Ruby League Advice

[Nickstank]

Quote: Originally Posted by jschmib

Yeah I icon pass almost exclusively. I still get a ****ton of turnovers every game. I have to be incredibly careful for every single pass or I'm ****ed.

Well in that case I'm not sure what to tell you. If guys are cutting at inopportune times, it could be the freelance you're running. Depending where the balls go, your guys may be moving in scripted patterns that end up putting the ball in harm's way on passes. I'm grasping at straws, but it's all I can think of right now. Sorry, man!

[Bi00]

Passing in transition is where a lot of turnovers can happen. That's when the freelances are setting up and you get a lot of unpredictable movement. One thing you can do is slow down your transition offense and dribble up the court instead of passing. Once you get used to the transition behavior, then you can attempt riskier passes.

[jschmib]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nickstank

Well in that case I'm not sure what to tell you. If guys are cutting at inopportune times, it could be the freelance you're running. Depending where the balls go, your guys may be moving in scripted patterns that end up putting the ball in harm's way on passes. I'm grasping at straws, but it's all I can think of right now. Sorry, man!

That could actually be it. I cycle between Horns scoring actions, Pace motion cuts, and 5-out space the floor. I'll try something different it could help.

Sometimes I don't like any kind of plays or anything, and I turn the run plays frequency on the coaching sliders to 0. That also could help.

[Nickstank]

Quote: Originally Posted by jschmib

That could actually be it. I cycle between Horns scoring actions, Pace motion cuts, and 5-out space the floor. I'll try something different it could help. Sometimes I don't like any kind of plays or anything, and I turn the run plays frequency on the coaching sliders to 0. That also could help.

That could be a problem, too. Do you manually call plays or let 2K do it for you? If 2K is doing it and you don't know what's coming, that's sure to cause some movement you're not expecting, which could lead to bad passes.

[jschmib]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nickstank

That could be a problem, too. Do you manually call plays or let 2K do it for you? If 2K is doing it and you don't know what's coming, that's sure to cause some movement you're not expecting, which could lead to bad passes.

I put offensive and defensive playcalling on manual. I also turn off the adaptive coaching engine (whatever the hell that is).

I think I just need to slow down my pace of play in general. When the equalizer is tilted heavily in the opponents favor, which it usually is the ruby league, I tend to get heated and just try to score every time in transition.

Although when I realize this and try to slow things down, no matter what freelance I'm running, my players are all over the place. For example, when I'm on 4-out 1-in, my perimeter players are constantly moving and jostling around when all I want them to do is stand still. They do this no matter what, even if I turn on "space the floor" instead of "motion cuts" or "scoring actions."

Honestly have no idea what any of those do. I find the most effective way to score when the equalizer is against you is to post up and dunk, which all of my players can do extremely well. But this doesn't work when my guards and wings come in closer to Shaq when he's backing down, allowing for easy help defense. I just want them to GET OUT OF HIS WAY.

I usually end up resorting to 5-out or Pace to try and move the players out of the way so I can dominate in the post. But it's infuriatingly inconsistent.

[harryl]

I was very skeptical before, but I ended up getting on board with belief in an "Equalizer" or other manipulative dynamic after just a single game I played in MTO. Might have been Ruby, but also might have been Amethyst. Either way, I tried playing a low OVR team (Emerald was approx average in cards) to see if I might get matched up with a player I'd never matched with in MTO.

Instead, I got matched with one of the half-dozen guys I only ever match with (I'm PC West Coast), and he had his usual super-god squad.

The game felt weird. I feel like there was more "teleporting" going on. My guys were definitely hitting more dicey shots than I thought they should. To me, the really dramatic thing was that his guys, I thought, were very dramatically playing as if they had super-low Def IQ. Very frequently, and nonsensically, out of position, gapping my best shooters, etc.

It wasn't enough for me to win the game, by any means, but it kept me competitive during the first half.

Only a sample size of 1, so not conclusive, but it felt and appeared conclusive to my eyes.

[jschmib]

Quote: Originally Posted by harryl

I was very skeptical before, but I ended up getting on board with belief in an "Equalizer" or other manipulative dynamic after just a single game I played in MTO. Might have been Ruby, but also might have been Amethyst. Either way, I tried playing a low OVR team (Emerald was approx average in cards) to see if I might get matched up with a player I'd never matched with in MTO. Instead, I got matched with one of the half-dozen guys I only ever match with (I'm PC West Coast), and he had his usual super-god squad. The game felt weird. I feel like there was more "teleporting" going on. My guys were definitely hitting more dicey shots than I thought they should. To me, the really dramatic thing was that his guys, I thought, were very dramatically playing as if they had super-low Def IQ. Very frequently, and nonsensically, out of position, gapping my best shooters, etc. It wasn't enough for me to win the game, by any means, but it kept me competitive during the first half. Only a sample size of 1, so not conclusive, but it felt and appeared conclusive to my eyes.

I used to roll my eyes in disbelief at the equalizer. Then 2k17 MTO happened.

Yeah I agree with you about the defensive IQ part. Especially for bigs.

For example, say ruby cousins is posting up on my DI Deandre down low. It's almost impossible to keep DJ in between Cousins and the basket. It's as if he won't stand still, regardless of how I move the left stick or contest with the right. He wobbles back and forth (sometimes without ANY input from the left stick at all) and eventually is completely out of position and allows a dunk. It "feels" like trying to balance an egg when defending the low post. And when this happens, I know something's up, because it's not usually like this.

[jschmib]

Screw this league. I can go undefeated in all leagues leading up to it, yet THIS happens in the ruby league. Every time. Every game is like having your toenails ripped out. 2k, if you're reading this, please shove your head all the way up your own colon.



Last game I played a guy running an all-diamond squad except for emerald KAT and emerald ibaka as his bigs. They were able to defend and occasionally score on Shaq, kemp, Deandre and Mchale. This is ridiculous.

EDIT: Right after I posted this, I threw together a lineup of mostly sapphires and rubies, with Shaq and Deandre being the only diamonds. Instantly got matched up with someone who had 3 PD's in his starting lineup. I was in the lead the entire game and won. The next game I played a mostly amethyst and ruby team, and was destroyed and finally demoted to sapphire.

The equalizer is real. There is no more debate. It is fact.