Basic Reflections on UNH

[mwtidd]

Our team attended UNH this past weekend, and I've noticed a couple things with respect to alliance selection.


My Calculations: http://i.imgur.com/SpYw2Us.png



1. Pennies on the Dollar



Just because a team does not rank high, does not mean they are a solid alliance selection. I want to emphasize 4555 here. They were ranked 30th, but the winning alliance was able to pick them up as a 22'd of 24 teams going into the elims.

They were 11th in OPR, and 5th according to my estimated contribution.



2. Plays Well with Others

Assists matter. Watch the assist counts in the ranking board. By the end of the qualifiers, they seem to be a pretty good indicator of teams that play well with others. Note that the winning alliance of 58, 4555, and 3467 had cumulative assists of 200, 190, and 328 respectively.



3. You are only as Strong as your Weakest Link

Going into the finals 131 and 176 looked like the sure favorites. They cumulated 370 and 350 assist points respectively and 428 and 516 auto points. It looked like they were going to own the finals. 131 and 176's 3rd pick also had 325 auto points. However, what I believe to be the deciding factor was how the 3rd picks performed in teleop. Although 4555 was not utilized for assists, I think their assists (190) also reflected their driver skill, and 4555 was able to provide a shut down defense in the finals. However 131 and 176's third pick only had only cumulated 70 assist points through the qualification rounds and wasn't quite able to keep up with 58 and 3467 spreading the field.

As has been suggested by many others, unlike previous years, 2 powerhouse teams does not equate to smooth sailing with it comes to the finals. All 6 teams were phenomenal, and put up a very exciting 3 match final. I look forward to seeing these teams in Boston.

[scaryone]

They were brutal matches and well played by all teams. 4555 played great defense. The opposition was outstanding, leading to some of the most exciting and cleanly (though rough) played games I've seen in a while. This game, when played like at UNH, is a great game.