Running another test, this time on default sliders. I will be giving play by play of the entire first quarter so that will include the missed shots.
Anthony Randolph isolates on Aldridge, drives for a sweeping hook and gets fouled.
Blazers are running a play. Roy receives a pass, Amare tries to intercept and misses, so Roy gives it to open Aldridge for a short jumper.
While Aldridge is shooting that shot, Amare starts cheating out, backpedaling instead of going for a rebound (CPU surely knows the shot was going in). He's at the 3pt line when Aldridge's shot goes in. Randolph picks it up to inbound. At this point Amare is at the half court line on the right side of the court while the closest person is Oden at the 3pt line. Aldridge, who is supposed to be guarding Amare, is now at the elbow on the left side of the court (approximately 35 feet away from each other). Felton takes a couple dribbles, and passes to the open Amare. At this point, Amare is at the 3pt line with nobody within 20 feet of him. Amare catches the ball at the inner circle. Aldridge is actually the closest player as he sprinted back to catch Amare, but its just to watch Amare thorw down the dunk. Had Oden sprinted back, he could have contested, but he was too busy back pedaling until half-court. The funny thing is Oden was actually pointing to his teammates about Amare ... while still continuing to back pedal from the 3pt line to the half court line... finally turning around to run after he passed the Knicks logo.
Aldridge posts up Amare. Hook goes in. Oh boy.
Randolph post fade on Oden. Contested, it misses.
Aldridge comes down and is calling for the ball in the post because Felton is on him. He gets it AND THE KNICKS ACTUALLY DOUBLE! Aldridge gives it back to Miller, and tries to re-post but the pass back to LMA is stolen by Felton.
Amare is trying to Iso on Aldridge but can't. He briefly posts on the left elbow, sees a double coming and gives back to Randolph, who drills an open 18 footer.
Miller isolates on Felton, gets some space and drills a turnaround jumper on the wing.
Gallo gives to Randolph, who fakes left and goes right for a wing jumper that may or may not have been contested by 3 defenders in the vicinity. It misses.
Roy comes off a screen to miss a shot that was mildly contested by Gallinari.
Amare and Randolph actually run a pick and roll (this is one of NY's plays) but it doesn't work. Felton gets the ball and drives by a flat footed Miller. Oden is too late to block and Felton scores.
Miller isolates and throws a risky pass to Aldridge on the block. Amare is out of position so Aldridge has an Inside shot coming, but Randolph rotates overand blocks the shot. OH MY GOD! ALDRIDGE MISSED A SHOT! (Let's see if he'll miss a non-blocked shot now)
Gallinari is being guarded by Aldridge on the 3pt elbow. Felton walks up to Aldridge and Gallinari cuts. Felton wraps a pass around Aldridge to Gallo who is now wide open from 20 feet. Rather than pull up, Gallo attacks the basket and is fouled.
Miller gives it to Batum on the elbow who pulls up for a three that misses.
Chandler isolates, drives on Roy, goes up for a dunk, but it's contested (or blocked) by Camby and it misses.
Aldridge posting up again. For some reason Randolph decides he should enter "Draw Charge" stance. Aldridge hooks it in like usual.
Felton brings it up, drives to the right elbow and takes an off balance drifter from 17 feet that ends up being contested by Batum because Felton practically drove into Gallinari on the shot. Randolph grabs the offensive board though, goes up underneath and gets fouled.
Roy is at top of arch and gives it to Aldridge about 20 feet from basket. He's essentially doubled though, and Chandler swipes at the ball, knocking it away.
Amare picks up the ball and leads the fast break himself (thanks to my nifty speed ratings). Amare drives to the hoop and Aldridge tries to contest the shot (really should have tried to draw the charge though since he had position), and picks up his second foul.
Roy basically dribbles around the court before hitting a mid-range turnaround on Chandler.
Amare drives into traffic but kicks out to Felton. Felton swings it to Randolph for a jumper at the top of the key.
Dante Cunningham catches the ball on the block. Yep, Blazers are still running the same post sets with Aldridge out of the game. He goes up with some contact on Amare and draws a foul.
Gallinari dribbles around before taking an off-balance shot. It misses. Randolph SKIES for one of the more impressive putback dunks I've ever seen. Kudos to Camby for not boxing out.
More of Roy dribbling around trying to make things happen. Keep in mind he runs Pick & Roll on about 33% of his possessions in real life. Felton starts doubling him as he's backpedaling away from the basket on a failed drive. Miller rotates to 3pt wing, Roy hits him, Miller drives with ease to the basket for a reverse layup.
New York calls timeout. Turiaf and Mozgov sub in for Amare and Randolph. What??? Theres 6 minutes to go in the quarter!
Chandler isolates, drives on Roy for a layup, draws a 2nd foul on Roy.
Still waiting for the Knicks to attempt a three, by the way.
Right on cue, Andre Miller takes an iso three on Felton. *Groan*
As if hearing my plea, Chandler comes off a screen and takes a three. Actually, scratch that. Chandler is just wide open. Blazers look like they're playing zone. Chandler kinda comes off a Mozgov screen but was really just wide open. Anyway, he misses the shot, because his name isn't Danilo Gallinari (the actual guy this play gets called for).
By the way, in case you couldn't tell, the Portland offense is extremely disjointed with Roy and Aldridge out of the game. Miller drives and is doubled, kicks it out to open Wes Matthews for a missed three.
Still waiting for either team to run a P/R. We saw one with Amare/Randolph. How about a PG take charge? These teams are both P/R heavy. But no, instead we see Turiaf posting up Batum for (what else?) a hook shot that goes in.
Miller and Matthews spend the entire shot clock playing catch. Matthews decides that with 4 seconds left we should give it to Batum for a contested wing jumper. Miller inexplicably skies over Ronny Turiaf (CAN WE GET A ****ING BOX OUT TENDENCY 2K!?) for an offensive rebound, goes up, and gets goaltending from Mozgov.
Gallinari comes off an unintentional Felton pick and misses a three. This time it's Mozgov's turn to sky over Camby for an offensive board. He takes a roll shot and draws a foul on Camby - his 2nd foul as well.
Honestly I didn't even pay attention on Portland's next possession. I was thinking about how I should just start doing this on Youtube to avoid carpal tunnel.
Gallinari catches ball on 3pt wing. Wide open. Doesn't go up for shot. Drives by Batum, who is rotating like ASS for someone who is supposed to be a defensive stopper. Anyway Gallo drove literally from the right 3pt wing to the left block, getting fouled on a layup attempt by Batum. And one.
Douglas, Walker, Amare sub in for Felton, Chandler, Mozgov. Knicks now have 13 FTA to Portland's 2, btw.
Wesley Matthews dribbling around now. Ends up kicking to Greg Oden for a mid-range jumper. Swish.
Another PF/C pick and roll with Amare. He pulls up for an elbow jumper off the glass.
Now Oden is getting the post treatment. He goes up for a hook that Turiaf contests.
Gallinari makes a dumb pass that Portland nearly intercepts. Douglas recovers, gives it to Walker who jacks up a three that misses. Amare grabs the offensive board and lays it in
Blazers actually run pick and roll with Matthews and Oden. Turiaf doubles Matthews while Oden cuts to basket. Matthews hits Batum who hits Oden for a dunk. Idiot defensive play but at least we finally saw something that resembled Portlands offense.
Gallinari pulls up off dribble for a three that misses. Turiaf grabs the offensive board (what a surprise, eh?) and puts in a shot.
Portland can't get anything going on offense. Matthews gives it to Oden for a contested 17 footer with the clock running down. If this shot went in I would have sent back my game.
Gallinari cuts to the 3pt line for an open look. He misses again. Amare grabs ANOTHER offensive board but this time isn't in position for an open layup. Knicks reset. Douglas tries to run some type of give and go with Turiaf. The pass is EASILY intercepted and should not have been attempted in the first place.
Toney Douglas gets caught on a screen, and Andre Miller swishes a three pointer. His 3rd attempt of the QUARTER by the way.
Final play of the quarter. Douglas just dribbles around before taking a contested mid-range shot that misses. Thank god it's over.
KNICKS
Pts: 29
FG: 10-21 (47%)
3PT: 0-4 (0%)
FT: 9-13 (69%)
Ast: 4
TO: 1
Fls: 1
Reb: 13 (6 Off)
Stl: 2
Blk: 1
PIP: 14
BP: 5
2C: 6
FB: 0 (Amare cherry picking doesn't count apparently).
Randolph: 9 pts, 2 OffReb, 3-5 FG, 3-4 FT, 7 mins
Amare: 7 pts, 2 OffReb, 3-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 10 mins
Turiaf: 4 pts, 1 OffReb, 2-2 FG
Gallinari: 4 pts, 1-5 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-3 3PT
Chandler: 2 pts, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT
Felton: 2 pts, 2 ast, 1-2 FG
Mozgov: 1 pt, 1 OffReb, 1-2 FT
Walker: 0-1 FG, 0-1 3PT
Douglas: 0-1 FG
BLAZERS
Pts: 23
FG: 10-19 (52%)
3PT: 1-4 (25%)
FT: 2-2 (100%)
Ast: 6
TO: 2
Fls: 7
Reb: 6 (1 Off)
Stl: 1
Blk: 0
PIP: 12
BP: 2
2C: 2
FB: 0
One of the league's top rebounding teams was just killed 5-6 on their defensive glass.
Miller: 9 pts, 1 ast, 4-5 FG, 1-2 3PT, 12 mins
Aldridge: 6 pts, 3-4 FG, 2 fouls, 5 mins
Oden: 4 pts, 2-4 FG, 8 mins
Roy: 2 pts, 2 ast, 1-2 FG, 2 fouls, 7 mins
Cunnningham: 2 pts (2-2 FT)
Batum: 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, 12 mins
Matthews: 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, 6 mins
Camby: 2 fouls, 5 mins
Small sample, but it's still more of the same. Amare/Randolph causing havoc while Aldridge can't be stopped until this duo puts him into foul trouble five minutes into the game (as it did last time). I would say the game is currently playing less realistically than 2K10, but the brightside is there is significantly more upside. Right off the bat it seems like the team tendencies need some major tweaking, or perhaps even their playbooks, because teams are just not running pick and roll nearly as much as they really do.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Extremely concerning CPU sim results
EDIT: Woah, it just occurred to me that I forgot to mention one thing - during game settings you're allowed to select "Game Style" which I change the sliders. I changed the style from "Default" to "Simulation" thinking I'd get better results. There is also an option for "Casual". Looks like I'm going to need to test this on multiple slider sets to see if anything changes, because what follows is completely unacceptable (especially since I was supposed to be on the Sim setting!).
EDIT#2 - Upon review, "Simulation" slider set is the problem. DO NOT USE IT!
OFFENSE: Shot success is lower (5-8 pts) across the board.
DEFENSE: Driving/Inside contact goes from 50 to 100! While steal success goes from 50 to 25! What the hell are these idiots thinking? No wonder the bigs were having a field day!
ATTRIBUTES: No change except +20 On-Ball Defense and -15 Clutch Factor
TENDENCIES: +30 Look for Post Players, -45 Go for On Ball Steals
FOULS: +20 for Charge/Block/Reach, +8 Over Back, +5 Shooting Foul
Simulation slider set WILL NOT provide simulations. I can stop panicking now. At least we know now that the style is totally and utterly broken. Here's my original post.
----------------------------------------------------
I let the CPU battle each other out on Hall of Fame while I took a nap. I awoke to find results I never quite expected - especially with all the glowing gameplay reviews this game has gotten.
BLAZERS
Points: 132
FG: 47-84 (55%)
3PT: 4-12 (33%)
FT: 34-42 (80%)
Assists: 21
Turnovers: 2
Fouls: 30
Rebounds: 39 (11 Off)
Steals: 7
Blocks: 5
Paint Pts: 40
Bench Pts: 22
2nd Chance: 8
Fast Break: 4
KNICKS
Points: 127
FG: 40-77 (51%)
3PT: 3-10 (30%)
FT: 44-49 (89%)
Assists: 28
Turnovers: 7
Fouls: 24
Rebounds: 30 (7 Off)
Steals: 1
Blocks: 8
Paint Pts: 50
Bench Pts: 13
2nd Chance: 10
Fast Break: 10
2K really spent time on the physics of the game, and players have no trouble at all drawing fouls now. However, a number of problems stem from this.
1. Shots still go in way too frequently, and this is driving up the score immensely! I can tolerate NY being a poor defensive team, but Portland?
2. While the Points in Paint were low in relation to the score, this is because most forays into the paint led to the FT line! The CPU is still paint pounding you to death and it remains to be seen whether this is a player tendency issue or a team tendency issue at this point (I have yet to adjust either). There were simply way too many FTA compared to FGA.
3. Forget FTA to FGA, how about FTA compared to 3PT!? The Knicks barely got to the line last year, and while they now have Amare/Randolph, they are still going to launch more than 10 threes per game! Only 13% of their shots were threes in this game, compared to 30% for their season (2nd in the league) last year.
4. What's REALLY scary about all of this is I lowered shot ratings (including Inside shot) for most players. I shudder to think of what would have happened if I didn't.
5. Another less pressing issue but still a concern: TURNOVERS! There were barely any turnovers for either team! It seems the improved defensive AI only applies towards human players (which confirms we were right about it being a "cheese factor".
6. Actually, on second thought, lack of turnovers might be the problem! There were only 9 turnovers in this game despite the fact that both teams recorded well over 100 possessions. They did ANYTHING THEY WANTED on offense with little resistance from the supposedly improved defense.
BLAZERS BOX: Pts-Reb-Ast-Stl-Blk (FG, 3PT, FT) Mins-TO-Fls
Oden: 18-14-2-3-3 (8-9 FG, 2-2 FT) 35-1-4
Aldridge: 35-2-6-0-0 (12-12 FG, 11-15 FT) 23-0-6
Batum: 3-1-0-0-0 (1-2 FG, 1-2 3PT, 0-2 FT) 17-0-5
Roy: 35-2-6-0-0 (13-25 FG, 3-3 3PT, 6-7 FT) 39-0-4
Miller: 19-2-4-3-0 (5-11 FG, 0-1 3PT, 9-10 FT) 34-0-3
Bench
Camby: 4-7-2-0-1 (2-8 FG), 26-0-2
Matthews: 6-1-1-0-0 (1-6 FG, 0-3 3PT, 4-4 FT) 23-0-2
Bayless: 2-1-2-1-0 (1-4 FG, 0-3 3PT) 22-1-0
Cunningham: 4-3-1-0-0-0 (2-4 FG, 0-2 FT) 14-0-3
Pendergraph: 2-1-0-0-0 (0-0 FG, 2-2 FT) 5-0-1
Babbitt: 2-1-0-0-0 (1-1 FG) 4-0-0
Williams: 2-0-2-0-0 (1-2 FG) 3-0-0
I cursed when I saw Aldridge's FG success... and then just shook my head when I saw he scored 35 points in a mere 23 minutes. That he fouled out is of no consequence to me. He was on pace for a 52 point game. Between he and Greg Oden (who was named Player of the Game) they combined for 53 points on 20-21 FG and 19-24 FT. Oh, and one turnover between them. That is simply inexcusable. I feel like I'm looking at a box score from 1963, with LaMarcus Aldridge starring as Wilt Chamberlain. Except Wilt never fouled out of a game in his life, of course.
But wait, there's moreeeeeeeeee!
KNICKS BOX: Pts-Reb-Ast-Stl-Blk (FG, 3PT, FT) Mins-TO-Fls
Randolph: 34-10-1-1-2 (12-20 FG, 10-12 FT) 38-0-3
Stoudemire: 48-6-3-0-1 (16-20 FG, 16-17 FT) 31-1-5
Gallinari: 12-2-2-0-1-0 (4-7 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4-4 FT) 36-0-4
Chandler: 16-1-3-0-0 (3-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, 9-10 FT) 35-2-2
Felton: 4-1-12-0-0 (2-7 FG, 0-1 3PT) 33-3-5
Bench
Douglas: 10-1-3-0-0 (2-4 FG, 2-2 3PT, 4-4 FT) 20-1-0
Walker: 2-0-2-0-0 (1-8 FG, 0-4 3PT) 16-0-1
Turiaf: 1-4-0-0-3 (0-3 FG, 1-2 FT) 15-0-3
Mozgov: 0-3-2-0-0 (0-1 FG) 11-0-1
Mason: 0-1-0-0-0 (0-0 FG) 5-0-0
Ewing: 0-1-0-0-1 (0-3 FG) 5-0-0
Rautins: DNP
I can't form the words.
I knew when writing this up that Amare scored 48. I didn't see 31 minutes. Holy ****.
This game is broken.
I'm calm. Okay, scratch that. What the ****?
ANTHONY RANDOLPH JUST DROPPED 34 ****ING POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doubt begins to settle into my mind. Am I doing the right thing? Am I screwing the gameplay up with my ratings edits? No. There's no way. We've seen these stats before. In every NBA 2K game there has been to date. There are still so many BS animations around the hoop that lead to uncontested shots, and too many dunks around the basket that should never be happening.
I need to dig deeper. Let's go to GameTrack.
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
1st Quarter
10:58 - Aldridge posts Amare, draws contact, hangs, and puts the shot in and the foul. Hits the 10:58 - Made FT
9:21 - Aldridge posting Amare from 20 feet away. Miller and Felton are congested, right next to them. Aldridge goes up for a 20 foot turnaround fadeaway. Miller goes around Aldridge, which causes Felton to get in front of Amare. Both Felton and Amare contest the shot, though Felton was essentially in between Aldridge and Amare (perhaps leading to Amare's defense not counting, and the "Post shot" being uncontested. (I would upload a photo, but 2K Sports server is not available at this time. Groovy.)
8:28 - Made FT (Aldridge scored the Blazers first 6 points of the quarter, but with Dante Cunningham scoring at 6:39, it's clear Aldridge was in foul trouble at this point.
2nd Quarter
11:50 - Made FT
11:50 - Made FT
10:53 - Made FT
10:11 - Made FT - Okay so to open the 2nd quarter Aldridge drew 3 shooting fouls in 2 mins
9:36 - Aldridge posting on Amare. Aldridge faces up and goes up for the jumper. Amare contests EXTREMELY late, not even jumping until the ball is 10 feet directly over his head.
8:59 - Aldridge posts Amare again. Hook shot that the CPU offers little resistance towards. You all know exactly what that looks like by now.
3rd Quarter
11:46 - Aldridge posting on Amare. Faces up, goes up for the jumper with the exact same result as before (a late contest by Amare). Amare might as well not even be defending him, and that's exactly why all these shots are going in - the CPU is putting zero effort into their defense.
10:39 - This one seems to be a diagrammed play. Aldridge runs from the left elbow to the right elbow, catches a pass from Miller, and pulls up for a jumper. Amare contests late and the shot goes in.
9:29 - Aldridge posting Amare again on the block. Aldridge goes for a turning fade. Amare kinda contests this one, putting his hand up flat flooted, but it sure doesn't bother Aldridge in the slightest.
8:55 - Roy drive and kick to Aldridge for an open jumper.
7:56 - Roy pulls up for a jumper. Chandler contests. For some reason, Amare is 10 feet away but he's contesting too. The shot was actually a pass to Aldridge though. Maybe Amare was trying to deflect the pass... but he wasn't even close to it. Aldridge hits an easy jumper.
6:17 - Made FT
6:17 - Made FT
5:42 - Another post hook on Amare. He might as well be 6'2".
5:10 - Made FT
5:10 - Made FT
4th Quarter
8:26 - Post hook on Anthony Randolph (a new victim!). Randolph actually defends it pretty well and in real life Aldridge likely misses the shot - he shot it lefty. Btw, I'm still trying to figure out the point of "Off-Hand Dribble" rating if there is no "Off-Hand Shot" rating.
7:55 - Aldridge posting Patrick Ewing Jr (who is getting 4th quarter minutes in a tightly contested game, for some reason). This can't be good. Yup, post fadeaway on the much smaller Ewing.
2:49 - Made FT
Aldridge did the vast majority of his damage in this post, pulling off moves against a helpless like he was Hakeem Olajuwon.
Here are the ratings changes I made to Aldridge that would affect this part of his game.
-2 Inside
+2 Medium
-4 LPS
-2 PostOff
-5 SOD
-12 SIT
-6 OffAwr
That's what's scary about this. The changes I made were actually nerfing Aldridge! The problem wasn't that his ratings were too high - it's that so many of his shots were completely indefensible! This isn't a ratings issue - it's one that needs to be forwarded to the gameplay department. Sure, we could continue to nerf his post game, (and based on how utterly dominant it was we might have to - for ALL players), but there are major issues regarding animations and defense regarding the post.
There is one light at the end of the tunnel though - while posting up may be broken, we CAN limit them with proper tendencies.
For instance, if you'll notice, Aldridge scored primarily from postups... but never once on an Isolation or a Pick and Roll. Synergy showed me that while Aldridge does most of his scoring on postups, his second most frequent form of scoring (25%) comes from the Pick and Roll 25%.
An examination of Aldridge's tendencies provides us with some insight.
Aldridge Tendencies (Difference from the PF average)
Shot: 71 (+8)
Inside: 46 (-11)
Close: 38 (+17)
Mid: 40 (+16)
2pt: 2 (-5)
Drive: 10 (-23)
Dunk: 75 (+23)
Touch: 80 (+19)
Putback: 67 (-4)
Nothing out of the ordinary here. Not sure if Touch tendency is too high or not, would need to make some comparisons. Lets continue to Aldridge's Freelance tendencies.
Use P/R: 5 (-3)
Set P/R: 95 (+12)
Isolation: 99 (+50)
Use Screen: 35 (+12)
Set Screen: 55 (-6)
Post Up: 99 (+33)
Spot Up: 10 (-16)
Kinda odd that Aldridge didn't Isolate at all since the tendency is just as high as his post ups. Ditto for the P/R's. Clearly there's another factor, perhaps a team tendency (such as "Look for Post Players"). However, I think I found the culprit just below.
Self Post: 84 (+49)
WOAH! Have we got a game breaker and a half here or what!? The average starting PF has 35 Self -Post. The average starting C has 21 Self-Post. Aldridge has a whopping 84! Combined with that 99 Post-Up tendency, it's no wonder Aldridge spent the entire game posting up.
So perhaps this game is fixable. It's going to take a ton of work, but I think I'm up to the task. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to work on tendencies this year, praying that 2K had fixed it's tendencies from last season since they prided themselves on adding so many more of them... but that doesn't seem to be the case. Fortunately... the majority of the tendencies they added were merely cosmetic, not the ones that affect gameplay... my Synergy work SHOULD transfer over seamlessly.
It's going to be a longer season than I thought. Fortunately, I'm much further ahead of schedule than I was last season. I will change some tendencies around and run another simulation of this matchup.
Besides that, I will also be releasing my first roster tonight. Keep your eyes peeled.
~Rashidi
The Real 2K Insider
EDIT#2 - Upon review, "Simulation" slider set is the problem. DO NOT USE IT!
OFFENSE: Shot success is lower (5-8 pts) across the board.
DEFENSE: Driving/Inside contact goes from 50 to 100! While steal success goes from 50 to 25! What the hell are these idiots thinking? No wonder the bigs were having a field day!
ATTRIBUTES: No change except +20 On-Ball Defense and -15 Clutch Factor
TENDENCIES: +30 Look for Post Players, -45 Go for On Ball Steals
FOULS: +20 for Charge/Block/Reach, +8 Over Back, +5 Shooting Foul
Simulation slider set WILL NOT provide simulations. I can stop panicking now. At least we know now that the style is totally and utterly broken. Here's my original post.
----------------------------------------------------
I let the CPU battle each other out on Hall of Fame while I took a nap. I awoke to find results I never quite expected - especially with all the glowing gameplay reviews this game has gotten.
BLAZERS
Points: 132
FG: 47-84 (55%)
3PT: 4-12 (33%)
FT: 34-42 (80%)
Assists: 21
Turnovers: 2
Fouls: 30
Rebounds: 39 (11 Off)
Steals: 7
Blocks: 5
Paint Pts: 40
Bench Pts: 22
2nd Chance: 8
Fast Break: 4
KNICKS
Points: 127
FG: 40-77 (51%)
3PT: 3-10 (30%)
FT: 44-49 (89%)
Assists: 28
Turnovers: 7
Fouls: 24
Rebounds: 30 (7 Off)
Steals: 1
Blocks: 8
Paint Pts: 50
Bench Pts: 13
2nd Chance: 10
Fast Break: 10
2K really spent time on the physics of the game, and players have no trouble at all drawing fouls now. However, a number of problems stem from this.
1. Shots still go in way too frequently, and this is driving up the score immensely! I can tolerate NY being a poor defensive team, but Portland?
2. While the Points in Paint were low in relation to the score, this is because most forays into the paint led to the FT line! The CPU is still paint pounding you to death and it remains to be seen whether this is a player tendency issue or a team tendency issue at this point (I have yet to adjust either). There were simply way too many FTA compared to FGA.
3. Forget FTA to FGA, how about FTA compared to 3PT!? The Knicks barely got to the line last year, and while they now have Amare/Randolph, they are still going to launch more than 10 threes per game! Only 13% of their shots were threes in this game, compared to 30% for their season (2nd in the league) last year.
4. What's REALLY scary about all of this is I lowered shot ratings (including Inside shot) for most players. I shudder to think of what would have happened if I didn't.
5. Another less pressing issue but still a concern: TURNOVERS! There were barely any turnovers for either team! It seems the improved defensive AI only applies towards human players (which confirms we were right about it being a "cheese factor".
6. Actually, on second thought, lack of turnovers might be the problem! There were only 9 turnovers in this game despite the fact that both teams recorded well over 100 possessions. They did ANYTHING THEY WANTED on offense with little resistance from the supposedly improved defense.
BLAZERS BOX: Pts-Reb-Ast-Stl-Blk (FG, 3PT, FT) Mins-TO-Fls
Oden: 18-14-2-3-3 (8-9 FG, 2-2 FT) 35-1-4
Aldridge: 35-2-6-0-0 (12-12 FG, 11-15 FT) 23-0-6
Batum: 3-1-0-0-0 (1-2 FG, 1-2 3PT, 0-2 FT) 17-0-5
Roy: 35-2-6-0-0 (13-25 FG, 3-3 3PT, 6-7 FT) 39-0-4
Miller: 19-2-4-3-0 (5-11 FG, 0-1 3PT, 9-10 FT) 34-0-3
Bench
Camby: 4-7-2-0-1 (2-8 FG), 26-0-2
Matthews: 6-1-1-0-0 (1-6 FG, 0-3 3PT, 4-4 FT) 23-0-2
Bayless: 2-1-2-1-0 (1-4 FG, 0-3 3PT) 22-1-0
Cunningham: 4-3-1-0-0-0 (2-4 FG, 0-2 FT) 14-0-3
Pendergraph: 2-1-0-0-0 (0-0 FG, 2-2 FT) 5-0-1
Babbitt: 2-1-0-0-0 (1-1 FG) 4-0-0
Williams: 2-0-2-0-0 (1-2 FG) 3-0-0
I cursed when I saw Aldridge's FG success... and then just shook my head when I saw he scored 35 points in a mere 23 minutes. That he fouled out is of no consequence to me. He was on pace for a 52 point game. Between he and Greg Oden (who was named Player of the Game) they combined for 53 points on 20-21 FG and 19-24 FT. Oh, and one turnover between them. That is simply inexcusable. I feel like I'm looking at a box score from 1963, with LaMarcus Aldridge starring as Wilt Chamberlain. Except Wilt never fouled out of a game in his life, of course.
But wait, there's moreeeeeeeeee!
KNICKS BOX: Pts-Reb-Ast-Stl-Blk (FG, 3PT, FT) Mins-TO-Fls
Randolph: 34-10-1-1-2 (12-20 FG, 10-12 FT) 38-0-3
Stoudemire: 48-6-3-0-1 (16-20 FG, 16-17 FT) 31-1-5
Gallinari: 12-2-2-0-1-0 (4-7 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4-4 FT) 36-0-4
Chandler: 16-1-3-0-0 (3-4 FG, 1-2 3PT, 9-10 FT) 35-2-2
Felton: 4-1-12-0-0 (2-7 FG, 0-1 3PT) 33-3-5
Bench
Douglas: 10-1-3-0-0 (2-4 FG, 2-2 3PT, 4-4 FT) 20-1-0
Walker: 2-0-2-0-0 (1-8 FG, 0-4 3PT) 16-0-1
Turiaf: 1-4-0-0-3 (0-3 FG, 1-2 FT) 15-0-3
Mozgov: 0-3-2-0-0 (0-1 FG) 11-0-1
Mason: 0-1-0-0-0 (0-0 FG) 5-0-0
Ewing: 0-1-0-0-1 (0-3 FG) 5-0-0
Rautins: DNP
I can't form the words.
I knew when writing this up that Amare scored 48. I didn't see 31 minutes. Holy ****.
This game is broken.
I'm calm. Okay, scratch that. What the ****?
ANTHONY RANDOLPH JUST DROPPED 34 ****ING POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doubt begins to settle into my mind. Am I doing the right thing? Am I screwing the gameplay up with my ratings edits? No. There's no way. We've seen these stats before. In every NBA 2K game there has been to date. There are still so many BS animations around the hoop that lead to uncontested shots, and too many dunks around the basket that should never be happening.
I need to dig deeper. Let's go to GameTrack.
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
1st Quarter
10:58 - Aldridge posts Amare, draws contact, hangs, and puts the shot in and the foul. Hits the 10:58 - Made FT
9:21 - Aldridge posting Amare from 20 feet away. Miller and Felton are congested, right next to them. Aldridge goes up for a 20 foot turnaround fadeaway. Miller goes around Aldridge, which causes Felton to get in front of Amare. Both Felton and Amare contest the shot, though Felton was essentially in between Aldridge and Amare (perhaps leading to Amare's defense not counting, and the "Post shot" being uncontested. (I would upload a photo, but 2K Sports server is not available at this time. Groovy.)
8:28 - Made FT (Aldridge scored the Blazers first 6 points of the quarter, but with Dante Cunningham scoring at 6:39, it's clear Aldridge was in foul trouble at this point.
2nd Quarter
11:50 - Made FT
11:50 - Made FT
10:53 - Made FT
10:11 - Made FT - Okay so to open the 2nd quarter Aldridge drew 3 shooting fouls in 2 mins
9:36 - Aldridge posting on Amare. Aldridge faces up and goes up for the jumper. Amare contests EXTREMELY late, not even jumping until the ball is 10 feet directly over his head.
8:59 - Aldridge posts Amare again. Hook shot that the CPU offers little resistance towards. You all know exactly what that looks like by now.
3rd Quarter
11:46 - Aldridge posting on Amare. Faces up, goes up for the jumper with the exact same result as before (a late contest by Amare). Amare might as well not even be defending him, and that's exactly why all these shots are going in - the CPU is putting zero effort into their defense.
10:39 - This one seems to be a diagrammed play. Aldridge runs from the left elbow to the right elbow, catches a pass from Miller, and pulls up for a jumper. Amare contests late and the shot goes in.
9:29 - Aldridge posting Amare again on the block. Aldridge goes for a turning fade. Amare kinda contests this one, putting his hand up flat flooted, but it sure doesn't bother Aldridge in the slightest.
8:55 - Roy drive and kick to Aldridge for an open jumper.
7:56 - Roy pulls up for a jumper. Chandler contests. For some reason, Amare is 10 feet away but he's contesting too. The shot was actually a pass to Aldridge though. Maybe Amare was trying to deflect the pass... but he wasn't even close to it. Aldridge hits an easy jumper.
6:17 - Made FT
6:17 - Made FT
5:42 - Another post hook on Amare. He might as well be 6'2".
5:10 - Made FT
5:10 - Made FT
4th Quarter
8:26 - Post hook on Anthony Randolph (a new victim!). Randolph actually defends it pretty well and in real life Aldridge likely misses the shot - he shot it lefty. Btw, I'm still trying to figure out the point of "Off-Hand Dribble" rating if there is no "Off-Hand Shot" rating.
7:55 - Aldridge posting Patrick Ewing Jr (who is getting 4th quarter minutes in a tightly contested game, for some reason). This can't be good. Yup, post fadeaway on the much smaller Ewing.
2:49 - Made FT
Aldridge did the vast majority of his damage in this post, pulling off moves against a helpless like he was Hakeem Olajuwon.
Here are the ratings changes I made to Aldridge that would affect this part of his game.
-2 Inside
+2 Medium
-4 LPS
-2 PostOff
-5 SOD
-12 SIT
-6 OffAwr
That's what's scary about this. The changes I made were actually nerfing Aldridge! The problem wasn't that his ratings were too high - it's that so many of his shots were completely indefensible! This isn't a ratings issue - it's one that needs to be forwarded to the gameplay department. Sure, we could continue to nerf his post game, (and based on how utterly dominant it was we might have to - for ALL players), but there are major issues regarding animations and defense regarding the post.
There is one light at the end of the tunnel though - while posting up may be broken, we CAN limit them with proper tendencies.
For instance, if you'll notice, Aldridge scored primarily from postups... but never once on an Isolation or a Pick and Roll. Synergy showed me that while Aldridge does most of his scoring on postups, his second most frequent form of scoring (25%) comes from the Pick and Roll 25%.
An examination of Aldridge's tendencies provides us with some insight.
Aldridge Tendencies (Difference from the PF average)
Shot: 71 (+8)
Inside: 46 (-11)
Close: 38 (+17)
Mid: 40 (+16)
2pt: 2 (-5)
Drive: 10 (-23)
Dunk: 75 (+23)
Touch: 80 (+19)
Putback: 67 (-4)
Nothing out of the ordinary here. Not sure if Touch tendency is too high or not, would need to make some comparisons. Lets continue to Aldridge's Freelance tendencies.
Use P/R: 5 (-3)
Set P/R: 95 (+12)
Isolation: 99 (+50)
Use Screen: 35 (+12)
Set Screen: 55 (-6)
Post Up: 99 (+33)
Spot Up: 10 (-16)
Kinda odd that Aldridge didn't Isolate at all since the tendency is just as high as his post ups. Ditto for the P/R's. Clearly there's another factor, perhaps a team tendency (such as "Look for Post Players"). However, I think I found the culprit just below.
Self Post: 84 (+49)
WOAH! Have we got a game breaker and a half here or what!? The average starting PF has 35 Self -Post. The average starting C has 21 Self-Post. Aldridge has a whopping 84! Combined with that 99 Post-Up tendency, it's no wonder Aldridge spent the entire game posting up.
So perhaps this game is fixable. It's going to take a ton of work, but I think I'm up to the task. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to work on tendencies this year, praying that 2K had fixed it's tendencies from last season since they prided themselves on adding so many more of them... but that doesn't seem to be the case. Fortunately... the majority of the tendencies they added were merely cosmetic, not the ones that affect gameplay... my Synergy work SHOULD transfer over seamlessly.
It's going to be a longer season than I thought. Fortunately, I'm much further ahead of schedule than I was last season. I will change some tendencies around and run another simulation of this matchup.
Besides that, I will also be releasing my first roster tonight. Keep your eyes peeled.
~Rashidi
The Real 2K Insider
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
2K Sports releases roster - Rajon Rondo now better than Dwight Howard
I say this every single year, but 2K Sports and the 2K Insider just continue to baffle me.
Rajon Rondo
89 Overall (+2)
95 Inside (+2)
84 Close (+4)
52 3pt (-7)
94 Layup (+5)
95 Handle (+5)
93 OffHand (+5)
95 Pass (+3)
97 Steal (+2)
96 Hands (+8)
94 DefAwr (+3)
45 OffClutch (+20)
60 DefClutch (+35)
95 Consistency (+5)
96 Durability (+6)
Yuck. Some of these are justified, like the Layup boost, but most are not, and the most puzzling has to be the Consistency boost... Rondo is hardly the most consistent Celtic (let alone the entire league). What do you guys think?
In some positive news, Javale McGee was boosted to 66 overall. Kevin Durant was also boosted to 92 overall. A few other players like Xavier Henry, Greivis Vazquez, Timofey Mozgov, and Nikola Pekovic were also added. I haven't caught any other changes yet, but if you find any let me know!
Kevin Durant
92 Overall (+1)
90 Inside (-5)
92 Close (-3)
90 FT (+3)
84 Security (+2)
79 Steal (-1)
75 BallDefense (+2)
79 DefReb (+4)
82 OffPost (+3)
60 DefPost (+4)
82 DefAwr (+2)
99 Consistency (+9)
99 Stamina (+2)
40 Strength (+5)
90 Durability (+10)
JaVale McGee
+7 Overall (66)
+4 Inside (78)
-17 Medium (58)
+8 LowPost (60)
+11 FT (64)
+20 Layup (45)
+17 Dunk (86)
-11 OffReb (83)
+1 DefReb (70)
+5 OffPost (62)
+24 DefPost (70)
+15 DefAwr (64)
+20 Consistency (45)
+20 Stamina (82)
+19 Strength (58)
+12 Vertical (93)
+2 Potential (79)
Rajon Rondo
89 Overall (+2)
95 Inside (+2)
84 Close (+4)
52 3pt (-7)
94 Layup (+5)
95 Handle (+5)
93 OffHand (+5)
95 Pass (+3)
97 Steal (+2)
96 Hands (+8)
94 DefAwr (+3)
45 OffClutch (+20)
60 DefClutch (+35)
95 Consistency (+5)
96 Durability (+6)
Yuck. Some of these are justified, like the Layup boost, but most are not, and the most puzzling has to be the Consistency boost... Rondo is hardly the most consistent Celtic (let alone the entire league). What do you guys think?
In some positive news, Javale McGee was boosted to 66 overall. Kevin Durant was also boosted to 92 overall. A few other players like Xavier Henry, Greivis Vazquez, Timofey Mozgov, and Nikola Pekovic were also added. I haven't caught any other changes yet, but if you find any let me know!
Kevin Durant
92 Overall (+1)
90 Inside (-5)
92 Close (-3)
90 FT (+3)
84 Security (+2)
79 Steal (-1)
75 BallDefense (+2)
79 DefReb (+4)
82 OffPost (+3)
60 DefPost (+4)
82 DefAwr (+2)
99 Consistency (+9)
99 Stamina (+2)
40 Strength (+5)
90 Durability (+10)
JaVale McGee
+7 Overall (66)
+4 Inside (78)
-17 Medium (58)
+8 LowPost (60)
+11 FT (64)
+20 Layup (45)
+17 Dunk (86)
-11 OffReb (83)
+1 DefReb (70)
+5 OffPost (62)
+24 DefPost (70)
+15 DefAwr (64)
+20 Consistency (45)
+20 Stamina (82)
+19 Strength (58)
+12 Vertical (93)
+2 Potential (79)
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Real 2K Insider has NBA 2K11
Follow me on Twitter to get live updates of my 2K11 musings and discoveries!
twitter.com/Real2KInsider
IMMEDIATE REACTIONS
The game throws you into Bulls vs Lakers in the 91 Finals, 5 minute quarters, I don't know what difficulty. Jordan was Player of the Game in a losing effort. Didn't get a chance to check the box after the game, but I believe I scored 32 points on 13-20 FG.
CPU defense is definitely cheesy in the passing lanes, but perhaps the most concerning thing is the lack of off-ball movement for non-Jordan players. Pippen and Grant will literally just stand around unless you are calling plays. The game feels stiff and unresponsive at times, and there were definitely a few WTF moments.
Most alarming is the ease I had dunking with Jordan. Of my 13 FGs, all but two were dunks. Nothing a few ratings changes can't fix, but it really felt like if I wasn't dunking the shot was going to miss, as the CPU had some blocks from out of nowhere (including on some dunks that SHOULD have been open but weren't because of delayed animations).
I ended up losing the game because my team simply wouldn't grab a defensive board. On two separate occasions "immortals" Vlade Divac and Sam Perkins were able to grab a rebound over two Bulls players, go up for a reverse layup, and the foul.
Also, Magic Johnson didn't play like Magic Johnson (ironic, since they talked all game about the Jordan/Magic matchup). He barely looked for his shot and ONLY took bad shots with the clock running down. One has to hope that is a rating/tendency issue, because 2K supposedly added in ratings that were supposed to fix things like this.
Time to get to work.
twitter.com/Real2KInsider
IMMEDIATE REACTIONS
The game throws you into Bulls vs Lakers in the 91 Finals, 5 minute quarters, I don't know what difficulty. Jordan was Player of the Game in a losing effort. Didn't get a chance to check the box after the game, but I believe I scored 32 points on 13-20 FG.
CPU defense is definitely cheesy in the passing lanes, but perhaps the most concerning thing is the lack of off-ball movement for non-Jordan players. Pippen and Grant will literally just stand around unless you are calling plays. The game feels stiff and unresponsive at times, and there were definitely a few WTF moments.
Most alarming is the ease I had dunking with Jordan. Of my 13 FGs, all but two were dunks. Nothing a few ratings changes can't fix, but it really felt like if I wasn't dunking the shot was going to miss, as the CPU had some blocks from out of nowhere (including on some dunks that SHOULD have been open but weren't because of delayed animations).
I ended up losing the game because my team simply wouldn't grab a defensive board. On two separate occasions "immortals" Vlade Divac and Sam Perkins were able to grab a rebound over two Bulls players, go up for a reverse layup, and the foul.
Also, Magic Johnson didn't play like Magic Johnson (ironic, since they talked all game about the Jordan/Magic matchup). He barely looked for his shot and ONLY took bad shots with the clock running down. One has to hope that is a rating/tendency issue, because 2K supposedly added in ratings that were supposed to fix things like this.
Time to get to work.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Temper your NBA 2K11 expectations
It occurred to me today that IGN is currently the only website that has reviewed NBA 2K11 - even though it is only two days before launch, and numerous fans already have copies of the game in their hands.
The scenario just mutually benefits 2K and IGN too much for it to not be coincidence. The only review out for a week is a near perfect score? IGN is getting all the hits from rabid fans dying to read the review, while 2K is getting a ton of praise (not that they don't deserve it - more on that later).
Critiques of the review have been that the review doesn't really say much about the actual game. For instance, it's been reported that coaches get fired after every loss in My Player. Clearly this is a huge glitch to a game mode that should be dragging down the game's score (and something that needs to be patched ASAP). This wasn't even mentioned in the review.
It has been proven in the past that IGN is not a credible basketball game reviewer either.
Some IGN history
(PS2 & PS3 Aggregate Scores taken from gamerankings.com)
NBA 2K
2K11: 9.5
2K10: 8.5 (AG: 81.95)
2K9: 8.5 (AG: 82.44)
2K8: 7.9 (AG: 83.56)
2K7: 8.5 (AG: 81.30)
2K6: 8.0 (AG: 82.53)
2K5: 8.0 (AG: 82.19)
2K4: 9.2 (AG: 86.13) - reviews slanted upward by the $20 pricetag
2K3: 8.7 (AG: 85.81)
2K2: 8.6 (AG: 88.84)
2K1: 8.8 (AG: 89.68) - dreamcast score used
NBA Live
Live 10: 8.2 (AG: 81.21)
Live 09: 6.5 (AG: 75.98)
Live 08: 6.9 (AG: 73.70)
Live 07: 6.0 (AG: 60.69)
Live 06: 9.0 (AG: 76.78)
Live 05: 8.9 (AG: 81.85)
Live 04: 8.8 (AG: 83.13)
Live 03: 8.7 (AG: 82.84)
Live 02: 7.6 (AG: 70.49)
Live 01: 7.4 (AG: 74.73)
Look at those trends. Very concerning. IGN was riding EA's jock HARD from 2002-2006 until EA released such a crappy game in 07 that even IGN couldn't support it.
Ever since then, IGN has been riding 2K hardbody, with the exception of 2008 (which was ironically the Aggregate highpoint of 2K from 2005-2010). It is humorous to me that 2K8 was apparently only 0.3 better of a game than Live 02, since 2K8 was my second favorite 2K game and Live 02 was so bad I swore to never play Live again (hello, 2K series).
IGN does not know basketball games. Period. They are a media influenced company that jumps on the bandwagon, and they've been caught doing it again (what better bandwagon to jump on than a game featuring the most bandwagoned player of all-time?)
Take the 9.5 with a grain of salt. I don't doubt that the game is good and an upgrade over it's predecessor, but even if 2K11 is worth a 10 point boost from 2K10, that's still only worth 9.1/10 to the rest of the video game world (i.e. the reviewers who actually know what they're talking about). In all likelihood the game is probably closer to 8.8 out of 10 - still an admirable score and the best we've seen from a basketball game since the 2K's inception a decade ago (when it came from nowhere to knock Live from it's nigh untouchable pedestal).
The scenario just mutually benefits 2K and IGN too much for it to not be coincidence. The only review out for a week is a near perfect score? IGN is getting all the hits from rabid fans dying to read the review, while 2K is getting a ton of praise (not that they don't deserve it - more on that later).
Critiques of the review have been that the review doesn't really say much about the actual game. For instance, it's been reported that coaches get fired after every loss in My Player. Clearly this is a huge glitch to a game mode that should be dragging down the game's score (and something that needs to be patched ASAP). This wasn't even mentioned in the review.
It has been proven in the past that IGN is not a credible basketball game reviewer either.
Some IGN history
(PS2 & PS3 Aggregate Scores taken from gamerankings.com)
NBA 2K
2K11: 9.5
2K10: 8.5 (AG: 81.95)
2K9: 8.5 (AG: 82.44)
2K8: 7.9 (AG: 83.56)
2K7: 8.5 (AG: 81.30)
2K6: 8.0 (AG: 82.53)
2K5: 8.0 (AG: 82.19)
2K4: 9.2 (AG: 86.13) - reviews slanted upward by the $20 pricetag
2K3: 8.7 (AG: 85.81)
2K2: 8.6 (AG: 88.84)
2K1: 8.8 (AG: 89.68) - dreamcast score used
NBA Live
Live 10: 8.2 (AG: 81.21)
Live 09: 6.5 (AG: 75.98)
Live 08: 6.9 (AG: 73.70)
Live 07: 6.0 (AG: 60.69)
Live 06: 9.0 (AG: 76.78)
Live 05: 8.9 (AG: 81.85)
Live 04: 8.8 (AG: 83.13)
Live 03: 8.7 (AG: 82.84)
Live 02: 7.6 (AG: 70.49)
Live 01: 7.4 (AG: 74.73)
Look at those trends. Very concerning. IGN was riding EA's jock HARD from 2002-2006 until EA released such a crappy game in 07 that even IGN couldn't support it.
Ever since then, IGN has been riding 2K hardbody, with the exception of 2008 (which was ironically the Aggregate highpoint of 2K from 2005-2010). It is humorous to me that 2K8 was apparently only 0.3 better of a game than Live 02, since 2K8 was my second favorite 2K game and Live 02 was so bad I swore to never play Live again (hello, 2K series).
IGN does not know basketball games. Period. They are a media influenced company that jumps on the bandwagon, and they've been caught doing it again (what better bandwagon to jump on than a game featuring the most bandwagoned player of all-time?)
Take the 9.5 with a grain of salt. I don't doubt that the game is good and an upgrade over it's predecessor, but even if 2K11 is worth a 10 point boost from 2K10, that's still only worth 9.1/10 to the rest of the video game world (i.e. the reviewers who actually know what they're talking about). In all likelihood the game is probably closer to 8.8 out of 10 - still an admirable score and the best we've seen from a basketball game since the 2K's inception a decade ago (when it came from nowhere to knock Live from it's nigh untouchable pedestal).
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