Badging Thread

[GrimaceZ7]

Re: Badging Thread

What I was referring to is that Defensive Stopper, apparently, only activates when defending a similar position. Guard on guard or wing. But not guard on center, apparently.

Not really sure why. Maybe to not allow people to just go super tall and have bigs on guards, nerfing all their badges?

That would ruin a switch all concept, and make Ben Wallace even more useless.

[harryl]

Re: Badging Thread

That would ruin a switch all concept, and make Ben Wallace even more useless.

Sure, it would diminish things. Look at the badge description. I don't see any other way to interpret it.

[GrimaceZ7]

Re: Badging Thread

This is encouraging to hear. Like I said, I don't have teardroppers incorporated into my game, because I always forget about it. But maybe I get better at that. But my main intent in maybe adding it is because of what you describe: getting animations that trigger it. Especially for Robinson off the P&R, which he should be good at, with strong Acceleration and Driving Layup, as well as the appropriate badging and ability to present a Pick & Pop threat.

Also for when I find him relatively open in the midrange (or even in the corner) and, instead of taking the shot, blowing past the contest and then ending up with a contested driving layup in the paint.




Okay, in terms of the 4 badges I'm waffling over (Limitless, Deep Deadeye, Difficult Shots, Teardropper), you would keep Deep Deadeye and Teardropper, drop Limitless and Difficult Shots?

I still personally need to play around with the Post Hop shots. If I can take them reliably (let's say 50/50), then I may end up with Difficult Shots. I think that Post Hop shots operate off of Post Fade and Off-Dribble Mid ratings and Robinson is elite in the former, and quite solid at the latter (for a big).

And a Post Hop Fadeaway is essentially unblockable. Cannot even be contested, for those who "contest" by jumping only. And very hard to contest even for those who can do hands up, because the defender has to follow the movement a good distance. And I think, when I'm able to establish that shot once or twice, that really opens up openings for Up & Unders and Post Spins.

What is Robinson's tear dropper tendency? If it's not high, I probably wouldn't bother with the badge.

As for post hops, wasn't someone just saying that those are money with Robinson? I can't remember the player, but I was messing around with post hop shots with a guy who had a good off dribble mid, but a relatively poor post fade, and he was knocking those down really well.

Wasn't it a thing to hop into the paint with a big and then lay it up to get the points and the foul? Given that Robinson is an agile tank, I would imagine that you could do that really well with him, which would make difficult shots useful. That, post hops and spin jumpers would make that badge pretty nice.

[AsYouSwish]

Re: Badging Thread

Ok, how about Diamond Willis Reed. He has high ratings in so many things that it's become hard to choose his badges. Technically a C but I'll probably play him at PF next to one of the Cs from the LOCKDOWN set.

2k MT Page
Starts With:

• Catch and Shoot
• Dream Like Up and Under
• Drop Stepper
• Pick and Roller
• Post Spin Technician
• Posterizer
• Hustle Rebounder

Potential badges to add with 6 open slots:

• Rim Protector - Already has a high block rating and can protect the rim more
• Defensive Stopper - Good against stretch 4s and for anyone really
• Putback King - He has a 97 offensive rebound
• Mid Range Deadeye - Solid midrange game, this could help more
• Relentless Finisher - Good for anyone inside
• Brickwall - Great for bigs, especially mobile bigs that work with P&R
• Acrobat - Good for finishing inside
• Lob City Finisher - This looks like a great badge for him although I'm not sure how often I'll use this
• Break Starter - Strong rebounder and may be in this situation a lot with a defense heavy lineup
• Pick and Popper - Probably not quite good enough at midrange to make this work
• Pick Pocket - Has a 78 steal which against bigs is more than enough to get a steal

I'm leaning towards Rim Protector, Defensive Stopper, Brick Wall, and Relentless Finisher. But that still leaves only 2 open slots for 7 possibilities. Any thoughts?

[AsYouSwish]

Re: Badging Thread

What is Robinson's tear dropper tendency? If it's not high, I probably wouldn't bother with the badge.

Despite all my talking up of Tear Dropper I would probably agree with this (and I'm not home to check the tendency). I've seen it activate a lot around the rim but it's on players that would generally try to do a tear dropper so Robinson may not be the best fit. Robinson is probably going to go through people to score.

[Scramz718]

Re: Badging Thread

What is Robinson's tear dropper tendency? If it's not high, I probably wouldn't bother with the badge.

His tendency doesn't affect success rates. He has good enough ratings and hot spots for a floater to option. If some plan on taking floaters than the badge would increase success rate.

[Bi00]

Re: Badging Thread

I'd still rather take Deep Range Deadeye over Teardropper. I feel like you will have more use of the former especially if Robinson ends up as an endgame 4.

[harryl]

Re: Badging Thread

I'd still rather take Deep Range Deadeye over Teardropper. I feel like you will have more use of the former especially if Robinson ends up as an endgame 4.

I am leaning that way. I'm using Robinson in a pretty cheesy way, as a shooting 5 in a 5- or 4-out offense, with my 4 being the P&R screener (Ruby Smoove or Diamond Wallace).

So Robinson will get a lot of opportunities to shoot corner threes. On All-Star difficulty, at least, he's VERY reliable from the corner, with Catch & Shoot and Corner Specialist and being dished to by a Dimer.

But everyone knows the threat and will close out very hard. One way to deal with that is to try to be crafty and drive against the close-out, but many times they're late, only partial close-outs, so I *think* I'd benefit multiple times on basically negating a slight contest.

[harryl]

Re: Badging Thread

Ok, how about Diamond Willis Reed.

I think there's a "meta" consideration with Willis Reed. You completed the Lockdown collection, right? The meta consideration is: how much will you actually play Reed? I think he's a really nice player, for what he is, and love the idea of playing a Willis Reed a lot, but I don't think he'll ever be even on the bench in my top 13-man lineup.

I would play him for at least a handful of games before badging him at all...IF you care about the cost of badges.

My thought is: if I don't like him a lot, I might not put expensive badges on him, like Defensive Stopper, or even Rim Protector, even though those are more than logical. I might just still cheaper badges on him because, when I play him, it's just for fun, anyway.

I'm leaning towards Rim Protector, Defensive Stopper, Brick Wall, and Relentless Finisher. But that still leaves only 2 open slots for 7 possibilities. Any thoughts?

For an ideal build, I agree with your top 4. Then Acrobat.

Then it's tougher...Putback King makes a lot of sense. Could mean 2 or even 3 extra buckets across a game.

But if you really like using him, and especially if you're incorporating him a lot in P&R, then Mid-Range Deadeye and Pick & Popper do make a lot of sense. Frankly, those two as the final two, and not Acrobat or Putback King makes sense in my book, if you use him that way. Especially because he has the right long midrange hot zones for this.

Sorry to not give you a decisive opinion. I think it depends on whether or not you'd run Pick and Fade much at all, with a non-3-point-shooter. I never feel comfortable with the spacing of midrange Pick & Pop, so only really run it when my guy is capable of fading to, and shooting from, outside the arc.

So I'd say either:

1. Acrobat + Putback King
2. Pick & Popper + Mid-Range Deadeye

And just to be extra waffly...Dimer always makes sense.

[AsYouSwish]

Re: Badging Thread

I think there's a "meta" consideration with Willis Reed. You completed the Lockdown collection, right? The meta consideration is: how much will you actually play Reed? I think he's a really nice player, for what he is, and love the idea of playing a Willis Reed a lot, but I don't think he'll ever be even on the bench in my top 13-man lineup.

Thanks for the advice. I think you're sleeping on Willis Reed if you wouldn't play him over the lockdown guys. He would be the best offensive player (not counting Robinson) in the set with extremely good defensive stats. He's athletic and a good rebounder as well. He makes for an extremely good PF (although undersized for a C). He's currently locked into my second unit.

However with the thought of playing him next to either Dikembe or Russell makes me think the shooting set of badges might be the better fit, especially because he already comes with Catch and Shoot.

[GrimaceZ7]

Re: Badging Thread

Despite all my talking up of Tear Dropper I would probably agree with this (and I'm not home to check the tendency). I've seen it activate a lot around the rim but it's on players that would generally try to do a tear dropper so Robinson may not be the best fit. Robinson is probably going to go through people to score.

I use tear droppers a lot when the player is well suited for it. Most people don't expect it. When I used to play Park, I'd rain them down. I don't know if Robinson is the right guy to do it, but I love the idea of doing things with players that others wouldn't think to do.

His tendency doesn't affect success rates. He has good enough ratings and hot spots for a floater to option. If some plan on taking floaters than the badge would increase success rate.

Right, but if his tendency is low, then the animation isn't going to activate very often, and the badge becomes pointless. Having a guy with corner specialist, deep range deadeye and catch and shoot doesn't mean much if his 3 point tendency is so low that he's never in position to shoot them. Same with Rim Protector and a low shot block and shot contest tendency.

Last year and in 2k15, the animations seemed to kick in whenever you did the right stick motions. This year, if they have a low floater tendency, the animation rarely occurs.

[harryl]

Re: Badging Thread

Thanks for the advice. I think you're sleeping on Willis Reed if you wouldn't play him over the lockdown guys. He would be the best offensive player (not counting Robinson) in the set with extremely good defensive stats. He's athletic and a good rebounder as well. He makes for an extremely good PF (although undersized for a C). He's currently locked into my second unit.

However with the thought of playing him next to either Dikembe or Russell makes me think the shooting set of badges might be the better fit, especially because he already comes with Catch and Shoot.

I think that would be really fun..***ssell + Reed. Two legendary historic big men who are currently considered undersized. And within a very old-school 3-2 system, a nice complimentary set of skills. I'm behind a couple weeks in Challenges, but very much look forward to getting him.

In 2K15, his Onyx was one of the first high-end cards I got.

The main bummer with him is that he was obviously nerfed with a lack of any HoF badges.

Last year and in 2k15, the animations seemed to kick in whenever you did the right stick motions. This year, if they have a low floater tendency, the animation rarely occurs.

Are you saying that you use the Right Stick to manually input a Teardropper command, but that the game doesn't give you that animation? Because, as far as I understand it, you can just do Teardroppers on command. But if you do a layup with the Shoot button, then the type of move will be a CPU decision and influenced by Tendencies.

[Scramz718]

Re: Badging Thread

Having a guy with corner specialist, deep range deadeye and catch and shoot doesn't mean much if his 3 point tendency is so low that he's never in position to shoot them. Same with Rim Protector and a low shot block and shot contest tendency.



Last year and in 2k15, the animations seemed to kick in whenever you did the right stick motions. This year, if they have a low floater tendency, the animation rarely occurs.

Your freelance dictates where your players are positioned. 3pt tendency doesn't have anything to do with player positioning. With the exception of dunk tendency offensive tendencies doesn't affect users. They dictates how the AI plays.

I tried M Gasol (floater tendency is 5) out in freestyle and got the floater animations every time. It might be different in actual games so I'll try that out later.
It's difficult to get the right command when driving on a angle. Having your right stick setting on absolute makes it much easier.

[GrimaceZ7]

Re: Badging Thread

Are you saying that you use the Right Stick to manually input a Teardropper command, but that the game doesn't give you that animation? Because, as far as I understand it, you can just do Teardroppers on command. But if you do a layup with the Shoot button, then the type of move will be a CPU decision and influenced by Tendencies.

In past 2ks, the tear dropper animation worked every time you would drive without turbo and then pull the right stick backwards. This year, you usually get that animation when you do that, but not always. And sometimes when you're just going for a regular layup, it will do a floater instead, especially when you're moving mostly parallel to the basket. I assume that's a tendencies thing.

Mind you, I spent a lot of time in the gym in 2k15, 2k16 and 2k17 practicing dribble moves at the arc to find the best time to drive, then I would finish with tear droppers. In Park and Pro-Am, as a smallish PG, layups get blocked all the time. That tear dropper is how I held my own. It's kind of burned into my muscle memory at this point, so I definitely noticed when the animation wasn't happening every time this year.

[GrimaceZ7]

Re: Badging Thread

Your freelance dictates where your players are positioned. 3pt tendency doesn't have anything to do with player positioning. With the exception of dunk tendency offensive tendencies doesn't affect users. They dictates how the AI plays.

That's not true. Especially not when you're driving. Maybe it's a low 3pt tendency or maybe it's a relatively high crash tendency, but some players don't stay put in the corners. Some centers will make their way out to beyond the arc when you don't want them to. There are a bunch of tendencies that dictate how players act on the court. That's why they're in the game.

I tried M Gasol (floater tendency is 5) out in freestyle and got the floater animations every time. It might be different in actual games so I'll try that out later.
It's difficult to get the right command when driving on a angle. Having your right stick setting on absolute makes it much easier.

Of course. I always have mine on absolute, except for when the game resets my controller settings.