NBA 2K14: Can Defense Win You A Championship?

[Radja]

i use the sacramento kings in my franchise and i do believe you have to be able to both play defense and have good chemistry to win. the other area is your coaches have to be good teachers with good ratings in both offense and defense.

this game is the first to truly remind me of college hoops. i love this game for that reason. after the rudy gay trade, that guy could not run a single play i called for him right. he got caught in screens, ended up in the wrong place and just was out of sync. after several games he started running the plays right and started scoring well.

[tril]

i use the sacramento kings in my franchise and i do believe you have to be able to both play defense and have good chemistry to win. the other area is your coaches have to be good teachers with good ratings in both offense and defense.

this game is the first to truly remind me of college hoops. i love this game for that reason. after the rudy gay trade, that guy could not run a single play i called for him right. he got caught in screens, ended up in the wrong place and just was out of sync. after several games he started running the plays right and started scoring well.

thast cause it is college hoops with NBA skin,,, I feel the same way about NBA 2k14.

[tril]

good experiment. Coaching and chemistry do need to be factored in this experiment. you should use the same roster with the Clippers and/or Doc Rivers as the coach. I bet that team would make it to the Western conference finals.

[tez326]

I've played 25 of 50+ games using the Pistons. Made a couple trades, Stuckey and a 1st rounder for Beal. Then traded for Gallo early and traded him for Granger during the All-Star break.
My team is centered around Defense, with Drummond being the front runner for Defensive POY, Dwight's creeping though... Jennings was up for Most Improved before,a Broken Jaw 6-8 weeks, which has happened to 3 of my players in the first season of MyGM! Sim injury rates are too high imo.
I have the Pistons at 42-17 and it's because we're leading or Top 3 in all defensive categories. Playing on 11min qtrs HOF Sim Sliders. Defense wins in this game and quite frankly is a lot of fun to play this year especially when you have to change certain schemes.

[liodeesxalf]

interesting read. i guess you have to account for the fact that almost all of the players are average on offense, and have to go up against players like chris paul and lebron who dominate both offensively and defensively. one on one bradley will be able to force paul into a couple turnovers, but chris paul could def force bradley into just as many turnovers, if not more, and have it end in a bucket on the other end by either scoring himself or setting some else up. you dont have the same guarantee with bradley.

im also curious about this teams offensive stats, and how players progressed and developed on the offensive end

[liodeesxalf]

i guess we can conclude that the saying defensive wins championships wasn't talking about pure defensive teams with limited offense, but that the aspect of defense is vital for the elite teams capable of contending for a championship.

[luda06]

Re: NBA 2K14: Can Defense Win You A Championship?

Defense doesn't mean much if most possessions don't end with a defensive rebound. That's the most glaring flaw of that entire team. Great on ball defenders and shot blockers with high awareness, yet okay to decent skill on the boards. Shane Battier is a defensive liability at power forward because of this.

[JasonMartin]

Re: NBA 2K14: Can Defense Win You A Championship?

If you actually played all the games I think the outcome would have been very different. Not because you would cheese your way into scoring or beating teams but because I'm not a fan of simulation.

For example the minutes allocation, who knows when the CPU subbed Bradley out. Imagine a close game in the 4th quarter, you want your best players in but the CPU decided to take Bradley out because he had already played 32 minutes. Who guards who during those games etc.

Defense on pick and rolls, perhaps you can do it better when you control your player etc.

[johnlnames]

NBA 2k14's simulation statistics are flawed. I simulated an entire season with the 90-91 bulls multiple times and not once did m.j get near 30 PPG. Also simulated seasons with dikembe mutombo and only one time he averaged at least 2 blocks a game. I've yet to see any players season assist be at 10 or higher. And it seems like the most rebounds allowed a season is 11.5

[RangersCruz]

Re: NBA 2K14: Can Defense Win You A Championship?

Defense doesn't mean much if most possessions don't end with a defensive rebound. That's the most glaring flaw of that entire team. Great on ball defenders and shot blockers with high awareness, yet okay to decent skill on the boards. Shane Battier is a defensive liability at power forward because of this.

Hes good defensively but hes too small

[jayman504]

Re: NBA 2K14: Can Defense Win You A Championship?

Simply put NO...defence isn't a part of 2k14's vocab

[ilvpoon]

You had no point guard on the team. The centers you considered good defensively are not that good defensively. It takes more than blocks and steals to be a good defender. This article is fail.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Interesting experiment, but somewhat flawed. When somebody says "defense wins championships" that doesn't literally mean a team full of defensive specialists will win a championship....it's saying of the elite teams the most defensive minded will probably win a championship. You still have to be able to score.

[Durdur752]

I love the idea but I feel that your conclusion is off. Defense does win championships but that doesn't mean that having a squad of players who can't score is going to win. The Pacers are considered to be the best defensive team but they still have players who can put up points (Paul George, David West, Roy Hibbert, Danny Granger, and even Lance Stephenson). When someone says that defense wins championships, they mean that when it comes down to it (after having leaders, scorers, and great role players), you need to stop the opposing team.

[Jarbeez]

So they match up against the Heat who also have a decently rated defense, but a far superior offense. How about a match up of a team of high rated offensive/low defensive players against this team?

Defense alone will not win you a championship if you are going up against another team that is very good on both sides of the ball.

Good read and experiment, but you need some offense to take advanatage of the good defense.