NBA 2k19 Defensive Impressions

[jclazaris84]

Quote: Originally Posted by ch46647

2KU- Superstar- I’m really liking the feel of defense in the demo. The developers have clearly made the defensive end a priority for 2K19. My only issue is the CPU defenders play a ton of “smother” defense, even outside the three point line. Unfortunately, when an on-ball CPU defender plays “smother”, it tends to interfere with the dribble animations and can make a ball handler feel clunky. I have no problem whatsoever with the developers making the CPU on-ball defense more challenging. However, if a defender played “smother” defense on Curry or Durant outside the three-point line, it would be a blow by 95% of the time. Hopefully, the devs can find a bit more balance in the retail version, with on-ball CPU defenders giving proper space and playing the angles to cut off the ball handler. This would open up the game signifcantly and reduce the “clunkiness” of the dribbling when a CPU defender is in your jersey outside the three-point line.

this was also a big issue (to me) in 18 as well. there's no reason at all to smother unless a shooter is hot or it's late in the game. getting smothered in the first quarter is really annoying lol. it really gives u no choice but to drive and in 2k18 it was 100% every time. really wish they would tone this down to open up the jumpshot game, and just for realism's sake.

czar, could u clue us in on anything on this front? is it simply ratings based, and not ace based?

[El_Poopador]

Quote: Originally Posted by Da_Czar

This year there is a delay in AI recognition of moves and the lower the level you play on the more of a delay for AI defensive reactions. It is also scaled by the quality of the defender. So, on Pro, bad defenders are really slow to react and great defenders are better. On HOF the difference between bad and good defenders is not as wide and the top defenders are tuned to be really really quick in terms is seeing a move and reacting to it to increase difficulty. For that reason, if you want fairness, I would stay off HOF in terms of universal reaction times. So there is a range to it this year unlike years past to this degree. In that sense coming to a conclusion may be tricker to figure out without knowing the comparables of the two players involved and the difficulty level.

Is there a slider for this by chance? I like a lot of what the the higher difficulties offer, but the one thing that always bothered me was the psychic defense, specifically on ball. I’d love a way to choose which parts of HOF to keep on and which to revert to a different difficulty level.


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[Impetuous65]

I have yet to see that damn crab walk stuff on D which is great.

[2kVetRespect]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

I'll probably have to play on All-Star. Even in the prelude on Superstar I'm seeing what is way too good perimeter defense by Cedi and Tristan on KD 30 feet from the basket. Their reaction to the first step move is way too quick and precise.

Post like these are what ruin a great game out the box.

I definitely appreciate your opinion but when the game is released, more/less, the game is at a stage where devs feel the game of basketball is being appropriately portrayed.

When you have have post like these, this is why defense is generally loosened up between patch 1-2.

[strawberryshortcake]

Quote: Originally Posted by m29a

Spoiler Meanwhile I'm an offline only user and IMO 2K17 had the absolute worst AI stick/psychic on-ball d where they'd stonewall/bump you seemingly 95% of the time, even with bad defenders. And because of that it was my lowest played of all 2Ks, even after attempting slider changes. So 2K18 comes along and finally, I could use star driving players and it opened up the drive n kick game beautifully. However, I will fully agree it was too easy and good defenders weren't bumping at all like they should. But I still had fun all year even though I did have to restrain myself from abusing it like you mentioned. Spoiler It was still nice being to drive at all with elite players against often bad/mediocre defenders. So because of all that, 2K18 was by far my most played, all offline Quickplay/MyLeague. I would say a middle ground is there to be met for sure. Spoiler I certainly want good defenders to bump often and not let me drive past them. But I'd personally hate to see the return of 2K17 defense where it was all bump all the time and no driving ever allowed, again, even with bad defenders. Anyways having not played 2K19 yet (i'm a pc player), I'm confident that it has the on-ball d balanced well. I saw someone say it was more like 2K16 and that sounds fine to me personally.

EDIT: Forgot to address the initial part in bold about "restraint." Isn't that kind of a problem though, having to enforce house rules on yourself?


Note: I am a terrible 2k player. You can most likely beat me in an online match consistently. I stay away from online play.

We can always get better to improve our game, but we can't play dumber so it makes the game more challenging. Something like that. Hopefully that kind of make sense.

Spoiler

Someone who finds Veteran/All-star challenging can still learn to improve his/her game and eventually dominate. Someone who feels hall of fame is too easy can't really go up a level. They're basically stuck, playing with one eye close, falling half asleep, putting the controller down for 5 minutes while the computer does its thing, and trying to handicap themselves one way or another. Something like that. Sort, I know I'm being overdramatic.

I truly don't recall what my experience was in 2k17. But one of my biggest complaints may have been defense. On HOF, pick and roll was easy, getting pass the defender one on one I think was also easy. Again, my recollection is not the clearest, but I also stopped playing because it was too easy on Hall of Fame.

Right now, premature impression is that it is the middle ground. I'm not using and can't really abuse the blowby but it's clearly possible to still do blowbys. It's all about the sticks. People will eventually figure out how to easily do blowbys. I'm not even going out of my way to master the blowby by any means and I'm able to do it. I'm not an isolation person. Never have been.

Non-important note: My gameplan will always be player movement, passing game using 7-8 passes plus or minus per possession to get the defense chasing. My absolutely favorite mechanic in the game is the "total player control" "total icon control" or whatever it's called. Able to control off-ball offensive players, getting them to cut, using my analog stick to maneuver my off-ball offensive teammates, etc. Using those three other methods of passing, holding triangle to send the cutter, holding circle to redirect the pass, holding X and releasing it for a give and go type situation. Doing your own freelance on top of the existing freelance and using your own total control passing on top of running plays to orchestrate your own version of the playbook so to speak.

Quote: Originally Posted by 2_headedmonster

Klay is an elite Defender, and those clips show him in the playoffs getting away with an abnormal amount of contact. If you watch a quarter of an NBA game, you see a number of blow bys. I'm not saying the defense in 2K18 was perfect, but what I'm seeing so far in 19 is defense that's unrealistically physical.Part of the problem with the defense in 18 versus the computer was that it didn't give appropriate space, or try to take angles away, so often times it was easy to get a step on the computer. 2K had a feature where defense was more physical in the playoffs, then that's a feature I can get behind, but even then if I'm 40 feet from the basket, and you are nose-to-nose with my quick ball handler then there's no reason you should not get blown by. If I'm 40 feet from the basket and you are quickly running towards me, then there's no reason I shouldn't be able to go around you. That's just physics. If things like that or in the game, then it's just hand holding to quiet the complaining.

Legitimate question. Is it unreleastic because the user haven't learned the control schemes to execute a proper blowby or is it completely impossible to do? Or is it because it's simply more difficult than 2k18? We've played 2k18 for an entire year (well, I've played it for a less than 2 months cumulative time), and we've been acclimated with it's gameplay mechanics. Prelude '19 is new. I personally don't expect to dominate a week into it.

I'm still learning how to do a proper blowby. Pressing and releasing the L2 trigger, then left analog stick plus holding R2 down seems to work right now for me. Still needs practice.

But they don't have a separate defensive feature for the playoffs. That's the thing. It seems like your most concerning thing isn't really the blowby but more so about the CPU giving appropriate space and taking away angles. As it stands, with the current blowby mechanics in place, I can get with 2k19 for the entire year. It's certainly doable.

Quote: Originally Posted by loso_34

The kd blow by was bad positioning..he’d have done the same irl. In the 2nd example klay is stronger than his defender..

If my recollection is close to correct, it could be done any which way, out of position, in position, stronger, weaker, etc. etc. etc. The blowby move was my go to move when I needed a bucket, consistently is what I will say.

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2kVetRespect

Post like these are what ruin a great game out the box. I definitely appreciate your opinion but when the game is released, more/less, the game is at a stage where devs feel the game of basketball is being appropriately portrayed. When you have have post like these, this is why defense is generally loosened up between patch 1-2.

It's what you say is a great game, and if that's what you like cool, but lets not pretend that realistic and challenging are the same thing. If they keep it the same, whatever, I'll adjust sliders to fix it, but I'll call it out for what is really is, which is having the game tuned to ignore the actually ratings and ability of the players involved to create an artificial difficulty level.

Notice I said, I'll play on All-Star, not tune down SS, because I get that people are okay with that kind of design decision, I'm not. So don't worry about the challenge level being taken away for you on those higher difficulty levels.

[Kushmir]

Quote: Originally Posted by m29a

So 2K18 comes along and finally, I could use star driving players and it opened up the drive n kick game beautifully. However, I will fully agree it was too easy and good defenders weren't bumping at all like they should. But I still had fun all year even though I did have to restrain myself from abusing it like you mentioned. It was still nice being to drive at all with elite players against often bad/mediocre defenders. As a result, 2K18 was by far my most played, all offline Quickplay/MyLeague. I would say a middle ground is there to be met for sure.

We agree that there had to be changes....massive ones. IMO how you enjoy the game offline is sacred...but the larger perspective was that dribble penetration was one-size-fits-all in 2K18 and broke the PVP game. Here's 7'2" Salah Mejri (speed 45) beating a solid defender (Wilson Chandler) with 76 on-ball defensive IQ,77 lateral quickness and 67 speed off the dribble.



CAN. NOT. HAPPEN.

On a brighter note, Draymond pulled this off against Kevin Love (who was in Takeover, no less) it bodes well for 1) that mechanic not being overpowered and 2) vastly improved defensive play. I especially like the part where he was stripped after pump faking.

[The 24th Letter]

Coming off of 2K17, I loved the freedom 2K18 provided, but as far as 1v1 goes, the clean blow by was an issue because it could essentially trigger from any angle...regardless of player.

Before we ask that the defense here be loosened up in 2K19, we have to think about how we are being stopped. Are we being cheated by the D sliding into place like 2K17? Are we turboing right into a defenders chest expecting a blow by?

2K19 game reminds me a lot of 2K16 because you have to watch the defenders feet again.

See below, all these are on Hall of Fame.

https://streamable.com/20a9r

1st clip- Cedi is pretty flat footed but leaning a bit left. I take off clean right knowing he cant recover ..

2nd clip- Sexton is playing me right, I go by left cleanly...

3rd clip- You can see Cedi anticipating with his feet a couple of times, I dribble and launch based off that...

(Great help D on all these BTW)

Theres been a lot of foot planting talk lately. To me it's less about the visual coolness of every heel and toe hitting the ground and more about respecting this stuff right?