Re-vamped AI Makes Fantasy Draft Seasons Fun Again

[badmrfrosty7]

I usually always end up doing a Fantasy draft in season or franchise modes for games, (personally it's because I like my season to have it's own story and if I do default rosters, I have a weird obsessive-compulsive desire to make my season mirror the NBA season- and I say weird only because I can't ignore it) and all of the additions this to this iteration seemed like it was going to payoff really well for Fantasy drafted leagues.

I just have to report that it's worked out really well as far as gameplay is concerned. The re-tooled AI and coach gameplan mechanics create new and interesting identities for these made-up teams, and they look to play to their strengths and around the star players they have.

It may be a happy coincedence in some instances, but I've had some great games in MyGM. I played a GSW team who still had Curry, but Tim Duncan was their other key player, and they started out by running PnR's between Curry and Duncan. I started doubling Curry, and playing a soft hedge on Duncan if they ran it again (cause Curry was just burning us and kicking-out otherwise, (the interior D on my team is also awful....) but we had success and stifled Curry a few times and had length to keep Duncan from hitting jumpers.

So, GSW starts playing through Duncan, having him hold the ball on the high-post while Curry runs through screens or by Duncan for a hand-off. Bastards! After some more adjustments we managed to keep Curry cold for a few times so then Duncan would just start backing down instead and go ol' fundamental on us.

Needless to say, it was a fun, challenging and interesting game and something that would rarely translate well (if at all) in 2K14. Had a handful of other great games but curious if there are any other OSer's sharing this experience with Fantasy Drafted leagues? Haven't played enough to determine how well the "no more position stacking on teams" improvements. But I've liked what I've seen so far in terms of roster variety and trying to mold those teams to fit their respective coach's gameplans.

[Barttramer]

Quote: Originally Posted by badmrfrosty7

I usually always end up doing a Fantasy draft in season or franchise modes for games, (personally it's because I like my season to have it's own story and if I do default rosters, I have a weird obsessive-compulsive desire to make my season mirror the NBA season- and I say weird only because I can't ignore it) and all of the additions this to this iteration seemed like it was going to payoff really well for Fantasy drafted leagues. I just have to report that it's worked out really well as far as gameplay is concerned. The re-tooled AI and coach gameplan mechanics create new and interesting identities for these made-up teams, and they look to play to their strengths and around the star players they have. It may be a happy coincedence in some instances, but I've had some great games in MyGM. I played a GSW team who still had Curry, but Tim Duncan was their other key player, and they started out by running PnR's between Curry and Duncan. I started doubling Curry, and playing a soft hedge on Duncan if they ran it again (cause Curry was just burning us and kicking-out otherwise, (the interior D on my team is also awful....) but we had success and stifled Curry a few times and had length to keep Duncan from hitting jumpers. So, GSW starts playing through Duncan, having him hold the ball on the high-post while Curry runs through screens or by Duncan for a hand-off. Bastards! After some more adjustments we managed to keep Curry cold for a few times so then Duncan would just start backing down instead and go ol' fundamental on us. Needless to say, it was a fun, challenging and interesting game and something that would rarely translate well (if at all) in 2K14. Had a handful of other great games but curious if there are any other OSer's sharing this experience with Fantasy Drafted leagues? Haven't played enough to determine how well the "no more position stacking on teams" improvements. But I've liked what I've seen so far in terms of roster variety and trying to mold those teams to fit their respective coach's gameplans.

Thanks for the insight. I love that the AI is that solid!

[crusaderhoops10]

How was the actual draft? Were any players drafted too low or high that jumped out to you? Sounds awesome though about the way teams are creating their own identities, was always missing in the past.

[badmrfrosty7]

Quote: Originally Posted by crusaderhoops10

How was the actual draft? Were any players drafted too low or high that jumped out to you? Sounds awesome though about the way teams are creating their own identities, was always missing in the past.

I do know that the way the CPU makes picks definitely seems a little different. I haven't experimented/studied the Draft AI enough though to make determinations on what AI teams are basing their draft decisions on, but it definitely appears to be configured differently and more in-depth than just drafting by Best Available / Highest Potential like it seemed to in years passed. Hard to tell.

Interestingly, I ran a new Fantasy Draft (fixed order) recently, and I got Russell Westbrook at the 16th pick in the first round. I'm usually always looking to get LaMarcus Aldridge (fan-favorite) but he got picked up at 15. So not sure what the logic is there as far as AI goes. You'd think a 90+ PG would be selected a little earlier than the 89ish rated PF but teams might be drafting based on some other AI variables. Kevin Garnett and some other older stars were on the table until way late in the Draft which was cool.

But it definitely has lead to some varied teams overall. I've only ran two drafts so far and have played through maybe 6 games in each season and each of the teams I've played have had different rosters than my other running season. Small sample-size but it'd be a great step-forward if there's a bit of variety each time. I recall other year's where you could do 10 different Fantasy Drafts and opposing teams would still be pretty similar in each different league since the AI would basically always pick the same players at the same spots no matter the team who's selecting.