Quote:
Originally Posted by AnthonyN1983
I don't understand how a team can be ranked in the top 15 during qualification matches and wasn't picked by an alliance. This is ridiculous, don't teams scout?
|
Scouting is what wins the Championship. I know that was true for us in 2005. We found a great under rated team in 503. Our scouts were amazed they were still around for our pick.
The field in Atlanta is incredibly deep. There are very many really good robots that are left on the sidelines at the start of Eliminations, a very good percentage of them won one or more Regionals.
There are also many factors besides rank that figure into picks. A really good offensive team might pick a good defender because they need somebody to watch their backs or neutralize and opponent. Defenders do not tend to be ranked as highly. Other teams might want a robot that can both score and defend or possibly a not so strong scorer that can keep the opposition on the run.
An important consideration is "are they used to playing at this level?". There is a reason hat you see certain teams in the Finals over and over. Experience counts for an awful lot. An experienced team can often be a bigger factor in the Finals than a team with a "better" robot, because they know what to do with what they have.
How teams "click" is also a big factor. I know that we have scratched teams off of our list because they were so busy working on their robot they would not even talk to our strategy team, even though we were locked into the top 8 and the other team was not. Their neighbors on the other hand, were happy to talk while they tweaked. Guess who got picked?
It is not always on field performance that makes the difference