Team makeup suggestions?

The Captain

The Captain

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Please don't make this a "bash APA" thread.... I enjoy playing with the people on the league in my area. But I'm looking at suggestions on skill level combinations. Total of 8 on a team, 5 play per night, 23 point skill level maximum. That being said... My wife and I are 7 and 5... What other skill levels would you suggest for the other 6 players? My thought is 7,6,5,5,4,4,3,3. Thoughts?
 
We currently have the same line up on my team. It works well and gives you several options. That said we are getting rid of one of the 5's next session for a 4 or lower. Reason being if one of our lower skill levels happens to go up it could really hamstring us.
 
you always want to leave your team some slack. skill levels fluctuate more than I would like. I would consider adding a 2/3 guy or a 1/2 female. I love adding brand new players to an experienced team. Is this a double jeopardy league? If its just 8ball you should be just fine. I love playing numbers like 66551 in 9ball...
 
Your team sounds very strong, and gives you many options.

I'm kinda partial to my current team, only because its worked fairly well. 5-5-5-5-5-3-3-3

We roll four 5's and one 3 against any team except one that is likely to play two 3's or lower, where we'll go 5-5-5-3-3 to give our 3's more games. We're short against the 7's and 6's, but we get 5's against the 4's to offset.

We're also flexible if anyone goes up.

This is part of the fun to me, the chess match of matching up against the other team. Since a great majority of our division has played for some time, we know each other pretty well. It's always fun seeing what's gonna happen. I have my lineup set in my head going into each match, and inevitably things get jumbled.
 
Agreed about planning for growth of players; maybe not this session if established players, it may take a session but people will go up (as long as you do the right thing and let them go up the way they should). Remember new players will yo yo until they have 20 matches. Get some 2/3s.
 
Most other 7's that I have talked to about it have said the most dangerous player is a strong 4. That being said, I would suggest that if you were to consider changing up something trade a 5 or the 6 (assuming you're the 7) for another 4 or lower. The line up as you have it, to me, doesn't present many match up problems for an opponent. As it is I would bet that you'll be top heavy in no time at all, but it'll be very strong for at least a little while
 
Celophanewrap said:
Most other 7's that I have talked to about it have said the most dangerous player is a strong 4. That being said, I would suggest that if you were to consider changing up something trade a 5 or the 6 (assuming you're the 7) for another 4 or lower. The line up as you have it, to me, doesn't present many match up problems for an opponent. As it is I would bet that you'll be top heavy in no time at all, but it'll be very strong for at least a little while
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Yes, I'm the 7, and my wife is a 5. We are the constant.
 
You may want to check out "How to be the Captain of an Winning APA 8-ball Team" The book has a couple of chapters devoted on this subject; strategies on how to throw players, optimal team line-ups and dealing with sandbaggers.

FWIW, if you want to be an effective Captain don't assume you have to take on all the responsibilities. Recognize the abilities of your teammates, and be willing to delegate responsibilities when someone can do a better job than you. When I first started out in the APA, I had a team captain who was a D,D+ level player at best (APA 4/5). He refused to let his SL7 coach, even though that player had 20 years of experience and went to Vegas more time than the 'Captain'. The only coaching I got from my team captain dropped me down from a SL4 to SL3 (losing record at that). That experience kept me away from the APA league for a couple of years.
 
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I had pretty good success last year with 76554333. I had 3 full point lineups that I could throw at any team. 75533, 65543, and 76433. With these 3 lineups I could matchup evenly (within a skill level or 2) many lineups (77333, 65552, 55553, 74444, 75443, 66443, etc).
 
ctyhntr said:
You may want to check out "How to be the Captain of an Winning APA 8-ball Team" The book has a couple of chapters devoted on this subject; strategies on how to throw players, optimal team line-ups and dealing with sandbaggers.

FWIW, if you want to be an effective Captain don't assume you have to take on all the responsibilities. Recognize the abilities of your teammates, and be willing to delegate responsibilities when someone can do a better job than you. When I first started out in the APA, I had a team captain who was a D,D+ level player at best (APA 4/5). He refused to let his SL7 coach, even though that player had 20 years of experience and went to Vegas more time than the 'Captain'. The only coaching I got from my team captain dropped me down from a SL4 to SL3 (losing record at that). That experience kept me away from the APA league for a couple of years.
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I definitely don't take on everything. I do 90% of the coaching, and have had players move up. This is why I'm looking to replace players (help them form their own teams). I certainly don't play every night either. I try to post the most competitive line up, sometimes it includes me, others it's mostly lower level players.
 
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