[Chris is me]

Outright tube throwing is beneficial in only a few situations:

First, a blowout match. You've got 67 and 1114, they have 3XXX, 3XXX, and that one team that hasn't moved all regional. Throwing tubes will allow them to score more, but you'll almost certainly still beat them, so you'll get more ranking points. I expect this to rarely be the case for my team but something to consider.

Second, when your alliance has at least two more ground loaders than the other alliance. Throwing tubes becomes strategically advantageous if 2 of your robots both score better than the sole ground loader.

I do think if HPs are good enough to throw tubes in a dead straight line that throwing them to the end of the lane is beneficial.

Other than that, loader all the way, and never ever drop a tube.