On-ball Defense Tips Part 1: How to get more steals

[EarvGotti]

Recently i put together some clips of me playing on-ball defense, so i figured i would give some tips on what i know. Not everyone in 2K plays on-ball defense and to each his own, but i've been playing on-ball since 2k10 and still feel like its the most rewarding way to play defense.

Especially this year with the way steals are. You can truly control the game with defense if you have good defenders and have decent stick skills. Having good defenders actually matter more this year and it feels beautiful.



1) Never play too tight on the ball-handler - Most people are trying to get the rim or just get the help defense to come over so they can kick to the open man. To avoid this, you can't get beat consistently on the drive. I leave a bit of space between me and the ball-handler so i can always beat him to spot he's going to.

2) Reaching after a collision increases steal success rate - You will see in the video above, that a lot of my steals come after the "bump" or collision between me and the ball-handler. This is part of 2k's meta. Every time there is a collision, the ball-handler loses stamina, which makes it easier to rip the ball from them. What i try to do is stay in front of them and beat them to their spot, then swipe for the steal after the bump. The success rate is much higher.

3) Reaching after dribble spamming increases steal success rate - Similar to #2, if the ball-handler has been dribbling too much, his stamina will decrease. When this happens, steals are much easier. Reach after someone has been dribbling around for a while and its usually a turnover.

4) Triple threat position is almost an automatic steal - This is something i wish 2K would actually change. It's too easy to steal when someone is in triple threat or just holding the ball stationary. Maybe make it harder to steal if the person is jab stepping, but as of now, you can just swipe up or down with the Right Stick and its a steal 90% of the time.

General tips:
- Swipe left with the RS if the ball is in his left hand....swipe right if it's in his right hand.
- Strength rating matters a lot on defense
- Use LT and RT to quickly beat the ball-handler to a spot

[Nickstank]

Thanks for this, Earv. Have you had any issues with GP getting pushed around? I know he's got good strength, but his player model is small and I wasn't sure if/how that reduces his effectiveness against bully point guards like Magic and Oscar.

[isdatyt]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nickstank

Thanks for this, Earv. Have you had any issues with GP getting pushed around? I know he's got good strength, but his player model is small and I wasn't sure if/how that reduces his effectiveness against bully point guards like Magic and Oscar.

I haven't. I do run a strength shoe on him that brings him up to an 88 though. He can deal with 1-3. Even ran into a cheeser who had Pierce at PG. GP clamped him, even with ISOs in the post he was kept in check. Those badges light up like Christmas.

[GrimaceZ7]

Your offense was very good as well. That Jordan card must be amazing, because you were taking and making shots I'd never attempt, because they never fall for me regardless of who I use or what badges they have.

I'd like to see video where you're facing someone whose defense is as good as yours to see how you adjust your offense. But I definitely see a lot of areas where my game can improve by watching what you do.

[harryl]

Quote: Originally Posted by isdatyt

I haven't. I do run a strength shoe on him that brings him up to an 88 though. He can deal with 1-3. Even ran into a cheeser who had Pierce at PG. GP clamped him, even with ISOs in the post he was kept in check. Those badges light up like Christmas.

I had major issues defending Oscar with GP.

I was able to stall drives a lot, when I beat him to a spot. I wouldn't say he backed GP down at will, but it's hard to hold one's ground and still be ready to cut off a post spin.

It was Oscar's post spin, specifically, that was tough to stop. I don't know what exactly goes into the formula, but anything that's possible, Oscar is elite.

I hope that putting on a Strength shoe will help with this specifically, and in general. Maybe I should put it on immediately, but I got my GP with that green Kyrie shoe that is a really nice one, but which is actually dumb to put on GP because it's not just a Standing 3 boost, but also a Lat Quickness boost.

[EarvGotti]

I haven't had any issues with GP so far. The only guy i played that had 98 Oscar, had him at SG which was pretty dumb IMO.

Because GP's strength is in the 80's he's able to cause a lot more "bumps" and "bump back" animations on drives. This is very important in stopping ball-handlers. They honestly made him a machine defending the perimeter.

Now in the post is where it gets tricky. He has the strength to stop backdowns, but his post defense is only a 70. So he can still get beat with spins, drives, up and unders etc. Any card with low post defense of 70 or lower can pretty much get abused in the post if the guy knows what he's doing.

[harryl]

Quote: Originally Posted by EarvGotti

I haven't had any issues with GP so far. The only guy i played that had 98 Oscar, had him at SG which was pretty dumb IMO. Because GP's strength is in the 80's he's able to cause a lot more "bumps" and "bump back" animations on drives. This is very important in stopping ball-handlers. They honestly made him a machine defending the perimeter. Now in the post is where it gets tricky. He has the strength to stop backdowns, but his post defense is only a 70. So he can still get beat with spins, drives, up and unders etc. Any card with low post defense of 70 or lower can pretty much get abused in the post if the guy knows what he's doing.

So do you feel that Low Post Def IQ has direct bearing on ability to defend stuff like post-spins, even if the player is being manually controlled? Seems like that's what you're saying.

I had always assumed it was an issue of Strength and correct manual control of him, in terms of moving laterally to contain the spin.

But if Low Post Def IQ has bearing on the animations one gets (or the spin animation that opponent gets), then I guess I need to consider buffing GP's LPD IQ if I want to maximize ability to defend post-up play.

I had assumed the problems I had with Oscar were because, compared to GP, he's +30lbs and +3 Strength and thought the best way to combat this would be to buff his Strength by 9, which should put him about on par with Oscar, maybe give him a very slight edge.

And on the bumping animations for perimeter lateral defense, I totally agree. It's what I noticed about Ben Wallace a long time ago and why I've used him a lot as a dedicated stopper to shut down smaller guys. Same reason why I've been so fascinated by Artest and Moncrief.

Really enjoyed the GP+MJ video you put up. Do you feel like Bruiser helps with stealing, in that it creates more drain on the short-term fatigue that is also associated with Turbo/Size-Ups? I was talking to someone who attests to Bruiser helping to put guys "in the red," which makes them much more susceptible to being pickpocketed...

[EarvGotti]

Yup, Bruiser is probably my favorite badge and its a steal at 250-500 MT. This drains the ball-handler's stamina much quicker when they get bumped so it does make it easier to rip them when they are dribbling. I put Bruiser on all of my guys.

In regards to the Low Post D, yeah the rating determines how effectively your player can react to or stop post spins/drives and other post moves. With Pippen, i can shut down most post spin/drive attempts and he only has 70 strength. With GP it is a bit tougher because of his lower rating.