NBA 2K14: Can Defense Win You A Championship?

Feature Article

Submitted on: 01/24/2014 by Zac Arthur

Can a team of defensive all-stars take down a team like Miami? Read on...

It’s time to answer the age old question: Does defense really win championships?

We felt like it was time to put NBA 2K14 to this test. By placing the game's best defensive players on one team, could they make it all the way through the rigid 82-game schedule, and be the last team standing come June?

However, the roster does have its limitations I've implemented: no player rated higher than 79 overall. The goal of this was to truly look at defense in NBA 2K14. If I had Chris Paul on my team who has ridiculous defensive ratings, then would my team win because of his defense or because he’s a monster in all aspects of the game? Keeping everybody under an overall of 80 makes sure to specifically target defense and how it affects success in NBA 2K14.

I set up an 82-game season with the Boston Celtics (you’ll see why I chose them below) and turned injuries to “Off” so that all of my defensive players played in every game.

Here’s a look at all of the players I either started with or acquired through a number of trades.

Point Guard
Avery Bradley (Overall: 78)
-Key Ratings: 92 Speed, 92 Quickness, 91 On-Ball Defense, 88 Defensive Awareness
-Badges: Lockdown Defender, Pick Dodger, Active Hands
One of the reasons I ended up deciding to start with the Celtics is that they already have two of the players I was going to want on my team -- Avery Bradley was one of them. He’s naturally a shooting guard, but at 6’2,” fits perfectly into the point guard role. He’s also plenty quick enough to guard most point guards as his Speed, Quickness and On-Ball defense are all in the low 90s.

Courtney Lee (Overall: 74)
-Key Ratings: 90 Quickness, 89 Speed, 84 On-Ball Defense, 73 Steal
-Badges: Interceptor, Scrapper
Courtney Lee’s combination of length and quickness allow him to play at point or shooting guard. He’s a good guy to stick at the point if you’re looking for a height mismatch, though. I have him as the first guy coming off my bench.

Shooting Guard
Tony Allen (Overall: 75)
-Key Ratings: 90 On-Ball Defense, 84 Steal, 81 Quickness
-Badges: Lockdown Defender, Active Hands, Scrapper
If you’re looking for an exceptional on-ball defender who can guard nearly every team’s star player, then Tony Allen is your guy. He’s a great defender who uses his “Active Hands” badge and 84 Steal rating to disrupt the ball handler and his dribble. He’s key to an intense defense.

Ronnie Brewer (Overall: 73)
-Key Ratings: 88 On-Ball Defense, 84 Defensive Awareness, 76 Steal
-Badges: Scrapper, Active Hands
Ronnie Brewer gives shooting guards problems with his 6’7” length, and allows him to play small forwards honest. He’s actually pretty similar to Allen with his game, he just isn’t able to be as active. He’s a good option if you need a help defender or somebody better at contesting shots. I have him as my 7th man.

Small Forward
Gerald Wallace (Overall: 73)
-Key Ratings: 96 Vertical, 92 Hustle, 79 Steal, 74 On-Ball Defense
-Badges: Charge Card, Scrapper, Interceptor, Chasedown Artist
I wasn’t originally looking to keep Gerald Wallace until I took a look at his badges. He has a total of four which is already high, but the key is that each one has to do with defense. I was sold at this point. He needed to be on the squad. It helped that he was already on the Celtics, too.

Power Forward
Shane Battier (Overall: 73)
-Key Ratings: 94 Defensive Awareness, 89 Low Post Defense, 88 On-Ball Defense
-Badges: Charge Card
Shane Battier is known for being a versatile defender, and he’s huge if you’re looking to be able to play small ball, yet stay out of defensive trouble. His 89 Low Post Defense allows him to guard bigger power forwards at a strong rate, while his 88 On-Ball Defense gives him the ability to move out to smaller guards. You also can’t go wrong with someone who’s prone to taking charges, right?

Center
Larry Sanders (Overall: 78)
-Key Ratings: 96 Block, 84 Defensive Awareness, 72 Vertical, 72 On-Ball Defense
-Badges: Eraser, Chasedown Artist
Larry Sanders finished with the second-best block total during the 2012-13 season with 2.83 per game. He’s just as much of a monster in NBA 2K14. His 96 Block rating means that he throws nearly everything around the rim to a different area. He’s also quicker than most centers which helps if playing against a stretch 4, or any big with a perimeter game. If you noticed above, I don’t have any taller power forwards. I ended up starting Sanders at power forward and was hoping he could be part of a two-man interior powerhouse.

DeAndre Jordan (Overall: 75)
-Key Ratings: 89 Block, 82 Post Defense, 78 Vertical, 78 Strength
-Badge: Eraser
DeAndre Jordan was the key to my defensive plan and the second part of my two-man interior powerhouse (that will be the last time you have to read that). I started Jordan at center instead of Sanders because of his 82 Post Defense. Putting both players on the floor at the same time meant that teams would have a hard time scoring many points in the paint.

Chris “Birdman” Andersen (Overall: 66)
-Key Ratings: 90 Block, 81 Vertical
-Badges: Eraser
The Birdman just happened to be a part of my trade to get Shane Battier. He was definitely a welcomed bonus.

Team Rotation and Minutes
PG: Avery Bradley (32 Minutes)
SG: Tony Allen (32 Minutes)
SF: Shane Battier (32 Minutes)
PF: Larry Sanders (32 Minutes)
C: DeAndre Jordan (32 Minutes)
6th: Courtney Lee (26 Minutes)
7th: Ronnie Brewer (23 Minutes)
8th: Gerald Wallace (21 Minutes)
9th: Chris Andersen (10 Minutes)

Results
Overall Record: 39-43 (8th Seed in Playoffs vs. Miami Heat)
Awards: Courtney Lee (Sixth Man of the Year)
Season Team Statistics:
-3rd in Opponent Points Per Game: 99.0.
-3rd in Steals Per Game: 7.5
-1st in Blocks Per Game: 7.2

The team got off to a slow start of 9-17 before stringing together a couple of wins to get into playoff contention. The biggest stretch of the season was winning five of the last six games to make the playoffs as the 8th seed. Going against the Miami Heat was less than ideal, but we were able to steal one home game against them, before losing the series 4-1.

As far as the ultimate question of if defense wins championships, the answer is most likely going to be no. If you want to win a championship in NBA 2K14, then you’re best bet is to put together a team of offensive weapons.

My squad might not have won it all, but I was very impressed with NBA 2K14 in how its simulation statistics ended up. I put together a team consisting of only defensive players, and my team’s season statistics show exactly that. Finishing in the top three of the game’s defensive categories shows that it’s possible to focus your roster around defense and see results in certain areas of the game.

Winning championships just doesn’t happen to be one of them.

NBA 2K14 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 miller31time @ 01/24/14 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The 24th Letter


	I figured a "I disagree for the sake of disagreeing" post was coming...but I don't even understand the point you are making....your 3pt shooters analogy isn't even close to goal of the experiment..

First of all, I apologize for coming across as an ***. I'm not normally like that.

Secondly, my point is that putting together of team of under 80s and expecting them to do anything significant, then when they inevitably fail conclude that the opposite of their "strength" is the key to winning is a false premise in my opinion.

If you built a team of all offense, no defense under 80s, you'd find them to be equally as bad, if not worse. And your conclusion, if following the same path, would be that offense doesn't win championships.

Neither is correct as an elite balance of both generally is the path to success (in my opinion).

# 22 david20lampton @ 01/24/14 02:46 PM

I loved this idea. With a sports game it can become repetitive to play and try to achieve the same goals over and over again. This was a great test. I am going to try and make one defensive minded team and also make one offensive minded team and put them in the same season to see how each one ends up. Keep up the good work.

# 23 AntiBandwagoner @ 01/24/14 02:46 PM

Great write up. Nice to see 2k's sim system working pretty well.

# 24 The 24th Letter @ 01/24/14 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miller31time


	First of all, I apologize for coming across as an ***. I'm not normally like that. Secondly, my point is that putting together of team of under 80s and expecting them to do anything significant, then when they inevitably fail conclude that the opposite of their "strength" is the key to winning is a false premise in my opinion. If you built a team of all offense, no defense under 80s, you'd find them to be equally as bad, if not worse. And your conclusion, if following the same path, would be that offense doesn't win championships. Neither is correct as an elite balance of both generally is the path to success (in my opinion).

Gotcha..

I don't think he was necessarily looking to be significantly successful despite the title....just seeing how a team full of defensive specialists would fare over the course of a season...and how their ratings would come into play...but I could be mistaken...

# 25 miller31time @ 01/24/14 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The 24th Letter


	Gotcha.. I don't think he was necessarily looking to be significantly successful despite the title....just seeing how a team full of defensive specialists would fare over the course of a season...and how their ratings would come into play...but I could be mistaken...

No, I think you're correct - that was what seemed to be the purpose. But what would a team full of 60-80 rated players have to achieve to satisfy his goal of "defense wins championships"? His quote at the end about how the team not getting out of the first round signifies to him that offense indeed wins championships is what irked me. No team full of 60-80 rated players, irrespective of whether they're offensive specialists, defensive specialists or all-around players, is going to win anything significant. Therefore, it's intellectually dishonest to make finite conclusions one way or the other because the data and experiment was faulty to begin with.

Had he left out the expectations and conclusion, I wouldn't have a problem because it would have just been a fun little experiment.

# 26 RipCityAndy @ 01/24/14 03:51 PM

Nice post. I'm not surprised with the result though. Limiting the player ovr to 79 is the huge limitation. An interesting iteration of this experiment would be slowly incrementing the ovr ceiling and determining how that affected the outcome.

Another fun experiment would be a team with all sub 60 rated three point shooters.

# 27 grodbetatted @ 01/24/14 07:34 PM

No iggy in the squad?

# 28 itzdaviddxd @ 01/24/14 08:36 PM

Can you try a team with good offense and bad defense to prove the counterpart to this?

# 29 Phillyboy57 @ 01/24/14 08:52 PM

Obviously defense wins championships. Look at the past 3 NBA Finals. Against Dallas the Heat could not figure out the Dallas zone and lost. Against OKC, Heat limited KD and stomped them. Against the Spurs Bosh blocks that 3 and the Heat win another title. Look at the NFL every year its the team with the best scoring defense in the Super Bowl.

# 30 Radja @ 01/24/14 09:55 PM

i use the sacramento kings in my franchise and i do believe you have to be able to both play defense and have good chemistry to win. the other area is your coaches have to be good teachers with good ratings in both offense and defense.

this game is the first to truly remind me of college hoops. i love this game for that reason. after the rudy gay trade, that guy could not run a single play i called for him right. he got caught in screens, ended up in the wrong place and just was out of sync. after several games he started running the plays right and started scoring well.

# 31 tril @ 01/25/14 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radja


	i use the sacramento kings in my franchise and i do believe you have to be able to both play defense and have good chemistry to win. the other area is your coaches have to be good teachers with good ratings in both offense and defense. this game is the first to truly remind me of college hoops. i love this game for that reason. after the rudy gay trade, that guy could not run a single play i called for him right. he got caught in screens, ended up in the wrong place and just was out of sync. after several games he started running the plays right and started scoring well.

thast cause it is college hoops with NBA skin,,, I feel the same way about NBA 2k14.

# 32 tril @ 01/25/14 12:02 AM

good experiment. Coaching and chemistry do need to be factored in this experiment. you should use the same roster with the Clippers and/or Doc Rivers as the coach. I bet that team would make it to the Western conference finals.

# 33 tez326 @ 01/25/14 01:28 AM

I've played 25 of 50+ games using the Pistons. Made a couple trades, Stuckey and a 1st rounder for Beal. Then traded for Gallo early and traded him for Granger during the All-Star break.
My team is centered around Defense, with Drummond being the front runner for Defensive POY, Dwight's creeping though... Jennings was up for Most Improved before,a Broken Jaw 6-8 weeks, which has happened to 3 of my players in the first season of MyGM! Sim injury rates are too high imo.
I have the Pistons at 42-17 and it's because we're leading or Top 3 in all defensive categories. Playing on 11min qtrs HOF Sim Sliders. Defense wins in this game and quite frankly is a lot of fun to play this year especially when you have to change certain schemes.

# 34 liodeesxalf @ 01/25/14 03:15 PM

interesting read. i guess you have to account for the fact that almost all of the players are average on offense, and have to go up against players like chris paul and lebron who dominate both offensively and defensively. one on one bradley will be able to force paul into a couple turnovers, but chris paul could def force bradley into just as many turnovers, if not more, and have it end in a bucket on the other end by either scoring himself or setting some else up. you dont have the same guarantee with bradley.

im also curious about this teams offensive stats, and how players progressed and developed on the offensive end

# 35 liodeesxalf @ 01/25/14 03:22 PM

i guess we can conclude that the saying defensive wins championships wasn't talking about pure defensive teams with limited offense, but that the aspect of defense is vital for the elite teams capable of contending for a championship.

# 36 luda06 @ 01/25/14 03:37 PM

Defense doesn't mean much if most possessions don't end with a defensive rebound. That's the most glaring flaw of that entire team. Great on ball defenders and shot blockers with high awareness, yet okay to decent skill on the boards. Shane Battier is a defensive liability at power forward because of this.

# 37 JasonMartin @ 01/25/14 06:08 PM

If you actually played all the games I think the outcome would have been very different. Not because you would cheese your way into scoring or beating teams but because I'm not a fan of simulation.

For example the minutes allocation, who knows when the CPU subbed Bradley out. Imagine a close game in the 4th quarter, you want your best players in but the CPU decided to take Bradley out because he had already played 32 minutes. Who guards who during those games etc.

Defense on pick and rolls, perhaps you can do it better when you control your player etc.

# 38 johnlnames @ 01/25/14 06:30 PM

NBA 2k14's simulation statistics are flawed. I simulated an entire season with the 90-91 bulls multiple times and not once did m.j get near 30 PPG. Also simulated seasons with dikembe mutombo and only one time he averaged at least 2 blocks a game. I've yet to see any players season assist be at 10 or higher. And it seems like the most rebounds allowed a season is 11.5

# 39 RangersCruz @ 01/26/14 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luda06


	Defense doesn't mean much if most possessions don't end with a defensive rebound. That's the most glaring flaw of that entire team. Great on ball defenders and shot blockers with high awareness, yet okay to decent skill on the boards. Shane Battier is a defensive liability at power forward because of this.

Hes good defensively but hes too small

# 40 jayman504 @ 01/26/14 12:16 PM

Simply put NO...defence isn't a part of 2k14's vocab

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