So it?s the last session of league play before regionals (i.e. the last chance to adjust the team roster) and I was thinking about what would be the ideal team, assuming you already have your regional birth?
I am also assuming that you have strong players that are legitimately handicapped, what is the best starting five you can throw?
Well I tried to solve this with a little math and here is what I figured out based on a couple of strategies that I have and some permutations of team make up.
Ok first there are 146 (I won't bore everyone with all 146) possible unique 5 player teams that you can make up under APA 8 Ball handicaps. The criteria for a team is 5 players from skill levels 2 to 7 with a total combined handicap no greater than 23.
The first thing I did was eliminate any team that didn't maximize the handicap and use all 23 points between the five players. This leaves you with 20 possible options for your team.
Player 1 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5
Player 2 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5
Player 3 5 4 3 6 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 6 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 5
Player 4 2 3 3 2 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 4
Player 5 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 4 2 2 3 3 2 3 4 3 4
Next I decided to eliminate any team that had a two as a player. I did this for a couple reasons, I felt the strongest team would have all five players having a reasonable chance to win, have experience under some pressure and not be prone to being raised handicap for winning just one match. Generally I think 2's don't fall into those categories. That leaves us with just 11 different team options:
Player 1 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5
Player 2 7 6 5 5 4 6 6 5 5 5 5
Player 3 3 4 5 4 4 5 4 5 4 5 5
Player 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 4
Player 5 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 4
Next, I feel that higher level players are the most reliable to win in a pressure situation, so my next thought was lets narrow it down to only teams that have three upper level handicaps (5,6,7). This only left 5 possible team combinations:
Player 1 7 6 6 5 5
Player 2 5 6 5 5 5
Player 3 5 5 5 5 5
Player 4 3 3 4 5 4
Player 5 3 3 3 3 4
A different but similiar thougth was that 6 and 7's are significantly more consistent pressure shooters than even 5's. Also these players generally have the best coaching advice to offer the team during tournament play. So instead of 3 upper level players I changed the criteria to at least two of the highest skill level players (6 or 7). Only 4 teams met that qualification:
Player 1 7 7 6 6
Player 2 7 6 6 6
Player 3 3 4 5 4
Player 4 3 3 3 4
Player 5 3 3 3 3
Looking at the last two criteria which are:
1. Use all 23 points of handicap, don't use skill level 2, rely on upper level players (5,6,7) - 5 teams
or
2. Use all 23 points of handicap, don't use skill level 2, center your team around the very best players (6,7) - 4 teams
What is interesting is that only one team actually fits in both categories:
Player 1 6
Player 2 6
Player 3 5
Player 4 3
Player 5 3
So the thought is this might be described as the best starting five to play under the current rules. Thoughts?
Please note this isn't a discussion on sandbagging, if you like a particular league, etc, but more of an attempt to determine what the best logical strategy would be to assemble the most competitive team.
I am also assuming that you have strong players that are legitimately handicapped, what is the best starting five you can throw?
Well I tried to solve this with a little math and here is what I figured out based on a couple of strategies that I have and some permutations of team make up.
Ok first there are 146 (I won't bore everyone with all 146) possible unique 5 player teams that you can make up under APA 8 Ball handicaps. The criteria for a team is 5 players from skill levels 2 to 7 with a total combined handicap no greater than 23.
The first thing I did was eliminate any team that didn't maximize the handicap and use all 23 points between the five players. This leaves you with 20 possible options for your team.
Player 1 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5
Player 2 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5
Player 3 5 4 3 6 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 6 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 5
Player 4 2 3 3 2 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 4
Player 5 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 4 2 2 3 3 2 3 4 3 4
Next I decided to eliminate any team that had a two as a player. I did this for a couple reasons, I felt the strongest team would have all five players having a reasonable chance to win, have experience under some pressure and not be prone to being raised handicap for winning just one match. Generally I think 2's don't fall into those categories. That leaves us with just 11 different team options:
Player 1 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5
Player 2 7 6 5 5 4 6 6 5 5 5 5
Player 3 3 4 5 4 4 5 4 5 4 5 5
Player 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 4
Player 5 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 4
Next, I feel that higher level players are the most reliable to win in a pressure situation, so my next thought was lets narrow it down to only teams that have three upper level handicaps (5,6,7). This only left 5 possible team combinations:
Player 1 7 6 6 5 5
Player 2 5 6 5 5 5
Player 3 5 5 5 5 5
Player 4 3 3 4 5 4
Player 5 3 3 3 3 4
A different but similiar thougth was that 6 and 7's are significantly more consistent pressure shooters than even 5's. Also these players generally have the best coaching advice to offer the team during tournament play. So instead of 3 upper level players I changed the criteria to at least two of the highest skill level players (6 or 7). Only 4 teams met that qualification:
Player 1 7 7 6 6
Player 2 7 6 6 6
Player 3 3 4 5 4
Player 4 3 3 3 4
Player 5 3 3 3 3
Looking at the last two criteria which are:
1. Use all 23 points of handicap, don't use skill level 2, rely on upper level players (5,6,7) - 5 teams
or
2. Use all 23 points of handicap, don't use skill level 2, center your team around the very best players (6,7) - 4 teams
What is interesting is that only one team actually fits in both categories:
Player 1 6
Player 2 6
Player 3 5
Player 4 3
Player 5 3
So the thought is this might be described as the best starting five to play under the current rules. Thoughts?
Please note this isn't a discussion on sandbagging, if you like a particular league, etc, but more of an attempt to determine what the best logical strategy would be to assemble the most competitive team.
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