The Art Of Basketball
This is how I play the game... more than just sliders, this is a guide for creating a sim basketball experience...
How To Play The Game / House Rules
The Goal Is Fun Play And Sim Stats
I made this thread (and recently updated it) about what the actual NBA stats look like on average. Creating stats close to these is ideal. They are good to look at after a game to either confirm whether or not your feelings of the game match up to the actual outcome.
For example, if you felt like the CPU abused the paint and then checked the boxscore to see that they scored 50 of their 105 points in the paint -- then you would realize, "hey, maybe that was actually more life-like than I originally thought."
You can go back and check the thread for more insight, but in brief, here are the ranges we will look to hit on average in our games:
Team Points: 98 - 120 (lowest point total in '21-22 season was 73, highest was 154)
FG%: 40% - 52%
3PT%: 30% - 40%
3PT Att: 24 - 47
FT%: 67% - 85%
FTA:: 15 - 30
Points In Paint: 34 - 60 (normally 38%-52% of total points)
Team Rebounds: 36 - 54
Offensive Rebounds: 6 - 14
Assists: 18 - 31
TO: 9 - 19
Dunks: 2 - 8
Fast Break Points: 5 - 25 (average range would be 10-14, but pace varies greatly)
Team Fouls: 15 - 25
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THE SLIDERS - V.2 (Feedback Welcomed)
Pregame Adjustments
- Upon entering the game, switch sides and make sure your opponent's coach sliders Help Defense slider is set to 100. Then go back to your team and set it to 100 as well.
Gameplay Settings
Difficulty - Start with Hall of Fame
Quarter Length - 12 Minutes
Game Speed - 51
Shot Feedback - Off
Camera Shake - Off
PnR Overlay - Off
Motion Blur - 75 (trying to see if this makes a difference or not)
Audio Presentation - TV Broadcast
Coach Settings
ACE - Offense and Defense
Timeout - Manual
Subs - Manual
PlayVision - All Plays
PlayVision Display - Lite + Full
Offense Playcalling - Auto
Freelance Order - Dynamic
Freelance Repeat - Do Not Repeat
Controller Settings
Vibration - Off
Shot Meter - Off
Shot Timing - Real Player %
Perfect Release - Off
Perfect Release SFX - None
Free Throw Timing - Real Player %
Defensive Assist Strength - 20
Box Out Assist - 50
Pass Profile: Direction (default values)
Camera Settings
These are the camera views I like most right now, but any “side view” angle is recommended…
Broadcast (Better from a further distance, like a couch)
Zoom - 1
Height - 4
Key Zoom - On
Skybox (Better if you’re sitting up close, like a monitor)
Zoom - 10
Height - 1
Key Zoom - On
User/CPU Sliders
If there is only one value listed, it applies to both User and CPU. If there are two values, they will be in User/CPU format.
Offense
Free Throw Difficulty - 100
Inside Shot Success - 62 / 62
Close Shot Success - 62 / 62
Mid-Range Shot Success - 70 / 65
3PT Success - 61 / 60
Layup Success - 58 / 60
Shot Coverage Impact - 38
Shot Timing Impact - 0
Dunk in Traffic Frequency - 30
Dunk in Traffic Success - 50 / 56
Pass Accuracy - 40 / 10
Alley-Oop Success - 50 / 62
Contact Shot Success - 61 / 65
Ball Security - 40 / 40
Body Up Sensitivity - 100
Pass Speed - 61
Defense
Driving Contact Shot Frequency - 100
Inside Contact Shot Frequency - 100
Layup Defense Strength (Takeoff) - 80 / 75
Layup Defense Strength (Release) - 100
Jump Shot Defense Strength (Gather) - 35 / 12
Jump Shot Defense Strength (Release) - 100
Help Defense Strength - 95
Steal Success - 87 / 85
Attributes
Acceleration - 87/90
Vertical – 35
Strength - 85 / 100
Stamina - 40 / 39
Speed – 52/57
Durability - 30
Hustle - 100
Ball Handling - 34 / 42
Hands - 100
Dunking Ability - 50
On-Ball Defense -60 / 100
Stealing - 77 / 75
Blocking - 40 / 42
Offensive Awareness - 85 / 100
Defensive Awareness - 90 / 95
Offensive Rebounding - 7 / 3
Defensive Rebounding - 17 / 17
Offensive Consistency - 51 / 48
Defensive Consistency - 57 / 38
Fatigue Rate - 57 / 60
Lateral Quickness - 50 / 100
Tendencies
Take Inside Shots - 50 / 35
Take Close Shots - 50 / 35
Take Mid-Range Shots - 50 / 100
Take 3PT Shots - 50 / 90
Post Shots - 50 / 70
Attack the Basket - 50 / 100
Look for Post Players - 50
Throw Alley-Oops - 50 / 35
Attempt Dunks - 50 / 48
Attempt Putbacks - 100
Play Passing Lanes - 100
Go for On-Ball Steals - 100
Contest Shots - 100
Backdoor Cuts - 75
Fouls
Over the Back Foul Frequency - 100
Charging Foul Frequency - 100
Blocking Foul Frequency - 100
Reaching Foul Frequency - 100
Shooting Foul Frequency - 100
Loose Ball Foul Frequency - 100
Illegal Screen - 85 / 100
Movement
Speed with Ball (Max) - 66
Speed with Ball (Min) - 34
Acceleration with Ball (Max) - 66
Acceleration with Ball (Min) - 34
Speed without Ball (Max) - 64
Speed without Ball (Min) - 38
Acceleration without Ball (Max) - 74
Acceleration without Ball (Min) - 42
This is how I play the game... more than just sliders, this is a guide for creating a sim basketball experience...
How To Play The Game / House Rules
- Make Realistic Moves: This is the key to it all. Move and play like how you would see it on TV. If you understand basketball, and play sim already, then this makes sense to you. It doesn't mean "never drive/dunk" and it doesn't mean "no highlight plays". It means don't abuse exploits and make realistic moves.
- The No-Switch Defense: Each trip down the court, I choose one player to control for the entirety of the possession. This mixes up the on-ball and off-ball components of the game and allows me to experience all aspects of playing defense. Typically I like to control one of the wings.
It actually makes defense more fun for me to control a guy like Devin Vassell or someone known for defense.
Don't just camp the paint and try to stat pad. You CAN crash the boards, or you CAN leak out for a fastbreak. It helps switch things up.
This also allows your players to play to their strengths from an AI perspective and mix up different animations and fouls. If you have CP3 on your team, he's going to play like CP3 on his own and snag more steals than a guy like Patty Mills. It really adds to the immersion to let them play their own game. - Run Plays, Don't Settle: These sliders are aimed at creating a challenging game. I normally run plays, but also mix in some freelance to switch it up and keep it fun. Don't always settle for the contested mid-range shot over and over (lots of sim-heads think this means "sim") unless that's what is open. Use your bag, work for open looks and drive the ball... Mix up your game.
The Goal Is Fun Play And Sim Stats
I made this thread (and recently updated it) about what the actual NBA stats look like on average. Creating stats close to these is ideal. They are good to look at after a game to either confirm whether or not your feelings of the game match up to the actual outcome.
For example, if you felt like the CPU abused the paint and then checked the boxscore to see that they scored 50 of their 105 points in the paint -- then you would realize, "hey, maybe that was actually more life-like than I originally thought."
You can go back and check the thread for more insight, but in brief, here are the ranges we will look to hit on average in our games:
Team Points: 98 - 120 (lowest point total in '21-22 season was 73, highest was 154)
FG%: 40% - 52%
3PT%: 30% - 40%
3PT Att: 24 - 47
FT%: 67% - 85%
FTA:: 15 - 30
Points In Paint: 34 - 60 (normally 38%-52% of total points)
Team Rebounds: 36 - 54
Offensive Rebounds: 6 - 14
Assists: 18 - 31
TO: 9 - 19
Dunks: 2 - 8
Fast Break Points: 5 - 25 (average range would be 10-14, but pace varies greatly)
Team Fouls: 15 - 25
<hr style="height:0;border-top: 1px solid #ededed;">
THE SLIDERS - V.2 (Feedback Welcomed)
Pregame Adjustments
- Upon entering the game, switch sides and make sure your opponent's coach sliders Help Defense slider is set to 100. Then go back to your team and set it to 100 as well.
Gameplay Settings
Difficulty - Start with Hall of Fame
Quarter Length - 12 Minutes
Game Speed - 51
Shot Feedback - Off
Camera Shake - Off
PnR Overlay - Off
Motion Blur - 75 (trying to see if this makes a difference or not)
Audio Presentation - TV Broadcast
Coach Settings
ACE - Offense and Defense
Timeout - Manual
Subs - Manual
PlayVision - All Plays
PlayVision Display - Lite + Full
Offense Playcalling - Auto
Freelance Order - Dynamic
Freelance Repeat - Do Not Repeat
Controller Settings
Vibration - Off
Shot Meter - Off
Shot Timing - Real Player %
Perfect Release - Off
Perfect Release SFX - None
Free Throw Timing - Real Player %
Defensive Assist Strength - 20
Box Out Assist - 50
Pass Profile: Direction (default values)
Camera Settings
These are the camera views I like most right now, but any “side view” angle is recommended…
Broadcast (Better from a further distance, like a couch)
Zoom - 1
Height - 4
Key Zoom - On
Skybox (Better if you’re sitting up close, like a monitor)
Zoom - 10
Height - 1
Key Zoom - On
User/CPU Sliders
If there is only one value listed, it applies to both User and CPU. If there are two values, they will be in User/CPU format.
Offense
Free Throw Difficulty - 100
Inside Shot Success - 62 / 62
Close Shot Success - 62 / 62
Mid-Range Shot Success - 70 / 65
3PT Success - 61 / 60
Layup Success - 58 / 60
Shot Coverage Impact - 38
Shot Timing Impact - 0
Dunk in Traffic Frequency - 30
Dunk in Traffic Success - 50 / 56
Pass Accuracy - 40 / 10
Alley-Oop Success - 50 / 62
Contact Shot Success - 61 / 65
Ball Security - 40 / 40
Body Up Sensitivity - 100
Pass Speed - 61
Defense
Driving Contact Shot Frequency - 100
Inside Contact Shot Frequency - 100
Layup Defense Strength (Takeoff) - 80 / 75
Layup Defense Strength (Release) - 100
Jump Shot Defense Strength (Gather) - 35 / 12
Jump Shot Defense Strength (Release) - 100
Help Defense Strength - 95
Steal Success - 87 / 85
Attributes
Acceleration - 87/90
Vertical – 35
Strength - 85 / 100
Stamina - 40 / 39
Speed – 52/57
Durability - 30
Hustle - 100
Ball Handling - 34 / 42
Hands - 100
Dunking Ability - 50
On-Ball Defense -60 / 100
Stealing - 77 / 75
Blocking - 40 / 42
Offensive Awareness - 85 / 100
Defensive Awareness - 90 / 95
Offensive Rebounding - 7 / 3
Defensive Rebounding - 17 / 17
Offensive Consistency - 51 / 48
Defensive Consistency - 57 / 38
Fatigue Rate - 57 / 60
Lateral Quickness - 50 / 100
Tendencies
Take Inside Shots - 50 / 35
Take Close Shots - 50 / 35
Take Mid-Range Shots - 50 / 100
Take 3PT Shots - 50 / 90
Post Shots - 50 / 70
Attack the Basket - 50 / 100
Look for Post Players - 50
Throw Alley-Oops - 50 / 35
Attempt Dunks - 50 / 48
Attempt Putbacks - 100
Play Passing Lanes - 100
Go for On-Ball Steals - 100
Contest Shots - 100
Backdoor Cuts - 75
Fouls
Over the Back Foul Frequency - 100
Charging Foul Frequency - 100
Blocking Foul Frequency - 100
Reaching Foul Frequency - 100
Shooting Foul Frequency - 100
Loose Ball Foul Frequency - 100
Illegal Screen - 85 / 100
Movement
Speed with Ball (Max) - 66
Speed with Ball (Min) - 34
Acceleration with Ball (Max) - 66
Acceleration with Ball (Min) - 34
Speed without Ball (Max) - 64
Speed without Ball (Min) - 38
Acceleration without Ball (Max) - 74
Acceleration without Ball (Min) - 42
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