Shot blocking and other defensive moves

[IFRIEDRice]

2K8 really nailed the offense of the game of basketball (with minor things that could be smoothed out). Now it's time to get to work on the other end of the floor. The following aspects of defense could use some polishing.

1. Shot blocking... good shot blockers need to react quicker, jump higher, and/or block smarter
- Watch Dwight Howard (high jumper) and Tim Duncan (smart blocker)

2. Gamble lunging steals... risk vs reward
- Watch Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant

3. Bodying up... physical vs finesse
- Like lock on defense with more user control
- Watch Carlos Boozer (physical) and Shane Battier (finesse)

4. Way more control with post defense

[tempo]

^^ yeah i agree with what you said, bringing i ndifferent moves for defence would be dope. like being able to block without leaving the floor would be smart. I think they need to definatley bring in the ability to block from behind. this is nye on impossible in 2k8.

[Antaean]

Some of the shot blocking animations are nonsensical. They really need to improve there.

2K's NBA games always seem to lag behind their College games in terms of defense. Think I'm fooling? Grab College Hoops 2K8 and tell me that the NBA game is par.

[AntDawg]

I agree with the defense but they still need to fix the offense a lot. No more walking super slow when I'm trying to set a pick and only have 5 seconds left.....like that just messed up everything for me. Guys who come off screens are almost useless since they never get free for the most part. REALLY WATCH how Hamilton come off screens LOTS OF MOVEMENT. The passing is ridiculous too. I often see players hand the ball RIGHT TO THE DEFENDER!!! Like wtf.

[akrudy22]

Take away the blocking animations because they suck because Kobe can get blocked by Chris Paul on those dumb animations.

[garnettfan]

u right on that college hoops is the second best sports game ive ever played

[AntDawg]

Take away the blocking animations because they suck because Kobe can get blocked by Chris Paul on those dumb animations.

Yea I can't stand though forced animations.

[SyxxtySyxx]

First, College Hoops does tend to be more refined than its NBA counterpart, but that's because they have more time to refine it. It usually ships at least a month or two after the NBA game. With that extra time, they can put more polish on some of the animations, finish animations that weren't completed in time, and use feedback from the NBA game to improve the college one.

Second, I think they need to incorporate context-sensitive around-the-basket blocks. A lot of people are wanting the famous Prince blocking Reggie Miller's layup block, but I think any old trap/smash the ball off of the backboard would be great. They could even make it riskier by calling goaltending on layups that hit the glass before the block occurred (as it is in real life). Game design loves risk/reward scenarios and that would be another great addition.

As far as steals go, they should tone down the pass intercepting attempts somehow. In most games I see in 2K, people are flying around trying to intercept passes, while in real life, you may see one or two overplays during a game. Also, they need to change up the steal animations. Wade usually taps the ball away from the ball handler, runs around them, and gather the ball for a fastbreak, while Chris Paul is more of a grabber. Paul will get close to the ball handler and try to rip the ball away. You can even toss on Nocioni's slap the ball away steals where he looks like he's playing whack-a-mole with the ball handler...

/rant

[bxfinest15]

We need smoother and quicker transitions from dribble into a jumpshot, and let's get some real FG% going so people can play a 12 minute game and not score 150 every game on HOF, and not score on every trip, also there is way to many points in the paint, in the nba on an average there is only about 30-40 points in the paint, everything else is the free throw line and jumpshots. The user against the computer needs to go to the line more, the computer doesn't foul like that. Let the big men roll to the basket or contiously cut to the basket if there is a double instead of staying at the free throw line. Please get rid of big men falling to the floor or tripping up and the ball rolling out if they try to dribble, it doesn't happen in the NBA!

[pooh_wade816]

I like those ideal too as well, but they need to actually be able to show the difference in players jumpin ablilty. Well all know how high Dwight can get up there and other player as well. We see how Ron-Ron plays defense. Don't be giving vertical ratings by a 0-100 rating instead a 10-50" stat, but not really a 50" though

[2knut]

2K8 really nailed the offense of the game of basketball (with minor things that could be smoothed out). Now it's time to get to work on the other end of the floor. The following aspects of defense could use some polishing.

1. Shot blocking... good shot blockers need to react quicker, jump higher, and/or block smarter
- Watch Dwight Howard (high jumper) and Tim Duncan (smart blocker)

2. Gamble lunging steals... risk vs reward
- Watch Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant

I think this is a pretty good idea. A nice way to implement this is a diving steal executed by pressing the turbo modifier along with the steal button.

3. Bodying up... physical vs finesse
- Like lock on defense with more user control
- Watch Carlos Boozer (physical) and Shane Battier (finesse)

4. Way more control with post defense


Comments inline.

[IFRIEDRice]

Another thing I forgot for the bodying up category is FLOPPING. People flop more than just in the post. Watch Allen Iverson on every drive for a layup he does for a perfect example.

[rhebz]

YES i like this. Some people are just more ACTIVE as defenders. Bruce Bowen, Shawn Marion and guys like that tend to use different ways of distracting their opponents. And the risk vs reward aspect really needs to be looked at. If you've ever watched allen iverson play defense you'd know what i mean.

[raiderfanxx11]

Signature defense. That would be awesome. Those are great ideas that would add to this game. A lot of you guys brought out ideas I have never thought of.

[IFRIEDRice]

NBA Live was on the right track with giving people "superstar" moves with Live 06 (I think), however, they put too much emphasis on it. The NBA 2K series implemented their different "signature" stuff in a more subtle way, which was more effective.

Signature defense is an idea they could work on, but it might not exactly be something that people would recognize as individually belonging to any one player like the jumpshots. Maybe a defensive package system would be perfect.

Implementing different defense-styles would be the refreshing change in the 2K series that it has lacked since 2K4 when they took out the crouch stance button (2K7 had it in the next gen consoles, but it wasn't nearly as effective as the early 2K games).

Possible defensive styles 2K can consider if it's not too late:
- Bruce Bowen and Sasha Vujacic - pesky defensive style
- Kobe and Chris Paul - freelance / gambling defensive style
- Shane Battier and AK47 - stay down and force jump shots defensive style
- KG and Dwight - shot blocking defensive style
- Derek Fisher and Baron Davis - slap ball defensive style
And a good old "standard" defensive style

[pooh_wade816]

I just came up w/ the idea that they need some new animations on the defensive end. Like if you get a player when a low blocking rating or just too weak and they make a attempt, their body will react based upon the other player. They also need the ability to snatch a block shot off the backboard or blockin it w/ 2 hands if they come in there w/ that weak stuff

[InFLiCkStA]

i think college hoops seem to be better than nba 2k is that i think the developers use choops as a testing ground for the upcoming nba 2k. it also helps that choops comes out a lot later than nba 2k and any comments and problems are addressed in choops

[magan1027]

yes, they need 2 fix the blocking
i hate when i control josh smith and he gets 0 dunks for the game
until some point in last year, he had a block in every single game for more than a year
also, they need 2 have blocks from behind, like smith on rondo in the playoffs
i hope this all changes because of kg on the cover

[YoungCity25]

get rid of the Lock on D and just bring back the Defensive Stance button. They make lock-on D too much computer controlled. You can just hold down the left trigger without moving the analog and you'll automatically be playing "D"

[YoungCity25]

i think college hoops seem to be better than nba 2k is that i think the developers use choops as a testing ground for the upcoming nba 2k. it also helps that choops comes out a lot later than nba 2k and any comments and problems are addressed in choops

true. Too bad not enough people play Choops (online atleast).

[Ix Mr CLuTcH xI]

We need to be able to block shots agaisnt the backboard, or pin them agasint the backboard ya know? The would be amazing:D

[thesniper321]

I wanna se camby destroys a lot of layups atemps against the backboard like he uses to do lol IS IT SO HARD?

[YoungCity25]

We need to be able to block shots agaisnt the backboard, or pin them agasint the backboard ya know? The would be amazing:D

You can block shots hard against the backboard. I've done it a couple of times with Josh Smith and Carmelo Anthony on a fastbreak trailing someone behind. It mostly happens on lay-ups.

To block like that it's all about how you use turbo, the timing of your jump, and the release of the block button.

[StEpHoN_mArBuRy]

Yeah you right. Blocking shots off the backboard is already possible. I've done it once with keving garnett, once with lamarcus aldrige, and twice with greg oden.

[ibe3zy]

they should make the ai smarter
i just love how chandler likes to play d behind the backboard and do lay ups instead of jumpers