I still expected to finish bottom or in the bottom 2 basically based on experience and the things I was still working out. So finishing where I did in the SEC is better than expected especially given that I was higher than that for a while during the season.

Still need to work on training and XPs, RPs and CPs as well as recruting. Used up most of my points early on to ensure I picked up some decentt recruits and then didn't get a chance to bid towards the end of the season.

Firstly thanks Al and Max for a great game.  I am enjoying it immensely.

The Winged Hogs had a cracking season, way beyone expectations, taking the Shield, Conference and Conference Tourney titles.  I think we got more than our fair share of luck.  We had 13 5 setters of which we won 10.  Would have been different if the fifth set lottery had fallen differently a few times.

Recruiting wise we had another great year.  Last season we got lucky with 2 very cheap 5 stars.  This season we paid more and had to work harder for the three.  What are my tips, that would be spoiling everyone's fun!  But here are 4 elements to think about

1) Observation - who is bidding for what, when, what do they need, and how many RP have they got. 

2) You have to be in it to win it.,

3) Plan at the start of the season what your targets are, but be flexible there may be opportunities that arise.

4) A bit of luck. 

I spend far too much time thinking about recruiting, it is a great mechanism!  And I did bid for 2 four stars this year - but was out bid each time.  Also I have less RP to go into the next season than last so I expect it to be hard next year.

Player development - I could have used  a couple of sessions more to do everything, but got most of the targets done.   Not so much lack of ponts but lack of slots.  An OH freshman needs 12 slots each season, you have to start them immediately.

So feeling very happy about the season just gone.!!

OVERALL

How did the season go?  

We had an average season.  B

RECORD AND TOURNAMENTS

Did you win anything?  Did you get better than last season at anything from a results perspective?

We won the BIG 8 Conference Tournament.  That was it.  Our 6-straight conference title championship streak ended.   B

RECRUITING

How did it go?  Did you get some quality recruits or did you (like the commish) make a total mess of it?  I grade myself at an F+ 

A 5-star and a 4-star.  B-

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Did you maximize your players key skills?  Did the "potential" grade on the roster help you at all?  

We did boost some FIT for key sessions.  I feel like I only left 2-3 skills on the table that I didn't CP/XP for players I should have and that's not too bad.  B+/A-

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Our focus for Season 8 will be to perfect the JT recruiting formula.  We have some RPs banked and really need to get three 5-stars next season.  

We now have a ton of great coaches so all this gets harder from here...

Overall: a better season than expected. Outside hitter weakness wasn't as defective as I thought it would be. Stronger at the start due to using Fit but others caught up.

Record and tournaments: Tomatoes' 3rd best overall record but 2nd most wins. First ever WGM rifle having never gotten past the quarter finals before and semi-finals in Conference tournament and Nationals, both of which were close losses isn't bad. Second in the Conference with a 3-1 record against Messers Sellers shows what might have been if we concentrated more on that. The three other losses were against low NET ranked teams which also hurt our rating there.

Recruiting: terrible, I just can't seem to get this right. We overbid on players that others seem to get cheaper. The only plus is we have a 5* MB to go with last season's 5* pickup and a good attacking 4* OH to partner last season's 5*. Unfortunately it's only  3* setters coming through.

Development: Everything went to plan apart from Avery Fisher at RS who wasn't great to start with.

Season 8: the planning on XP and CP worked well so that will continue. I might change focus on which competitions I aim for. Recruiting has to improve before we end up a mediocre team.

I agree with Al about the new coaches. With all those 5* recruits, Cincinnati are going to be immense for 2 or 3 seasons. One more win and they would have come 2nd on the over all standings 

Overall

A. Low expectations are a wonderful thing.

Records and tournaments

A. There was no way I was going to match Conference, Shield and Holyoke Runner Up from last season, but I won far more games than I expected and even had a surprise run to the Shield semi finals. Not bad considering the only record I was likely to break was worst ever team performance in a season.

Recruiting

B+. Got the two 5 stars I wanted, but missed out on the last recruit.  As I'm losing an F, two Cs, and one B- from the roster, overall the team will still be in far better shape for Season 8

Development

A+. Everyone of any value got maxed out, even in areas they don't need it. Was even able to coach up some fringe players so they feel better about themselves as they warm the bench for the rest of their careers...

I don't get it...

When picking my team, I still follow Steve's maxim of highest servers first. Beyond that I have no clue what I'm doing.

Also, how did Carlsbad perform so badly in the first half of the season and then become an unstoppable machine in the second? Was it all a long con just to win the Holyoke? Or has Phil discovered some secret ruse..?

OVERALL

How did the season go?  

 - Amazing. We always over achieve. I am, after all, a tactical genius. Any defeats are easily attributable to Al's Kiss of Death jobes and/or biased Olmec. Obviously there is no credit to my competitors, it's all about us.

RECORD AND TOURNAMENTS

Did you win anything?  Did you get better than last season at anything from a results perspective?

 - We won the hearts of the watching millions. That's far more important than a tin cup. Results improved because I'm a forever moving, fluid, tactical genius. I go with the times so yes, we will always improve. Fact.

RECRUITING

How did it go?  Did you get some quality recruits or did you (like the commish) make a total mess of it?  I grade myself at an F+ 

 - I got the best, most promising, player ever to don a volleyball shirt and a couple of his mates.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Did you maximize your players key skills?  Did the "potential" grade on the roster help you at all?  

 - Of course not. I don't have time for that. If my players can't improve themselves then there's the door. I'm not here to hold their hands. If you're not up to it, you're out. I also don't need the help of stats. I use my actual eyes.

I DON'T GET IT

Is there anything you didn't or don't understand about the website, simulation, concepts, etc?  Let me tell you what I don't get.  How does James Tucker get FOUR 5-stars last season and THREE 5-star recruits this season?  Time to start sharing the knowledge JT!  

 - I understand everything. I am the master of all I survey. I share nothing. You must learn the hard way.

Overall, I wished we had won some of our bigger matches. So, I'm voting that we were below expectations. Still we were able to (barely) keep our conference championship streak alive (although we share with Kevin's Swamp Rats) and once again took the conference tournament. We still struggle in the other big tournaments, though.

Recruiting has, by far, been the most difficult part of staying in contention. I often have the feeling of being way behind in RP, which is a self-fulfilling cycle, as I have to bid much more than I'd like so that I can compete with the 2k RP teams. This is by design of course, but it's what proverbially keeps the coach "awake at night." We did pick up two five-stars again, though, which will keep us in the hunt next year.

The potential grade has been helpful,I would keep the function.I maximized (for the most part) the player skills I was hoping to, although seem to fall just short of the XP I needed on one or tow players. To that end, Al, could we implement something similar to what is in U2 for SBYs and APPs to indicate how many sets until the next XP bump? It's easy to mentally do the math for a freshman player, but sometimes doing it for a sophomore or junior strains my brain.

Overall a decent season, and looking forward to the next one!

OVERALL

How did the season go?  

This season went extremely well overall. We had our first ever winning record, met or exceeded our best prior performance in every competition, and I'm pleased with our training and recruiting.

RECORD AND TOURNAMENTS

Did you win anything?  Did you get better than last season at anything from a results perspective?

We didn't win anything, but we came very close--a lot closer than I expected going into the season. Our performance gives me optimism for the future, because as far as I see it, we're only halfway through our rebuild and have a couple more seasons to go.

RECRUITING

How did it go?  Did you get some quality recruits or did you (like the commish) make a total mess of it?   

I'd give myself an A- for recruiting. We picked up two five stars, which are our first ever. The only hiccup was that we didn't have enough RP at the end of the year for a blue chip MB, although getting a cheap four star there is a fine substitute.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Did you maximize your players key skills?  Did the "potential" grade on the roster help you at all?  

Player development went great this season. I was able to max out all key skills for all key players and only missed out on the skills that add no value. Spare a thought for Hunter Dyson, who has two more seasons of watching Netflix in the stands to look forward to. Shame he won't be able to use a friend's log-in anymore.

I DON'T GET IT

Is there anything you didn't or don't understand about the website, simulation, concepts, etc? 

I'm sure there are things I'm totally missing, but I'm blissfully unaware of what they are.

I certainly did not expect to win a tourney

OVERALL

The season was a bit below par especially when comparing to the success of last year.

RECORD AND TOURNAMENTS

Sadly we did not win anything, but we came close (haha). Highlight of the season was reaching the WGM Final, which was one better than our inaugral season where we got knocked out in the semis. This year we had to fight hard to claim our place iin the final, beating Baton rouge to get through the group and then getting 3-0 wins away to both Denali and Cincinnati to earn the right to face the Tomatoes. It was a close game in the first three sets as the Shrimps held their own until exhaustion set in and we collapsed in the 4th set. Still it was close there for a while against a much better team. As defending champions we held our own in the PAC8 conference tying for first place with three other teams on 8-6. We could have been and should have been 9-5 if it was not for the Chameleon spoiler. Congrats to Micki too whose Albuquerque Racs put some final weeks pressure on Santa Clara

RECRUITING

Well we got ourselves another two five stars which was the minimum requirement. Ideally we would also have liked to have picked up Tucker Rose as Setter, but were short of the RP´s to get both him and Dwayne Hicks in the final recruit session. So although I am happy enough with the recruiting it does leave us stuffed next year with no quality Setter coming through. It´s a shame Aiden Dunn could not stay on the roster for anoher year as we need him. We are now going to have to rely on Matteo Hawkins a D+ setter for our big games and last years walk-on Ginger McCabe as backup! Dylan Keller will never be getting a game.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Development of the squad went as well as it could of. Last year´s OH star recruit is still on track for an A+ rating and we look solid at MB, Libero and RS. The big hole in the wall as already mentioned though is at Setter. Assuming we can recuit a five star net season it means we will be weak in that position for 2 seasons at least so a spell of mediocrity and rebuilding beckons. We will need a new Libero for next season too so we will have to be at our recruiting best next season. On the plus side we do this year have some RP stored. Previously we started the season with very little RP if my memory serves me rightly.

I DON'T GET IT

I would like to recruit James Tucker as a scout for future recruits......

OVERALL

How did the season go?  It went ok, SEC is a tough division, We did alright vs 3 great teams and the rest of us were very competitive as well. Didn't progress in the cups as well as last season.

RECORD AND TOURNAMENTS

Not even a fruit bowl.

RECRUITING

 Still doing ok in this department, by end of season we were ranked top 10. Two 5 stars a 4 star and walk on. The 5 stars dice rolls went really well and they will be A players in the future. The 4 star RS got one skill roll higher than the 3 star walk on.... We are really weak in RS this season.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

I managed to train the players I wanted to improve. Some of the recruits with "special skill boost" will start to come through this season, I'm looking forward to seeing my sophomore MB get to 19 in BLK (after fitness mod). I think I've improved the weakness in the Setter position but the RSs are going to be like a ball and chain on any league/cup campaign and a drain on RP.

I DON'T GET IT

I didn't get the ranking for the Non-conference last season. I do now.

OVERALL

For our squad I think we got what couldve been expected , but I still want more so 6/10

RECORD AND TOURNAMENTS

No trophies but a couple of big scalps in the cups 7/10

RECRUITING

I thought it went well until my 3 star freebie turned out to be bettter than my 4 star expensive recruit !!

8/10 until players arrived then 6/10

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

This is one part I think I am doing well , but with only one A potential player I can't see a route to the top 7/10

I DON'T GET IT

Well where do you start , still working out the various tournaments , doesn't seem to be a tactical element to the game , recruitment not sure of how to maximise this but that is down to me.

BUT

I love this game and I think my lack of knowledge and the learning curve is part of that