Coach2K's Rookie Challenge

[23]

Another interesting note I heard on TV is that Portland doesn't force turnovers which is crazy that they've been winning big in spite of that

Galaxy Note 2

[Coach2K]

OK. So we got some shooting guard practice in. Lance is my primary shooting guard and Paul George, George Hill, CJ Watson along with Orlando Johnson all saw work at that position.

This was Stephenson's game though as he put up 56 points marred by 6 turnovers but that's Lance in real life too. I set out to get a triple double and that's probably why rebounding suffered.

A couple of mental notes I made during the game were that you have got to pay attention to when you are scoring with these guys and gauge the reaction of the team and the fans. If you score with someone and the place goes nuts, that's a momentum guy. Guys over 80 or 90 are going to be easier to get the crowd going.

When you need to get the crowd going, you need to score with those guys. Scoring with them will put the heat on the other team to score. And they will feel it. They will miss shots if you are getting momentum on your side. This is one of the other reasons I put offense first. Because controlling momentum is the second key to better defense (the first is to score so your opponent has to play against five guys).

Same goes for quieting a crowd on the road. You have to go to those guys. Once I learned a couple of years ago that Danny Granger got the crowd going and Darren Collison didn't, I realized Darren couldn't carry the team. Danny had to do it back then. This leads to more wins when you know this. I also nicknamed the arena the Granger zone at that time. lol.

The other thing I want to mention here is that you might wonder how beneficial is it really to put up 56 with Lance like I would never do that at higher levels right?

Well that's not true, because I've put 45 with Orlando Johnson vs the CPU HOF before. You just never know when the moons will align and a guy will get hot and go over board. I've put over 65 points with Darren Collison on HOF mode. Both of these guys are back ups. Keep that in mind. (Doesn't mean I will set out to do it though.)

Because I know what Lance can do now, I know he can do it at higher levels if I play right because he has done it. Difficulty level doesn't matter here.

When you know what a guy can do, take a mental snapshot of key possessions. Because as you move up in difficulty, you'll recognize the same kind of moments up there too and when you see them you know you can pull the trigger in those situations. That being said, you will see a guy do something on rookie level and then fail in the same situation consistently at a higher level. When you see that you have to do the same thing and realize NOT to pull the trigger. This is how you learn your guys. Repetition of seeing the same situations over and over. Rookie difficulty just exposes them and makes it easier to see potential.

As an example, I have trouble hitting in the right corner from three at higher levels but not the left with Lance. So I recognize not to shoot there. This little type of nuance is crucial later on.

This is the beauty of rookie mode, because it allows you to see what you might not normally playing HOF all of the time.

Remember too that this is vs MILWAUKEE. Matchups play a huge role in the game. Someone might matchup well vs them but not say San Antonio. Right now, we are researching the Bucks because my goal is only to learn how to beat them at the moment, not the other 28 teams.

Also remember that defensive settings matter. How you are being played affects things to.

Here's the box scores:

[Coach2K]

A lot of you know this kind of stuff but above I mentioned that from the right corner on HOF mode I miss open threes with Lance but on the left I don't.

So I checked his hot zones and noticed he's hotter from the left than from the right and this explains it.

I use this as my guide as a general rule for shooting purposes. Lance is an 82 rated three point shooter. In the grey area's, I call it a true 82. For the red zones I give it a PLUS 5 and for the blue areas I give it a MINUS 5.

So I'd give Lance an 87 over on the left side and he would be a 77 in the upper blue area there.

I give all my guys over 80 in a spot the green light depending on the game situation and how much space they have.

How the defense is playing you, fatigue, momentum and consistency all come into play here. That's while you will read guys and say, I was hitting that shot all game and then I wasn't. There is more to it than release which goes without saying you need to perfect those in practice mode.

The higher the difficulty level, the more important it is for you to know who will come through for you and when. So you need to know all of your guys hot zones. And it helps to know your opponents as well.

[Rockie_Fresh88]

Quote: Originally Posted by www.Coach2K.com

A lot of you know this kind of stuff but above I mentioned that from the right corner on HOF mode I miss open threes with Lance but on the left I don't. So I checked his hot zones and noticed he's hotter from the left than from the right and this explains it. I use this as my guide as a general rule for shooting purposes. Lance is an 82 rated three point shooter. In the grey area's, I call it a true 82. For the red zones I give it a PLUS 5 and for the blue areas I give it a MINUS 5. So I'd give Lance an 87 over on the left side and he would be a 77 in the upper blue area there. I give all my guys over 80 in a spot the green light depending on the game situation and how much space they have. How the defense is playing you, fatigue, momentum and consistency all come into play here. That's while you will read guys and say, I was hitting that shot all game and then I wasn't. There is more to it than release which goes without saying you need to perfect those in practice mode. The higher the difficulty level, the more important it is for you to know who will come through for you and when. So you need to know all of your guys hot zones. And it helps to know your opponents as well.

He just got that boost . He couldn't hit threes at all earlier. Also Paul George midrange got a nice boost but he has a lot of cold spots there.

[Coach2K]

Quote: Originally Posted by mars5541

He just got that boost . He couldn't hit threes at all earlier. Also Paul George midrange got a nice boost but he has a lot of cold spots there.

Shame too because Paul George's midrange is much improved.

[Coach2K]

I'm going to do a little small forward work. Live stream available if you care to watch. I'll post the results when I am finished.

[Coach2K]

Finished my game practicing at the small forward spot. This was Paul George and Danny Granger as his back up. Paul George put up 61 points and Granger probably had 20. I didn't capture the stats at the end because I was so busying trying to figure out how to save a replay of the last play of the game.

That was a full court shot by the Bucks. Unfortunately, I didn't get either the box score or the replay lol.

Overall good work in that game. Had more turnovers than I liked.

Time to move onto the power forward slot in the next game which I will probably do later.

[RangersCruz]

You really just need to know your team well like somebody said earlier i play with every team so its hard for me to get used to