SOM Basketball Passing Strategies
By Will Kolodzie

Everyone knows that the great shooting and rebounding cards factor heavily into successful teams for the Strat-O-Matic basketball game.   The scoring columns typically represent the first area of concern for any cursory examination of the card chances and ratings.   This doesn’t necessarily provide the best method of approaching the game, or developing the appropriate series of strategy initiatives for replay or draft league purposes.

The defining Strat-O-Matic basketball strategy consists not in the quality of individual cards but rather in the relationship between the five cards on the floor, or in the game.

This reflection requires consideration of the secondary card strengths and weaknesses, most importantly those of the passing columns.

Passing skills offer a dramatic influence on shooting ability.   The better shooting columns do not necessarily imply greater scoring prowess in this game.  Like Strat-O-Matic football, a multitude of variables influence each and every play.  Or, to put it in another words, studying the cards and ratings doesn’t work in isolation.  Looking at the best cards, even one such as Kobe Bryant’s, still requires consideration of the other talents and skills on the roster.

A comprehensive view of the cards promotes better decisions and an enlightened view of the game.   Understanding the concept of scoring, namely the evaluation of the shooting columns, requires a knowledge of the passing columns on a given team.  

Passing Column Types
Players have three types of passing ability. 

1.  Dazzler
2.  Open Position Shots (OPS)
3.  Position Shots (PS)

Strat-O-Matic also charts passing ability based on normal (halfcourt) and fastbreak situations.   The game doesn’t have a direct correlation between the two columns.  Players who excel or perform adequately in normal conditions do not necessarily have the same ability for the latter occurrences.  

Dazzler
The dazzler represents excellent passing ability.  Dazzlers indicate automatic baskets.  Very few players have a high percentage of dazzlers in their passing columns.   You’ll find greater dazzler readings in the older card sets.  

The best point guards in the 2002-03 set do not have mesmerizing passing columns, in large measure as a result of the paltry team/league scoring averages.  Phoenix’s Stephon Marbury has a 2-6 dazzler for halfcourt, 6-15 for the fastbreak.  New Jersey’s Jason Kidd has a 3-13 dazzler in halfcourt, 7-18 in fastbreak instances.

The new Strat-O-Matic 1982-83 basketball season produces much better readings.   Los Angeles’ Norm Nixon has 4-15, 7-20 dazzler readings.   Magic Johnson has a 3-20 dazzler in his halfcourt passing column.  Don’t expect these totals in the 2002-03 set.

The dazzler, however, does not represent the height of strategy decisions in this game.   This reading has an inversely proportional relationship to the player shooting columns.  The more dazzlers, the less likely you’ll see the O or X readings in the teammate shooting columns.

This feature weighs heavily in draft league determinations.   Players of equal shooting ability may have different card features based on the passing ability of their respective teams.

The dazzler can take shots off the player columns.   Think twice about taking Kenyon Martin on a poor passing team in a draft league.  His replay performance depends on Jason Kidd’s passing ability.   He’s not going to score as well in draft league situations with Jon Berry as his point guard.

Open Position Shot/Position Shot

The OPS reflects good passing ability.  The PS reading acknowledges average passing skills.   Strat-O-Matic cards feature an O for open position shots.  Players convert all O and X readings with the open position shot.  Simple position shots only take advantage of the X readings.  Accordingly, a player like Nick Van Exel, whose shooting columns have a large number of O readings will not play a major role in the game unless his teammates have a sufficient quantity of OPS readings on their cards.  

Normal/Fastbreak Readings
Don’t underestimate the distinction between these two types of offenses.   Sound roster management dictates that the passing ability matches utilization of these two conditions.

Dallas’ Michael Finley has a 1-20 position shot passing rating in normal conditions.  This represents average passing ability.  He doesn’t provide an open shots for his teammates or any dazzlers (automatic baskets), but he also doesn’t have any turnovers or steals in his column either.  

Indiana’s Ron Artest offers better passing ability in halfcourt play.   His passing columns contain 2-11 open position shots, 12-20 position shots.   Artest provides his teammates with higher percentage shots for their cards.

Artest helps a team containing a higher percentage of O readings in the shooting columns for normal situations.   A draft league team will have a higher shooting percentage with Artest on the court as opposed to Finley.

The situation reverses itself for fastbreaks.

Finley’s card offers a 4-12 reading for fastbreak shots, 13-20 position shots.   Teammates have a fast break opportunity for the first set of numbers but must settle for a regular shot with the latter group.  Artest has a 16-20 fastbreak shot reading here.  Every other opportunity involves a steal or a turnover.

Basically, Finley offers better production via his passing skills on the fastbreak while Artest does a much better job in halfcourt circumstances.   The issue of whether Finley or Artist deserves mention as the better player in this category depends heavily on the type of offense utilized by the offense.

This situation holds true over multiple examples, or rather, player card comparisons.  Strat-O-Matic basketball reflects the art of cooking.  The skill of preparing foods, especially deserts, consists in providing the right quantities, not only the right ingredients.   Emphasizing X while underutilizing Y produces a bad recipe.  The same is true for roster management in Strat-O-Matic basketball. 

Drafting Strategies
After taking your top two players, hopefully cards combining great scoring and rebounding qualities, passing forms a more critical assumption in roster management.  Do these top two players work better in normal or fastbreak situations?   Make sure that subsequent decisions regarding passing ability compliment your offense rather than stifle or produce lower percentage options.