply write "20" in the team's column by the possession 44 to end the possession.

While noone would get the ball on a roll of an "8" when Chalmers was in with the reserves in the first half, once Kansas puts the five starters on the court for the second half (or once they all enter the game in the advanced version) then there are enough go-to players that rolls of 6, 7 or 8 all go to someone who can attempt to score. Going in order, four Kansas starters have a "7" and going in order those rolls go to: Chalmers (6), Rush (7) and Jackson (8). Because Arthur also has a 7 but the rolls of 6-8 are taken, he scores on a roll of "20" instead of missing a shot when he does get the ball.


Two 6-sided dice - Roll of 11 to 66

Note: if a player is on the court with a 6 and 7 and a "7" is rolled, he not only gets the ball but the 11 to 66 roll is ignored and go to the 20-sided die. In all other occasions:

After the 8-sided die determines who has the ball, refer to the two 6-sided dice for a result from 11-66 and look at the middle column of the player with the ball and the defender.

Virginia's Ty Jerome is a starter who would also play point guard with the Virginia reserves in the first half with Kansas 2008 playing Virginia 2019 that first half point guard matchup would be Chalmers vs. Jerome when a "1" or "6" was rolled to give Chalmers the ball.



Notice that when a "1" or "7" is rolled when Kansas has the ball, then if the two dice total 11 to 36 then read the middle column for Jerome (the defender) but if the roll is 41 to 66 refer to Chalmers card. (This is reversed if Virginia has the ball and a "1" or "6" is rolled to give the ball to Jerome.

Here are the possible results from those rolls when Chalmers has the ball:

11 to 16Check Defenders Card Possible Steal (all steals for Jerome)

21 to 26Check Defenders Card Possible Block (21-22 blocks for Jerome, but 23-26
 is not and so will look at result on 20-sided roll below.

31If ANY Defender has 11-19 or higher, he steals ball from ANY player on the court
(in this case, no Virginia player does so we will go to 20-sided die)

32If ANY Defender has 21-29 or higher, he blocks shot taken by ANY player
on the court (in this case none does, so go to 20-sided die)

33 to 36Check Defenders Card for Foul, use 20-sided die for shot result/attempt. Jerome
only fouls on a roll of 36, so on 31-35 just goes to the 20-sided die.

41 to 46Check Offensive Players Card for turnover (Chalmers turns it over on 41-43,
but 44-46 we go to the 20-sided die).

51 to 66Chalmers dunk/layup range is 51-59 BUT Jerome's defense adjusts this range
 by -6 so his actual range is 51-53. If this is the result, Chalmer's can either dunk
OR can choose the result of the 20-sided die (if it is a 3-pointers or results in
his opponent fouling out). 

Advanced Rules: The Dunk range will be the same for all players on both teams unless you split players between teams. Therefore you can write the dunk range on the top of the scoresheet for each team - e.g. every Kansas player is a 51-59 like Chalmers, and every defender in this game is a -6, so every time you roll for Kansas a 51-53 is a dunk unless the result on the 20-sided die is even better for the offense.

For greater accuracy, the following adjustments should be made if either team's dunk range is 51-50 or lower, or 51-57 or higher.

51-50 - add one to the steal number of all defenders (opponent's steal of 11-13 becomes 11-15).
51-49 - add one to the steal number of all defenders AND one to the turnover number of all of your team's players
51-48 - add two steals and one turnover
51-47 - add two steals and two turnovers
etc. if numbers are lower

51-57 - subtract 1 from all defenders steal ranges (e.g. 11-16 becomes 11-15) 
51-58 - subtract 1 from all defenders steal ranges AND subtract one from all of your player's turnover ranges
51-59 - subtract 2 from all defenders steal ranges (e.g. 11-16 becomes 11-15) 
51-60 - subtract 2 from all defenders steal ranges AND subtract 2 from all of your player's turnover ranges
51-61 or higher - same adjustment as 51-60, and at this point you have the extra benefit of the extra dunk numbers (there are no actual dice combinations that give you a 57, 58, 59 or 60 since these are 6-sided dice).

If both teams are very low (51-50 or lower) or very high (51-57 or higher) you can first agree to lower or increase both team's ranges by the same number to get them both somewhere within the 51-51 to 51-56 range even before making any of the advanced adjustments.

In summary, Chalmers 20-sided die is used if the two dice totaled a roll of 23-35, 44-46 and 54-66, a total of 21 of 36 rolls of the two 6-sided dice, while on 15 rolls the final result was determined on the 11-66 roll.

On the roll of 36 Jerome fouled him but you also use the 20-sided result.

On the scoresheet:

If the ball is stolen on 11-16 or 31, give the defender a steal and record that the offense still has the same number of points as the previous possession and roll for the other team.

If the shot is blocked on a 21-26 or 32, then record a blocked shot for the defender. If this occurs on an odd number possession (43, 41, 39 etc.) then record that the team did not score and roll for the other team UNLESS it is the final possession (1 possession left). If the block occurs on an even number possession (44, 42, 40 etc.) or on the final possession then still record the block for the player, but you must first see who gets the rebound and only record that the team did not score if the defense gets the rebound.

If the player is fouled on a 33-36, then refer to the 20-sided die (see below) but also record a foul for the defender and keep in mind each player only needs four fouls to foul out because they all start with one foul.

If a player turns the ball over on a 41-46 then record that the team did not score by the possession and roll for the other team.

If a player dunks on a 51-66 add two points to their team score for that possession, unless they also made a 3-pointer on their 20-sided die (see below) in which case score as 3 points instead of 2 for both the player and the team.

20-sided dice

If the 11-66 roll does not yield a result above, or if a roll of 33-36 resulted in a foul, then look at the 20-sided die and record one of the following results:

3ptMplayer makes three pointer (if defenders roll of 33-36 is a foul, he also gets a free
throw). Add 3 points to the team's total by that possession, or 4 if he was also fouled
and makes the free throw. If he makes the shot but misses the free throw with a chance
at the offensive rebound then note the points but wait to see if they score again after
an offensive rebound in case the team scores more than 3.

2ptMplayer makes two pointer (if defenders roll of 33-36 is a foul, he also gets a free throw)
then record 2 points for the player and add 2 to their team's total from the previous
possession, and if their is also a foul follow the process above.

FoulPlayer is fouled and gets 2 shots. Check off 1 more point for the player for each free
throw made and add the total points for the offensive possession.

3pt missedPlayer misses 3 pointer and refer to rebound chart unless the defenders 33 to 36 results in a foul, in which case he gets 3 shots. Record that the team did not score any points that possession unless they
get an offensive rebound and continue to have a chance to score.

2 pt missedPlayer misses 2 pointer and refer to rebound chart unless the defenders 33 to 36 results in a foul, in which case he gets two shots. Record that the team did not score any points that possession unless they
get an offensive rebound and continue to have a chance to score.


Roll Again on Same Possessions for Free Throws or Rebound on Even Numbered Possessions

On most possessions, the initial roll of four dice is the entire possession for the team. The visiting team either gets zero points (turnover, steal or missed shot on odd numbered possession), 2 points for a dunk/layup or a 2-pointer on the 20-sided die, or 3 points for a 3-pointer made on the 20-sided die. In these cases you add either 0, 2 or 3 to the total score of the previous possession (e.g. Kansas had 30 points on possession 35, Chalmers makes a 3-pointer after having 6 points until that possession, and the number by Kansas is increased from 33 by Kansas 36th possession to 33 of their 35th possession and a line is written on point "9" by Chalmers to show he has increased his total so far from 6 to 8.

Free throws are easy, as the 20-sided die is rolled either 1, 2 or 3 times depending on the number of free throws, and another dash is recorded for the extra points for the player shooting for everyone he makes until he is done shooting.

Rebounds on a missed shot or last free throw do not require additional rolls if they occur on an odd numbered roll - as the defense simply gets the rebound and the offense is recorded as having no points for that possession. However, whenever the last free throw or a shot is missed on an even numbered possession the rebound chart must be used as many times as the offense misses a shot. In theory, the offense could score an unlimited amount of points if they kept scoring while being fouled, then missing the free throw but getting the rebound, and being fouled again, missing the last free throw every time and being fouled again.

To determine who received the rebound on even possession misses or the last possession of the game, roll just the 20-sided die and one 6-sided die.

The 20-sided die determines which player has first shot at the ball, and if he does not get it then the player on the other team matching him gets it. Keep in mind if an offensive player has the first shot (1-9 roll on the 20-sided die) then you use his first rebound range before the dash. If a "9" is rolled after Kansas misses, then as offensive point guard Chalmers gets first chance but with only a 1-1 range a roll of 2-6 means Jerome gets the rebound. A roll of "19" means Jerome has the first chance as the defensive point guard, and for defenders we use the Def Reb number after the dash - Jerome's range is 1-3 so if it is a 4-6 Chalmers gets it.

1 Off  Center (in 5 slot)
2 Off  Center (in 5 slot)
3 Off Center (in 5 slot)
4 Off  PF (in 4 slot)
5 Off PF (in 5 slot)
6 Off  SF (in 3 slot)
7 Off SF (in 3 slot)
8 Off SG in 2 slot)
9 Off PG (in 1 slot)
10 On a 10 or 20 the highest on court

11 Def Center (in 5 slot)
12 Def Center (in 5 slot)
13 Def Center (in 5 slot)
14 Def PF (in 4 slot)
15 Def PF (in 5 slot)
16 Def SF (in 3 slot)
17 Def SF (in 3 slot)
18 Def SG in 2 slot)
19 Def PG (in 1 slot)
20 On a 10 or 20 the highest on court

If an offensive player gets a rebound, they immediately try to score using their left column for the 20-sided die with one of the five results noted above

Tracking the game on the score sheet

The following provides a sample of how to record action based on the scenarios typed in to the bottom right. We changed numbers to red to show where you would not specific items for a player. Chalmers makes a 3-pointer to start the game in possession 44 so we check his 3 under points and ou know it was a 3-pointers because he skipped 1 and 2. However, later he makes one of two free throws so we check off 4. In between, Aldrich grabbed an offensive rebound and then scored to give himself two points. While the personal stats are fun,the more important part is always recording a number in the team possession in each box to be sure you are tracking the score and who has the ball if there are distractions around you.






Late Game Strategies

A team trailing late can try the following strategies to try to overcome a deficit late:


Intentional foul on 2a and 1a      Possessions 2a and 1a are skipped UNLESS one of the two teams decides to foul. If EITHER team decides to foul, then when the other team has the ball on 2a or 1a (or either or both) do not used the 20-sided die and if the result is a STEAL the team steals but on any other result the player getting the ball is fouled and get's two free throws. On 2a or 1a the defense gets the rebound. Play possessions 2 and 1 normally whether or not the team behind calls for the foul to cause 2a and 1a to be played.
               
Try for 3-pointer               By calling "try for 3-pointer" before a roll, each players 3 point made range can be increased by 1 for every 2 pointer that is taken away within certain paramaters. For example, a 3 point range was 1-5 and 2 point range was 6-10, the three point range could be increased to 1-7 by changing a roll of 9 or 10 into a miss with the defense getting he rebound.
                The three point range can never be more than doubled, so a three point range of 1-1 and 2 point made of 2-10 can only be changed to a 1-2 three pointer made and a 3-9 two pointer still made while a 10 is a miss and defense gets the rebound.
                A 1-0 three point range can still not make any 3 pointers.
               
                New substituions can be made late in the game to add players with a higher steal range, or with a higher 3-point range.
               

                The intentional foul on 1a and 2a or the attempt 3-pointers should not be used unless a team is trailing and needs it to have a chance. By doing this you are giving away twice as many points as you are adding on average (e.g. changed two 2 pointers from 2 to 3 points adds only 2 points for every 20 rolls while tuning the two 2 pointers to 0 costs 4 points for every 20 rolls.

Play Sample Game Using Dice and this Blog

To try out the game, you just need the four dice and you can print out this blog and cut out the players for the Kansas 2008 National champs and the Virginia 2019 National Champs.

You already have the lineup of Chalmers and 4 reserves that would play the first column of the game (last part of the first half) for Kansas above, so we line up the Virginia 2019 reserves who would play against them. Virginia has player cards for three reserves

Virginia line-up to finish 2nd half - reserves plus 2 starters

There are 8 Virginia player cards so the three with the fewest "Can play ___ Possessions" - in this case Jack Salt (15), Jay Huff (5) and Braxton Key (21) play the first of the four columns in the game - which is the final 7 minutes of the second half. That leaves two spots for starters to play the entire game including the first column with the reserves and the final three columns (2nd half) with the starters. In the basic game the starters with the MOST possessions played (Ty Jerome 43 and Kyle Guy 47) edge out De'Andre Hunter (42) as the two players for the entire game so the five players below will be the five person line-up for the first column before going to the five starters for the duration (see below).



Virginia starting line-up for final 3 columns of game

As noted above, if playing with basic rules then play the first of four columns (on the score sheet below) with all reserve player cards and then fill in the extra spots with the starters who can play the most possessions. Then bring in the starters after one column (half time) and play the starters for the final three columns and overtime if needed.

Advanced Rules: While the basic rules make it easy to play with just one substitution at halftime for both games. The one problem with the basic rules is that a great player like Virginia's Hunter only plays the second half (34 possessions) even though he really should play 42 of 44 possessions. Salt and Key get to play 11 possessions (44-34) even though they would really only play 5 possessions on average.

The score sheet shows how you can either play the basic game (reserves below the line all play the first column below the line-ups) OR using the advanced room by rotating players a little more to let the starters play as many possessions as they have on their card. In many cases, a starter can enter the game to play the final positions on his card, so De'Andre Hunter could skip the first 2 possessions (44 and 43) and then play possessions 42-1 to finish the game. However, in this case Ty Jerome (43) only needs to miss one possession and Hunter (42) miss two, so if playing the advanced rules we could just play the reserve Huff on 44th possession for Jerome so he can play possessions 43 to 1 without getting tired, and we can have Hunter play possession 44 while Huff is in for Jerome but then have Huff play possessions 43-42 for Hunter so that he also plays the 42 possessions though it is possession 44 then 41-40.

The easiest approach is the put the reserve players card on top of the starter who will come in, and then writing the possessions you plan to play each player in the left column on the score sheet. We wrote in the possessions on which we would have each player on the court in a Kansas 2008 vs. Virginia 2019 game.

Do not worry too much about what position spot the reserves are playing EXCEPT make sure you always have at least one player on the court who is a "0" or a "1" in the lower left - indicating they can play point guard. In this case, even though bigger Virginia players are replacing guards for the first few minutes, Guy is playing the whole game and is a "1" so he can play the point guard.

If you ever find a team with no point guard on the court, then all 8-sided rolls of 6,7 or 8 do not go to the player. Also keep in mind that if you do let a player play more possessions than are on his card, then he is tired and all 20-sided rolls of 1 or 2 are turned into missed shots (particularly a three-point shooter who would normally make a three-pointer on those shots) and his numbers are all one worse - one lower on steals, blocks, offensive and defensive rebounds, and add one number on fouls committed and turnovers.





If playing the Simple game then the following starters would play in order for the three columns above (the second half). Because I am playing all-time teams within their conferences first, I actually played out a game between Kansas and Oklahoma above - but you could just as easily use the cards from Virginia to play a sample game. You would use that starting five for each team through the end of the game  - unless someone fouled out and a reserve was needed again. In the Advanced game, these would still eventually be the five on the court to finish the game but they would play the possessions as indicated above. If playing advanced you can also use a player with fewer possessions as a starter - for example the best 3-point shooter and free throw shooter is Steve Novak of Marquette who hits 3-pointers on a 20-sided roll of 1-7 and makes his free throw on a 20-sided die of 1-19. However, Novak's possessions on his card is only 14, so in the Simple game he can only play the first column as a reserve. Hoewever, in the Advanced Game I save him for the last 14 possessions of the game so he is available to try to rally the team with three pointers or to hit free throws if the other team must foul.

In the game above, Kansas actually turned in the best defensive performance of any game to date in my all-time play. Buddy Hield scorched them for a 3-pointer, two 2-pointers and two free throws  for a 29-24 Oklahoma lead by the 37th possession, but after that Kansas dominated with 7 blocked shots (we add 50% to cover the 20-20 start to the game to give them 10) and a 46 - 33 advantage on rebounds to shut the Sooners down the rest of the way for a 66-44 win.

Virginia 2019 starting line-up to FINISH game






Kansas 2008 starting line-up to FINISH game






If you want to take your score sheet and calculate a final box score you can click here to enter the info.

This is the culmination of the Simple rules for the game, which do result in very accurate player performance over time and a game that can be played in less than 30 minutes once you have played a couple of games looking at these instructions. The Advanced game gives you a few more options for strategies:

Late game strategy options - Advanced Rules

If a team is trailing by more than a few points near the end of the game they have a few risky options:

1. Timeouts to sub players. Normally players can only come in after a full possession one which both teams have the ball (e.g. Kansas and Virginia both take their 5th possession, then a player is brought back in for the 4th possession). However, each team can all timeout twice in a game if they want to "split" a possession, such as having a player with a lot of steals play just the half of the possession in which the other team has the ball, and then a 3-point shooter for the half of the possession on offense.

a. If reserves who have not used all their possessions have a high steal number (e.g. Steal 1-9 which means they steal if their player has it on on any steal role of 1-6 but also on a 31 if any opposing has the ball) then they can be reinserted to try for a steal. He can play if tired, but lower his steal range and other numbers by 1 as noted above.

b. If a reserve with a big three-point range on his 20-side die is not tired, he can come in. He can also come in tired, but remember that a 3-point shooter who is tired in particularly hurt because rolls of 1 or 2 become missed shots.

2. After the 3rd possession and/or after the 2nd possession, the team that is behind can call "steal or foul," in which case an extra possession is used in the game (either 2a or 1a on the scoresheet). When this happens, when the other team rolls they do not roll the 20-sided die. The 8-sided die still determines which player gets the ball, and on a roll of 11-16 or 31 check the defender to see if the play is a steal. Any other result is a foul and two shots for the player with the ball. There is no chance for an offensive rebound for either team if possession 2a or 1a is used.

Regardless of whether or not possession 2a and or 1a are called for, possession 2 and 1 are played normally except that the final possession (1) is the only odd numbered possession of the game on which the rebound chart is used on a missed shot meaning the offense can get a rebound to keep the game is alive.

3. Try for 3-pointer. If a team wants to try for a 3-pointer, add one number to the three-point range for every 2-pointer made that can be turned into a missed shot with no defensive rebound. For example a player who is 1-5 on 3-pointers made and 6-7 on two pointers made, can change to a 1-6 on three-pointers made and the 7 becomes a missed shot with no rebound chance. However, a player can never more than double his number of 3-pointers made, so a player with a 1-0 range who cannot make 3-pointers cannot add any, and a player who is 1-1 on three pointers and 2-10 on two pointers made can only become a 1-2 on three pointers (doubling from 1 to 2) and a 3-9 on 2 pointers made with a 10 being a missed shot with no rebound.

Teams can try for 3-pointers at any point in the game, but it should only be used when way behind, because on average you are giving up 1 point every 20 trips more than you are gaining.


Option to use current teams instead of all-time greats

You can print out any of 42 great teams from this link, and you will want to click here and print copies of score sheets as well and the rebound chart.

If you prefer to play current teams rather than the all-time greats, then you can pull google sheets of 2019 cards on one of these links:
If you would rather choose from current cards instead of picking from great all time teams by clicking on the playing cards here, then you can pick any of the current 353 teams here.



When you use these cards you need to translate the old defensive team ratings in the middle of the middle column like this; 41 to 43 = 0 points becomes -6 from opponent's dunk range, 41 to 42 = 0 points becomes -5; 41 = 0 becomes -4, No change becomes -3, 41 = 2 points becomes -2; 41-42 = 2 points becomes -1 and 41 to 43 = 2 points becomes a 0 adjustment.



Player cards are now broken into conferences to make printing easier:





Feedback is always welcome at pudnerjohn@gmail.com. Yes a few rough edges still and will continue to cleanup the goofy decimals etc.