2k11: Is it too early to praise the new layups?

[Bornindamecca]

I've been playing the demo a few times a day, getting used to the isomotion(IsoAchievedtm), and I've noticed a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Layups actually MATTER now.

OS players I've played with can back me up: I loves me some sim. Love it. However, last year there was an issue with the dunking vs. the layups. It was a no contest. Dunk every time. Even though the results were unrealistic. Even though that defender should draw a foul or at least contact, go for the dunk, because the layup was much, much lower percentage, even with a highly rated player.

Now, looking at Kobe and Rondo in 2k11, we can see that the signature layups are not just pretty and seemingly totally overhauled, but effective. Players actually shoot around their defender and avoid the block with appropriate success. If Kobe or Rondo has a defender backpedaling or guessing in a one on one situation with a full head of steam, the chances of the defender getting a block or forcing a miss are pretty low. However, in 2k10, going for a layup in this situation was just foolish. There were no advantages to it. It was either floater, or dunk, if you knew what was good for you.

Believe me, I know, because I played about 350 My Player games last year. In about 15 of those games, I tried to be the good guy and say "look, my guy isn't Lebron, he shouldn't dunk this right here", and I went for the layup. Many, many times, I missed what I KNEW would be a successful dunk because the layups just weren't very good. They were slow, they made you small and the only way to consistently put it high up off of the glass was to shoot the floater(which was nice, but is also improved with some new sig animations).

Has Visual Concepts finally fixed this issue? Are layups now realistic both visually and functionally?

The demo seems to think so. If this holds up for the final game, we've taken a major step forward for sim gaming. We all love dunks, but after about four of them per player, you can't help but be reminded that you're playing a video game, especially within the half court. Against a 5 man defense, the layup is often the smartest, fastest easy shot solution when you get a clear look at the basket, and it looks like video games may have finally allowed us to hold true to that.

Oct 5th will be a holiday. A long holiday.

[Naej]

Great Post! im with you all the way!

[VDusen04]

Sounds pretty cool. Similarly, I've never had any use for the "adjust-shot" button because it only initiated out of dunk attempts. As such, there was never a need for the "adjust-shot" because I'd always rather see a gnarly dunk attempt. More times than not, it's going to be vicious.

[ABA QontrolZ]

totally agree with OP

lot of times your dunk gets blocked (luv it !) while u could have just go for the lay up and secure 2 pts.

i already took 4 days off from oct 5 to oct 8 ^^

[kazushige0001]

I was playing a little last night and the game initiated contact and Kobe threw up a little off balanced scoop shot that went in and it reminded me of what you are saying. I have to agree that the variety and versatility of layups this year really seem to be an asset. Last year there were a handful of animations that indicated in and out and the dunk was definitely a much higher percentage.

Another aspect of the game that is a nice addition, are the layup attempts that are thrown up after initiating contact and the resulting foul calls especially with someone like Kobe who routinely does that.

In general, the demo has a lot of really enjoyable basketball moments that remind me of playing the game and why I watch. In general, this game feels like a really fun satisfying basketball experience. As someone who has always favored more team oriented/non-iso type basketball, I am actually loving the isolation moves and the way they feel, it seems so wrong yet so right.

[brianyost06]

Great post, I completely agree. I hate seeing tons of dunks in the half court. It was extremely easy to have 7-8 dunks a game with Lebron or Dwight, which I understand COULD happen but I think Dwight only averaged like 3 dunks a game last season so its not very realistic for every game. One of my favorite things about Lebron is how well he finishes contact layups and how many different ways he attempts them. Hopefully this will be the case in the game, and not just him dunking on 3 people in traffic up and down the court.

[Self313]

I completely agree

so much hope for bein a pg this year

[oOausarOo]

Way too early to reach a conclusion. I'm not hopeful this will be a factor user vs. user. This dunks vs. layups issue has been a significant problem ever since I started playing 2k games. In the past there have been too many situations where you are rewarded for attempting a dunk when you had no business doing so.