Where's the defense this year?
 

Having watched many of the "high scoring" elimination matches over the weekend, it strikes me that too many teams were focused on getting the "50 points" from hanging - and ignoring the fact that their opponent was racking up huge a score by accumulating/herding 5 point balls and capping with the 2X ball. The teams that were good at this seemed to be able to do it unencumbered. No one seemed to be running interference. There was very little defense. And teams didn't adjust their strategies to cope with it. You could almost predict what each match was going to look like. Did anyone else observe the same thing?

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

There were a lot of teams who tried to defend against 177 scoring small balls in the Philly finals. All day friday and into thursday we had been racking up small ball points (up to 90 in a round where our partner did not work at all) without once having the goal capped. We went up against some pretty fierce hangers in the eliminations (most notably 341) who tried to prevent us from getting the small balls. The only problem was that we were so efficient with them that we would score our points, then procede to keep the team which had previously been defending us from hanging with our beefy drive train (thanks to 45)

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

Yeah, it was very odd when teams didn't [often] try to stop teams like 16 at Annapolis even after it had its amazing 210 point round were it herded, capped, and hung. It would have defenitley been more effective to take 70 or 80 points from them than get 50 for yourself.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

I full hardly agree with you rourke it is so easy for a good multiplier to win over a hanger that goes stright for the 50. Say they hang right away and they have a good HP that sinks all three that is 65 points. You get a good multiplier and even in the mobile goal you can score 120 points enough to beat 2 hanging robots and 3 HP shots and that sint even counting the other robot if it can do the stationary or hang.
Also it seems that as the CD board focuses more and more on highger and hgigher scores to say "Yea, look we just scored X points!!!" they are forgetting about their amounts and the game is turnign very quickly into the pure offense that it was predicted to be like in the pre-season. I am glad my team was able to go to one of the earlier regionals where teams focused on defense just as much as hanging.

Anyway that is just my .02 and of no opinion of my team (521) as a whole or individual

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

At UCF, lots of teams would defend from us catching the balls. However, at the end of matches I agree... few teams play defense. Unless the other team shoots in 5 more balls and caps it with a 2x though, getting the bar will count as more, making it more important... and I think with the time it takes to grab the bar, once teams decide to go for it... they run out of time to swap back and play defense. That's my personal guess as to strategys though.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

At VCU during the first week of regionals I saw several teams push the goals to block the ball corrals, especially against team 33, who ended up being champions. Most herders weren't very efficient, so teams didn't bother blocking them. Teams only usually bothered to block teams that had a hopper and could deliver many balls very quickly.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

the problem is that while you are on the other side of the field trying to stop the other team from scoring, you are racking up ZERO points for yourself

and if the other team sneaks some by, they only have to beat you by 5 points

and they may decide to play the same game and keep you off the bar, then you spent your whole match doing what? nothing

you get no points for being defensive.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

177 was just insane, like I said in a previous thread we couldn't ignore them or they would rack up 100 points with balls alone... so we pushed both goals in their ball chute and hit them just as the balls fell.. it worked until we went to hang and realized while we were tussling with 177 our hook fell off :/, so we went and sucked up some balls... Their nice drivetrain was able to dislodge the mobile goal, and both of us filled up our goals until the buzzer. two penalties did us in, and we lost 60-70, but I'm proud to say we lost to the winning alliance of the Philadelphia Regional, because nobody could stop them from delivering all those balls.

What amazed me most was 177's drivetrain. I would've thought that with two omniwheels they wouldn't be strong, but they were pushing around other robots like rag dolls during the rest of the playoffs. Just wait until they get their hook working.. scary thought, eh?

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

We got defensed.

Big time.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

This probably isnt the best place to ask this, but is there a rul that says you cannot pick a team up off the bar and move them?

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

pick them up?

there was a match at buckeye, I think 340 was on the bar and another team hooked on, and their bot could move sideways on the bar - and they were trying to push 340 sideways, so they let themselves back down with their wheels on the platform and pushed back

and the other team pushed backed again

and 340 pushed them right off the end of the bar.

sad part is, for all the other matches I saw 340 was happy to get on the bar and mind its own business - the other team started the shoving match

and lost.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

very very very true. in the first match at pittsburgh, 188 was playing defence against 808 to try and stop them from hanging, and rode up on a 5 pt ball..despite a 1.5" ground clearance ! :ahh: , and that prevented us from stopping them and they zoomed around to the other side of the field and hung. had we ignored them, herded and capped, we likely would have won.

that being said, a defence shouldnt be excluded from any strategy whatsoever. in fact, it may be simplify things alot for your crew =D

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

I remember 279 and 378 were battling to get on the bar and both hooked on and 279 did that way cool clamshell thing it does and toppled 378 right over off the bar.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

There is a rule that I am too lazy to go look up that says that your robot may not INTENTIONALLY go and pick up, flip, impale, burn other robots, etc. You get the gist of the rule.

Re: Where's the defense this year?
 

though you are allowed to try and knock robots off the bar with 5 pt ball shots.