2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

[BrianU]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

So from what I've tested, the 2K Smart Play feature takes into account the spacing somewhat but is inconsistent in terms always picking the best action for the spacing.

I noticed the trailer and post big swapping out a lot, but the wings didn't cross as much. It may have to do with the fact that I keep the points of emphasis on get shooters open as a good chunk of the actions most true Hoiberg's offense are midrange plays.

Manually reading the spacing is probably the way to go to flow into something quick. You ideally want that first pass made with 17-18 seconds on the shot clock so you have time to extend into a second action if the first one fails to create an advantage.

Your entire post is fascinating to me, as a guy who doesn't know much about the NBA or its strategy. I use the Bulls exclusively so this post was like a dream! I am still unclear on a few things though..

I wish you explained a little bit more basic knowledge to interpret this post. I feel you need a decent amount of understanding before reading it. One thing in particular, what is a weave?

I love the videos and if ever possible I'd love to watch a full game of yours and see how these plays integrate with each other in a game setting. How often do you call a play? How often do you iso or pick n roll? Those type of things.

That's interesting about smart play. I don't feel I have enough knowledge to know what play to call in what situation. When I call plays manually I tend to use the same couple, I am not very diverse, so I like letting the CPU call plays for me or smart play. Could you look at putting offensive playcalling on Auto and seeing if that is the same thing as using Smart Play frequently? Does Auto offensive playcalling give the same results?

Another big thing I don't get. Is it possible to control who the trailer and the strong side wing player are? The strong side wing in particular. Sometimes it's Butler and sometimes it's Dunleavy.

[Permatron]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

The work you put into breaking all this down is simply amazing. As a Bulls fanatic I commend you good sir.

I am a stickler for authentic/true-to-life team play and I couldn't have imagined a better breakdown. Can't wait to add this all in and getting these plays down in practice.

Any other teams on the way?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk

[KwiLL23]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Fantastic breakdown, I definitely have to implement this and lab the entire playbook.

[jattnanga]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Will you be doing other teams as well?

I am working on the Orlando Magic currently.

I am most interested in getting those teams out that have a different system from last year as I think 2K does a decent job of getting the general flow down for many of the teams, provided the user understand the freelance system that each team is using. Check out Czar's freelance show thread for that information.

Your entire post is fascinating to me, as a guy who doesn't know much about the NBA or its strategy. I use the Bulls exclusively so this post was like a dream! I am still unclear on a few things though..

I wish you explained a little bit more basic knowledge to interpret this post. I feel you need a decent amount of understanding before reading it. One thing in particular, what is a weave?

I love the videos and if ever possible I'd love to watch a full game of yours and see how these plays integrate with each other in a game setting. How often do you call a play? How often do you iso or pick n roll? Those type of things.

That's interesting about smart play. I don't feel I have enough knowledge to know what play to call in what situation. When I call plays manually I tend to use the same couple, I am not very diverse, so I like letting the CPU call plays for me or smart play. Could you look at putting offensive playcalling on Auto and seeing if that is the same thing as using Smart Play frequently? Does Auto offensive playcalling give the same results?

Another big thing I don't get. Is it possible to control who the trailer and the strong side wing player are? The strong side wing in particular. Sometimes it's Butler and sometimes it's Dunleavy.

A weave is an exchange of the basketball between players as they swap positions.

I rarely if ever iso on the perimeter. I will occasionally in the post to create some space to work with...although sometimes I don't mind if they help so I can kick it out and shoot it or attack a closeout.

Pick and roll - in transition if I push it ahead and don't really get anything that I like, I'll go into pick and roll. Or late in the shot clock (7 or 8 seconds), I'll open up the floor and call pick and roll and try to get something that way to hopefully get something decent out of the possession.

Having the playcalling on auto will give you certain segments of the plays being run, but because Hoiberg's offense is not in the game, it requires layering plays and calling multiple plays during the course of the possession to get it to be true to life.

There is no way, unfortunately to control who the trailer is.

You can however, manipulate the strong side wing by calling a play for that player early...and the wings will cross to be setup to run what you have called.

The other option and more realistic way to do this is to take the ball to the side of the floor that the wing for whom you want to call the play is on, and then you can flow smoothly into something that you've called. You don't have to get all the way to the sideline..just across the split line (an imaginary line that runs the length of the floor in the middle splitting it in two).

This offense is pretty complex in terms of execution and shear number of actions and is probably the most complex secondary offense in the league.

For a beginner and someone not worried about running the bulls offense true to life, the Magic offense will be easier to execute so keep an eye for that in the coming days.

[jattnanga]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Fantastic breakdown, I definitely have to implement this and lab the entire playbook.

@KwILL23, Permatron and anyone else interested in putting the entire playbook or even parts of it in as the base of their offense...

There is a learning curve to the reads and choosing a play in a timely manner. There are stretches during the game that you will be able to have a good rhythm and can get into stuff seamlessly.

Then, there will be stretches where your brain almost freezes and you don't know what to do. My advice for getting thru the lulls is either breaking away from the system for a few possessions and running some pick and roll or post ups just get some rhythm back in your offense when you feel like you've run out of ideas.

Another thing you can do is call timeout, or even just pause the game for a second and take a look at the playbook on your computer or phone and get your bearings back.

One last and helpful tip is to be in pitch for a few possessions, then be in thru for a few possessions, then be in quick for a few possessions...this way you can find some rhythm as you learn which plays work best for you and the personnel you have out there at a given time without dealing with brain freezes that can occur when you are choosing from so many different actions. Doing it this way, also opens up counters as the ACE system will adjust and begin to overplay certain players so you can go to backdoors and other direct line actions.

As time goes on, you'll be able to feel which actions are going to be the best get jimmy or derrick or whoever else, a good look or put him in a position to draw help based on matchups and you can make those a priority and flow into those options easier.

Just remember that while spacing, player movement and ball movement are great and make for an enjoyable offense to watch and play in...the goal of an offensive possession is to score. So don't feel the need to be married to the actions and running everything all the way through...be hunting scoring opportunities and advantages at all times (backdoor opportunities, mismatches, somebody getting knocked down on a screen, defensive confusion early in the offense as teams are still matching up etc)

[KwiLL23]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

@KwILL23, Permatron and anyone else interested in putting the entire playbook or even parts of it in as the base of their offense...

There is a learning curve to the reads and choosing a play in a timely manner. There are stretches during the game that you will be able to have a good rhythm and can get into stuff seamlessly.

Then, there will be stretches where your brain almost freezes and you don't know what to do. My advice for getting thru the lulls is either breaking away from the system for a few possessions and running some pick and roll or post ups just get some rhythm back in your offense when you feel like you've run out of ideas.

Another thing you can do is call timeout, or even just pause the game for a second and take a look at the playbook on your computer or phone and get your bearings back.

One last and helpful tip is to be in pitch for a few possessions, then be in thru for a few possessions, then be in quick for a few possessions...this way you can find some rhythm as you learn which plays work best for you and the personnel you have out there at a given time without dealing with brain freezes that can occur when you are choosing from so many different actions. Doing it this way, also opens up counters as the ACE system will adjust and begin to overplay certain players so you can go to backdoors and other direct line actions.

As time goes on, you'll be able to feel which actions are going to be the best get jimmy or derrick or whoever else, a good look or put him in a position to draw help based on matchups and you can make those a priority and flow into those options easier.

Just remember that while spacing, player movement and ball movement are great and make for an enjoyable offense to watch and play in...the goal of an offensive possession is to score. So don't feel the need to be married to the actions and running everything all the way through...be hunting scoring opportunities and advantages at all times (backdoor opportunities, mismatches, somebody getting knocked down on a screen, defensive confusion early in the offense as teams are still matching up etc)

Thank you for this. I can say that it is a lot to digest and I was watching your YouTube videos to study film to say the least. I haven't got a chance to attempt it in the game yet, but I actually took mental notes of how you were chaining plays together and the offense you were running was absolutely beautiful. The offense creates a lot of scoring opportunities when ran correctly or even ran half way. Thanks once again.

[Cycloniac]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Absolutely brilliant stuff here.

Keep it up.

[kevmasood]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

BEAUTIFUL WORK !!!!, wOW, Thank you, so much

[jattnanga]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

A quick update:

The Bulls have been running a double screen straight into horns on the ball reversal through the trailer.

In the Pick and Roll plays, replace 03 Fist 14 Spread (opt) with Quick Horns Swing 52.

The original post has been updated to reflect this.

Here is a quick look at the action being run all the way through.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S_Ra_4oXHnU" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

[cmebfresh]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Watching the bulls game.. and your on point with these plays wow

[cmebfresh]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Plus, are you planning on doing others??

[elementz09]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

For play assign types does it matter which they're in? Rose for example, should it be pnr ball handler first or mid first?

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[jattnanga]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Plus, are you planning on doing others??

No, I don't believe I'll be doing any others for now. I thought about but after watching the first week. Most teams are set-up fairly accurately by 2K.

So now, I'll be diving into the game and playing a lot more.

For play assign types does it matter which they're in? Rose for example, should it be pnr ball handler first or mid first?

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All the play types should be in the same order. This makes it easy to find everything regardless of you have bringing the ball up, whether its jimmy, derrick, aaron, et, kirk or one of the other guys who end up as the quickest outlet pass after a rebound.

So for the Derrick and Jimmy its: MID - HANDOFF - GUARD POST UP - PNR BALL HANDLER

many of the actions have pick and roll embedded into them if you go back to the first page of posts, so they are not truly plays designed to get midrange jumpshots.

Note: The Bulls are also running Quick Swing 3 as an option in the secondary break. This play is very straight forward. The run the initial action and then just flow into ball screens or a post up opportunity for Pau or Taj.

The first post has been updated to reflect the changes.

REPLACE Quick Euro 53 with Quick Swing 3 in 3PT plays.

[jattnanga]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

Here is a breakdown of how often the Bulls are running each particular action:

**These are listed in round percentages to be easier to follow than exact numbers**

QUICK - 35%

• Quick Angle - 70% (mostly for with Jimmy ending up in the pnr)
• Quick - 30% (mostly with Derrick or AB ending up in the pnr)

PITCH - 20%

• Pitch - 45% (mostly for Derrick or AB ending up in the pnr)
• Pitch Weave - 45% (Mostly for Jimmy)
• Pitch Spin - 10% (Mostly for Tony or Doug ending up in the pnr)

SWING - 15%

• Swing Quick 3 - 75% (dependent on spacing)
• Quick Horns Swing 52 - 25% (dependent on spacing)

WEAK - 10%

• Weak - 90% (Jimmy)
• Weak Counter - 10% (Jimmy)

POWER - 10%

• Power 5 Smash - 40% (Pau or Taj)
• Power - 15% (Jimmy)
• Rev DHO Rip - 15% (Pau)
• Slide - 10% (Taj Ending Up in the Post)
• Power STS - 5% (Doug)
• Power Mix Double - 5% (Doug)

Thru - 5%

• Thru Push Fence - 40% (Jimmy to Post)
• Thru Fist - 30% (Derrick to PNR)
• Thru Post - 15% (Derrick to Post)
• Thru Smash - 15% (Derrick getting DHO)

Horns - 5%

• Since there is not enough room in the playbook for too many horns actions, they are not represented in the playbook (unfortunate situation with the limitations we have)
• As the Bulls weed out some sets and find what they like the most, I may eliminate some of them and replace them with accurate horns actions.

OTHER

• The Bulls have attempted to run other stuff but the play has broken due to players not knowing where to be or what their next move so don't feel locked into the listed plays if you know what you're doing.
• The most notable one is 5 OUT. This is available often but they can't seem to get the first wing to cut through. That shouldn't be a problem in the game so if you see both wings on the weak side, go to 5 OUT because in time you'll see the Bulls getting into that action more and more.
• Late in games, the Bulls are going into a wing 1-2 pick and roll with Derrick and Jimmy, you can easily manually do this by pressing LB/L1 then pressing and holding B/O and having Jimmy come over to the wing and set that ball screen. It is probably more realistic to have him Fade to space and hit him or call for Punch 12 for him and then try to isolate the impending mismatch.

All of these notes are regarding possessions when a play is called, which is about 40% percent of all possessions throughout the game (this varies depending on how well the opposition is scoring and having to take the ball out of the basket and run something).

The majority of the game (about 60%) is push hard in transition after a miss and freelance pick and roll, quick jumpers, attacks on the rim or early post ups.

So in summary...

On a miss and defensive rebound:
advance the ball as quickly as possible whenever you can and try to get something quick. However, if you recognize the spacing to run something and there isn't a clear cut early chance, go ahead and run something that you can get into right away (usually Quick or Pitch).

On a make and you have to inbound the ball:
Call something immediately so you can get into your action within the first 5 to 6 seconds of the shot clock.

[jattnanga]

Re: 2K16 Bulls Playbook: An In-Depth Look

A NOTE ON THE FREELANCE BASE:

I have been playing around and found DEFAULT to be a more true to life option.

This means that the Bulls go to what I believe is the Warriors Freelance with Niko in the game and then when Taj and Jo are in, they are in 3 Out Fist.

This really helps with getting more true to life spacing, because so much of the game is straight push the ball hard in transition then falling back into pick and roll so Niko or Pau will space to arc when appropriate rather than running to the block and midrange all the time.

This does mess up the ease of always having a strong side wing, but since he Bulls are only really calling stuff on made baskets against. If you call your play immediately after getting the ball, the players will realign themselves.

I have yet to update the first post with this information, but will probably be doing so very soon because with the previous set up, Niko was living in the midrange and we all know how he loves those deep threes and this way the game will adjust itself when Taj and Jo come in with the Second Unit.

FREELANCE: Default
MOTION: Space the Floor