Strategy

[Wayne TenBrink]

What's a defense bot to do?

During qualification matches, if you spend all your time blocking an offense bot, you aren't moving balls to your own offense bots or building your own score. If you are successful at hindering your opponent's best scorer, you are just reducing your own qual points.

If you are a really good defender, you should still get picked for eliminations. But then where do you spend your time? If you join your teammate in the mid zone, then your opponents will probably do the same thing, leaving both home zones undefended. The quickest & strongest ball handler in the center zone holds the advantage.

How many balls need to be in your opponents home zone before you feel the need to go back there to play D?

In my opinion, good defense will require more than just pinning an offense bot. A good defense bot needs the ability to get the ball away from the blocked offense bot and move it downfield.