Ruby League Advice

[Nickstank]

After a lot of time sniping and playing challenges to improve my squad, I finally got it where I want it and have jumped into playing MTO way more. I went 27-3 through Sapphire league, taking 4 additional losses because people rage quit on me and the game screwed me over. I thought I was sitting pretty...and then I started Ruby league.

I'm currently 5-5, and I got blown out for the first time ever in one of my first games. I'm looking for tips to tighten up my game. Almost every one has been close, and some very close (one win in OT, one win sealed by a Dikembe block with 2 seconds left, one loss when I turned the ball over down 1 with 10 seconds left). I'm looking for a few tips on each side of the ball.

-On defense, I usually run one of my bigs back to prevent long toss cheese, but too often one of my perimeter guys sags way off his man and allows an open 3. That's despite me having my defense set to "limit transition" and on and off ball pressure at "tight" How do you combat this? I can't be 2 players at once!

-On offense, I feel like I'm trying to do too much. I have good enough players that most are very good scorers in at least one way, but I think I get bogged down trying to call plays and get everyone involved. Should I keep trying to spread the ball around or ruthlessly exploit mismatches on every possession?

-How do you deal with the cheesy passes to big men inside? The ball seems to go through or around my elite big man defenders even when they're in position. I give up way too many points this way, and even being able to slow that stuff down a little would make a huge difference.

[Bi00]

Defense:
Transition defense is pretty difficult in this game, especially if it's a turnover situation. Ideally, you should be icon switching quite a bit to insure that every defender is lined up. It is important to run your big back and also align the defender on the ball-handler and position him at the 3 point line.

After I score, I will usually take control of both the C and the PG, moving both to their proper position.

Offense:
In my opinion, plays shouldn't be used every possession. Instead, use a more consistent offensive action like PnR. And you should be comfortable calling all types of pick and roll/pops/etc. For example, I like to call a PnR for the inbounding big that is the last to cross half court. That big is already in motion and can create a nice screen/roll which is harder to guard than a big coming from the paint.

Mismatches are also good offense. I usually abuse a size advantage instead of speed advantage because it's much harder to stop a post up than iso action.

And those inside passing are one of the hardest things to stop. If it's off PnR action, stopping the initial guard penetration is the best method. If it's passing from forced cuts, then you should play around with defensive settings, play faster/better defenders, or play zone defense.

[NoLeafClover]

I've found the best way to stop the paint pass spam is run bigs with high Pass Perception (intercept) ratings and when I think my opponent is going to spam pass to the paint, quickly switch off ball to a guard so the teleporting psychic AI steals the ball.

Gets to the point where you need to develop new cheese to counter existing cheese, unfortunately.

Sent from my HTC_0PJA10 using Operation Sports mobile app

[Nickstank]

The Ruby League is f@&$ing infuriating. I'm still stuck after going 6-6 and 5-7, and in the last ten games I've lost on a highly contested fadeaway midrange by Kyrie over Magic Johnson at the buzzer, a highly contested fadeaway 3 by Damian Lillard over Magic Johnson at the buzzer, and I lost a game when Amy James Harden missed 4 free throws in the last 3 minutes of a very close game. I don't remember him missing four total since I got him a month ago. What is this BS?!

[nnng07]

^^Variance

[Nickstank]

After all that BS, I beat a god squad for the first time in a close game, then entered a game that stopped immediately with a message saying it couldn't connect and wouldn't harm my record...and it harmed my record. This game, man...

[Erithtotl]

I sweep Sapphire every time, but have been demoted from Ruby twice.

I think a big part of the problem is badging. At Ruby, all your guys have to have gold badges in their key areas, and as I play on a budget, I don't yet have that.

Also I'm not real good at shot timing and its a lot less forgiving at this level. I hate that there's no way to play Superstar level online games except getting to Ruby level. I feel like every time I get demoted, its just a waste of time because Sapphire plays so differently. In fact I think it makes me worse because I get used to that style of play again only to be thrown back into Ruby and its different settings.

[Nickstank]

This league is whack as f#$%. Finished 6-6 again with one of those losses coming after the game disconnected before it started and said it wouldn't harm my record. Of course, I got a loss. Then at 6-5 with the chance to advance, I play a guy with a mediocre squad but the equalizer destroys me. Wide open Harden and Klay shots not going down as his Curry goes 5-6 from deep and Ruby AD outmuscles Diamond David Robinson for rebounds over and over. All of his contested layups go in and mine roll limply off the rim as all my players stare at the ball instead of even trying to grab it.

I'm getting fed up. I put in too much time grinding in the auction house for the quality of my players to not matter. I'm not saying I should win every game where my team is superior. I'm saying it shouldn't be so obvious from the first quarter that I'm gonna get screwed for the entirety of the game.