Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

These kinds of threads are getting to be hilarious in a ridiculous way.

Glad I could help in some small way bring laughter to your life, lol.

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

Honestly, I play on Sim/All-Star and I can literally get Lebron to the hoop 8/10 possessions with a cross over. Every time I run plays, Mike Miller clacks open shots. Miller is 0/23 in 5 games from 3 point range. All shots ran off of plays, with open looks. It makes it so I have to play arcade style and try to get to the hoop over and over, because I miss almost every open shot. That to me, eliminates all strategy. And in a 48 minute game, that gets old.

Seriously, the ONLY way I can win on Sim/All-Star is to drive to the hoop, pick and rolls, and isolation. If I try and run plays, get open shots, and try and knock them down....I'm down 10 in a blink of an eye.

The stats on Sim mode are good, but the feel is off to me.

A New Yorker running with the Heat? Unheard of!

lol.

Ok, somethings come to mind. Mike Miller's strength is obviously his shot but he is also a rhythm shooter. Something that is, In my opinion, vastly understated when looking at your own or other's VIP viewer is the distinction of taking shots in rhythm. If you start up in free flow, cross a few people a few times and get to the bucket with LBJ, how are your other teammate involved in the O? When are they an option? When are they a threat? You didn't do anything to get them going, why doesn't it matter if their open? When the C's get away from Ray Allen (almost all the time in the 3rd round for some dumb) and he has an **** slump, it's because he's out of damn rhythm. He'll get good looks because the play call is good and being executed well but we have seen Ray-Ray miss 16 shots in a playoff game before.

Solution to your problem: not all plays for LBJ and Bosh have to go to
them. Eddie House and Mike Miller's plays are best used when they are feeling it. get them involved using the added attention that LBJ and Wade sees FIRST, then establish The King and the player formerly known as Flash. You also have to trust the play to a degree. If you have anything else specific you have an issue with, when I get off, I'll take a look with that evil team.

[blues rocker]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

i agree with a lot of the stuff in the original post. after playing this game for a while and getting used to the movements I am able to beat the CPU on sim/HOF without ever calling plays. I simply do a "freeflow" offense using icon lead passing to direct my players into good position and using simple pick and rolls (L1 button) to create opportunities.

A lot of the time the CPU will simply make cheesy shots that you can't defend...(post up turn around shots, crazy contact shots in the paint, ect.). but you can defend jump shots and you have to make sure you defend them well. the most important part of playing defense is to not move "side to side" in relation to your defender...only move straight back toward to hoop to cut off his drive. when moving backwards, utilize the L2 intense defense button to keep your man facing the ball handler so you can bump him more easily and cut off his drives. keep plenty of space between yourself and the defender so he can't drive by you. if you give him too much space and you see him start to shoot, quickly hold turbo and run toward him while pressing the block button.

by doing these things I am able to beat the CPU on sim/HOF about 85 percent of the time. i usually shoot at around 62 percent and can hold the CPU under 50 percent most of the time. sometimes the CPU will go on a ridiculously cheesy run where they make all kinds of contested and contact shots and those games you can't win...but usually you can overcome the cheesy runs by the CPU.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

You shouldn't have overcome CPU BS. Thats the whole point. Difficulty in this game should be translated like it is in the NBA. Based on situation and place. The progression should be something like regular season, playoffs, finals. Higher difficulty should mean better decisions and more intensity. Not dumbed down player teammate AI and CPU cheese.

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

i agree with a lot of the stuff in the original post. after playing this game for a while and getting used to the movements I am able to beat the CPU on sim/HOF without ever calling plays. I simply do a "freeflow" offense using icon lead passing to direct my players into good position and using simple pick and rolls (L1 button) to create opportunities.

A lot of the time the CPU will simply make cheesy shots that you can't defend...(post up turn around shots, crazy contact shots in the paint, ect.). but you can defend jump shots and you have to make sure you defend them well. the most important part of playing defense is to not move "side to side" in relation to your defender...only move straight back toward to hoop to cut off his drive. when moving backwards, utilize the L2 intense defense button to keep your man facing the ball handler so you can bump him more easily and cut off his drives. keep plenty of space between yourself and the defender so he can't drive by you. if you give him too much space and you see him start to shoot, quickly hold turbo and run toward him while pressing the block button.

by doing these things I am able to beat the CPU on sim/HOF about 85 percent of the time. i usually shoot at around 62 percent and can hold the CPU under 50 percent most of the time. sometimes the CPU will go on a ridiculously cheesy run where they make all kinds of contested and contact shots and those games you can't win...but usually you can overcome the cheesy runs by the CPU.

You're a better man than I. I have to run plays in order to get the freedom/respect from the D that I want in Free Flow. I haven't actually tried to go the whole game without at least running the quick plays but if that works for you, more power to you.

Small thing to add/ask about, relying on the intense D burns that person out more and leaves you more susceptible to more complicated isomotion moves like half spins, how often do you have to help out on D on one guy? How often do you make subs?

[hq3000]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

Not to nitpick but I think you used the word insipid in the wrong context. Insipid means boring, bland, banal. You can't have insipid rage because the words don't make sense together.

Anyway good post though, but lets not put ourselves on a pedestal because we can play at a high level. Part of what makes video games so great is that they can be enjoyed on many levels.

Just stick to the tips and not to your insipid charges that some people on this website are upset that they are having trouble playing the game. People complain because they want answers. If you have the answer, explain it to them to the best of your abilities.

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

You shouldn't have overcome CPU BS. Thats the whole point. Difficulty in this game should be translated like it is in the NBA. Based on situation and place. The progression should be something like regular season, playoffs, finals. Higher difficulty should mean better decisions and more intensity. Not dumbed down player teammate AI and CPU cheese.

Agreed.

My thing is, that on HOF, the computer does make better decisions (including more timeout adjustments, quarter to quarter adjustments and at the half adjustments). They go on smarter runs (spurred on by mismatches) and it feels harder to stop a run on the road than it feels at home. I seriously don't feel feel it on All-Star and below. Superstar makes me think, but they go back to doing the same thing after timeout.

[AdamBa17]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

the good thing about this thread is that it actually has some really mature answers.

its making me think that we (because i agree with you OP) are a bit extreme in our views, because although we are right in many ways, we are also wrong.

i think we are at one end of the scale and the moaners are at the other end. the sweet spot may be somewhere in the middle.

[erickonasis]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

Hello people,


Moving on to where I want to get to, In playing the game for some time now, I realize that there are a number of you still struggling to beat the computer (or anyone for that matter) on All-Star or higher and resort to changing gameplay sliders in an attempt to get the game to be "more-realistic" (easier to beat). .

See Signature

[blues rocker]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

You're a better man than I. I have to run plays in order to get the freedom/respect from the D that I want in Free Flow. I haven't actually tried to go the whole game without at least running the quick plays but if that works for you, more power to you.

Small thing to add/ask about, relying on the intense D burns that person out more and leaves you more susceptible to more complicated isomotion moves like half spins, how often do you have to help out on D on one guy? How often do you make subs?

i don't do manual subs...i usually just let the game make subs for me and that works for me.

i don't hold the intense d button (L2) all the time. Only use it when the ball handler is driving at you and you want to bump him and cut him off...when using intense D in brief spurts like this it doesn't drain much energy.

i usually don't do much helping out on D. I usually just guard the ball handler and try to cut off his drives. if he beats me I will switch to another defender and try to use him to defend the ball handler...but usually once the ball handler beats you it's too late anyway and the CPU will get a basket.

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

Not to nitpick but I think you used the word insipid in the wrong context. Insipid means boring, bland, banal. You can't have insipid rage because the words don't make sense together.

Anyway good post though, but lets not put ourselves on a pedestal because we can play at a high level. Part of what makes video games so great is that they can be enjoyed on many levels.

Just stick to the tips and not to your insipid charges that some people on this website are upset that they are having trouble playing the game. People complain because they want answers. If you have the answer, explain it to them to the best of your abilities.

Thank you! Leave it to a fellow Queens resident to get one of my abortions of the English language.

(Actually, insipid means things that are uninspired or dull but normally used for actions or creations (ALA Standard). Bored carries a different connotation...close, but it really shouldn't be interchangeable.)

The other is writing about something the I loathe, but have only had a small window of time to pass a judgment on, then offering to do something to change it. Exactly what I'm asking people to do by trying the tips that I put to them. That's patronizing journalistic symbolism (favorite topic in college 4 years ago).

No, you cant have bland rage. Like you cant have quiet riot. Just a literary tool used to get people to read, Daily Post style. (For what it's worth, I tried to work in Ethos, Pathos and Logos collectively in my responses.)


Now to the rest of the post, part of the draw to this site to me was Czar addressing Sim Ballers almost exclusively on his (10 teams, 10 days) videos. That's important to me. It's not those people who are casual players who struggle with basketball concepts because the superstars drew them into the game that I'm targeting here (although, they may be offended). It's the sim ballers. It's the people who STARTED OUT saying the game is broken and resorted to changing the game to fit their taste, then still said that they were sim ballers. Attack me for sitting up on my high horse if you will, I'm doing the same thing to them. I posted and responded to almost everyone here with directed resolutions, not more problems because I wanted to restore that "sim baller" principle. That's what I was disappointed in, that's what I was getting after.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let's try to avoid attacking me for being condescending by trying to be condescending to me. It limits my responses a bit.

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

the good thing about this thread is that it actually has some really mature answers.

its making me think that we (because i agree with you OP) are a bit extreme in our views, because although we are right in many ways, we are also wrong.

i think we are at one end of the scale and the moaners are at the other end. the sweet spot may be somewhere in the middle.

Well said.

The sweet spot is actually playing on the level that you should be on, in my opinion. The beginning of Modern Warfare 2 has you play out an obstacle course and at the end, it tells you the suggested level you should play the game at. I think 2K should have done the same thing with that opening Bulls vs Lakers game.

If someone puts out a well thought point, I acknowledge it. The point is, I've played with thefuture's sliders before and after I posted this (5 Games total). It's still an easier game to play with those sliders set that way. I SERIOUSLY DOUBT a lot of the people who play with those sliders on with All-star and lower difficulty have played more than 10 quarters on HOF, this year.

Ideally, a forum should generate and encourage both sides of an argument. I'm just trying to do my job as the OP.

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

See Signature

Man, we would be such good people if you didn't have that ugly icon under your name.

GGGGGMEN!!!

[The Fight]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

i don't do manual subs...i usually just let the game make subs for me and that works for me.

i don't hold the intense d button (L2) all the time. Only use it when the ball handler is driving at you and you want to bump him and cut him off...when using intense D in brief spurts like this it doesn't drain much energy.

i usually don't do much helping out on D. I usually just guard the ball handler and try to cut off his drives. if he beats me I will switch to another defender and try to use him to defend the ball handler...but usually once the ball handler beats you it's too late anyway and the CPU will get a basket.

No manual subs? *cringe*

Not spamming L2? *cheers*

Try shading the ball handler to his off-hand or to where the help D is. Outside of that, sounds good to me...

[Bears_16_and_0]

Re: Rant: Helping you out of necessity and insipid rage

haha this thread was great. thanks for the tips OP. coming on to OS and hating on sliders and people complaining about socks isnt gonna win u many friends, i totally agree with u though. I wish i knew more about basketball...