Alright boyz, here we go (College Hoops 2K7 Thoughts!)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I actually don't have the game yet, but it's shipping today and should be in stores tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to this game, and it's become #2 on my yearly "gotta have" list right after NCAA Football. I didn't preorder anywhere, so I'll be checking out places like Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target tomorrow after work.

Is anyone else picking this game up on release day?

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes. It's the only thing right now that could tear me away from FOF 2007. Can't wait to pick it up tomorrow.

[spleen1015]

Too many good games.....Sheesh.

I'm not getting this one right away, if at all. I have FFXII, Viva Pinta, and Zelda on Wii on the playlist right now. I am getting the Superman game next week.

It's a good time to be a gamer, but there's just too much. :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Yes. It's the only thing right now that could tear me away from FOF 2007. Can't wait to pick it up tomorrow.
With which school are you going to start your legacy? I have to be UNO, as usual. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

With which school are you going to start your legacy? I have to be UNO, as usual. :)


I like doing closed legacies. I think Nicholls State is the only school in Louisiana on that opening list. So, that is who I'll start with if that is the case. :)

My goal is to eventually move to one of the bigger schools in Louisiana and eventually springboard from that to go to USC :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Is this being released for the PS3 now as well or does it come a bit later?

[jbmagic]

Still not sure if I will pick this game up. I already have NBA 2k7. The gameplay seems similar.

[JimmyWint]

The following is a list of all of the closed legacy teams:

central arkansas
prairie view
north florida
md-eastern shore
army
howard
grambling
nc a&t
centenary
northern colorado
navy
the citadel
vmi
texas state
dartmouth
nicholls st.
texas southern
jacksonville
morgan state
eastern illinois
hartford
arkansas pine bluff
stony brook
saint francis (pa)
morehead st
alcorn st
umbc
cambell
alabama a&m
alabama st
mercer
columbia
stetson
southern utah
colgate
bethune-cookman
hampton
brown
mississippi valley st
wofford

I took the Western Illinios Leathernecks in years past, but I see they are not on the list this year. hmmm

[Eaglesfan27]

Is this being released for the PS3 now as well or does it come a bit later?


Tentative release date is January 15th, 2007. It was pushed back quite a bit for the 360 last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if that date changes a bit.

[Sweed]

I hope one of you guys will do a comparison with nba2k7. I'm leaning heavily to picking up a 360 for the Thanksgiving weekend (instead of waiting for spring and a ps3) and if I do will pick up either college hoops or nba 2k7 as my initial game.

I like the idea of the shorter college seasons and the tournament. But with no real players, faces, or signature moves (heard rumors nba signature moves will be used in CH?) I wonder if the game will lose some of it's "personality".

Anyway would appreciate any thoughts on this if you get the game.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I hope one of you guys will do a comparison with nba2k7. I'm leaning heavily to picking up a 360 for the Thanksgiving weekend (instead of waiting for spring and a ps3) and if I do will pick up either college hoops or nba 2k7 as my initial game.

I like the idea of the shorter college seasons and the tournament. But with no real players, faces, or signature moves (heard rumors nba signature moves will be used in CH?) I wonder if the game will lose some of it's "personality".

Anyway would appreciate any thoughts on this if you get the game.
I'll provide what I can, although I won't be playing the game very much until the weekend, due to having friends visiting for Thanksgiving.

For me, the personality comes from the crowd and the wide variety of schools and arenas. No, you obviously won't get to see the actual NCAA players in the game, but I love taking my UNO team across town to play Tulane or into Denver for some Sun Belt action. I'll even go on the road to play a Top 25 team sometimes just to get a feeling for how it'd be to play in a big conference.

I guess part of it has to do with me not being a huge NBA fan anymore. I really only know my favorite team (Memphis) and the stars on the other teams. I probably couldn't name more than one or two bench players from any team except Memphis, Dallas, and Miami (because those last two were in the Finals last year). It's great to see how well 2K Sports created the NBA players, but I just like college basketball a lot more.

Obviously, your mileage may vary, and since I'll have both games, I'll do my best to give you a comparison. Basically, though, I expect both games to be so good that you should really just go with whichever one is more interesting to you. If you prefer the NBA, you'll love NBA 2K7, which is a fantastic game. If you prefer college, I'm sure that CH 2K7 will be an excellent choice.

[RedKingGold]

My gf is picking this game up for me (along with Gears of War) for Xmas, so I have to wait about a month.

But, I'll be eagerly reading all of your impressions.

[Sweed]

I'll provide what I can, although I won't be playing the game very much until the weekend, due to having friends visiting for Thanksgiving.

For me, the personality comes from the crowd and the wide variety of schools and arenas. No, you obviously won't get to see the actual NCAA players in the game, but I love taking my UNO team across town to play Tulane or into Denver for some Sun Belt action. I'll even go on the road to play a Top 25 team sometimes just to get a feeling for how it'd be to play in a big conference.

I guess part of it has to do with me not being a huge NBA fan anymore. I really only know my favorite team (Memphis) and the stars on the other teams. I probably couldn't name more than one or two bench players from any team except Memphis, Dallas, and Miami (because those last two were in the Finals last year). It's great to see how well 2K Sports created the NBA players, but I just like college basketball a lot more.

Obviously, your mileage may vary, and since I'll have both games, I'll do my best to give you a comparison. Basically, though, I expect both games to be so good that you should really just go with whichever one is more interesting to you. If you prefer the NBA, you'll love NBA 2K7, which is a fantastic game. If you prefer college, I'm sure that CH 2K7 will be an excellent choice.

Thanks for the response. Like you, I don't follow the nba like I used to. 15-20 years ago I could probably tell you everyones starting 5 and top three off the bench. If you gave an obscure player's name I could probably tell you who he played for. Just don't follow as closely as I used to.

I keep reading here how great nba 2k7 is but my preference would be to get the college game expecting the same solid game play. My concern is if they get the facial expressions and physical reactions, by the players, done as well as they are in nba 2k7. Call it eye candy if you want but it would be my first next gen game and I want it to shine :)

Look forward to your thoughts on the game. I have seen some screenies but haven't found any video clips yet. I'll do some searching again, perhaps with the game due out tomorrow there will be something out there now.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks, I need to add this to my Christmas list.

Should be fun with Mizzou. :)

[Phototropic]

I'm going to have a hard time holding off. Last year's game was a slight disappointment with the patch issues although the game itself was great. The crowd and atmosphere appear to be the best I've seen yet in a sports game, and the improved open legacy sounds promising.

I remember facing Tennessee on the road back on 2k5 and dealing with the full court press in a packed arena is something I won't forget.

[Swaggs]

For the uninformed (namely me), what does a "closed" legacy team mean?

[Pumpy Tudors]

For the uninformed (namely me), what does a "closed" legacy team mean?
In a "closed" legacy, you can only choose from the teams on the list that was posted above. You have to work your way up to bigger programs. It's more realistic, I guess. In an "open" legacy, you can start with any team you want. I can't remember if you're free to change to any team between seasons, though. In a closed legacy, I'm sure that you can only change teams if other teams offer you the job. An open legacy? I can't remember for sure.

[Icy]

I'll get it, mainly because i don't have the patience to play the full NBA season and i find more exciting the shorter college one plus the playoffs.

[Izulde]

It's going on my Christmas list. Out of the closed legacy teams I'd probably take Morehead State cuz I love me them Kentucky schools... and likely try and work my way up to either Arizona, Arizona State, or UC-Irvine, my three most likely graduate school options.

[Balldog]

This year in Open Legacy you can get fired and offered other jobs.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, the developers answered a lot of questions on OS, and the only difference between open and closed legacy this year (besides the starting schools) is that closed legacy gives you a weak coach to start with that get development points based on meeting various tasks. Open legacy allows you to give your coach whatever ratings you want and the coach improvement is tied to the team's record only.

I just got the call that my pre-order will be in tomorrow. I should get plenty of time to play tomorrow evening before the in-laws arrive Weds for the holiday.

[jbmagic]

Yeah, the developers answered a lot of questions on OS, and the only difference between open and closed legacy this year (besides the starting schools) is that closed legacy gives you a weak coach to start with that get development points based on meeting various tasks. Open legacy allows you to give your coach whatever ratings you want and the coach improvement is tied to the team's record only.

I just got the call that my pre-order will be in tomorrow. I should get plenty of time to play tomorrow evening before the in-laws arrive Weds for the holiday.

How many seasons you got thru so far on NBA 2k7?

[Eaglesfan27]

About 2/3 of the season. I stopped playing when a lot of other good games came out and I heard about the patch (which is supposed to be done sometime in the next week per a developer on OS.)

I'll resume my season (and dynasty) once the patch is out. Not sure if I'm going to write a dynasty about this game, but leaning towards not doing so and just playing.


Edited to add: The only slight annoyance in my plan is that there are some control differences between the two games, but I'll adapt.

[dervack]

I want to pick it up tomorrow, but won't be able to till next week. This and Rainbow Six are the next two games for me.

[CraigSca]

So - did anyone pick this up?

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes. Playing a game right now. Staying up too late to play this.


A few very early thoughts:


The signature shots aren't nearly as noticable as NBA 2k7. There are apparently over 60 different types of shots, but they don't seem very different from each other at least the ones that are assigned to the USC team.

However, all of the other improvements from NBA 2k7 feel like they are in it:

- Errant passes (which seem to happen more frequently the lower Unity is.)

- I think I'm really going to love the Unity concept. My starting 5 fills 5 (I'm pretty sure of 10 bars.) When I bring in my talented freshman, if I bring in just one or two the bars dropped to 3. When, I brought in all 5 just to see what would happen, it dropped to 0 bars. Then, I saw many more errant passes, poor shots, it even seemed like we were rotating slower on defense.


- There is also a seperate confidence rating. I was shooting a lot with my best player. At first, he was making shots and his confidence was skyrocketing. However, the other guys "were getting mad" and their confidence and ratings were going down slowly. He got cold suddenly, and his confidence went down after a few missed shots. Hard to come to any conclusions after only one game, but very early impression is that this could be done very well.

- Also, zones seem very well implemented and the AI is challenging to penetrate when they are in zone (on 3rd of 5 difficulty levels.)

- Playing a 20 minute game, had a score of 31-28 at the half. All I did was turn player speed down to 40 and game speed down to 40. Tempo sped up later in the game (more trapping) and eneded up with a score of 75-68.

At least in this one game, shooting percentages seem reasonable: 43% for my Trojans and 44% for the Beavers.

Some people will hate this, but I love it - It seems like shots inside are much less likely to fall if any significant traffic is in the lane. Although, this could just be my crappy inside players who can't even seem to hit a 6 footer if I get them an open look.

- Steals seem toned down to me. Well, steals resulting from stupid AI passes seem toned down. I still made plenty of stupid passes into the zone that resulted in steals.

- At least on the 3rd of 5 difficulty levels, fastbreaks seem just fine.

- The AI seems to be substituting earlier than in NBA 2k7 and smarter from this one game. They had their starters rested for the 4th quarter.

However, guys with high stamina (one of mine has 98) seem to fatigue slowly and recover very fast. 3 minutes on the bench and he was back to almost 100%. Not sure if this is good or not. Then again, I only took him down to 77% before pulling him.

Lots of scattered thoughts, but I think I'm going to like this very much and I'm going to have a hard time holding off on starting a legacy tomorrow (part of me would like real names, but if rosters aren't done tomorrow I might just start a career using the "generate names" option.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

Almost forgot the most important thing.

Got asked by the wife to turn down the sound - I had it up because the atmosphere is UNBELIEVABLE. I was down 24-9 in the aforementioned game, but my guys started playing great defense and we started making some big shots. The crowd was going insane. They also look very nice. The ball swishing sound is annoying, so I turned down "sound effects" and that is better now. Great atmosphere at the USC arena.


Edit: Oh yeah. Some people will love this, some will hate it: Alley-oops seem to be automated now. I see no directions on how to do them in the manual, but my PG threw one to my C on a fast break. Only problem is the stupid C was a FR and so was the PG. The pass was a little errant ;)


2nd edit: Also, all of the camera angles from NBA 2k7 seem to be in this game as well. LOTS of camera choices to make. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Double Dola -

Just finished the second game which I lost 78-73. Shooting percentages were higher due to both teams trapping more which led to some easy baskets at both ends. 51% for Oregon and 48% for my Trojans. The only problem that I think might be lingering from NBA 2k7 is that rebounding might be unbalanced in favor of the CPU, but I'm going to reserve judgement until I see some more games. The substitution problem seems solved. Oregon worked me inside, so that seems better. I'm liking what I'm seeing early, and I've stayed up much too late but work is only a half day tomorrow, and I should get much more game time in after work as my wife is a chef and doesn't want me mucking around in the kitchen while she prepares the preliminary stuff for Thursday :)


Oh yeah, I think fouls needed to be turned up too. Not enough on default, but that isn't too surprising.

[Phototropic]

I've played a few 10 minute games. Keep in mind that I have never played the NBA 2k games, so I won't have much to relate to there.

Interface - The menus this year are really weird. Some screens are backed out of using the "B" button as you'd expect, but most of the time you have to use the right thumbstick to pull up a top level menu. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems awkward. However, I think the quick start load screen is the best thing I've ever seen. It starts with a messy coach's desk pounding from the stadium chants and zooms in on an open notebook with the team matchups. The first time it loaded I thought I was still on a cutscene at the team select screen. Very slick.

Sound - As mentioned above the sound is great. It's probably the best atmosphere I've heard in a sports game. In one game alone I heard at least 5-10 different crowd chants. I also agree that the sound effects leave a little to be desired, but I'll probably crank player chatter and crowd. The chant creator is a lot of fun, but I'm disappointed that Marshall isn't selectable. Most cities are in there, as well as mascots/team nicknames, but for some reason "Marshall" was left off the list, so no "We are..." chant for me.

Atmosphere - To go with the sound, the extracurricular activities have been stepped up. There are cheerleaders (male and female), guys mopping the floor, mascots, band members, and who knows what else running around during stoppages.

Graphics - Based only on last year's game, this looks more like what I'd expect from the 360. Animations are fluid, and everything looks cleaned up a bit more. Also, with each year I'm seeing less of the stupid inside the paint shot animations.

Gameplay - The game seems to play similar to last year's version with some nice touches that mainly add to the randomness of the gameplay. On 10 minute halves I'm seeing 4 or 5 combined turnovers off of errant and deflected passes. It doesn't feel scripted as a lot of times you can't tell who will come down with the ball. Guys will dive for loose balls and I even saw someone get floored down low trying to beat a pick.

I think this is the first year I'm going to have to play 20 minute halves which I never thought would happen. I'm getting around 30 shots for each team for games at 10 minute halves. Fouls are low as always, but I've yet to tweak them from the default. I did notice that FT difficulty is on a 100% slider which I think is new and should help dial in the perfect setting. The advanced moves take up 3 or 4 pages of the manual and I have no idea how to use them yet.

I love the team unity aspect. It's like NCAA momentum but way toned down. My team is only 2-3 bars at default, but after preventing a team from scoring 2 different times on defense (they still had the ball) my unity went up a notch. As for the confidence bar, I haven't seen that yet; I think some of those are hidden when using the broadcast camera.

Overall I am very impressed with what I am seeing.

[RedKingGold]

He got cold suddenly, and his confidence went down after a few missed shots.

Did you use the new Bobby Knight chin-slap feature?

[Terps]

I wanna pick this up but I'm having too much fun with Smackdown vs. RAW 2007 right now.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I only played with the chant creator a little bit last night. I think I'm going to have a lot o fun with that. My only concern (which may or may not be valid) is that if I use a "home" chant, it'll be a home chant for every team. It would be kind of silly to hear a "Let's Go Privateers" chant at New Mexico State. I'm not sure how that all works yet.

Anyway, I love playing 20-minute halves, so it sounds like things are going to be pretty good right out of the box. I expect to turn fouls up, and we'll see about the rebounding. I won't get to play much (if at all) until the weekend, but I'm excited! It's almost time to bring UNO to glory!

[wade moore]

OMG...

I went to add this to my Amazon Wish List...

It's only 19.99 for the PS2? Screw this, I'm just gonna go buy it this weekend ;)..

[Phototropic]

I only played with the chant creator a little bit last night. I think I'm going to have a lot o fun with that. My only concern (which may or may not be valid) is that if I use a "home" chant, it'll be a home chant for every team. It would be kind of silly to hear a "Let's Go Privateers" chant at New Mexico State. I'm not sure how that all works yet.

Anyway, I love playing 20-minute halves, so it sounds like things are going to be pretty good right out of the box. I expect to turn fouls up, and we'll see about the rebounding. I won't get to play much (if at all) until the weekend, but I'm excited! It's almost time to bring UNO to glory!
The best part is I think we can knock out a full 20 minute half game in an hour of real time.

[Eaglesfan27]

The best part is I think we can knock out a full 20 minute half game in an hour of real time.


Seems right about where I am as well - took me about an hour per game. I'm going to dive right into my legacy this afternoon after work, can't wait to see the College Hoops Show and other things they have added for immersion. Nicholls State (probably) here I come!


Also, building on what Phototropic said, the graphics aren't a huge leap from last year and I think NBA 2k7 is a prettier game. However, at least until the patch comes out for NBA 2k7, I already like the gameplay better in College Hoops (although I think I dislike having the crossover button back as a face button - but I might get used to that again.)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Also, building on what Phototropic said, the graphics aren't a huge leap from last year and I think NBA 2k7 is a prettier game. However, at least until the patch comes out for NBA 2k7, I already like the gameplay better in College Hoops (although I think I dislike having the crossover button back as a face button - but I might get used to that again.)
I agree with this completely. Actually, besides the chant creator, I went into practice mode for a little while to try the controls. It's weird to go back to using the B button for crossover, and I didn't even try the spin (Y) button at all. I'll have to adjust.

Something that I loved is that you apparently can't just take any player and turbo up the court or around people. I had my center dribbling the ball around in practice, and if I tried to do anything even remotely fancy, he'd lose the ball or stumble a little bit. Just from following the Privateers for the past few years, I know that Ben Elias (#32) couldn't handle the basketball in real life if you strapped it to him. In the video games, though, he could do a few crossovers and try to turbo around people. In this year's game, no way. That will change my strategy if I need to get some points in the paint. I'll have to keep it really basic for him and keep him from putting the ball on the floor.

I hope the Thanksgiving visitors at my house (who don't play sports games) will understand if I try to squeeze in a game or two tonight after I get home from work. :D

[Eaglesfan27]

Hehe. Yeah, USC's C was rated poorly in handle and he was losing the ball if I tried to turbo up the court too quickly with him and especially if I tried any isomotion moves. I think that is a change for the positive. Also, along those lines, while the fastbreak is better in this game, I love seeing that long passes can be errant as heck. I had one outlet LONG pass where the guy WAY overthrew the fast break and it went out of bounds :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

Per OS, I may have been wrong about automated alley-oops and may have done it by accident. There are people on there saying LT plus A will do an alley-oop.

[MizzouRah]

I hate having to wait for Christmas. :(

BUT keep the impressions coming!!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Since passes are going off the mark now, I think it might make traps and full court presses even more effective. That type of pressure is one thing that really separates the great teams from the bad ones. Assuming that the first season's schedule is the same as the real-life schedule, my poor Privateers will get killed at Ole Miss. Ole Miss isn't a great team, but the Rebels are certainly quite a bit better than UNO.

[kingnebwsu]

I hate you guys...now I want this :p

Keep up the triple-dolas EF27 :)

[spleen1015]

Can you import draft classes from this into the NBA game?

[Eaglesfan27]

Can you import draft classes from this into the NBA game?

Yes. Unfortunately, that option had to be enabled at the beginning of a NBA 2k7 career. Also, the developers have said it still isn't a perfect import process as far as the look of the player being exactly the same, but they say they have improved it so the player won't magically change skin color and such.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Any known differences in the XBox version vs the PS2 version?

[Eaglesfan27]

Any known differences in the XBox version vs the PS2 version?


Nothing significant. Neither of them have the Weekly College Hoops show and a few other of the "next gen improvements." But, aside from some minor graphical differences the website lists them as having the same features.

Both also have some of the same older bugs such as the potential bug when you edit players.

[MJ4H]

If this is really $20 Im thinking of picking this up with my $20 best buy gift card I received recently.

[bob]

I have read that the PS 2 version does not come out until Dec. 11th.

[MJ4H]

well, now, THERE'S a log in my cheerios.

[dervack]

Man, waiting till next Friday for this game is going to be tough. Keep up the impressions though. I like what I;m hearing so far.

[Icy]

Damn, shut up guys! :D

I'm really really tempted to buy a 360 for the next gen sport games, but i have not used a lot my PS2 as most of my playing time is used on text sims. The only games that hooked me to the PS2 for a long time were Friday Night Round III and MLB the show.

On the other hand, a PSP tempts me too, to play anywhere anytime.

I need to take the decision for this Christmas.

[Eaglesfan27]

Obviously, my comments only apply to the 360 version. I have no idea how good other versions are. I'm regretting staying up so late as an emergency has prevented me from leaving the office today early as planned. At least I should be able to go in 5 minutes or so if things wrap up as expected...

I'm tired as heck yet I find myself looking forward to playing more College Hoops when I get home instead of taking a nap :)

[rexallllsc]

So is it like NBA 2k7 just with college guys? If so, easy buy. If it's like the last version...not so much

[Eaglesfan27]

Not exactly Rexalllsc, but it is a definite buy in my opinion. Zones are more prominent and better implemented. Spacing is better than NBA 2k7. So far, I think the gameplay is better than NBA 2k7.

Also, I just discovered that NBA 2k7's isomotion works in this game as well, so you don't have to use the "B" button to do crossovers.


Just for fun, I compared stats from 2 games where I wrote them down (a very small sample, I know) to real NCAA averages for all teams:

Each team in the game (with gamespeed and player speed at 40 and fouls at 80 but no other sliders) is:

Averaging 7 shots more per game than the average.

Shooting 3% higher than average.

Shooting .43 more 3 pointers.

Shooting -2% below the 3 point average.

Scoring 8.24 points above average.

Averaging 5.8 less fouls (despite turning all fouls up to 80 so far.)

Averaging 0.8 rebounds more than the average.

Averaging 6.4 assists more per game.

Averaging 2.34 less blocks per game.

Averaging 3.4 more steals per game.

Averaging 1.2 more turnovers per game.

Overall, stats are pretty good (at least to me) out of the box.




Also, the recruiting has been tuned up. Many less 5 star guys. Only 30 or so in my first season. Also, scouting is much more a part of recruiting and gives a lot more info about the guys. It also gives a slight boost to the guy's interest in your school which is nice (I couldn't wait for real rosters to start my legacy.)


I'm glad to say that recruit size seems to be tuned up too. Very few 7 footers. In fact, only one of the 5 star recruits is over 6'10. He is 6'11 256. There are a few 6'10 guys who are thin. Most of the 5 star recruits are guards that are 6'0 to 6'5.


There is one 7 footer 4 star guy who is 7'0" 231 from NY. Most of the 4 star recruits are smaller guys. A very few 6'10 guys and above.

One 3 star C that is 7'0 263 but has very poor skills.

There is one other 3 star C that is 7'0 247 but also poorly developed.


Actually, it's hard to count since there are a lot of 3 star guys, but very few 7 footers out of hundreds I just skimmed.


There is 1 7'0 239 pound 1 star guy from Los Angeles, but he has D's in every category without scouting him.

Most of the 1 star players are smaller guys. 7 footers and big men definitely seem less abundant than past years particularly skilled big men, which I think is good. Guess I'll see how that progresses in future years.


Also, in the game I just played, it was awesome to see the PG whip some quick passes that were on the money but the very poorly rated C just couldn't handle and they bounced off his hands!

Speaking of ratings, there is more variety. My Nicholls State team has mostly guys in the 50's and both C's are both 50. A wider range of ratings between the worst players and top tier players.

[rexallllsc]

awesome! thanks for the feedback!

[Eaglesfan27]

The only downside is that the graphics aren't up to par with NBA 2k7, but that doesn't bother me. I just watched an awesome pre-season show. The addition of weekly shows seems like it is going to add immersion and show what is happening around the league.

Forgot to mention that even though it was just our midnight madness intrasquad game, the team's unity was going way down when I was shooting like crazy with my best player. It is going to negate the strategy of just relying on one "good" player to have lesser teams beat a great team. Our defense really started to suffer when the team unity went to 0. Once I started passing with the "star" player (he is only 70 overall, but that is my best player) and setting up other guys, the unity rebounded.

[Eaglesfan27]

UGH! I just had my first freeze-up on a Non-Madden 360 game. Was going to the daily view to see what an icon meant and my game has apparently froze. I didn't save it after doing the first week of recruiting either (not that it took much time because you can only email guys once a week now.)

[rexallllsc]

UGH! I just had my first freeze-up on a Non-Madden 360 game. Was going to the daily view to see what an icon meant and my game has apparently froze. I didn't save it after doing the first week of recruiting either (not that it took much time because you can only email guys once a week now.)

2k games freeze up like crazy for me. :(

I think it has something to do with the hard drive.

[Eaglesfan27]

2k games freeze up like crazy for me. :(

I think it has something to do with the hard drive.


First 2k game that has ever froze on my 360. Although, some froze on my PS2 and Xbox back in the day.

[Eaglesfan27]

Well, I discovered that recruits are freshly generated each time since a really good recruit from the town where Nicholls State is, is not in my legacy since the re-start.


I'm getting crushed by Mississippi State (which I should.) People on OS are saying this game is easier than in 06, but I just don't see that. I could use one or two good players in that version and keep close to good teams for a while. This game, they are shutting down my best player much more by double teaming him and more effective zones. I'm down 59-29 at the half. Really fun game, though. I'll probably play LSU and other big powerhouses that I have no shot at with the Hoopscast and see how that is soon.


Oh yeah, sim to end is still in the game if you don't feel like finishing those blow outs.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I played a little bit this afternoon, UNO vs. LSU. I was getting beaten badly when I decided to stop. I had a lot of fun with the game, and I'm just trying to decide whether to wait on named rosters or just name the UNO players myself and go from there. My legacy will be starting as soon as I get some time with the 360, though, in any case. :D

[Eaglesfan27]

Pumpy,

My Nicholls State team is fighting fiercly with UNO over a recruit that no one else wants ;)

[CraigSca]

Do any of us actually ever finish a season in Legacy mode? I think the best I've ever done is get to season #3 in NCAA Football (I forget what year it was).

Yet, legacy or dynasty mode is the most important thing to me. I'm an enigma. :D

[Pumpy Tudors]

Pumpy,

My Nicholls State team is fighting fiercly with UNO over a recruit that no one else wants ;)
Who would dare want to go to Thibodeaux? UNO's getting him. Sorry. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

You are probably right since he is from New Orleans and his first priority is to remain close to home. :(

[MJ4H]

I still have a dynasty going in NCAA 2005. Im in year 2010.

[bhlloy]

Do any of us actually ever finish a season in Legacy mode? I think the best I've ever done is get to season #3 in NCAA Football (I forget what year it was).

Yet, legacy or dynasty mode is the most important thing to me. I'm an enigma. :D

I got into 2010 with Portland State on last years version, and I still play a few games every now and then. The level of immersion was unbelievable although there were a few issues that needed to be fixed.

Eaglefan's post regarding recruiting is encouraging - by 2007 or 2008 I was able to get two 5 star players out of LA and playing in a minor conference. If the fact that there are less 7 footers means that the top 50 scorers in the country aren't all centers by 2008 then I will probably play this years version even more than last years. Unity sounds like it has been done well and is a nice addition also - it was too easy last year to go to a dominant post player or shooting guard and get 30 points when you were losing.

[sooner333]

I'm just trying to decide whether to wait on named rosters or just name the UNO players myself and go from there.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I just hate playing exhibition games because they "don't mean anything" (which is pretty funny since it's a video game). So, I will likely start a real legacy once the rosters come out, but for now I just named the OU guys and fired up an open dynasty with the Sooners. I'm not very good at this game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just for the sake of updating (since I asked a question earlier in the thread), bought the Xbox version yesterday at BestBuy for $19.99.

No reviews yet from my 8 y/o gamer though ;)

[MJ4H]

$19.99.



A+

[Recoil]

I'd like to get this, but with the missing features for the Xbox version, I don't think I will.

[Pumpy Tudors]

The named rosters should be up on OperationSports very, very shortly (within an hour or so, I guess). I think it's great that the community over there took the time to simply name the players and not fool around with editing ratings or jersey numbers or anything. It's those other edits that can take up a lot of time, because everyone has their own ideas about what the ratings should be, and the jersey numbers can be a pain, too. The names are most important, though, and they're starting with just those.

I'm excited. I have my Datel transfer kit connected to my computer and ready to go. I'm hammering the F5 button at OS (the thread for the 360 rosters is here: hxxp://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=190485), and as soon as the rosters are done, I'm putting them on my memory card and shoving my way to the Xbox 360 to get started. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Since the rosters are going to be out so early, I might restart. I didn't expect them to be done this quickly. My first dynasty died due to a freeze. 2nd one will have been my practice :)

[MizzouRah]

I think they are done, supposedly coaches are in there too.

EF, could you please PM me with what I need to get to make named rosters happen. I'll get what's needed after Christmas. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

I think they are done, supposedly coaches are in there too.

EF, could you please PM me with what I need to get to make named rosters happen. I'll get what's needed after Christmas. :)


Sure, once I test them out tomorrow and make sure the method works, I will PM you with the details. :)

[sooner333]

I'm just upset that my Datel won't work on my computer for some reason. In fact, it didn't work on the second one I tried either because I had it connected during the install or something.

[MizzouRah]

Sure, once I test them out tomorrow and make sure the method works, I will PM you with the details. :)

Thanks a bunch!

[Eaglesfan27]

FYI, they released a new file today that has a few errors fixed. It looks very good and I'm starting my legacy now. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -


Simmed through my first few pre-season games that were basically unwinnable only playing one of them. Got beat badly in the game I played, but saw one HUGE upset while pre-simming as my Nicholls State team beat LSU 64-62 behind hot outside shooting.


The Weekly College Hoops Show is really great. It's next gen only. They show clips of big games throughout the week with all kinds of stats being shown. They've also covered the player of the week with clips of his games. They are previewing a big game coming up right now (Gonzaga vs UNC.) Then, they reviewed a couple of other big games with good looking clips. Very cool. With real names even better - really adds to immersion with players around the league.

[Eaglesfan27]

Double Dola -


Simmed the next week as I had two unwinnable games, and we lost them both fast simming them.


The next show not only covered big games of the week such as Kansas beating Florida, but also looked at the polls, and where big recruits signed early (#1 recruit signed at Florida.) They showed his letter grades in a variety of skills as well (I wonder if they are actuals or a consensus scout opinion.)



Early polls were kind of wacky with Nevada at #1 with a 4-0 record.

[MizzouRah]

31 more days until this game is MINE!!! Muuhaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

Game, Xcharge kit, and a memory card is a Christmas MUST for me. If not, she's not getting her gifts.

[MizzouRah]

dola,

I can only "image" what this company would have done with football this year.. fuckin' EA.

[Izulde]

Went to about 15 stores today... and believe it or not NONE of them had NCAA College Hoops 2K7 for the 360. It was unreal.

[Eaglesfan27]

A few other thoughts as I'm about to win my first played game finally (against Centenary at their court.)


- Player speed is really distinguishable from guy to guy. My speedy guards are blowing by their slower guards when we do get a break opportunity.


- Still not sure lateral quickness and big men being able to stop guards is completely solved, but it's better than NBA 2k7.

- Some people won't like how many blown lay-ups there are, but I do. Lower level college guys miss quite a bit I think. The game seems to model that well.

[CraigSca]

Izulde-

My wife looked for a copy for me and she was told the only college basketball made is by EA Sports. I'm not sure what store she went to - probably Target or Walmart, so it doesn't completely surprise me.

[Emiliano]

I'd like to get this, but with the missing features for the Xbox version, I don't think I will.

Yeah, me too. What are the differences exactly? I didn't follow this release so closely, but 2K always makes very good basketball games.

[Sweed]

Izulde-

My wife looked for a copy for me and she was told the only college basketball made is by EA Sports. I'm not sure what store she went to - probably Target or Walmart, so it doesn't completely surprise me.


I finally broke down and pulled the trigger on a 360 last night. Went to Walmart with the idea of also getting either nba or college hoops 2k7. Of course no luck with the BB games. My son is home from college and he picked up Madden for it. Sure it's not the greatest for serious simming but it's still fun and my God does it look nice.

I've got the week off so I could either order the game and wait for delivery or make a 150 mile round trip to pick one up. Still leaning towards CH but NBA (d'loaded and played the demo) is awfully tempting also. After that the tit will
have run dry. I've spent way too much on gaming the last 6 months or so (it's pretty bad when you realize it without the wife having to say a thing ;) ).

[MizzouRah]

I've read some impressions from people that have told me it's has the best presentation and gameplay of any console sports game to date.

I'm really anxious for this one.

[rexallllsc]

This game is a bit harder than the last one

[Eaglesfan27]

This game is a bit harder than the last one

It's quite a bit harder for me. I forgot to change my settings from the default after loading the "real rosters" and I was getting my ass handed to me on Starter level. Granted it was a much better team I was playing against, but still, Starter was working me over. I had to work really hard for my one win on All-Star with my crappy Nicholls State team (at least we are close to getting a 1 star PF who is 6'8 230 and will add some interior size and is supposed to be a good rebounder.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

Another thing I like: Confidence has a significant effect on a player. There seems to be some carry over from game to game too. My end of the bench players start out at -5 or -10 from their overall rating because I haven't used them hardly at all for the first 8 or so games. Meanwhile, my good players, particularly my stars, who are shooting well start out at plus 3 or so. If they make shots early, it can really rise. I've had guys at plus 15 by the 2nd half. Likewise, if the bench guys don't get in early, their confidence can go even further down. I have a C (normally 50 overall) who is at 30 overall now due to confidence problems. I'm finally blowing out a team (University of Louisiana - Monroe which is actually slightly worse rated) and so I'm working on getting my backup C time to rebuild his confidence a bit, but it's hard since he is missing everything.

[rexallllsc]

It's quite a bit harder for me. I forgot to change my settings from the default after loading the "real rosters" and I was getting my ass handed to me on Starter level. Granted it was a much better team I was playing against, but still, Starter was working me over. I had to work really hard for my one win on All-Star with my crappy Nicholls State team (at least we are close to getting a 1 star PF who is 6'8 230 and will add some interior size and is supposed to be a good rebounder.)

That's what happened to me too - is Starter not the default?

I was Ucla and got beat by 36 by BYU.

[Eaglesfan27]

Starter is the default, but All-American is the most balanced difficulty setting with neither side getting any boosts and is the difficulty level I usually play at.

Edit: Starter on the other hand gives slight boosts to the user's team.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I really love how much smarter the AI is passing. If you try to play passing lanes, they will usually try to make cuts to change the passing lanes. Also, the passes will be thrown at an angle that has the best chance of avoiding the defender. I feel much more rewarded when I make a steal playing the lanes, and it feels much less cheap.

[Eaglesfan27]

Double Dola -


It's not just a loud atmosphere in the game, it is a smart atmosphere. I was up 20 over ULM at their arena midway through the 2nd half. I brought in my backups. ULM cut the lead from 20 to 12 and the crowd was going crazy cheering them on. Then, I brought in my starters, but momentum stayed with them and they cut it to 3 with the crowd seemingly getting progressively louder and louder. It was actually making me nervous and my guys were missing shots like crazy. Finally, my veteran SG buried a 3 pointer with us only up by 3. It took the air out of the crowd and definitely quieted them down, but didn't shut them up completely. They made a dunk the next play and the crowd ratched up again. Very cool.

[Radii]

I can't wait for the PS2 version.

[MJ4H]

I can't wait for the PS2 version.

Me neither. This sucks.

[Pumpy Tudors]

EaglesFan27, what sliders are you using? Just fouls bumped up and game speed turned down? Have you made any adjustments to the rebounding? I'll be starting my legacy tonight and am looking for some settings to start with. :)

[Sweed]

Wife's out of town and my HS daughter was at work. So I went ahead and made the trip to pick up the game. Got home to find my daughter got off early and has the tv in the game room tied up playing Guitar Hero 2 on the ps2.

Guess I'll go play doubles with her until she tires. Then fire up the new 360 and burn the midnight oil.

[Eaglesfan27]

EaglesFan27, what sliders are you using? Just fouls bumped up and game speed turned down? Have you made any adjustments to the rebounding? I'll be starting my legacy tonight and am looking for some settings to start with. :)


I've bumped shooting down 1 notch for close/medium/3 pointers for the CPU to counter my lack of hitting shots at the height of the rise and the CPU always seeming to do so.


Other than that, I have Charge Fouls at 100, Blocking fouls at 75, shooting and reaching in fouls at 90. Giving me good foul totals.

I have gamespeed and player speed at 38 which gives good stats if I don't rush my shots. I always seem to score more efficiently if I don't rush my shots and really work for the best shot, so this works well.

No rebounding changes. Once I finally played a bad team, I outrebounded them. It's not like NBA 2k7. If you have better rebounders, you can usually rebound quite well against the CPU. However, I've found boxing out and helping with the guards is critical at least for my weak rebounding team. I can't let my guards leak out for the fast break too many times or we get killed by offensive boards. If I use them to help rebound, I'm doing ok against teams without a dominant big man.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Is it All-Conference or All-American that doesn't give any boosts to either team? All-Conference is the middle of 5 difficulty levels, but I seem to remember All-American (4th of 5) being the balanced one, too.

[Eaglesfan27]

Is it All-Conference or All-American that doesn't give any boosts to either team? All-Conference is the middle of 5 difficulty levels, but I seem to remember All-American (4th of 5) being the balanced one, too.


I'm using All-Conference, the 3rd of 5. Everything I remember says that is the balanced one and All-American gives a slight boost to the AI.

[Sweed]

Finally got in some time with the game. First the good.
Used Eaglesfan27's settings which produced a very solid simulation of a game of basketball. Just a very enjoyable experience. Preseason Black and Gold game with my Iowa Hawkeyes. I controlled the first team and ended up losing 90-88. With more experience I think the defense will tighten up and the score, while not unbelievable, will come down to a more realistic total.

Now for the BAD .

If you look at my posts you will see I rarely rant about a game. I have to rant about something in this game though.

First thing is somewhat minor but you can't sort your roster by class. Nor is there a list of how many players from each class you have at each position. Unless I'm just missing it somewhere in the menus? So, you have to look at every card to determine what class your players are in so you can determine your recruiting needs.

Now for the one that just may be a game killer for me. I play with the Iowa Hawkeyes and any team screen (player cards, rosters, etc) the attributes are displayed as white type on a bright yellow background. On my HDTV they are virtually unreadable.

Why would anyone design something like this? Couldn't they have used the Hawkeye black for the background? I opened a player card so I could look at all his attributes on one screen. All the ratings are in nice black numbers on a white background. All the categories are in white on a yellow background. I literally can't read any of the categories, the card is useless. The only way for me to see them is on the full roster screen. Then I have to highlight the player below the one I want to look at creating an underline effect and letting me see his ratings in black on white. It's still not easy as the column headers are? You guessed it white on yellow. Plus you can't see everything at once you have to scroll the screen right to left. What a pain in the ass.

For those thinking about buying the game Iowa is not the only team with this problem. While looking through the Big Ten I see Minnesota has the same problem. I thought about using Iowa State just so I could enjoy the game (not a thrilling thought though) and while looking at the Big 12 I see Missouri also uses the white on yellow.

The hdtv I'm playing on is a conventional tube tv, it's not the latest and greatest but it shows a damn nice hd picture. I can't see where these menus would be any clearer with a different setup (but I could be wrong). The point though is why even design something like this. Why not "dark on light" or "light on dark"?

I'm going to go back and give it another try to see if I can get past this but I really don't see how. And that is a shame because the game itself, from the little I have played, seems to be excellent and one I would enjoy for a long time.

Rant over.

To the guys with nba 2k7, do you see this with the Lakers (specifically) or any other teams in general? If not I may have to trade this game in for nba.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sorry to hear that Sweed. Nicholls State roster is very readable on my HDTV. Whenever, I get a chance (might not be until tomorrow) I'll check out Iowa and see how their roster looks on my TV.

[Sweed]

Sorry to hear that Sweed. Nicholls State roster is very readable on my HDTV. Whenever, I get a chance (might not be until tomorrow) I'll check out Iowa and see how their roster looks on my TV.

Thanks EF27. Sorry, to vent but it's just frustrating when, in a game this good, out of hundreds of teams the one you want to play with has issues. I know I could play with others but driving home, game in hand, I was thinking how much fun it is to have to go into places like Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, etc and face the hostile crowds. Just wouldn't be the same for me playing with anyone else.

I did go back and look at other teams and found that at least Minnesota and Missouri are a shade of yellow that allow you to read the text but it's still not real clear. Even Colorado with white on gold is fairly hard to see but readable.
Iowa is the only one I've found that is just a disaster. Note if you do get the time to look you can read the roster\team card of Iowa though it is hard to see. It's the player cards, at least for me, that are just plain unreadable.

I did find if I went to "team stats" I could click on the team name to get a team card that does have a table showing positions and number of players from each class. It's white on yellow, of course, but can be read like the roster screen. This at least helps some.

I'll give it a few days and see if once I know the team it doesn't bother me as much. If that doesn't work I may see if someone here would want to trade their nba2k7 for it. Bought it yesterday and Gamestop will give me a whopping $25 :mad: to trade it for nba2k7, that's not going to happen. I'll keep it first :)

[Icy]

When is going to be released the ps2 version?

[SirFozzie]

When is going to be released the ps2 version?

JB, is that you? (grin, duck and Run)

[rexallllsc]

This game is HARD on Starter. haha

[Pumpy Tudors]

Whew, I just had some tough games vs. Vermont and Tulane. Vermont beat me by 12 or 14 (can't remember which), but I had to come back from being down 20, and I got the deficit to single digits before Vermont put me away. The game against Tulane was back and forth throughout the contest, but I pulled out a 78-71 win.

Next up is Florida State. We're gonna get rocked. :(

[Eaglesfan27]

Just checked and Iowa also has White lettering on a bright yellow background for the categories on player cards on my TV. It is readable for me, but annoying nonetheless. Sweed, maybe you can adjust tint, contrast, or something to make it more readable?


Anyway, time to see if we can beat the mighty Stephen F Austin Team in our first conference game.

[Sweed]

Just checked and Iowa also has White lettering on a bright yellow background for the categories on player cards on my TV. It is readable for me, but annoying nonetheless. Sweed, maybe you can adjust tint, contrast, or something to make it more readable?
I thought about just trying my shades :cool: ;)

I may fiddle with the tv (kind of hate to when everything else looks good)or maybe just make a little cheat sheet with all the categories and keep it next to me. Where there's a will there's a way.

[Izulde]

Walked into La Crosse Best Buy.

Saw last copy of NCAA College Hoops 2K7 360 sitting there.

Grabbed and bought.

Though I probably won't get a chance to play until this weekend at the very earliest.. and it'd be a test run, since I need to send in my 360 to get it fixed.

[jbmagic]

How is coach mode in this year version?

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes! Won my first conference game over Stephen F Austin by running and running a lot. Noticed they had a great C and much more size, but our guys were faster at almost every position and if I played my backup PG along with my starters and took out my PF we had a great speed advantage. It worked well and my guys hit plenty of key 3's. Won 81-77.

Another cool thing - My starting 5 had a unity of 52 at the beginning of the year and it dropped down to about 20-30 if I brought in 3 or more backups. Now, I can bring in 3 backups and it doesn't drop as far as guys are getting more used to playing with each. Also, my starting 5 now has a unity of 62. I think that helped against Stephen A Austin which had an overall rating that was 5 points better but a team unity that was only 44.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Ah, team unity. I think I beat Tulane partly because their team unity was only 42 at the beginning of the game, while mine was around 55. I don't know what Florida State's is, but they'll probably wipe the floor with me anyway. :)

[spleen1015]

Yes! Won my first conference game over Stephen F Austin by running and running a lot. Noticed they had a great C and much more size, but our guys were faster at almost every position and if I played my backup PG along with my starters and took out my PF we had a great speed advantage. It worked well and my guys hit plenty of key 3's. Won 81-77.

Another cool thing - My starting 5 had a unity of 52 at the beginning of the year and it dropped down to about 20-30 if I brought in 3 or more backups. Now, I can bring in 3 backups and it doesn't drop as far as guys are getting more used to playing with each. Also, my starting 5 now has a unity of 62. I think that helped against Stephen A Austin which had an overall rating that was 5 points better but a team unity that was only 44.

This post alone has convinced me to buy this game.

Has anyone seen any posts elsewhere discussing sim stats? I don't know if I'll want to play out every single game.

How much time does it take to play a game where you get realistic stats?

[Pumpy Tudors]

How much time does it take to play a game where you get realistic stats?
I'd say that each game takes me about an hour, and I'm playing 20-minute halves. If you don't want to play that many minutes per half, I guess you could keep the game speed up around 50 (mine is at 35 on a scale of 1-100, EaglesFan27's is at 38) or something like that. I'd imagine that your foul numbers would be low, but your other stats could be OK, depending on your style of play.

To go off on a bit of a tangent, I haven't compared my statistics to real NCAA numbers, but I have a feeling that they're reasonable. I probably won't even compare them because I'm having too much fun with the game. I don't really want to overanalyze the numbers and mess with sliders to try to get the stats to be perfect. Unless some statistic jumps out at me as being really bad, I'm going to leave things as they are. I have a feeling that the number of blocked shots is low, so I might mess with that a little bit, but everything else feels great, so I kinda don't want to touch the sliders much more.

[Phototropic]

Is anyone playing good D on MOP? My offense is just right on that level, but my guys are clueless on D. Probably need to adjust sliders, but I'm curious if anyone has done well.

[jbmagic]

Spleen t

The good thing about 2k games is you can also set the sims stats minutes the same as your game play mins so the stats will match up on sim games.

[Eaglesfan27]

This post alone has convinced me to buy this game.

Has anyone seen any posts elsewhere discussing sim stats? I don't know if I'll want to play out every single game.

How much time does it take to play a game where you get realistic stats?

Is anyone playing good D on MOP? My offense is just right on that level, but my guys are clueless on D. Probably need to adjust sliders, but I'm curious if anyone has done well.


I'm seeing decent stats in my simmed games, although my upset of LSU seemed off with LSU having horrible shooting. However, over the first half of my season looking at all teams, it certainly seems to look good on first glance. However, I haven't delved really deep into stat analysis.

I'm still taking *about* an hour per game with 20 minute halves. Some games with lots of play stoppage are a bit longer, some are a bit shorter.



Just out of curiousity, Phototropic, what defense are you primarily using? My guys were horrendous until I went to a 2-3 which helps cover for our lack of interior size. Of course, we now give up the 3 ball too much, but it seems like our best chance to win until I get some more size and defensive prowess on the team.

[Phototropic]

I'm seeing decent stats in my simmed games, although my upset of LSU seemed off with LSU having horrible shooting. However, over the first half of my season looking at all teams, it certainly seems to look good on first glance. However, I haven't delved really deep into stat analysis.

I'm still taking *about* an hour per game with 20 minute halves. Some games with lots of play stoppage are a bit longer, some are a bit shorter.



Just out of curiousity, Phototropic, what defense are you primarily using? My guys were horrendous until I went to a 2-3 which helps cover for our lack of interior size. Of course, we now give up the 3 ball too much, but it seems like our best chance to win until I get some more size and defensive prowess on the team.
I'm using Marshall who defaults to a 2-3 Matchup Zone which I take to mean is a 2-3 zone initially where my guys then man up to the nearest defender. But I typically run man since I hate giving up those wide open looks for 3. I may go back to zone more and see if that helps. My main issue is I give up a lot of backdoor passes for easy layups.

They have a 3 guard lineup and aren't very good so I may just have to suck it up and give up the looks for 3 like you said.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm using Marshall who defaults to a 2-3 Matchup Zone which I take to mean is a 2-3 zone initially where my guys then man up to the nearest defender. But I typically run man since I hate giving up those wide open looks for 3. I may go back to zone more and see if that helps. My main issue is I give up a lot of backdoor passes for easy layups.

They have a 3 guard lineup and aren't very good so I may just have to suck it up and give up the looks for 3 like you said.


I was getting KILLED with back door passes too until I went to the 2-3. I still give them up occasionally, but it is much less frequent. On the plus side, I love how the AI works me over attacking wherever my weakness is. I'm hoping once I move to a bigger program and get some better defenders that I'll be able to play an attacking style of defense.

[Phototropic]

I was getting KILLED with back door passes too until I went to the 2-3. I still give them up occasionally, but it is much less frequent. On the plus side, I love how the AI works me over attacking wherever my weakness is. I'm hoping once I move to a bigger program and get some better defenders that I'll be able to play an attacking style of defense.
Cool, I'll try it. The one game I've won was UNC over Duke, so there is definitely a difference in defense as you get better.

[Phototropic]

I stuck with zone more and lost 49-73 which sounds horrible but it was the best D I've played. They shot 37% overall and I somehow managed to shoot 17% in the 2nd half. I was down 6 at half.

[spleen1015]

Do the default fictional players have names or are they just numbers? If they are just numbers, can I have the game give them names when I start a legacy?

What's the scoop? Just like to know before I pick up the game today.

[TroyF]

You have the choice of letting it use numbers or generate fictional names.

[spleen1015]

You have the choice of letting it use numbers or generate fictional names.

Ecellent. Thanks for letting me know!

[Sweed]

Got some time to play the game and am really enjoying it. Messed with the tv settings and can at least read the player cards now for my Hawkeyes. Though it's still not easy it's not enough reason quit playing the game.

2-1 with the Hawks beating Citadel and Toledo with the loss coming to 18th rated Alabama (I'm ranked 23) in a close game. Actually had a 5 point lead with about 2 minutes left but increased pressure from Alabama created a couple of steals and they ended up winning the game.

Great game needing little tweaking out of the box (at least so far). Been getting good results using EF27's settings. The game feels good, I have to work to get shots and work on defense to stop the opposition.

Do the default fictional players have names or are they just numbers? If they are just numbers, can I have the game give them names when I start a legacy?

What's the scoop? Just like to know before I pick up the game today.
Yesterday 12:02 AM


Rather than spend the money for the transfer kit I let the game generate names. It's not a lot of money but couldn't see spending it for this when all the names will be out of the game in four seasons. What I did instead, since I'm Iowa, was take my old usb keyboard and type in the rosters of the Big Ten teams. Took about 15 minutes to copy rosters into notepad and print them. And then another hour+ to type them into the game. Good enough for my world, YMMV.

[spleen1015]

I got the game yesterday. I think I need to work on my late game strategy. When I first fired up the game, I played a rivalry game between Butler and Ball St. I was leading by 7 with 3 minutes to go and ended up losing by 2.

After getting familiar with the on court play, I started a closed legacy with Univeristy of Maryland - Eastern Shore. Since I'm from that area, I figured I would give them a shot.

I struggled early. I was playing a 2-3 zone and they hit 7 of 12 3 pointers in the first half. I was down by 9 at halftime. So, to start the 2nd half, I came out Man to Man and my team played much better. I ended up tying the game at 65 with 22 seconds left. Then they hit a 3 with 9 seconds left. I didn't have any timeouts, so I hustle up the floor and missed a 3 at the buzzer.

In my second game, Navy just waxed me, 72-45. I don't know what happened. My guys weren't hitting anything. My big men could hit anything inside and Navy dominated the boards on both ends. They switched up defense on me quite a bit. When they were playing Man to Man, I was able to get some open looks. After I scored a couple of times, they switched to the 2-3 and my guys weren't anything outside. This is how they managed to pull away in the middle of the first half. I was down 9 at halftime.

I'm playing on the starter level. This is my first shot at a basketball console game since NBA Live on the Genesis. So, I'll see how I do on this difficulty. I haven't touched any of the sliders either. The AI is taking a lot of 3's when I play the 2-3 Zone. They're open looks, so I can't complain about that. I think I need to adjust how many they are making, though. Both Wagner and Navy shot over 60% on me from 3 point range. That's too high. The guy who hit the game winning 3 against me for Wagner was 8-10 on 3 pointers and he only attempted 12 shots.

I like the free throw mechanism. I don't find myself hitting every free throw. Even when I have an OK release, guys who have bad skills are missing and guys who have good skills are hitting them.

So far, I like the game. I get to play Duke and Virginia in my next 2 games. So, I should get my ass kicked pretty good.

[GoldenEagle]

I just got an email from FK saying his rosters are ready. I do not have the game yet personally, but I thought I would give everyone a heads up about it.

[Izulde]

Where do you find out your team unity and confidence levels for players?

[spleen1015]

Where do you find out your team unity and confidence levels for players?

I believe it is the last option within the Coaching Menu during the game.

[rjolley]

I just got an email from FK saying his rosters are ready. I do not have the game yet personally, but I thought I would give everyone a heads up about it.

Just to add a URL to this:

hxxp://fkrosters.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1693 (http://fkrosters.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1693)

No word on when the original XBox rosters will be out.

[spleen1015]

I guess Duke isn't very good in my legacy. I beat them tonight 82-73. Taking a look, they are 0-3 after losing to me. I'm wondering why I had such a hard time with Wagner and Navy, but not Duke.

[kingnebwsu]

I just simmed through a season as my Wright State team. We were 13-16, but then won all 3 conf. tourney games to make the NCAA as a #16 seed. Thankfully, we avoided the play-in game. The winner of the play-in game was High Point...who then beat the #1 seed in the opening round. And the #8 seed in the second round. And the #5 seed in the sweet 16. Their dream run was ended by #3 seed Ohio State in the Elite Eight. They only lost by 7. Also in that bracket, #3 seed Ohio State beat #15 seed Florida A&M in the round of 8.

One other weird thing was that Iowa was a #15 seed. I didn't look at their record, but that didn't make sense.

The selection show is fan-freaking-tastic. This may be the coolest thing since the weekly Sportscenter highlights from NFL 2k5. One more year of polish and these shows would be even better. I wish they had an option to watch in-season shows about a particular conference. It's neat to see the nationwide thing, but maybe also the option to watch a show about your conference (no matter how small) would be really cool.

I'm renting this game this week, then I gotta decide if I wanna buy it or not. I already own NBA 2k7, so I don't know if I need this one. Oh the choices!!! ;)

[Balldog]

I picked this game up on Monday and can't stop playing it. It's pissing me off because I want to play NCAA Football 2007 but I can't!!!

[Porscheboy16]

I got the game yesterday. I think I need to work on my late game strategy. When I first fired up the game, I played a rivalry game between Butler and Ball St. I was leading by 7 with 3 minutes to go and ended up losing by 2.

After getting familiar with the on court play, I started a closed legacy with Univeristy of Maryland - Eastern Shore. Since I'm from that area, I figured I would give them a shot.

I struggled early. I was playing a 2-3 zone and they hit 7 of 12 3 pointers in the first half. I was down by 9 at halftime. So, to start the 2nd half, I came out Man to Man and my team played much better. I ended up tying the game at 65 with 22 seconds left. Then they hit a 3 with 9 seconds left. I didn't have any timeouts, so I hustle up the floor and missed a 3 at the buzzer.

In my second game, Navy just waxed me, 72-45. I don't know what happened. My guys weren't hitting anything. My big men could hit anything inside and Navy dominated the boards on both ends. They switched up defense on me quite a bit. When they were playing Man to Man, I was able to get some open looks. After I scored a couple of times, they switched to the 2-3 and my guys weren't anything outside. This is how they managed to pull away in the middle of the first half. I was down 9 at halftime.

I'm playing on the starter level. This is my first shot at a basketball console game since NBA Live on the Genesis. So, I'll see how I do on this difficulty. I haven't touched any of the sliders either. The AI is taking a lot of 3's when I play the 2-3 Zone. They're open looks, so I can't complain about that. I think I need to adjust how many they are making, though. Both Wagner and Navy shot over 60% on me from 3 point range. That's too high. The guy who hit the game winning 3 against me for Wagner was 8-10 on 3 pointers and he only attempted 12 shots.

I like the free throw mechanism. I don't find myself hitting every free throw. Even when I have an OK release, guys who have bad skills are missing and guys who have good skills are hitting them.

So far, I like the game. I get to play Duke and Virginia in my next 2 games. So, I should get my ass kicked pretty good.

What part? Grew up in Salisbury.
To keep on topic, got a nice deal on this game for $35. Hoping to play it when it comes in the mail.

[Sweed]

Anyone else think that blocking fouls on a drive to the hoop end up with the home team getting free throws while the visitor ends up with the foul on the floor and the ball out of bounds?

I've only played out 5 games with 3 on the road so far in my legacy so this admittedly is a small sample. But in a game I just completed, Iowa (I'm Iowa) at VT, I was called three times for blocks when VT drove to the hoop. All three they were awarded either the hoop and one or two FT's. Twice with me in the same situation the foul was on the floor and I only got the ball out of bounds.

In the replays all of the calls looked like close judgement calls that could go either way. I'm not here to argue when a foul is on the floor or not, only commenting that all of the calls seemed to go to the home team and am curious if others are seeing the same. This is not a bad thing IMHO if there is some randomness to it. Just think it is cool if this is part of the homecourt advantage, as long as it's not overdone.

[Izulde]

So I'm 3-0 with Morehead State (including knocking off Penn State) when I get the lovely red ring. *sigh* It worked out though, because I lost out on the C I really wanted, who went to Evansville of all places and the SG I was going after was superfluous because I had a frosh SG who was playing much better than his ratings.

[MJ4H]

So I'm 3-0 with Morehead State (including knocking off Penn State) when I get the lovely red ring. *sigh* It worked out though, because I lost out on the C I really wanted, who went to Evansville of all places and the SG I was going after was superfluous because I had a frosh SG who was playing much better than his ratings.

what is the "red ring"

[spleen1015]

What part? Grew up in Salisbury.
To keep on topic, got a nice deal on this game for $35. Hoping to play it when it comes in the mail.

My parents live in Willards. I graduated from Parkside in '94.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I played my game against Florida State last night. They had an 81-56 lead on me with about 12 minutes to go. My wife glanced at the screen, saw the score, and said, "You really need to pick it up!" Well, my Privateers did exactly that. The Seminoles' shooting got ice cold, and my guys started hitting their jump shots. We tore up Florida State for the final 12 minutes of the game. It was great.

We still lost 100-92. :(

[jbmagic]

I played my game against Florida State last night. They had an 81-56 lead on me with about 12 minutes to go. My wife glanced at the screen, saw the score, and said, "You really need to pick it up!" Well, my Privateers did exactly that. The Seminoles' shooting got ice cold, and my guys started hitting their jump shots. We tore up Florida State for the final 12 minutes of the game. It was great.

We still lost 100-92. :(


How many offensive plays can you assign to your playbook? The same like NBA 2k7?

How is coach mode?

[Pumpy Tudors]

How many offensive plays can you assign to your playbook? The same like NBA 2k7?
It appears that there are only four plays to assign to the d-pad. I don't see a way to call "alternate" plays by using the left trigger or something. It's mildly annoying.

How is coach mode?
I don't know. After disliking last year's coach mode, I have no desire to try it again.

[rexallllsc]

It appears that there are only four plays to assign to the d-pad. I don't see a way to call "alternate" plays by using the left trigger or something. It's mildly annoying.

I have the 360 version (not sure which you have), but I can assign w/ the left trigger.

[GoldenEagle]

I might pick this up someone this weekend if I can talk the girlfriend into letting me get it somehow.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I have the 360 version (not sure which you have), but I can assign w/ the left trigger.
Yeah, I'm on the 360 version, too. I've seen where you can assign plays to the left trigger+d-pad combination, but I can't seem to actually call the left trigger plays during a game.

[spleen1015]

Yeah, I'm on the 360 version, too. I've seen where you can assign plays to the left trigger+d-pad combination, but I can't seem to actually call the left trigger plays during a game.

Initially, there aren't any assigned to the left trigger. I'm absolutely sure that you can do it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Initially, there aren't any assigned to the left trigger. I'm absolutely sure that you can do it.
Thanks. I'll fool with it when I play again.

[Porscheboy16]

My parents live in Willards. I graduated from Parkside in '94.

Went to Parkside from 2001-2004, transfered to Bennett and graduated in '05.

[spleen1015]

I don't understand this game sometimes. Maybe I am expecting to much from my sorry ass players.

In my UMES Legacy, I have managed to go 2-8 through the first 10 games. I've beaten Duke and Howard. I've gotten waxed by Navy, Virginia, Wichita St., and Kansas St.

my last 2 games have been to same sorta game. Play even for the first 6 minutes, build at 6-10 point lead going into halftime. Then, maintain that lead untail about 6 minutes to go and have my FG% plummet.

I lost by 13 to Kennesaw St after being up 12 with 6:30 to go. My guys stopped making close shots and layups and they couldn't miss. I lost by 13 because of the fouling at the end of the game trying to get back in it.

In my last game against West Viriginia, I was in the lead from the opening tip. I was up 7-0 before they scored. I was up 13 at the half. I was blown away. I figured I would get blown out like I did against Virginia, 46 points. Coming out in the second half, they switched up on me, but I was able to score without issue. Then, with about 6 minutes to go, same thing happened. My guys stopped hitting shots. My SG, was having a hell of a game. He had 24 points, and was 9/10 from the field, 4/4 for 3 pointers. He missed 8 shots in that last 6 minutes.

Frustrating, to say the least.

[Izulde]

what is the "red ring"

Where the lights around your power button on the 360 all flash red and your 360 shuts itself off in the middle of a game.

[jbmagic]

Spleen1015

Fatigue plays a big part on making shots.

And also are you calling your offensive plays and mixing it up when you play?

[Eaglesfan27]

Talk about a game where I could just kick myself. It was a fast paced high offense game, and I managed to have a 92-89 lead with a few seconds left. I fouled a 3 point shooter :(

He made them all. I had 3.5 seconds left. I was trying to set up a great last second shot and ended up having a 5 second turnover. Oops. At least, we played good defense and had them miss the last shot.


I can laugh about it since I won 102-98 in OT.

[MJ4H]

Just ordered the PS2 version online from Best Buy. Had a gift card for $20 I needed to use. Hopefully it will be here this week. I've been excited about getting this game for a while.

[Phototropic]

I had a great game last night. After starting 6 of 23, I fell behind as much as 18 points but rallied back for an 83-77 win.

[Radii]

I just picked this up for PS2. I'm re-reading through the thread now, but I'm curious what sliders and general settings/changes to the defaults people have settled into. Is there one difficulty level that plays best?

[Eaglesfan27]

I just picked this up for PS2. I'm re-reading through the thread now, but I'm curious what sliders and general settings/changes to the defaults people have settled into. Is there one difficulty level that plays best?


From what I've read, the PS2 version is different (more like last year than the 360 version,) so I doubt my settings would work the best but I'm using all shooting down 1 click for my team, 2 clicks for the CPU. I've turned all fouls up to 90 except for blocking which I have at 75. I haven't had to chance much else. I'm using the 3rd of 5 difficulty levels (All conference I think?)

[MJ4H]

Best Buy says mine is "backordered." This is stupid. They say it probably won't be here before Christmas. Lame. I'll probably cancel it and just drive down there and pick it up.

[Radii]

Best Buy says mine is "backordered." This is stupid. They say it probably won't be here before Christmas. Lame. I'll probably cancel it and just drive down there and pick it up.

The local best buy here hadn't received it yet either, the salesman I talked to said it was supposed to be in Tuesday and he doesn't know what's up. They had copies at Gamestop.

[MJ4H]

The local best buy here hadn't received it yet either, the salesman I talked to said it was supposed to be in Tuesday and he doesn't know what's up. They had copies at Gamestop.

sigh. Thanks.

[Radii]

From what I've read, the PS2 version is different (more like last year than the 360 version,) so I doubt my settings would work the best but I'm using all shooting down 1 click for my team, 2 clicks for the CPU. I've turned all fouls up to 90 except for blocking which I have at 75. I haven't had to chance much else. I'm using the 3rd of 5 difficulty levels (All conference I think?)

Yeah, I tried this out and once I stopped trying to fast break all the time(leading to *tons* of turnovers) I think I can blow anyone out with the PS2 version at these settings, time to go do some research on it, thanks though!

[Radii]

damn, reading reviews on this and looking at the operation sports forums almost has me thinking about buying an xbox 360 just for this game.

[Eaglesfan27]

damn, reading reviews on this and looking at the operation sports forums almost has me thinking about buying an xbox 360 just for this game.


Not that I'm trying to sway you, but I'm still playing this whenever I get free time and absolutely loving it. Got in a couple of good games today. I'm in my 2nd season and am 6-10 but I got a Freshman PF during my first year who has some potential and some size (6'9" 248) and I can't wait to see what we can do once he develops some post ability. In my 2nd season, I just got my first 2 star SG to commit as well, so we'll have some better outside shooters helping him out next year. :)

[bhlloy]

Ugh... sounds really disappointing that they basically didn't touch the PS2 version at all. The more I hear about 2k7 sports, the less I like of them as a company. It would have taken what... a couple of days work to port over the Team Unity and Momentum features from the 360 version.

Can somebody with the PS2 version confirm for me whether they fixed the bug with all foreign recruits having American names? If they were too lazy to even do that, I probably won't bother buying it at all.

Unless you guys who have the PS2 version have noticed any subtle changes that the reviewers might have missed? What I'm hearing from Gamespot and IGN is that the game is basically exactly the same.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ugh... sounds really disappointing that they basically didn't touch the PS2 version at all. The more I hear about 2k7 sports, the less I like of them as a company. It would have taken what... a couple of days work to port over the Team Unity and Momentum features from the 360 version.

Can somebody with the PS2 version confirm for me whether they fixed the bug with all foreign recruits having American names? If they were too lazy to even do that, I probably won't bother buying it at all.

Unless you guys who have the PS2 version have noticed any subtle changes that the reviewers might have missed? What I'm hearing from Gamespot and IGN is that the game is basically exactly the same.


The more I read comments from their developers on various places, the more it seems like they are doing minimal work on PS2 and Xbox versions of their games, with almost all of their efforts going towards advancing the games on the 360 and PS3.

[bhlloy]

Yeah, I figured that and that is their right (and probably a solid business model to boot). But there is a big difference in minimal work and no work at all. Of course I haven't played it yet, but the general consensus seems to be that they didn't touch anything except updating the rosters and putting in an "AI update" which doesn't seem to have updated anything at all.

What I object to is a company bending current gen customers over the table and shafting them by releasing a "new" game which doesn't show any signs of actually being touched or worked on at all - at least according to the two game review sites I actually trust.

Like I say, I'm hoping someone on here can come and prove me wrong, tell me that this or that feature is better or these bugs have been fixed, because then it's a must buy game for me.

[Sweed]

Yeah, I figured that and that is their right (and probably a solid business model to boot). But there is a big difference in minimal work and no work at all. Of course I haven't played it yet, but the general consensus seems to be that they didn't touch anything except updating the rosters and putting in an "AI update" which doesn't seem to have updated anything at all.

What I object to is a company bending current gen customers over the table and shafting them by releasing a "new" game which doesn't show any signs of actually being touched or worked on at all - at least according to the two game review sites I actually trust.

Like I say, I'm hoping someone on here can come and prove me wrong, tell me that this or that feature is better or these bugs have been fixed, because then it's a must buy game for me.

I haven't played the ps2 game and if it really is basically just a roster update then maybe they shouldn't even release a ps2 version. Having said that I believe the game sells for $19.99 and in the "old days" roster disks for games like Lance Haffner Baseball or card sets for Strat O Matic would cost in the neighborhood of $20 (in 1980's or 90's dollars). Would I personally find it to be worth the money? No, but some might. Like you I'd read the reviews and probably pass on the game. I would also recognize that 2k is not doing this to spite me but to try to win in the next gen. And that sooner or later I'd own either a 360 or ps3 and then be able to take advantage of the work they are currently doing.

I do think your are right that it is a solid business model. The idea of putting most of their effort into the next gen games is a good one if they are to ever overtake EA.

disclaimer: This post is written by a 360\ps3 owner who really has no way of
truly feeling your pain or frustration;)

[bhlloy]

One problem - they can't use real players. So it's not even a true roster update :)

[Radii]

Not that I'm trying to sway you, but I'm still playing this whenever I get free time and absolutely loving it. Got in a couple of good games today. I'm in my 2nd season and am 6-10 but I got a Freshman PF during my first year who has some potential and some size (6'9" 248) and I can't wait to see what we can do once he develops some post ability. In my 2nd season, I just got my first 2 star SG to commit as well, so we'll have some better outside shooters helping him out next year. :)

I don't mind being swayed! I've been very busy and stressed over the idea of moving and getting out of my old house, but that is all done by New Years and I may well buy a 360 in early January :D

The 2K5 version of this game got more play from me than pretty much any console game ever, I really want to see if 2k7 on the 360 can recapture that.

[Eaglesfan27]

Playing a game right now, had a very interesting start to it:


I almost never make 4 point plays. I have 2 really good 3 point shooters, but one is terrible defensively and only plays a bit off the bench. Anyway, my one good 3 point shooter has made my first 3 shots and they have all been 4 point plays! I'm playing a team that is really size deprived, so I'm tossing it into my Frosh PF that I mentioned earlier. Inevitably, they have to double team him to stop him from pushing the 6'6 230 guy that is trying to guard him. I have him throw it to my PG or SF who quickly passes it to the SG who is draining 3's and getting nailed by a player chasing him as he releases. He had been in a 6 for 31 behind the arc slump in the last few games, so it is a very nice start for him. :)

[Radii]

For anyone that has the Xbox or PS2 versions, btw, I'm using these sliders:

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=193320

and have had a couple of good games with them, losing with NC A&T to a better Dayton team and playing a close game against an evenly rated team. The sliders are xbox specific but I've seen a few posts about people being happy with them on PS2 as well.

[bhlloy]

Radii - did you play 2K6 and if so, have you noticed any difference between the two games at all?

[Radii]

Radii - did you play 2K6 and if so, have you noticed any difference between the two games at all?


I never really got into 2K6 much at all, I'm not sure why. I'm also not sure it was really the game itself but other games I was playing or other things I had going on when I got it. From what I've seen in reviews, the only improvements between the two are in number of fight songs and other stuff I could care less about :)

[Raiders Army]

Opening up my copy tomorrow. goody!

[Sweed]

One problem - they can't use real players. So it's not even a true roster update :)

Not sure about ps2 in 2k7 but on the 360 the players are real just not named. That is number, height, weight, and ratings are based on the real players. That is Oden is on Ohio State but the game only uses his number and physical measurements and his ratings make him an 88 IIRC.

I know this because I don't have the kit to import the real names so typed in the whole Big Ten since I play as Iowa. Every player's height and weight matched up, the only thing that is not correct on the player card is their hometown. Again IIRC this was true in v 2k5 on the ps2 (I did not buy 2k6).

[GoldenEagle]

This game is underneath the tree for me as well. I am hoping to get XBox live soon so I can whip up on some folks.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Ugh. I just got waxed at home by Northwestern State. I had a 38-36 halftime lead, and then they started pressing me. I couldn't handle the press, apparently. I ended up turning the ball over 21 times in the game, my star SG couldn't hit any baskets, and we ended up losing 102-85. Now we travel to Oxford to play Ole Miss. Oh, this should be good. :eek:

[Icy]

I'm really jaleous of not being able to play this game in my 360 as it's region locked to USA. I'm enjoying NBA2k7 a lot, but i prefer the shorter NCAA season than to play 80+ games in the NBA per season that could take me a month in real time.

[Recoil]

My girlfriend got this for me for Christmas. Hah. She'll regret this one.

[CraigSca]

Wow - played this all day yesterday and I may actually be geting better (unlike last year's game). I made my father watch a little and he said he likes the graphics better in NCAA 2007 (which I agree), but what you can't see when someone else plays is just how much fun this game is.

There's nothing more satisfying then getting a break-away and slamming the ball home :). Fun game, and I couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed to get some time to play :).

[timmyw3]

Is anyone using any sliders on this? What level seems to provide the best gameplay?

[Eaglesfan27]

Is anyone using any sliders on this? What level seems to provide the best gameplay?

For the 360 version, I'm using:

Fouls all up to 100 except for Blocking which is at 75.

CPU shooting sliders all at -2 (48.) Player shooting sliders all at -1 of default (49.) CPU rebounding (offensive and defensive) at 45. Player rebounding at 55 for both. I'm playing All Conference which is the 3rd of 5 difficulty levels. I'm getting mostly realistic results that are quite enjoyable with a fair variety of games depending upon talent levels and how up tempo I try to play.

Oh yeah, I'm using 20 minute halves with player and game speed both at 38. When I run and gun I've scored close to 100 (and actually just broke 100 in a game) but most of my games are slower paced and end up with scores in the 60's or 70's.

[MJ4H]

Sigh.

Game just froze on me after finishing up a win against #11 Alabama. Worst possible sin for a game.

[GoldenEagle]

I kicked it around yesterday and had a pretty good time with it. I was Memphis and played against Mississippi Valley State and beat them pretty good on the default settings. The only problem is going to be finding time to play this, as I got NBA2k7 and bought Gears of War today as well.

[Raiders Army]

Okay, I'm messing around with the game and it's pretty fun. Especially the chant creator (F-clap-U-stomp-stomp-stomp). Anyhow, would anyone like to do a tournament?

[Eaglesfan27]

Okay, I'm messing around with the game and it's pretty fun. Especially the chant creator (F-clap-U-stomp-stomp-stomp). Anyhow, would anyone like to do a tournament?


If they have smoothed out the problems with online play (it was choppy around release time) then I would like to play in a tournament, but my availability is limited to mostly the weekend.

[Raiders Army]

If they have smoothed out the problems with online play (it was choppy around release time) then I would like to play in a tournament, but my availability is limited to mostly the weekend.

I'd be good with only on weekends as well. Just so you guys know, I really suck at this game.

[Radii]

I bought a 360 and college hoops 2k7 last night. I am absolutely stunned by the difference between the game on PS2 vs 360. I think I could never buy another game for my new 360 and may still get my money's worth out of the machine with this one game. I played around a bit with UNC and then started a legacy w/ Campbell like I usually do.

I'm having some issues with turnovers(committing too many and not forcing any) but I think I know. Committing them is mainly the PS2->Xbox switch. I am making a lot of passes to my SF when I mean to pass to my SG using icon passing, still getting used to the buttons. Also I haven't mastered the fact that you lead your target based on the direction you're pressing when you pass. A number of times I'm trying to back my man down in the post(pressing twoards the basket) but then want to kick it back out to an open man for a 3 pointer, but I'm still pulling hard towards the basket and end up leading my target somewhere I didn't mean to(occasionally passing it right to a defender).

Also a big change for me is that I can't just sit in a 2-3 zone anymore. I always did that b/c it was easiest for me given that some parts of the play are off the screen, but against good 3 point shooting teams they'll actually take advantage of it now and I get burned, I'll have to learn to play man to man.


I'm going to go back and read the impressions on the 360 version to see if I pick up any other pointers. I am using the all conference and sliders eaglesfan27 mentioned, scores look good so far(I've only played 4 games though).

[BigDPW]

I too picked this game up with my new 360 a few days after christmas... I love this game!!! I suck at it... BUT I LOVE IT!!!

Until I read your post Radii I did not know that Icon Passing was also lead Passing??? I was wondering where that feature had gone all this time...

I have been playing a legacy with my NC State Wolfpack which is very fun due to our lack of talent for an ACC team this year and lack of depth... I have not been able to figure out recruiting very well so far and I may restart my legacy as I think I have over shot on targeting my recruits. I targeted a couple of local-regional 5 stars that were interested in me from the beginning and I worked myelf up to 95-100% interest but was second on their lists to MD and WVU going into the early period and they signed with them instead. Now some of my 4 star guys have already committed and I am worried I will not end up with significant talent out of this class. I have 4 schollies available and Engin Atsur (my only solid PG) is graduating and I need some size down low...

I am still playing on the default level with fouls bumped up (I know I am not very good). I would like to use the shot stick more but I keep forgetting to do that... I have always used the button for outside shots in previous games and I have very little success even hitting inside shots with the stick let alone 3s...

I too need to go back and read this thread through in order to help my game out a little...

If anyone is on XBL look for me... I would love to play a game online...

[kingnebwsu]

Here's a tip that it took me 15+ games to learn (and I also semi-read the manual but missed this)...

On 360: hit the right button to icon pass, then hit the right trigger to do a "lead pass"

I thought they took this button out of this version (I'm used to the NBA games) but this button makes a huge difference. I'm struggling with learning how to properly use it, since I played like 15+ games without it, but it really helps, especially on fast breaks.

That's my story...carry on :)

[Radii]

Those of you that dropped the speed down to 38ish... are you talking about game speed, player speed, or both?

[Radii]

dola, actually paying attention and reading the thread closely I see that my question has been answered numerous times(answer: both player and game speed). Never mind me!

[Calis]

Here's a tip that it took me 15+ games to learn (and I also semi-read the manual but missed this)...

On 360: hit the right button to icon pass, then hit the right trigger to do a "lead pass"

I thought they took this button out of this version (I'm used to the NBA games) but this button makes a huge difference. I'm struggling with learning how to properly use it, since I played like 15+ games without it, but it really helps, especially on fast breaks.

That's my story...carry on :)

Yeah, this one bothered me at first also, but if you go into controller options and pick controller setup C it maps the lead pass to the B button just like the NBA game.

[CraigSca]

Hmm...I'll have to try this out. I've been playing on the second-to-lowest difficulty, and I've been playing an open legacy with Maryland. I'm 6-0 thus far, but I've only been playing patsies and winning easily, though I was losing by 18 to St. Johns in the second half before I went on a tear. I may have to tune up the difficulty, but it's hard to say because I haven't played anyone substantial yet (though Illinois is on the docket the game after next).

Still, I am really enjoying this game. It's a heck of a lot of fun, and my 5-year old asked if I was controlling the men on the TV, as she didn't know it was a game (though she plays the XBOX a lot).

[Eaglesfan27]

I just lost a heartbreaker in my conference tournament as I played Lamar really tough despite being huge underdogs. My SG/SF who is only good at hitting 3's (he is rated 92 in it) missed a 3 pointer with 4 seconds left that would have tied up the game. I'm enjoying this game so much and am heading into my 3rd season now.

[MizzouRah]

Will trade some games soon to get this one.

[CraigSca]

Do it, Todd. It's really a lot of fun, especially if you're into the college game.

[MizzouRah]

Do it, Todd. It's really a lot of fun, especially if you're into the college game.

I was hoping to get it for Christmas, but received COD 3 and GOW. As soon as I get through COD 3, it's time for some NCAA BB.

[INDalltheway]

This game is a lot of fun.. I need to start playing online again.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm only 7 games into my first season, and my poor Privateers are sitting at 1-6. Most of our games have been close, but we just fall apart at the end. My last loss was against 1-6 UL-Lafayette. Strangely, it was featured on the "College Hoops Tonight" show. I figure that there must have been very few games that week if a game between two Sun Belt teams with a combined record of 2-11 was being featured. :)

[Phototropic]

I went 7-22 my first season but loved it. I'm 3-2 now with losses to Marquette and Missouri where I was a huge underdog, so I might be getting better.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm only 7 games into my first season, and my poor Privateers are sitting at 1-6. Most of our games have been close, but we just fall apart at the end. My last loss was against 1-6 UL-Lafayette. Strangely, it was featured on the "College Hoops Tonight" show. I figure that there must have been very few games that week if a game between two Sun Belt teams with a combined record of 2-11 was being featured. :)


My Nicholls state team has never been featured despite playing Georgia to only a 5 point loss that I thought might make it. We've also been blown out by plenty of bigger schools that I thought might get us a mention but no mention yet. :(

[spleen1015]

I'm only 7 games into my first season, and my poor Privateers are sitting at 1-6. Most of our games have been close, but we just fall apart at the end. My last loss was against 1-6 UL-Lafayette. Strangely, it was featured on the "College Hoops Tonight" show. I figure that there must have been very few games that week if a game between two Sun Belt teams with a combined record of 2-11 was being featured. :)

I've ran into this a bit with my UMES team. They will play well in the first 30 minutes aginst better teams, keeping the game close, only to fall apart and start missing everything going down the stretch.

I need to pick this game back up again. You guys are making me crazy. Too many games.

[CraigSca]

Played my first non-open legacy game last night and, like spleen, I'm coaching UMES. Went through the first two weeks of recruiting and, as usual, find myself targeting guys I have little to no chance of getting (this is typical of me - it's just very hard to recruit 1 and 2 star athletes).

Anyway...onto the first game against Wagner! I lead the entire first half, and take a 36-30 lead into halftime. Already the Maryland-Eastern Shore faithful are predicting great things for the program :). Unfortunately, there are two halves to any basketball game, and that was all Wagner needed to annihilate me. For whatever reason, they went into a 3-pointer frenzy (they ended the night 12-29 from 3-point land) and soon had a 20 point lead. I cut it to 10 at the end, but lost 90-80.

How the heck did I give up 60 points in a single half?!

Anyone else think there may be some of that dreaded "catch-up" AI?

btw, I'm playing on Starter level, cause I stink :).

[spleen1015]

I have seen a few games where my guys play well in teh first half and suck in the second. Wagner beat me with a 3 at the buzzer to win by 1.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't think there is any catchup AI. I've had plenty of blow outs in both directions. I think it is critical to rest starters at the right times and have a group with high cohesion (or unity) in at the end of the game and when they are not tired. I've noticed guys usually start missing many more shots once their energy level drops below 80, so any shooters get subbed out once they hit that mark. I'll let my stars (who aren't just shooters) or defensive players drop down to 75 but then I sub them out. Depth is very important and I've done well when I can rotate 8 or 9 guys and keep everyone fresh, unless I'm just playing a better team where their guys just kill me.

I also think wise use of timeouts when teams start a run (including a catchup run) is critical.

[CraigSca]

I'll have to keep this in mind. Granted, I hardly recognize my own players because it was my first game with them.

It's funny - sometimes I have to put the game aside and think (e.g. call a timeout). So many times another team gets on a run and you immediately want to start blazing down the court to get the points back. THAT'S the time where you call time out, put down the controller and then think about you want to do.

Joystick games get a bad wrap for a lot of things, but this is one instance where a text sim will never be able to equal a game like Hoops 2K7. The graphics, the sound, the replays, the tension, etc.

[Radii]

Are people having any problems with the game freezing? Out of about 13 games I've played now, 3 of them have frozen up, 2 of them right at the final buzzer.

[Radii]

It's funny - sometimes I have to put the game aside and think (e.g. call a timeout). So many times another team gets on a run and you immediately want to start blazing down the court to get the points back. THAT'S the time where you call time out, put down the controller and then think about you want to do.


I defnitely have problems with that. I've had 8-10 point leads vanish and right around the time it gets tied up I start rushing shots or forcing plays that were working earlier in the game when I was winning and give up 10 fast break points in 2 minutes and give away the game.

I don't do my own substitutions, but I've gotten to know my players well enough now that I'm probably going to start.


I have 5 good 3 point shooters, and no good post players, so I end up taking a lot of 3 pointers, and often I take the first open 3 I get, so I end up with a lot of games in the 80s or 90s. I always have 1, and often have 2, very good 3 point shooters on the court at a time. Most of my shots are either 3 pointers or inside shots, I have very little going on outside the paint before the 3 point line. I think for the most part that fits my team fairly well though... work it around but if you can't break down the defense for a layup early on, start looking for the inside-out game or a screen to get an open 3. Quite a few times though it feels like I'm playing run and gun video game basketball. I can't wait to recruit a couple of competant big men and see if I can get my preferred style of play going(pound it inside, use the 3 pointer as the 2nd or 3rd option, not the first).

[Eaglesfan27]

Are people having any problems with the game freezing? Out of about 13 games I've played now, 3 of them have frozen up, 2 of them right at the final buzzer.


I had one freeze in a menu when it was switching songs. Other than that, I've had zero freezes with the game despite playing a few times for about 6 hours continuously.

[Eaglesfan27]

It's funny - sometimes I have to put the game aside and think (e.g. call a timeout). So many times another team gets on a run and you immediately want to start blazing down the court to get the points back. THAT'S the time where you call time out, put down the controller and then think about you want to do.




Exactly. If I start rushing and trying to get the points back quickly, I usually fall behind big as momentum just builds and builds in favor of the opposition. If I call a timeout, slow things down, work it around more, get it into my big man, I can usually stop the run and work my way back into the game.

[jbmagic]

I hope you guys selected and know how to run your plays that you pick.

If you run the same offense everything you go down court the Ai will adjust.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I plan to get a few games in this weekend. I'm mad because a recruit was waffling between me and Tulane, and I sent the house to try to get him. If I remember correctly, he's a 3-star power forward, and he's the inside presence that my UNO team is missing. Tulane and I were #1 and #2 on his list, flip-flopping back and forth for two weeks. I was using up so many recruiting points to sway him in my direction. Two days before the early signing period ended, he chose Tulane. :(

On the bright side, I've already got a high school junior in my clutches, and I'm going to keep on him until next season and try to get him to sign early. :)

[GoldenEagle]

Anyone up for some Live games tonight and this weekend? I am not very good, but I will give it my best shot.

[Radii]

Oh, Pumpy's post reminds me of something else I meant to ask. In previous versions of the game, even with the smallest schools, I would *never* look at recruits that were 2 stars or below. Even the worst team could fill out with 3* players and fairly quickly build up to a good enough program to dominate your own conference. Is that still the case with recruiting, or are you guys finding yourselves going after the 2* guys on occasion with the small schools we're all starting with? I have a full target list in my first season with Campbell, and its only early January but I have my doubts that I will be able to land a single player I'm interested in, some guys ranked in the 200s-300s overall, and many 3* players that are unranked. I'm wondering if this has been overhauled and I'm aiming too high?

[Eaglesfan27]

With Nicholl's state I went for 1 Star guys the first year and actually missed out on the best of the 1 star guys that I wanted. In my second year, I recruited two decent looking 2 star players who I had been working on since my junior year. So far, 3 star players are showing very little interest in my Nicholl's state school despite bumping up my charisma rating to a B- now. I do have one 3 star PG that I've been working a bit since he was a sophomore and I'm going to push hard for him this season (his senior year,) but I wouldn't be shocked if he dumps me for a bigger school.

Recruiting seems much harder to me and more realistic. I've also seen recruits interest in my team really drop quite a bit if my team goes into a losing streak and they want a winning program or something to that effect.

[Eaglesfan27]

Anyone up for some Live games tonight and this weekend? I am not very good, but I will give it my best shot.


I'd be up for a game or two tomorrow before or after the playoff games. Tonight, I'm sure about my schedule yet. If plans fall through, I'd be up for a game then too.

[Radii]

Hmm, another freeze before I even got to a game this time... is there any info on what causes the freezes? Is it possible I have a bad game/machine? Do you guys have your machines sitting vertically or horizontally? This is getting frustrating!

[Eaglesfan27]

Hmm, another freeze before I even got to a game this time... is there any info on what causes the freezes? Is it possible I have a bad game/machine? Do you guys have your machines sitting vertically or horizontally? This is getting frustrating!


Ventilation is the biggest issue from what I've heard. Make sure it is well ventilated. I think that matters more than vertical/horizontal. Mine is horizontal FWIW, and I have the intercooler on the back of my 360.

[Radii]

ah good, now it is freezing every time I try to load my legacy off the hard drive. I don't have an entertainment center, just had it on the floor. I put a box underneath it so it wouldn't be on the carpet after a freeze on the schedule screen, and that's when it started the loading crash/freeze. I guess I won't be playing any tonight at least.

I read some old posts about people suspending the power brick in the air so it has as much cooling/ventliation as possible and also about problems with large numbers of DVD ROMs and having to send the machine in. I haven't even had it a week yet, guess I better make sure I get it registered!

[CraigSca]

FWIW, they extended the warranty to a full year now.

Do you have the Intercooler? I got it when I bought the machine. I have it in an entertainment center that used to have a door you could close in front of the 360 (I had two failures in this scenario, when the kids forgot to open the door to get airflow). I moved the 360 to the open area of the entertainment center and haven't had a problem, even when my kids play for hours and hours at a time.

[Radii]

FWIW, they extended the warranty to a full year now.

Do you have the Intercooler?

Looks like I'll be buying a cheap game and an intercooler tomorrow so I have a second game to test with and hopefully better ventilation. There's also a visible scratch on my College Hoops 2K7 disc, I swear I'm not stupid enough to move the machine with the game in it and the machine running on purpose... but maybe I did something by accident and scratched it. UGH. Ah well thanks for the suggestions :)

[Eaglesfan27]

I just had my best upset yet. I beat Mercer in the South Padre Island Invitational Tournament game thanks to a 3 with 30 seconds left to make it a 78-75 game. Then, my new freshman 2 star SF partially blocked their 3 point attempt. I made my free throws down the stretch and they missed hurried 3's so that I finally won 84-75. :)


I have to make something happen this year as my three best scorers are all seniors. I'm also pursuing 3 star players for the first time and this win seems to have given a healthy bump to my pursuit for a really good looking 3 star SG. However, he is from College Station, TX and Baylor is not too far behind me on his list of interested colleges :(

[kingnebwsu]

Hmm, another freeze before I even got to a game this time... is there any info on what causes the freezes? Is it possible I have a bad game/machine? Do you guys have your machines sitting vertically or horizontally? This is getting frustrating!

I just started working at a game store and http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802586
that's what everyone there recommends. I personally have...

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802205

BUT everyone says not to do this if you have one of the newer 360's with two prongs in the power supply brick thing (if that makes any sense).

Of course, the ventilation stuff is important too. I was getting freezes every other day before I bought the intercooler, and since then I've only had like 1-2 freezes in 6 months. Good luck.

[Radii]

The reviews of the Nyko intercooler on amazon are pretty scary, a number of people talking about it melting onto their xbox and ruining it...

[kcchief19]

So, I decided to take the plunge after reading the gushing reviews. I never thought I would say this, but for me it's almost TOO deep for a console game. It will take me a while to get a handle on recruiting.

After messing around for about an hour playing and one aborted dynasty start to see how it works, I decide to plunge into it for real with a closed legacy. I choose to start at Columbia in the Ivy League.

First test: Duke in Kansas City for the Coaches Classic. Very nice, even if the tournament name isn't real. LOVE playing in municipal auditorium. I fiddled a bit with some of the settings -- pump up fouls mostly, since I didn't see the AI called for many in experiments. I'm playing on the third difficulty level, where last night I was getting tooled in my practices.

We came out and Duke takes a quick early lead. Suddenly, however, I start to figure things out. I catch up and even take a brief lead. Very exciting.

Then Duke starts doing two things: missing threes and fouling me. Duke finsiehd 5 of 25 from 3 and sent me to the foul line 50 times in the game. I hit my free throws, played a pressure defense and found myself trading shots back and forth. We go to the half tied at 49.

Second half I jump out to a small lead, then Duke recovers and pulls up by eight. On an inbounds play, I manuever my best three-point shooter to receive the inbounds pass and shoot off the catch -- he gets the shooter's bounce off the rim, draws a foul and completes the four-point play. I steal the inbounds pass, hit a lay up, fouled, down by just one.

Duke then goes on another run and pulls up by 10. I slowly whittle it down. One minute to play and I'm down by one with the ball. I unfortunately have auto setting to intentionally foul, and so my team decides to start fouling. Ugh. Duke ends up hitting a three to take a four point lead with 35 seconds left.

I try not to panic and come down to set up my offense. I took a bit more time than I wanted, but eventually find a guy inside for a layup to cut it to two. I then steal the inbounds pass and one of my big guys blows a layup. I'm now trying to foul frantically, but Duke comes down and scores with .4 to play. Final: Duke 98, Columbia 94.

Obviously I need to play with the settings some more because I don't think I should be playing Duke that close out of the box, but man that was a fun game -- I've never seen an AI team do "the little things" to win. Duke made a lot of mistakes, but I actually felt like it was a real game.

[kcchief19]

With Nicholl's state I went for 1 Star guys the first year and actually missed out on the best of the 1 star guys that I wanted. In my second year, I recruited two decent looking 2 star players who I had been working on since my junior year. So far, 3 star players are showing very little interest in my Nicholl's state school despite bumping up my charisma rating to a B- now. I do have one 3 star PG that I've been working a bit since he was a sophomore and I'm going to push hard for him this season (his senior year,) but I wouldn't be shocked if he dumps me for a bigger school.

Recruiting seems much harder to me and more realistic. I've also seen recruits interest in my team really drop quite a bit if my team goes into a losing streak and they want a winning program or something to that effect.
Amidst all of the stuff you seen for recruiting, I had completely missed the fact that you recruit underclassmen, not just seniors and jucos.

To borrow a line from SkyDog, seeing that makes my d*** hard.

[kcchief19]

OK, now this seems even more cool. In my second game, I struggled against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. I won, but it wasn't pretty and was a hard-fought win. My team looked a lot slower in this game, but I didn't change any settings.

[GoldenEagle]

Is anyone else having problem against a 2-3 zone? I move the ball around pretty well, but can not seem to get a shot. I will kick in to my big man and they will collapse with three people on him. The only thing that can get me open looks is dribble penetration.

[Eaglesfan27]

Is anyone else having problem against a 2-3 zone? I move the ball around pretty well, but can not seem to get a shot. I will kick in to my big man and they will collapse with three people on him. The only thing that can get me open looks is dribble penetration.


It depends upon the team I'm playing against. If the team is fast and tall on the perimeter, I have a lot of problems against it. Against weaker teams, I can burn it with my outside shooters.

[Radii]

Well I got through another game, I traded in my copy of College Hoops for a new one, put the brick and the Xbox on a box (instead of on the carpet), and I did buy an Intercooler but I'm waiting to see if I have legitimate overheating issues before I use it. I also bought a second game to play with should I have any more problems.


The first game I played was against a team with similar talent, but they ran the full court press the entire game... I couldn;t handle it at all, 25 turnovers and I lost by 30. Lots of stupid passes that were my fault, and lots of errant passes in general, a ton of them by my best scorer, who I had to take off the floor just to get the ball down the court, but then a number of my offensive options were limited. It was a frustrating game to lose, but damn that type of stuff makes me appreciate the game a lot.

[Eaglesfan27]

I had horrible times with the full court press at first. I eventually learned to pass laterally as well as vertically, and I've done much better against teams that run it now (although a few turnovers are inevitable.)


I just won my first tournament as I beat Coppin State in the final of the South Padre Island Invitational! I got a really good 2 star SF last year and he is dominating against lesser competition so far. He is 6'7 204 with good hops, good speed, and a better than expected outside shot. So far, I'm averaging almost 15 points, 6 boards, and a block a game with him despite him coming off the bench (for chemistry reasons.) I'm hoping he might win the Southland's Freshman of the Year Award if I can keep him going.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

It's really cool how you have to recruit guys to fill different roles. The other 2 star player I recruited is a SG who is horrible offensively but good defensively (great for my conference level of play) and he is making a huge difference in our defensive field goal percentage when he is on the floor.

[kingnebwsu]

BTW, on the 360 (for me at least), don't try and intercept the inbound pass. There was no slider I could adjust for this and I could easily get 20+ steals a game when trying to steal the inbounds. All I had to do was wait by the PG, get in front of his pass, and pick it off. I made a house rule to not do this anymore (which I hate) and the turnovers/steals are much better now.

[Izulde]

What types of recruiting can you do with underclassmen and what interest level should underclassmen be at with each level as you try and recruit them?

(No I haven't sent in my 360 yet. Need to do that this week and probably have it sent to my La Crosse address)

[CraigSca]

Continuing my UMES dynasty...

I can tell I'm getting better at the game. After my initial loss to Wagner, where I somehow gave up 60+ points in the second half (posted earlier in this thread), we played at Navy and lost a hard-fought game, 75-72. We were down by 3 with about 15 seconds left and I drove inside for a basket and a foul. My team, however, STINKS from the freethrow line (we're about 54% as a team for the year, with only one consistently good shooter), so we missed the FT for the 3-point play, had to intentionally foul and ended up losing by 3. I was thoroughly miffed after that game.

Next game was at Virginia. Yikes. Man, you can really see the talent level delta between teams. Somehow, we kept it close the majority of the time and actually had a chance to take a 1-point lead early in the 2nd half. However, eventually the mismatches took their toll, and we lost, 93-72.

Finally, we headed to Stony Brook with an 0-3 record and things really started to click. We took an early 10 point lead and never let up getting our first victory, 65-52. It was nice to see the difference in scoring this game as scoring was much lower than our previous games. I'm finally starting to get to know my best players and who to go to in the clutch. Recruiting still escapes me - we have about 12 targets and only a chance to get one or two of them (with 6 scholarships available). Sometimes I just don't have the patience for recruiting, I want to play the game :).

[Eaglesfan27]

What types of recruiting can you do with underclassmen and what interest level should underclassmen be at with each level as you try and recruit them?

(No I haven't sent in my 360 yet. Need to do that this week and probably have it sent to my La Crosse address)


It's limited (like real life) but you can start calling guys in their sophomore year (but a limited number of times), you can also request game tape on some guys in their sophomore year. In their Junior year, you can call much more frequently. You can email them. You still can't visit until they are a senior, I think. I've worked guys up from 20% their sophomore year to 40% their junior year to 70% at the start of their senior year. Not sure if I will get him, but I'm trying.

[jbmagic]

what offensive plays did you guys pick for your team?

[Eaglesfan27]

I just had my most thrilling win by a long shot. I have a team of 4 seniors and while I know they aren't good enough to beat the big boys, I figured they could be good enough to win 15-20 games if I schedule easy enough OOC schedule. Well, I didn't want too many creampuffs so while I scheduled NJIT, I also scheduled Loyola Marymount which is about 10 points ahead of me in overall talent. They jumped out to a 12-0 lead, and I was ready to quick sim to the end (which I do if I'm getting blown out at halftime unless I want to work on a specific player) but then I called a timeout and got my own run going. Before I knew it, we were tied 14-14. It was a back and forth game all game long. I realized that I had to use my superior speed if I would have any chance so I ran a lot. Coming down to the wire I was up 82-81 with 50 seconds left, but I made a really stupid throw and they picked it off and went up 83-82 with 42 seconds left.

So, I worked it down to about 8 seconds and I threw it into my big PF Barker who has a nice size advantage but he missed the jump hook and didn't draw the foul. They got the defensive board. We immediately fouled. They missed the FT. I called timeout, advanced it to midcourt. My SF named Ryan Bathie who I always complain can only hit 3's, caught the inbound pass, faked out his man drew the foul and missed the shot. He then drilled both FT's. They called timeout, I got my best defenders out there and we made them miss a wild shot to win it 84-83 :)

Bathie had 26 points. My 2 star SF who had been dominating on sheer size and speed was shut down for the most part this game though as he only had 9 points and 1 board. But, my 4 seniors all came through. That win advances us to 6-1 and a serious chance at having at least 8 or 9 wins before our conference schedule starts. For comparision, I hadn't adjusted the last two out of conference schedules and I usually went into conference play with only 3 wins or so.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I was having a tough game against Mississippi State when I got an "unreadable disc" error. Bah. I haven't seen one of those in a while now. Oh, well, I'll just have to try it again later this week.

[spleen1015]

This game frustrates the hell out of me. Why do my players have to miss layups in the 2nd half of a close game? There's nothing like working the defense so that you get an easy shot and your guy blows it. This happened to me 4 straight trips down the floor against Norfolk St. and cost me the game.

I don't know if this is realisitic. I can't imagine this happening in real life.

[CleBrownsfan]

This game frustrates the hell out of me. Why do my players have to miss layups in the 2nd half of a close game? There's nothing like working the defense so that you get an easy shot and your guy blows it. This happened to me 4 straight trips down the floor against Norfolk St. and cost me the game.

I don't know if this is realisitic. I can't imagine this happening in real life.

This is the reason why I've stayed away from this years CH game. I've heard that missing layups happen waaay to often :(

[Radii]

After reading EF27's posts talking about defense, I realized that I had basically set my starting lineup entirely based on offensive ratings, and Campbell is terrible, 3-12 now, so maybe that's the problem! So I go look at all my players ratings and even taking defense and ball handling into account I think I have my best starting 5 out on the floor.

I'm working on cutting down the turnovers and limiting fast break points for my opponents off of missed shots, and am making a concerted effort to slow the pace of the game down(which has a negative impact on turnovers... if I take the first open 3 I get, then I spend less time passing the ball around). My post players are terrible passers and I have to be really careful about passing the ball out of the post. Many times I feed the post from the wing, but try to pass it back out to the top of the key and have the pass intercepted and give up a layup.

I'll probably spend a few games working on these things, play out half of my conference schedule, and just recruit the rest of the way and start bringing my own players in. I don't know how much patience I'll have to keep playing out every game when the goal is to see if I can go on a late run and win 10 games ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

This is the reason why I've stayed away from this years CH game. I've heard that missing layups happen waaay to often :(



I find that it doesn't happen much to me at all, as long as I pay attention to which hand the guy is dribbling with and approach at a realistic angle. The small details are very important. But, yes, if I mess up and approach from the left side of the hoop when my guy has the ball in his right hand, it often leads to an awkward layup that is more likely to miss.

[spleen1015]

But with the shot stick, you can determine which hand he shoots with.

Maybe what you are saying is ture, but I don't know if that is what I am seeing. :)

Of course, I'll give it another go tonight if I can tear myself away from Civ.

[Eaglesfan27]

But with the shot stick, you can determine which hand he shoots with.

Maybe what you are saying is ture, but I don't know if that is what I am seeing. :)

Of course, I'll give it another go tonight if I can tear myself away from Civ.


I never use the shot stick for layups, and my shooting percentage is much higher since I started doing that as long as I approach from a good angle. I use the shot stick primarily for dunks and in the post up game.

[spleen1015]

I never use the shot stick for layups, and my shooting percentage is much higher since I started doing that as long as I approach from a good angle. I use the shot stick primarily for dunks and in the post up game.

This is something that crossed my mind yesterday. I will give this a shot and see if there is any difference.

[CraigSca]

I've also upped the layup slider to 65. It's the only one I've messed with that has to do anything with changing FG%.

[kingnebwsu]

The big thing on missing layups is defensive presence/pressure/block potential. I've noticed that even if a guy is going for a fast break, I can *sometimes* force him to miss a layup if I have a good leaper and can get a hand in his face as he's shooting.

Of course, there are layup sliders that you could tweak if you like.

I'm up to 14-3 (10 wins in a row) as Wright State right now, and I think I may have to up the difficulty. I'm on all-conference (middle of 5 difficulties) and I shouldn't be winning this much. Though several of my recent games have been close, I think I still may have to up the difficulty.

[sooner333]

I've been using the same sliders as Eagles has (All-Conf.) and I am getting too high of scores with 20 minutes...it's not really due to the tempo, although the computer seems to put up shots somewhat quickly. The FG%'s are in the mid to high 50's instead of 45-50% or so. Maybe it's because I'm playing an open dynasty with Oklahoma which has better players than your guy's legacy mode.

Anyway, it's fun game, I'm doing even worse than OU is really doing this year...but losing games in the 90's instead of the 60's. I guess I just need to do some slider adjustments and I really think it will play just like college basketball does. I feel that 2k Sports has taken basketball to a new level.