TooSerious

For those who take it way too seriously

Hello again!  Its been a busy few weeks for me - with supercoach starting up again...   and moving house as well.

I want to thank Steve for all the effort he put into these writeups for the last 3 weeks. Steve, you did a great job, was excellent reading them each week - and it seems to have turned things around for your team haha. While doing the writeups, you went on a winning streak, whereas my teams form nose dived - after claiming the DD trophy outright, i then lost the next 2 games before jumping back on the winners list this week - albeit with a fairly low score. Im hoping now that I am doing this again, my team can start performing as it was a few weeks back. lol.

Our league is so close at the moment. Owen and Karlos are both on 12 and 2 at the top of the Too conference, while there are four teams on 10 and 4 at the top of the Serious conference. But where it really gets close is that there are 7 teams on 50% records holding spots 7 to 13 on our overall ladder. It doesnt stop there either: the next two spots are held by teams 1 game back - Cameron who is ranked 9th on the points for ladder; and UnderAchievers who is ranked 12th on the same table. Actually those two teams are the only two that buck the trend of our points for ladder being the same as the actual standings. To explain differently - The top 12 teams are all ranked the same on the points for ladder, with Cameron and UnderAchievers in amongst them at their spots.  alright - thats still not explained really well, but Im sure most of you will know what im yakking about.

Very close at the moment anyway! So many teams still in with a chance to make playoffs! And teams at the top can still finish in any order. And, importantly, with only 5 games to go in our regular season, all teams can still mathematically miss or make the playoffs!! Thats awesome. Some huge games coming up over the next few weeks! :D

I have to congratulate Kings of Karlos for winning his 9th game in a row this...
Continuing on with the community generated content, weve got a piece that was submitted by Ruddy.

Now, technically it was submitted last week and Ive been sitting on it waiting for the right time to post it- but with the Rumours going round regarding Petrie at the moment, I think were fast going past its time! :)

So he we go- its a fantasticly comprehensive piece about rucks.

Rucks seem to be a bit of a problem this year. Do you load up on set and forget rucks, or do you try to find some value in the mid pricers. There are a couple
of different ways you can approach the ruck conundrum this year, and each one depends on a few factors.


Most people this year were set on Sandi before SuperCoach began for the year. Sandi is the top of the top in ruckmen. But he also limits who your second ruck can be.
Whether you are going in with Sandi, or you arent i will discuss who would make a good candidate for your first and second ruck.

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2 Premiums
Sandilands: Everybody knows the benefits of Big Sandilands. He averaged 22 more ppg then the next best ruckman, and he was the only ruckman to average over 100. Can he stay injury free? Specifically towards the end of the season, during Sc finals. A must have imo.

Mumford: Sydney has a bye in round 5, and one in round 19. these are nicely spaced byes, and the round 19 bye should see Mumford go into SuperCoach finals refreshed, and ready to fire. There are questions over who will be Sydneys first ruck, and it could impact on Mumfords scoring. Mumfords scoring increased while Seaby was out with injury. Can seaby stay healthy? These are all questions whose answers you need to think about before picking Mumford.

Bradley:
I wouldnt recommend having two players from the same team, and since most people will have Sandilands, that rules out Bradley. He really has only had one year of scoring like a premium ruckman, so consistency may be an issue.

Cox: West Coast...
OK! Its time to get the official TS Supercoach leagues up and running. Well, the official leagues, and the unofficial ones.

Now, as with most things in this place, Im aiming to get them community driven. So what were gunna do is run 3 styles of leagues (well- technically 4, but shhhh... ;) ).

General TS leagues
These are the leagues which run under the TS banner and open to anyone and everyone who wants to join. Its based on the idea that everyone who uses this place has a damn good chance at taking out the prize (see the Pine warmers from last year!).

How it will work is as follows, Weve got a thread set up <a href="http://tooserious.net/?page_id=2318&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=70.0">Here[/url]. Visit here and find the latest league. If there is not a league open, feel free to create one- but make sure the existing leagues are full first. Just make sure its got TS in the title, its a private league so you dont get a bunch of randoms and that the name isnt, well, offensive! Once youve created a league, post the name, and code of the league in this thread and watch the people roll in! Just make sure you update the post once its full!

Donor Leagues
These work pretty much the same as the general leagues, but they are only open to the donors! You can find the league thread (and code) over <a href="http://tooserious.net/?page_id=2318&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=71.0">Here[/url].

TS Platinum league
So good that not even I qualify.

This is a league for the best of the best. Unlike the other leagues we run in this place, it will be based on ranking - either last year or the year before (or even better- BOTH!)

Now, I plan to be fairly choosy with this league, so I dont plan on filling it fast (unless of course we have an influx of high ranked entrants of course... in which case it could be the Platinum leagues... and they can duke it out. :p )

If you think youve got what it takes, take a look at the thread over <a...
2011 stats, open for business.

Alright everyone, 2011 is open for business!

Now, the first thing I want to direct you all to is the Salary Calculator. You can get there either through a players profile page, or by clicking on the little calculator on the stats page.

Now, youll see a few things that werent their last year- and some others that make life easier.

Firstly, you dont need to hit recalculate- it works that out itself.
Secondly, if a player didnt play, leave the field blank instead of mucking around with the clumsy way it worked last year.
Thirdly, clicking on the linked headings will fill the calc with that column- so click on the A/A and youll see the movement based on that.
Finally, and most importantly- Theres a graph on there now! One that allows you to transpose the last 2 years of salary movement onto it!

I gotta say, its pretty fricking awesome. :)

Also, with the inclusion of the 2011 stats, it also means that the iThink comp is now fully open, along with the 2011 players.

Just to remind you all about that, you predict scores, you win an xBox, or a Playstation, or a wii. Its quite an awesome package and its all thanks to <a href="http://www.bladerunnerpropertyservices.com/">Bladerunner Property Services.[/url]




<img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/consoles.png" width="470px">



Check out the competitions page to see the full details, cause its a pretty awesome comp.

Anyways, give things a looksee- let me know if anything has gone ary.
One of the regulars in these parts, LiQuiD_SiXx, sent through this article that he wrote today. I reckon its a fairly solid piece on where to start, and a couple of things to consider when deciding on the structure of your squad. More than that though, Im looking forward to hearing some of the points, and counter points that can be raised in the comments as its a fairly meaty topic when you start to peel back the layers of it. That said, I really like the idea of the community writing articles! Theres a lot of different angles to cover this year, and you guys are pretty damn cluey at this stuff, so if anyone is interested in getting there stuff published, drop me a line and we can talk about it.

So without further ado-

As we are still in the early days of Supercoach 2011, we should be dedicating most of our discussion on team structure and getting that right early rather than specific player discussions. Naturally, opinions and views of players will grow and change as we gain access to more information throughout the pre-season, so having the right team structure will enable us to maximise our player selections by Round 1 Lock-Out.
Selecting the right team structure can be one the most complex aspects of Supercoach, but if you get your right it could lead to a very successful year. Hopefully this will give some insight into how to build a competitive team structure from scratch.

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As with selecting any initial team you must start with the end in mind and first decide on your Goal for Season 2011.

Overall – The goal is to score as many points per week to attempt to win the overall score prize.
League Wins – The goal is to score enough points each week to beat your opponent and ultimately win your league Grand Final.


The difference in team structure between each goal may not vary too much, but if your goal is to win your league planning around the byes is very important. So to keep it as simple as possible it will be based...
NBA Matchup 14

I was thinking this morning that I should keep doing these write ups as I have been on a winning streak during this time.  But alas all good things must come to an end and this will be my final write up before I hand the reigns back to Anthak.  Plus I won’t be around from next Sunday as we are going on holidays for the week.

Yet another team in the NBA has sacked their coach.  The Pacers parted ways with Jim O’Brien.  I was keen on the Pacer’s playoff chances prior to the season starting but they have been a mess for the last 5-6 weeks and a change needed to be made.   There have been some big games in the NBA this week, none bigger than the rematch between the Lakers and the Celtics with the C’s overturning the result from the finals last year.  I am not sure what to make of the Lakers at the moment? They are just going through the motions as they realise they can lift a few gears once the playoffs start.  But getting beaten by the Kings in LA? What is going on there?  Teams will be trying to get as many wins as possible before the All Star Break in a few weeks time

This week only one trade was processed in our league whereby Heaver traded Kevin Martin to Fudge and received Wilson Chandler in return.   Both teams have done well with that trade.  This week  has seen some very exciting matches in our league and there were a few upsets thrown in as well.

Please read over the break for the reviews and the previews for Matchup 15.

<!--more-->Stevo’s Nuggets      1244     v     Team Anthak     1239

I still can’t believe I won this match.  This match had everything and went down right to the final buzzer in the Warriors/Jazz game.   I was holding onto a slender lead in the 4th qtr and Reggie Williams was coming home strong which nearly got Anthak over the line.  My score of 1244 was a PB for me this season and I had some great contributions from Wall 177, Hickson 148, Young 147,...
<blockquote>Supercoach Gold – what a rip off. As I knew it would be – just a way to line Uncle Rupert’s pockets.

I pity the poor people who pony up the dosh for this when they can just as easily come here, donate some dosh to Walesy and enjoy a much livelier, more well informed and straight out better SuperCoach community.

Hey Walesy – now’s the time to ask for donations … we can find out how much SuperCoach Gold costs and even if we donated a decent portion of that amount to this site, that would be better than giving money to the evil News Crop empire.

And I’m guessing we’re much more knowledgeable here anyway.
</blockquote>

This comment from Chris88 has got me thinking.

When you consider the amount of work that goes into making software like Supercoach Gold and the amount of time it saves you in the year when it comes to researching and making predictions about your team, $20 is not actually that much to pay. Now... $40 for Dreamteam and Supercoach.. that could be pushing it but its still not completely unreasonable.

The question I have, if that is worth $40- how much is this place worth?

We have an excellent, vibrant community here. I do it for the love of it but, unfortunately, servers dont get paid for with love. At the moment - you get most of the functionality of Supercoach Gold (and some extra tools) here for free, but there are perks for being a donor (including a huge one in the works that will be released before the start of the season.) - But the major thing is that donors are what keeps this place afloat and the bills paid.

At heart, this is a community site. We will always try to accomodate what the community wants in regards to upgrades and which direction we take but that requires the communities support to keep going and keep improving so just consider it before blowing your whole wad on keeping VirtualSports in the black. ;)

If you did want to donate, simply head over <a...
Hey guys what a hectic last couple of hours in the January transfer window and especially coming out of England with some MASSIVE deals done at the elevnth hour. Here are some of the Major deals done

Edin Dzeko Wolfsburg to Man City 27 m (note: all values are in pounds)
Darren Bent Sunderland to Aston Villa Initial 18m bid could rise to 24m based on appearnces and goals
Jermaine Pennant (ex gunner) and from Zaragoza made his loan deal permanent to Stoke City for just under 2m
Ben Arfa Marsielle on Loan at Newcastle also made his loan permanent (currently out for season with broken leg)
Man City players Wayne Bridge and Roque Sants Cruz joined West Ham and Blackburn repsectively on season loan deals.
Aston Villa secured American International Michael Bradley on loan from the states.
Birmingham City secured Tottenhams Darren Bently and Rubin Kazans Obafemi Martins on season long loans
Bolton Wanderes have secured Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea on a season long loan
Chelsea went bang on the last day of the Transfer window Picking up David Luiz from Benfica rumoured to be around the 25m mark and Fernando Torres from Liverpool for 50m
Eidur Gudjohnson has joined Fulham from Stoke on loan.
Liverpool also had a massive last day signing Luis Suarez(Uruguays gun at the world cup) from Ajax for 23m and Andy Carrol From Newcastle for 35 m
Man Utd have bought for life after Edwin Van der Saar with the capture of Anders Lindegaard from Alaesunds for an undisclosed fee.
Stephen Ireland has joined Newcastle on loan after a disappointing speel with Villa.
John Carew has joined Stoke on loan from Villa
Sunderlanded have captured Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari on a season long loan
Stephen Pienaar rejected a move to Chelsea instead joined Spurs for a deal worth 3m
Carlos Vela has joined Albion for the rest of the season for some invaluable first team experience
Robbie Keane has joined West Ham on loan

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Alot of other minor deals but, I have...
Looks like in just a handful of hours, Supercoach and Dreamteam will be open for business for another year!

I for one, will probably be a sad case, constantly hitting refresh at and around the 12am mark- in the hope that I can secure one of the first tids. (Yep, some of us are just that geeky!)

There are so many answers that weve been hanging on for. Salary confirmations, CG loading, Positional changes- heck even the exact rulings around the subs and byes will be nice!

With it opening however, it also means that for a lot of your less-serious coaches (but still serious enough to start researching in February!)- youre probably going to be after some kind of refresher as to whats been going on in the offseason. So Ive knocked together a handy dandy cheat-sheet over the break. :)
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Basically, Ive broken it into 4 sections for each team.
Training the house down- which of course, is people that have been training notably well.
Move to the midfield- Because we all love a player that is training with the midfield group.
Other positional changes?- These are generally interesting because not only do they effect the person in question, they also effect the other players in the parts of the ground they leave or move to.
Injury struck- Obvious, this is a player that has been injured. Context or severity hasnt been taken into account, so make sure you google the players that interest you!




Adelaide Crows

Training down the house
I. Callinan, R. Douglas, B. Martin, R. Tambling, D. Talia

Move to the Midfield?
P. Dangerfield, J. Porplyzia, A. Otten

Other positional changes?
None

Injury struck
C. Knights, D. Mackay, S. Schmidt, S. Shaw, B. Vince

Brisbane Lions

Training down the house
J. Redden, T. Rockliff, B. Staker

Move to the Midfield?
None

Other positional changes?
M. Clark (Forward)

Injury struck...
Alright, what I wanted to talk about today is a little plan I had to help plot out the byes. Now, technically, the ticker, once released next week, will be able to assist you in much the same way as this- But I reckon that by setting this up, you get to see a full list of what could be high-risk and it will assist you in putting together a team from here on in.

Firstly, what Ive done is create 5 new watchlists, Ive called them 4, 5, 6, 16 and 19 and what Ive done, is all the players Im interested in, Ive also added them to the appropriate lists.

By doing that, I can look through my squad- line by line, for any spots I might be in danger of donuting due to over exposure in the lines.

(I can also find a bug that prevents people from displaying properly on two different lists- hooray!)

So Im just going to run through some of what I see as the danger lines.
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Round 4 - Saints, Dogs and Lions

Defence:
With Lake having a terrible pre-season, this line is thankfully make less stressful than it otherwise would have been- but with Goddard, Gilbee, Gilbert, Drummond, Fisher and the potentially underpriced Gram and Adcock - youll still need to be careful.

Mids:
With a fair number premiums in the Saints and Dogs, you should be fairly safe here if youre sane about it. The danger though comes when you look at a couple of Brisbane Rookies that are here. Polec, Green, Beams will all be here abouts on peoples watchlists so youll need to be careful!

Forwards:
Roo, maybe Brown- but I cant see too much affecting you here.

Round 5 - Swans, Eagles and Demons

Rucks:
This round could suprise people with Mumford, cox, Jamar and NitNat all taking a holding. But if youve got Sandi and cover, youll be right.

The Rest:
Theres a suprising amount of decent picks in this list. A lot of them are F/Ms, so with some planning, you shouldnt have any issues if youre going after the likes of Jack, Green, Goodes, OKeefe, Sylvia, Gaff or...