BuzzerBeater Forums

https://www.buzzerbeater.com/match/118217739/boxscore.aspx

As you can see in the box score, my team is up by 12 going into the 4th. My bench outplayed my opponent's for the entire game. My opponent comes storming back and two quick timeouts (by my team) keep my bench players on the sideline for the bulk of the last quarter. My team is limited to a whole five points in the final 12 minutes after dominating the majority of the game.

I would like to know what triggers a timeout call, what happens during timeouts, and is there a way to control when your coach calls one? Timeouts are way too random and seem to affect the game at the whims of the sim.

I gotta say this was one of the most ridiculous BB games I’ve ever watched… I had no business winning by that much. But I had home court, ran LI with a huge mismatch in bigs vs your team, your best player was in 7 GS, and frankly if you’re relying on your backups as the key to winning the game, you probably don’t deserve to win. Yes, your bench had the advantage over my bench, but honestly if your bench played the 4th against my starting 5 the result would be the same, they would’ve been outclassed by my lineup just like your starters ended up being outclassed. All that being said, your questions about the game engine are valid and you have a right to be pissed off at the result, because I know I would be furious if the roles were reversed.

I watched most of your game live since your opponent is a friend of mine. A couple of things:

Your coach made moves at:
1:06 left in the third (substitutions)
4th 9:33 left (substitutions after a 4-1 run to start the quarter by him)
4th 8:21 left (coach called a timeout AND made substitutions after a 6-0 run by him)
4th 3:41 left (substitutions after a 7-3 run by him)
4th 3:04 left (timeout called, no substitutions as one had just been made 37 seconds prior)
4th 2:58 left (substitutions made)
4th 2:15 left (substitutions made after another 4-0 run by him)

and then more timeouts and subs within 2 minutes remaining. There is no way to control timeouts or coaching substitutions but your coach was definitely making moves and changing things up after runs. His team was just much better and to be honest it's very surprising you had the lead after three.

Your team definitely did not dominate the majority of the game. You were tied at half and shot remarkably well in the third, but that evened out in the 4th. This was the matchup by the way:

Only 2/8 of your top players in 9 GS and your 221k team salary for your top 8
verses
and 6/8 of his top players in 9 GS and 288k team salary for your opponent's top 8

Guys,

I appreciate the responses. I knew I was going to lose going in, but I'm one of those guys that watches the game live and the coaching/timeout issues make no sense. I'm not going to get into the weird GS drops that I had this week because that's another issue that contains too many things that are out of the owners' control as well.

I've tried to determine what the driving factor is behind timeouts over the years, but they are just too random. I've been told on this forum that your coach can change your strategy at timeouts as well, but don't have any data to support that because we are not allowed to know these factors of the game.

The big problem is the 4th quarter. There was no reason for my to get outscored 34-5. I appreciate the your breakdown of the substitutions, but the fact remains that my players who had a positive +/- were stranded on the bench because of the wonky timeouts.

but the fact remains that my players who had a positive +/- were stranded on the bench because of the wonky timeouts.

This doesn’t make sense when you think about it though.. you were outscored by 29 in the 4th, which means prior to that, a good chunk of your guys were in positive +/-.

I’ve also already pointed out how no one was “stranded on the bench”. Not sure how you can say they were stranded when you see all the substitutions that were made. I’m pretty sure every one of your players played in some capacity in the 4th. You could argue there’s no reason that you should have been able to shoot 6/8 from three in the third Q against his much better OD but thus is life.

Lastly, J. Daniels and/or any of the other guys would not have been positive PD either if they played more in the 4th. Fact of the matter is that your minute distribution is what most managers pray for to happen in playoff games (no one in the 40s, no one in single digit minutes).

I get it, losses like this are frustrating, but you’re viewing it in the lens of “all these things went wrong” and ignoring the fact that lots of things went right and you had a lot of luck on your side in the first three Qs. If you show me the two teams before the game starts and told me that no one used GDP, I would predict a 15-20 point loss for you… and that is what happened, just not in the conventional way.

Last edited by E.B.W. at 01/02/2022 10:42:55

Can you or can you not tell me about the exact mechanics of timeouts? That's what I want to know. Traditionally, starters play approximately the first 6 minutes of a quarter and then the reserves come in for a significant amount of time. That occurred in the first three quarters, but because of the timeouts it did not happen in the 4th.

Everything else you have said is irrelevant. If I were a bot team I could see getting blown out by 29 in a quarter, but that's not the case here. My 6-10 are stronger, but weren't allowed to show it in the 4th.

Can you or can you not tell me about the exact mechanics of timeouts? That's what I want to know.

I could tell you what I think and assume, but no one but the BBs know the "exact mechanics of timeouts". Starters in BB almost always play 8-9+ minutes in the 4th when in a close game or losing, not sure what you've been watching... You posted this in the bugs forum and there is clearly no bug. If anything it belongs in the suggestions forum.

Everything else you have said is irrelevant.

Pointing out the correct subbing patterns and repeated coaching changes that you are trying to say did not happen is irrelevant? Sure.

My 6-10 are stronger, but weren't allowed to show it in the 4th.

Strongly disagree. Your bench was in worse GS (two in 9 GS, two in 8 GS, one in 7 GS) and 73k total salary for guys 6-10. His bench had awesome GS (four in 9 GS, one in 8 GS) and 72k total salary for guys 6-10. His bench was stronger, not yours.

This is a lost cause. You do you sir!

This is a lost cause. You do you sir!

Thanks. I'll hang around until someone who actually knows can give me an answer.

I guess I can explain how the GE works and maybe it will help you out in understanding. The outcome of the game is decided in the 15 minutes before game time. The path in which the game reaches this outcome to my knowledge is completely random. The game can be back and forth, there can be a few big swings and runs from each team, whatever the case may be. Now as for your game, you definitely had one of the more insane swings I’ve seen, but I have seen it happen before. It is pretty rare to have one as bad as yours but it is what it is. The GE needed to get the outcome that it decided and it took a pretty extreme path, and I guess the substitutions, or lack there of, that you are complaining about was part of that.

I will be surprised if you find someone that knows the exact mechanics behind the timeouts, I’ve played this game since single digit seasons, watching a fair amount of games live and couldn’t give you even an idea of how they work. I just know the GE needs to get to a certain outcome and figure it’s substitutions helps do that.

Lastly, no need to be rude to E.B.W. He was simply countering your points and explaining why and how you lost the game. Your initial post was about timeout mechanics, but you have commented on rosters and other things in which he was referencing.