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. Y ou 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-F | Poss | Duke 2010 | Pts | Reb | Stls | Blks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | all | Smith | 29 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | all | Scheyer | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | all | Singler | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 27-1 | Thomas | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 27-1 | Zoubek | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | ||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4,5 | 44-28 | Plumlee, Mi | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 27-21 | Kelly | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 39-31 | Dawkins | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 44-40 | Plumlee, Ma | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 84 | 25 | 2 | 2 | |||
| G-F | Poss | Syracuse 2003 | Pts | Reb | Stls | Blks |
| 1 | all | McNamara | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 33-1 | Duany | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 43-1 | Warrick | 14 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | all | Anthony | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 20-1 | McNeil | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | ||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2 | 44-34 | Pace | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3,5 | 44,31-20 | Forth | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 44-31 | Edelin | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| TO | 4 | Total | 86 | 33 | 0 | 1 |
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 16 | Check Defenders Card Possible Steal (all steals for Jerome) |
| 21 to 26 | Check 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. |
| 31 | If 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) |
| 32 | If 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 36 | Check 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 46 | Check Offensive Players Card for turnover (Chalmers turns it over on 41-43, but 44-46 we go to the 20-sided die). |
| 51 to 66 | Chalmers 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:| 3ptM | player 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. |
| 2ptM | player 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. |
| Foul | Player 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 missed | Player 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 missed | Player 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.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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment