NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

[eNPHAN]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Hey everyone is Sam ! Is that time of the year again, which means labbing and figuring out the new 2K together so we can all become better players. Throughout the course of the year I will add what I feel are important game play mechanics / strategy breakdowns in this thread. Also feel free to ask any questions as I am sure other expert players on OS will have answers to. I will also try to answer what I can.

OS got me to where I am at with 2k and the 2K League, people on here ask the best and smartest questions. I look forward on learning from this thread and also having the lot of us help each other to "get good" at 2K20.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iayAAx8OP9I" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

- This one is my annual on ball defensive mechanics breakdown, hope this helps !:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LBy_SuZtqv4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

- This one is one of my favourites. I figured out a way so that players with 70+ handling can speed boost out of behind the back moves. Is not easy to do since is what I call a Double Stick dribble move, but move is it effective. I can make Klay Thompson speed boost a little doing this and also my Pure Sharp my player build can pull this off at just 72 handling... Give it a try, is a very powerful dribble move.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fIX1SroVkV8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

- I feel this year is one of the best 2K's ever to attack with the dribble. It feels the stop and go mechanic is very powerful, If a user knows when to do what moves he can easily get though all 3 levels of the defense with just the dribble alone. To top it all off there are now also very smooth dribbles to "seal" off the defender to finish. I highly recommend testing and getting familiar with the moves I show in the breakdown above.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qATNIcdxNB0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

- This one is interesting, I realized if you use speed boost cross overs to attack the hedge defender sideways that's very little chance the hedge defender can use his lateral quickness to catch up. Now of course dribbling full speed SIDEWAYS is a bad idea b/c is hard to set yourself up to drive or shoot after. However, I figured out if you add in a hop gather jump shot after the sideways speed boost, you actually reset your feet and align yourself with the basket incredibly smooth with little speed (if any) lost. Is extremely effective, I suggest you give it a try yourself. I consider doing this as one of the easiest ways to score in 2K20 so far.

Crazy seeing you here Sam. Makes total sense tho. Do these guys know?

[Speedy]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I picked up the game last week and I DEEPLY appreciate the customization and options in this game.

That said...

Maybe I'm turning into an old man but the stick combos are way too advanced for me. My days of combo button mashing ended long ago. It frustrates me to no end missing simple layups or my big guy just doesn't dunk it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[vetmin]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I picked up the game last week and I DEEPLY appreciate the customization and options in this game.

That said...

Maybe I'm turning into an old man but the stick combos are way too advanced for me. My days of combo button mashing ended long ago. It frustrates me to no end missing simple layups or my big guy just doesn't dunk it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

Not sure what sliders you use, but don’t feel discouraged; you can definitely have a fulfilling experience without all the right stick dribble jazz (at least offline). I literally only use the right stick for defense. One lifesaver is that double-tapping the shoot button does so many moves, like Eurostep, spin moves, turnaround jumper, etc.

[mwjr]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Couple of questions:
1. Basic question: what does “floppy” mean in the play selection menu?
2. What is player DNA?

[jk31]

6097074c76bdefa791698d768e2b3c49

1. Floppy is a type of play that, when working, results in an open shot.
Usually you have both of your wings under the basket receiving screens from the bigs to come out on the wing position.


2. You can save/load players in the roster editor or in a MyLeague. Player DNA is what 2k calls all the information about a player, so name, body, attributes, tendencies and so on.

[HickeyStickyMickey]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Anyone here know good sim points of emphasis in MyLeague? For some reason even when I have a good team they always barely finish above .500 and get swept in the first round

[JoFri]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Anyone here know good sim points of emphasis in MyLeague? For some reason even when I have a good team they always barely finish above .500 and get swept in the first round

It really depends who u have in yor team and who the opponent is


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mwjr]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I haven’t owned an NBA game since NBA 2K8, so pardon me if these are dumb, simple questions regarding MyLeague...

1. Regarding player stamina, is there a way to quickly tell a player’s stamina level without passing him the ball and checking his energy circle or whatever it’s called?
2. How do Inchange the players in specific substitution rotations (e.g., bench, tall,three pointers, etc.)?
3. In the main men is the feature player lock. What exactly is that?

[mexxelektrik]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I can help you out, at least with question 1:
If one of your players is tired (so much, that it affects his playing abilities) you will see a gatorade sign next to his name all the time. Other than that, you can check the stamina by pressing 'down' on your dpad, which opens the quick menu for substitutions. Here, players stamina is indicated by colors (from none/green over yellow to orange/red).

[jk31]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I can help you out, at least with question 1:
If one of your players is tired (so much, that it affects his playing abilities) you will see a gatorade sign next to his name all the time. Other than that, you can check the stamina by pressing 'down' on your dpad, which opens the quick menu for substitutions. Here, players stamina is indicated by colors (from none/green over yellow to orange/red).

I miss the old days where you could see the stamina level in the sub menu as a number.

[mb625]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I haven’t owned an NBA game since NBA 2K8, so pardon me if these are dumb, simple questions regarding MyLeague...

1. Regarding player stamina, is there a way to quickly tell a player’s stamina level without passing him the ball and checking his energy circle or whatever it’s called?
   
2. How do Inchange the players in specific substitution rotations (e.g., bench, tall,three pointers, etc.)?
   
3. In the main men is the feature player lock. What exactly is that?
   

2. It should be under "On the Fly Substitution" or something like that in the coaching menu. You'll be able to customize lineups there

3. Player lock means you're controlling a specific player or position, so, say you're the Rockets and choose to lock to James Harden, you'd play only as Harden and the rest of the team would be AI.


Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[mwjr]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Me again.

My usual disclaimer: I bought this when the Legend Edition went on sale on PSN. This is my first NBA game since NBA 2K8, so I apologize for my ignorance...

I’ve been letting the CPU auto-sub for me in MyLeague, but I wasn’t really getting the results that I wanted. So I’ve started to look at substitutions and rotations and how they work. Holy cow. My brain is fried. A few questions...

1. In Minutes Per Position, what do the color bars indicate? Am I trying to get them green? What do the yellow and red bars mean?
2. Also, what is meant by “Secondary” and why does that change when I’m changing the minutes?
3. I’ve changed it and saved my file, but when I go back in the minutes have changed. Any thoughts on what on I might be doing wrong?
4. What is a rotation timeline? Does changing that affect the Minutes Per Position? What are the differences in the various modes in the Rotation Timeline?
5. Does the length of my quarters impact these substitution methods and settings?
6. If I set these items, can I still do On the Fly subs during the game?

[JoFri]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Me again.

My usual disclaimer: I bought this when the Legend Edition went on sale on PSN. This is my first NBA game since NBA 2K8, so I apologize for my ignorance...

I’ve been letting the CPU auto-sub for me in MyLeague, but I wasn’t really getting the results that I wanted. So I’ve started to look at substitutions and rotations and how they work. Holy cow. My brain is fried. A few questions...

1. In Minutes Per Position, what do the color bars indicate? Am I trying to get them green? What do the yellow and red bars mean?
2. Also, what is meant by “Secondary” and why does that change when I’m changing the minutes?
3. I’ve changed it and saved my file, but when I go back in the minutes have changed. Any thoughts on what on I might be doing wrong?
4. What is a rotation timeline? Does changing that affect the Minutes Per Position? What are the differences in the various modes in the Rotation Timeline?
5. Does the length of my quarters impact these substitution methods and settings?
6. If I set these items, can I still do On the Fly subs during the game?

Rotation Timeline is one of the tools that I value most in 2K as CPU substitution often does not represent truely what the NBA teams do irl. Rotation Timeline is also one of the reasons the CPU is calling Time-out during the game. You can still do on the fly subs during the game with the Rotation Timeline set. To make use of the rotation timeline that you set for your team (user control), you need to make sure ‘Rotation’ (not ‘Fatigue’) is selected under the ‘Substitution’ in the Coach Settings menu.

Say, you are playing 12 min per quarter. In the Rotation Timeline, you set 6 min for Giannis (at PF position) in the first quarter, leave a gap, and resume play time at 9 min-mark (this time, select C position). You replace the gap by assigning play time to M. Williams (at PF position). So when you play with the Bucks or vs the Bucks, the CPU will manage the substitution for you at the 6 min-mark (sub Giannis out, Williams in) and 9 min-mark (Giannis in as Center).

3 things to note: (1) The substitution pattern will mess up a little when it is time for the substitution and at the same time one of the players (from the substitution team) is shooting free throws. (2) If you are playing less than 12 min per quarter, the Rotation Timeline minutes will not be that accurate. Giannis may not come back in exactly at the 9 min-mark. 3) The substitution will not happen even when your player is in foul trouble. If Giannis gets 2 fouls by the 3 min-mark, he stays in the game until the 6 min-mark.

Another feature is that you can change the play time by player. Say, you have set M. Williams to play from 6 min to 9 min-mark in a game vs Heat. This is saved under the Global gameplan. When vs the Lakers, you want more bigs instead of a stretch 4 to play when Giannis is out. Instead of un-assigning the minutes from Williams and assign minutes to Lopez, you can just swap Williams with Lopez. Or if you want to replace Bledsoe with Hill at PG position, just swap them.

The different color bar indicates the different positions. In previous 2K, they are all white bars. This makes the visual easier I guess with the different color codes.

Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mwjr]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

Rotation Timeline is one of the tools that I value most in 2K as CPU substitution often does not represent truely what the NBA teams do irl. Rotation Timeline is also one of the reasons the CPU is calling Time-out during the game. You can still do on the fly subs during the game with the Rotation Timeline set. To make use of the rotation timeline that you set for your team (user control), you need to make sure ‘Rotation’ (not ‘Fatigue’) is selected under the ‘Substitution’ in the Coach Settings menu.

Say, you are playing 12 min per quarter. In the Rotation Timeline, you set 6 min for Giannis (at PF position) in the first quarter, leave a gap, and resume play time at 9 min-mark (this time, select C position). You replace the gap by assigning play time to M. Williams (at PF position). So when you play with the Bucks or vs the Bucks, the CPU will manage the substitution for you at the 6 min-mark (sub Giannis out, Williams in) and 9 min-mark (Giannis in as Center).

3 things to note: (1) The substitution pattern will mess up a little when it is time for the substitution and at the same time one of the players (from the substitution team) is shooting free throws. (2) If you are playing less than 12 min per quarter, the Rotation Timeline minutes will not be that accurate. Giannis may not come back in exactly at the 9 min-mark. 3) The substitution will not happen even when your player is in foul trouble. If Giannis gets 2 fouls by the 3 min-mark, he stays in the game until the 6 min-mark.

Another feature is that you can change the play time by player. Say, you have set M. Williams to play from 6 min to 9 min-mark in a game vs Heat. This is saved under the Global gameplan. When vs the Lakers, you want more bigs instead of a stretch 4 to play when Giannis is out. Instead of un-assigning the minutes from Williams and assign minutes to Lopez, you can just swap Williams with Lopez. Or if you want to replace Bledsoe with Hill at PG position, just swap them.

The different color bar indicates the different positions. In previous 2K, they are all white bars. This makes the visual easier I guess with the different color codes.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks so much. This is quite helpful.

[mwjr]

Re: NBA 2K20 Teach Me How to Thread: Tips, Mechanics, Defense, + Plays

I absolutely stink at the exercises in the gym in My Neighborhood. Is there any benefit to learning how to successfully complete the exercises?