For the Roster Editors

[Red Kafe]

Thought this might be some help it was posted by Ryan Fitzmagic : This is mostly for roster editors who might have some trouble figuring out which tendencies do what, how ratings impact the game, etc. I think this will help out the board as a whole since we can use our combined wisdom to understand the game better.

I left out tendencies that are self-explanatory (Drive Right, all the dribble moves, Use/Set Pick, etc.)

If you feel as if any of my descriptions are inaccurate or you know of the ones I'm unsure of, feel free to speak up.

Also, underlined means that this tendency/slider/rating was not in NBA 2K12.

NOTE: One question I have is this-- which tendency or tendencies dictate how often a CPU player shoots Escape Dribble Pull-Ups? I'd really like to know since I'm having trouble with certain players doing it too much.

Individual Tendencies:

Shot Tendency: I've heard conflicting reports that this affects simulated stats only, and that it affects gameplay (both, obviously, in regards to how often a given player will look to shoot).

Shot Inside, Close, Mid-Range, 3PT: All dictate how often a player will shoot from a given range. "Inside" means in the paint, in or right outside of the restricted area, "Close" refers to 3-9 feet and "Mid-Range" being 10-23 feet.

A higher Inside/Close tendency will make a player less likely to pull up for mid-range jumpers, and the inverse (a high Mid-Range/3PT tendency with low Inside/Close tendencies) will make a player less likely to attempt to get to the rim.

Putbacks: Dictates how often a player will attempt a putback dunk/layup, how often a player will go back up after an offensive rebound under the basket, or both. Not sure.

Drive The Lane: I've heard both that this an on-ball and an off-ball tendency that dictates how often a player will attempt to get to the basket. I'm not sure which is correct. I'm inclined to believe that this is an off-ball tendency.

Pull-Up: Determines how often a player will pull up for jumpers as opposed to trying to get all the way to the basket. May also cause a player to shoot floaters as opposed to layups at the rim.

Triple Threat: Tendency to use triple-threat moves (jab steps, etc.)
No Triple Threat: Tendency to avoid using triple-threat moves (has the most weight in how often a CPU player will utilize triple-threat moves)
Triple Threat Shot: Tendency to shoot from the triple-threat without dribbling. May also cause players to utilize escape dribble pull-ups from the triple threat. I've also been told that this makes players more willing to shoot jumpers immediately when they catch the ball in or near their range.

Straight Dribble: Tendency to set up a drive without a sizeup or hesitation move.
Hesitation: Tendency to set up a drive using a hesitation move

Simple Drive: Tendency to drive to the basket without performing any dribble moves (crossovers, isomotion spins, etc.)

Attack: Dictates how often a player will attempt to get to the rim with the ball.
Pass Out: Determines how often a player attempts a pass instead of a shot on a drive to the basket

Draw Foul: I believe this dictates how often a player will get a foul called in his favor on a drive to the basket. Not positive, however. May also affect how often a player seeks out contact on layups.
Step Through: Tendency to use a pump fake and then "step through" for an up-and-under shot. Not sure if this makes them pump fake more or if it's solely determined by the "Pump Fake" tendency.

Leave Post: I've heard that this tendency dictates how willing a player is to pass from the post, as well as how often he disengages from the "Back to basket" animation
Back Down: I believe the higher this tendency is, the more likely a player is to try to back his defender all the way to the basket. For example, a player with a 10 "Back Down" would only give his defender one or two bumps and then go into his move, whereas a player with 90 "Back Down" will try to push his opponent all the way under the rim.

Commit Foul: Not sure if this dictates how often a player gets fouls called against him or if it triggers different animations depending on the value of the tendency.

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Ratings:

Shot Inside: Affects success at shooting when standing still under the rim.
Shot Close: Affects success when shooting from 3-9 feet, whether on the move or from a standstill
Shot Medium: Affects success when shooting from 10-23 feet, whether on the move or from a standstill

Layup: Affects success on driving non-dunks at the basket. Also determines how difficult a layup a player can perform (i.e., circus shots, double clutch layups, reverses, etc.)

Dunk: Determines how much open space a player needs to dunk (the higher, the less space needed). Raising this rating makes a player more likely to be able to dunk in a crowd.

Shoot In Traffic: Affects a player's ability to shoot over players taller than he is on the inside, as well as being able to finish layups/floaters in a crowd.

Ball Security: Raising this tendency makes a player less likely to be able to be stripped by a defender.

Offensive Awareness: Affects court vision (i.e., seeing/not seeing an open player), as well as ability to escape double-teams and react to loose basketballs on the floor.

Defensive Awareness: Determines how intelligent a player is on defense. Affects ability to react to driving ballhandlers, rotate defensively, and switch at the right time(s).

Strength: Affects ability to back down opposing players, and may also determine how successful a player is at finishing a contact layup over a given defender (along with "Layup" rating).

Potential: Affects development and growth in Association Mode. The higher the rating, the better the player could potentially become.

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Sliders:

Dunk Success: How often dunks are made/missed. Does NOT determine how often a player CAN dunk. Only if said dunks are made/missed.
Dunk in Traffic Success: Affects "poster" dunks or borderline poster dunks. Lowering this slider makes contact dunks and such less likely to go in.

Driving Contact Shot Frequency: How often a contact animation will trigger when a player drives to the basket and shoots with a defender in the area.
Inside Shot Contact Frequency: Same as above, except only affects standstill shots from under the basket.

Layup Defense Strength (Takeoff): Not sure what this tendency does yet. My instinct is that this determines how close a defender has to be, just before the ballhandler shoots, to affect the chances of a layup going in.
Layup Defense Strength (Release): Same as above. This may be the same as above, only regarding defender proximity as the ballhandler is shooting (instead of before he shoots)

Jump Shot Defense Strength (Gather): Not positive, but I assume that this employs the same "Defender proximity" logic as above, this slider being for jumpers just before the shot is taken
Jump Shot Defense Strength (Release): Same as above, with the only difference being that this is for the time during which the ballhandler is shooting instead of just before he shoots

Steal/Steal Success: I have no idea what the difference between these two sliders is.

Quickness: Affects players' ability to move quickly around the court (changing direction and such).

Vertical: Affects players' ability to jump. I've noticed that raising this slider by about 20 or 30 for the CPU will make shot-blockers much more capable of blocking shots powerfully (do so, and play the Thunder or Magic; Dwight/Ibaka should look closer to their real-life incarnations).

Dunking Ability: Identical to the "Dunk" rating. Determines how much open space a player needs to dunk (the higher, the less space needed). Raising this rating makes a player more likely to be able to dunk in a crowd.

Defensive Awareness: Identical to the "Defensive Awareness" rating. As well (same as the rating), it may affect how much of an effect a shot contest has on a shooter. If the slider/rating is lowered, then shooters will be able to make contested shots at a higher rate. May also dictate how willing the CPU is to shoot contested shots.

Look For Post Players: I believe this only affects the CPU when freelancing.

Attempt Dunks: Not sure what the difference between this and the "Dunk Ability" slider is. Maybe lowering this makes the CPU choose not to dunk in situations when they could dunk if they decided to.

Backdoor Cuts: May affect how often the CPU cuts to the basket when off the ball (similar to the "Drive the Lane" tendency if it is indeed a strictly off-ball tendency)

Foul Sliders: I'm still not positive if raising the foul sliders for the CPU/User respectively makes them (CPU or user) more likely to receive or commit those fouls.

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Coach Sliders:

Offensive Tempo: Determines how quickly an offense executes. At 100, the players will immediately attempt to score, whereas at 0, the CPU will be more patient.

I've also heard that this dictates ball movement in an offensive set, but I have not seen that.

Defensive Pressure: Affects how tightly a team will play the offense. The higher the slider, the more aggressively they'll close out on shooters, play passing lanes, etc. May also mean they rotate quicker-- not sure how this and the below slider work with one another.
Help Defense: Affects how quickly a team will rotate to a driving ballhandler, and also how well they'll "Help the helper" in appropriate situations. Also affects how strongly they pack the paint on penetration.

Bench Depth: As far as I know, only affects simulated stats and not gameplay.

Size - Speed, Athleticism - Skill, Offense - Defense, Guards - Forwards, Inside - Outside: I believe these coach sliders only determine how a team will draft (i.e., which type of players they'll seek out).