What NBA2k13 Needs to become the "GREATEST" once again...

So, as many of you know I have been on a mission with playbooks for the "Sim World" rosters over the last month to get realistic plays for each team and players in the game after eliminating all the broken plays. I had an oppurtunity to be on Da Czar's radio show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/daczar/...nd-play-system tonight to talk about some of the work that I put into these this last week, but I didn't get to say all that I wanted too due to time constraints. So, I figured I would post these in a blog and hope it gets heard to improve NBA2K13. Thanks again Czar and all you do for the community and this great game and series. Its GREAT to have a voice battling for the SIM nation!

Moving on, as I went through every play in the game and after many hours of testing those plays, I have come up with a list of improvements that are needed for the future of the NBA2K series IMO. I am not sure the NBA 2k team realizes the immediate impact that the ratings, tendencies, playbooks, and assigned play types per player and team have on their game?! Its such a great game with all of the before mentioned areas tweaked. The gameplay is great! The difference is undeniable and it becomes such a HUGE factor in gameplay that I can't believe that such an easy fix can be ignored. I think we need better testing in these specific areas of the game. There is really no excuse that over 30% of the plays in the game are broken and dont work! It flat out ruins the experience of the game and when these plays are removed the gameplay is 1000x improved. Same go's for tendency tweaks, sliders, etc. I think they need more staff to fill these areas and the gameplay would be unparralled! This game is so close to being the greatest ever! I say, don't get rid of ANYTHING just add the below ideas with a few gameplay features and this game would be "The Greatest"! Assign someone to just focus on rosters, tendencies, and playbooks. Then have these people test these areas of the game with gameplay and for sim results and to get sim stats. Let the devs do what they do best! Where is and who is this 2k insider?! Its time for a change in this department...

So, with all that being said here is my list of improvements and areas of gameplay that I would like to see improved...



Gameplay Fixes or Ideas

1. Improve spacing OR make the court bigger (Huge issue and need better logic with spacing issues)
2. Better end of game logic and plays in last 2 minutes. (see below in playbook ideas - #2)
3. Instead of having a guy just dribble in 1 spot while waiting for the play to develope, and instead of having the player just standing like hes waving a carrott in someone's face have the Guard or player do 1 of these 3 things... A) Turn his back to the defender. B) Move side to side & set up the defender, and C) Perform an iso move to bait the defense into thinking he's driving when he's really setting up defender to make the pass. I would like to see this balanced though and have the PG drive and attack if the oppurtunity presents itself.
4. Improve close-outs and the players ability to recover when closing out with hands up. Make help defense a bigger factor in these areas.
5. Improve the Pick N Pops. More mid range pops for shooters as well as have them create more space from defender on the pop.
6. Touch Passing & Bounce Passes - tap x for lob, hold for bullett, medium press for med pass, ala madden / Hit RB and X for bounce pass and when using Left stick with no dribble used this will give you the ability to wrap around pass right or left for a post entry or better angle on a pass. (Its time for this new feature!) This area alone can fix the issues with lob passes to a fronted post, fast breaks and psychic defenders in passing lanes, flare & skip passes (CPU never makes them), & last but not least the lost art of the back door cut within the Princeton style offense you might see in Indiana. Think of all the great basketball plays you could see with this 1 feature added to gameplay. You could then add those cutters and backdoors and have them now be effective.
7. Quicker Passes & Quicker Off ball movement - This could be one of the biggest needed additions to the game! This could solve the problems with defensive recovery. The problem is players move faster then the ball moves and this needs to be the opposite! Give us the following...

• Team Ball Movement Slider (Coaching Profile)
• Pass Speed Slider (Game sliders)
• Run Play Speed Slider (Coaching Profile)

These few areas can help illeviate issues that hold this game back such as sliding, unrealistic defensive recoveries, and again the ball should move faster than the player.

1. Give us the ability to assign plays per player & attach it to the play type. For instance - DAL Jet over is a great play that you see ran for Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry, Mo Williams BUT it shouldnt be attached to Wes Matthews, Chauncey Billups, or Vince Carter because they have the same play type.
2. Be able to weight plays 1-5 stars (Think Madden gameplanning). People ask me how CPU calls plays and I believe its tied to touches and its random. The ability to weight plays for players could really go a long ways to get teams to really play to their real life styles. This would also fix any end game logic as we could assign weighted plays to end game situations, etc per team.
3. Organize the plays better - To much cluster with 7 pages of 32 plays with no organization. This can be better implemented with 1 more push of the button... Hit LB to put player you want to call a play for / Then hit the play type you want - PNR, cutter, low post, 3 pt, mid, etc... (5 total per player) / Then only the plays pop up that is in that category per team and or player. This solves the cluster and makes it more organized and user friendly even though it takes 1 and ONLY 1 more button push!
4. Coach Mode - Allow the coach the ability to call a play at anytime and for anyone they want just like a real life coach would! Coaches have the ability to change tempos just with 1 single play call. This improves this mode 100% just by adding this feature!

1. More Option Plays - This is specifically for AI and CPU. The problem here is if the CPU only has 1 option on a play and the user or CPU opponent is taking this option away the play breaks. There are 30% of total plays in game where this happens.
2. Secondary / Transition Offense - Create a numbered break with guys running to specific spots on the floor. This would greatly improve the fast break and prevent 4-5 guys all ending up in the paint. Have a few different secondary breaks with 4-5 different options a piece and let us have the ability to assign these to coaching profiles. A) Basic secondary break - Numbered break - The 2 and 3 are interchangeable and run to the wings, the 4 and 5 are also interchangeable and the first one down runs to the ball side block while the other go's to the top of the key 3 pt line for proper spacing. B) Assign a Flex transition again with 4-5 different options to it.
3. Dribble Handoffs - We need better dribble handoffs and better dribble handoff animations in the game. As it is now when a user passes to a teammate the handoff ends up lead passing to him like 3-4 feet away. There are only a handful of good dribble handoffs currently in the game that are not broken.
4. Ability for players to read the defense - Have options in 2 areas... A) The ability for players to read how the defense is playing them off screens. Give the player the ability and tie it to their offensive awareness to be able to read whether to curl, flare, or just come straight off the pick for a jumper. If defender follows then my player will curl, if the defender cheats then my player should flare off for J. B) Give the PG the same ability to read how the defense is playing them on a PNR. I would like to see the CPU use EITHER DIRECTION rather then what the play calls for. If I am cheating around a pick I want to see the CPU attack me the opposite way it came from. I want to see the CPU attack the shoulder of the picker and stop giving to much space. Maybe even the ability to split the PNR defense as well!!!
5. If calling for a pick (LB) and move your left stick left or right for the picker to set pick on the side you want. Once this happens and a quick PNR or PNP is called teammates auto space floor.

1. Make all adjustments available in a timeout or on the fly! We should'nt have to pause the game to make these type of adjustments.
2. Option to Force Player Baseline or towards help defense
3. Option to deny or front post
4. Double Teams (5 options)

• Strong side double on post player (send trap from strong side)
• Weak side double on post player (send trap from weak side)
• Trap corners
• Trap PNR (already in game)
• Straight double team any player

1. Give all commissioners total control over their associations! Give them the ability to reset games, sim games, change ALL sliders, edit players, etc.
2. Let us use our own created rosters to bring into an OA!
3. Let us save full 50 plays per playbook online. (believe its already in- if so dont take it away next year!)

Thanks for reading! I would love any feedback you all might have in these specific areas. Especially in some of the new features like touch passing, option reads, double teams, transition offense, gameplanning, pass sliders, end of gameplay logic, etc...