NBA Chat Room
We recently added a new feature that you may have noticed called “Groups”. Groups are a way to fine tune the lineups that are generated at a very granular level. Think of them as rules that are applied when making each lineup. These rules are the same way we have created some of the built in advanced options we currently offer (ex. Do not allow 2 fighters from same MMA Fight), but this will give each user complete control to add in their own rules. I will cover some more possible use cases in just a bit.
Creating Groups / Adding players to groups
There are currently 2 ways to create a new group.
Once you have a group created, you can add players with the drop down arrow as mentioned before, or you can add them from the Advanced Options window by typing the player's name, team or position and selecting them from the list. You can hold the shift key while clicking players in the list if you want to add multiple players. For example, if you look up NYY, you can add several players at once by holding shift and clicking each name.
You also have the ability to rename the groups, by just clicking on the name in the advanced options window and typing a new name. The groups will all auto save on your device, so when you refresh the page they will always be there. If you would like to keep a group, but not apply it to the current calculation, there is an option to Disable the group. You can also delete the group at anytime if you no longer want to use it.
Group Types and Explanation
There are 3 group types you can create, General group, Keyed(stacked), Keyed(avoid).
General group:
When you first create a group it will be setup as a general group. In this group type all players are treated as equals, and the rule (unless disabled) will always be applied. So you can setup a group of players, and force each lineup to always use X number of players from this group. You can set it to use at least X number of players, at most X number of players or exactly X number of players.
When you create multiple general groups they all will be applied (unless disabled). So if you make groups that contradict each other, it's possible no lineups can be generated.
Keyed(stacked) group:
Creating a Keyed group is done in the same way as creating a General group, but you then add a “Key” player. You can do this by clicking the key icon on any player in the general group. You can remove a key by clicking the key again on this player, or if you click another player they will replace the current keyed player for this group.
When you make a keyed group, you will have the options to use at least or at most X number of players from the rest of the group. For a Keyed(stacked) group, the option will be set to use “at Least” x number of players. This will tell the algorithm when creating a team, IF the key player is used, THEN use x number of these players. If the key player is not used, then the rest of the rule will not be applied.
Keyed(avoid) group:
This group type is identical to Keyed(stacked) except that the option is set to “at Most” so it will avoid certain players if the key player is chosen. An easy way to understand this, this is how we currently avoid pitchers vs hitters. If you created a group of all a team's batters + the opposing pitcher, you could set the opposing pitcher as the key player, and then allow 0 players from the rest of the group (the opposing batters).
Use Cases
In order to really understand the power of groups, I will share some use cases we have discussed internally. I am certain there are more use cases than we can even think of currently and hopefully this will give you guys a good starting point.
#1. I have 10 sleepers for week 1 of the NFL, I want each lineup to include 1 of them.
This is a pretty straightforward use case, where you could add all of these players to a general group, and force at least 1 to be used every time. General exposure settings are still applied, so you could set each of these players to 10% to make sure they are used on an even basis.
#2. I never want a lineup with Kevin Durant and Draymond Green together.
We heard this particular complaint a few times, but it is now pretty easy to fix this issue. You can create a general group with KD and Draymond and set it to use at most 1 player from this group.
#3. I want lineups with Kevin Durant to also have Russell Westbrook (revenge game!)
You can make a group with KD and Westbrook and then set one to the Key player and the options to must use at least 1 player from group. Currently you would also need to make a second group with the other player as the key, I will update this post when we add an option to handcuff players which will be in a future upgrade.
These are just a few examples that I hope will illustrate the power of groups. I think this allows for some really unique ways of constructing lineups, and should be very helpful in individual sports as well as a way of differentiating your lineups from everyone else's. For example in NASCAR, you may want to make your lineups always include 2 drivers from a group of drivers you believe will be low owned, and have high upside. Same could be applied to PGA.
I hope you guys get a chance to use this new feature and let us know exactly what you think. It is version 1, so I am sure we will improve upon this in the near future, but your feedback is critical in making sure we get it right. This is also NOT a replacement for positional stacking (ex. NHL Line stacking), and that is a separate update we will have out soon. Thanks for reading, hope it all helps you guys win more $$$!!
Creating Groups / Adding players to groups
There are currently 2 ways to create a new group.
- You can use the top drop down select arrow to add the selected players to an existing group, or create a new group if you would like.
- In the advanced options, there is now a group tab where you can “add a new group”
Once you have a group created, you can add players with the drop down arrow as mentioned before, or you can add them from the Advanced Options window by typing the player's name, team or position and selecting them from the list. You can hold the shift key while clicking players in the list if you want to add multiple players. For example, if you look up NYY, you can add several players at once by holding shift and clicking each name.
You also have the ability to rename the groups, by just clicking on the name in the advanced options window and typing a new name. The groups will all auto save on your device, so when you refresh the page they will always be there. If you would like to keep a group, but not apply it to the current calculation, there is an option to Disable the group. You can also delete the group at anytime if you no longer want to use it.
Group Types and Explanation
There are 3 group types you can create, General group, Keyed(stacked), Keyed(avoid).
General group:
When you first create a group it will be setup as a general group. In this group type all players are treated as equals, and the rule (unless disabled) will always be applied. So you can setup a group of players, and force each lineup to always use X number of players from this group. You can set it to use at least X number of players, at most X number of players or exactly X number of players.
When you create multiple general groups they all will be applied (unless disabled). So if you make groups that contradict each other, it's possible no lineups can be generated.
Keyed(stacked) group:
Creating a Keyed group is done in the same way as creating a General group, but you then add a “Key” player. You can do this by clicking the key icon on any player in the general group. You can remove a key by clicking the key again on this player, or if you click another player they will replace the current keyed player for this group.
When you make a keyed group, you will have the options to use at least or at most X number of players from the rest of the group. For a Keyed(stacked) group, the option will be set to use “at Least” x number of players. This will tell the algorithm when creating a team, IF the key player is used, THEN use x number of these players. If the key player is not used, then the rest of the rule will not be applied.
Keyed(avoid) group:
This group type is identical to Keyed(stacked) except that the option is set to “at Most” so it will avoid certain players if the key player is chosen. An easy way to understand this, this is how we currently avoid pitchers vs hitters. If you created a group of all a team's batters + the opposing pitcher, you could set the opposing pitcher as the key player, and then allow 0 players from the rest of the group (the opposing batters).
Use Cases
In order to really understand the power of groups, I will share some use cases we have discussed internally. I am certain there are more use cases than we can even think of currently and hopefully this will give you guys a good starting point.
#1. I have 10 sleepers for week 1 of the NFL, I want each lineup to include 1 of them.
This is a pretty straightforward use case, where you could add all of these players to a general group, and force at least 1 to be used every time. General exposure settings are still applied, so you could set each of these players to 10% to make sure they are used on an even basis.
#2. I never want a lineup with Kevin Durant and Draymond Green together.
We heard this particular complaint a few times, but it is now pretty easy to fix this issue. You can create a general group with KD and Draymond and set it to use at most 1 player from this group.
#3. I want lineups with Kevin Durant to also have Russell Westbrook (revenge game!)
You can make a group with KD and Westbrook and then set one to the Key player and the options to must use at least 1 player from group. Currently you would also need to make a second group with the other player as the key, I will update this post when we add an option to handcuff players which will be in a future upgrade.
These are just a few examples that I hope will illustrate the power of groups. I think this allows for some really unique ways of constructing lineups, and should be very helpful in individual sports as well as a way of differentiating your lineups from everyone else's. For example in NASCAR, you may want to make your lineups always include 2 drivers from a group of drivers you believe will be low owned, and have high upside. Same could be applied to PGA.
I hope you guys get a chance to use this new feature and let us know exactly what you think. It is version 1, so I am sure we will improve upon this in the near future, but your feedback is critical in making sure we get it right. This is also NOT a replacement for positional stacking (ex. NHL Line stacking), and that is a separate update we will have out soon. Thanks for reading, hope it all helps you guys win more $$$!!