In the first part of this feature I wrote a lot about how often NBA teams are making each type of contested shot in comparison to NBA 2K. The feedback has been great both on here and elsewhere, and today I want to talk more about the specifics of these contested shots.

 

What that means is plenty more GIFs, and also a look at some shot types (some contested, some uncontested) in NBA 2K and how they relate to the NBA. In addition, I want to talk more about contested shots in terms of the disconnect between video games and the actual NBA. 

 

All in all, this will be slightly less nerdy and a little more philosophical than part one. However, let me make one thing clear before the jump: Contested shots are a fact of NBA life. 

 

Great, now let me dive in here. 

 

 

In NBA terms, the open catch-and-shoot 3-ball is your gold medal in terms of jumpers. Catching and immediately shooting gives you the best percentage of making a shot in the NBA. The catch-and-hold jumper and the pull-up jumper are simply not as effective (unless your name is Dirk).

 

Of course, you can’t always get open catch-and-shoot shots from deep. Looking at the GIF above, the coverage by Kobe Bryant on Robert Covington would equate to “tight” coverage as Kobe’s body is within 2-4 feet of Covington on the shot. Regardless, Covington immediately rises up and scores. In NBA terms, that shot goes in just about 30 percent of the time this season. With above the break 3s, that percentage probably dips a bit more, but the point is the shot goes in roughly one out of three times.

 

Community Question: If the shot in the GIF above went in one out of three times in NBA 2K (assuming you’re using a viable 3-point shooter), would you be okay with it? 

 

I know 2K Pro-Am is a different world, and badges change things and so on, but as I said in part one, I don’t believe that Covington shot goes in one out of three times in Play Now Online or just custom online matches with friends. 

 

In addition, the take I get from reading feedback is that a large portion of people would not be okay with shots like Covington's going in roughly 33 percent of the time. I think that comes back to people feeling like there’s no inherent “skill” involved in just passing the ball and rising up to shoot. In NBA terms, making a contested shot takes skill as not everyone can do it at the same rate (if you look at Covington, he’s actually elite in this category). However, in a video game a contested shot is made via a simple button press or flick of the shot stick. 

 

With this in mind, it’s also probably a reason so many people use the “limit perimeter shots” points of emphasis. Many folks who play this game hate giving up 3s. They would rather give up the drive and dunk much of the time. Maybe that’s because three points is worth more than two, maybe it’s because they can’t control all five defenders at once and feel like the AI should ignore team defense for individual defense, or maybe it’s because they feel getting to the rim takes more skill. Whatever the case may be, one of the most common complaints you see on here is about contested shots (whether by the AI or humans) going in too often. I feel I’ve tried to show my work in terms of explaining how that’s probably not the case in many environments, but here we are.   

 

That being said, as I move on here I’ll say it again: Contested shots are a fact of NBA life. 

 

We are living in the era of the 3-ball revolution. We're also seeing the "extra pass" revolution take hold. There’s no denying it, and many teams truly are looking for two things from players now on offense: an ability to be an elite passer for your position, and an ability to hit a 3-ball.

 

The Warriors are not of this world right now so it's hard using them as the example, but I can still point to some of their players as examples. Green is an above-average passer for his position. Curry is an above-average passer for his position. Iguodala is an above-average passer for his position. Bogut is an above-average passer for his position. Beyond that, the Spurs won a championship two years ago with crisp ball movement and an ability to stick open shots from deep.   

And yet, even with everything we now know about ball movement and 3-pointers, it’s still almost a given that at least a third of a team's shots (at minimum) are going to come from mid-range in an average NBA game. 

 

We know what the data says; we know the mid-range shot is the least efficient shot. Nevertheless, we also see teams like the Spurs using this fact to their advantage by shooting a great percentage from mid-range. The Spurs exploit the fact that teams now run you off the 3-point line, but also try to give you open or semi-contested mid-range shots rather than runs to the rim.

 

Community Question: With that in mind, do you think you come anywhere close to a third of your shots coming from mid-range in your average NBA 2K game?

 

On a personal level, in most online games I don't think I'm seeing either team take a third of their shots from mid-range. Most folks are the Houston Rockets in NBA 2K16. It’s 3-point shots or layups/dunks. 

 

In a way, it makes sense. Dunks are fun; 3-point shots are fun. Mid-range shots are not so fun. And don’t get me wrong, every time down the court in a real NBA game, a head coach would love to get either a dunk or open 3-point shot. However, that’s not reality. 

 

This is reality:

 

 

But how much faith do you have in that leaning shot above by McCollum going in somewhat consistently in NBA 2K right now? I know I don’t have much faith in it, so why take it? 

 

This leads me to my first point about looking more at what role defense plays in all this. A lot of people play NBA 2K like individual defense and team defense don’t co-exist. If you’re playing tight on your man 30 feet from the basket, you’re endangering your team defense. In the same vein, pressing turbo and jumping at a shooter as he pump fakes (the "fly-by" in basketball terms) will also leave your team defense exposed.

 

Those are two obvious examples of just bad team defense, but there's also a sneakier way to play "dirty" defense in NBA 2K. You see in the GIF above that I sprint at Klay Thompson and sprint under him as he shoots. This sets off a bump/contest shot animation where really I should just be called for a foul. Even though I didn’t jump, I sprinted under Klay as he shot. I didn’t give Klay a chance to land. I also lowered Klay's ability to hit that shot coming off the pin-down screen.

 

I’m not advocating for the disappearance of these under duress shot animations, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to sprint at a shooter, but there needs to be a semblance of common sense. In other words, you should not be able to turbo and run directly into the body of the shooter just because you're not jumping.

 

Returning to the fly-by, it's the most obvious and extreme example of bad defense that can sometimes work out in NBA 2K.

 

 

Now it's not like it’s very hard to get a shooting foul here (as I'll show below), but the situation in the GIF above just has to be a foul all the time. The turbo jump is a detriment to the game, and it just looks ridiculous.

 

Even looking past this one situation, the turbo jump is why chasedown blocks can still be silly at times (that and overly long dunk animations in situations where they should be more standard), and it’s why you still see players make up insane amounts of space to close in on shooters to get blocks.

 

That being said, you can use this aggression to your advantage as well:

 

 

Again, it’s not so much that the turbo jump on defense is overpowered, it’s just that it should never really be a viable option. It’s something you do more to just show a coach in real life you “tried” to stop the shooter from being wide open. It’s the “fake hustle” defense. Regardless, this type of defense shouldn’t really impact the grade of your shot or do much more than cause a foul if you launch too close to the shooter.  

 

Coming back to offense now, as I’ve said the catch and shoot is the best type of long-range shot. However, I also need to say it really feels like the stepback jumper is cool again. And when I watch a basketball game, it seems like many NBA wings have to be able to hit a little bit of a stepback shot. It’s one of the easiest ways to clear space, and it’s hard to consistently challenge the shot in a one-on-one environment.

 

That being said, it feels like 2K does not want you to take these shots. In the GIF above -- and I know grades are not the best way to judge these things but go with me here -- I get a D-minus grade on what feels like a semi-open baseline shot with Steph Curry. As always, I’m not saying all these shots should go in, but if we want to push the game towards a more balanced shot distribution, then moves like the stepback have to feel a bit more dangerous. Otherwise, you'll just see more behind the back moves, spins and crossovers as folks try to get to the rack. 

 

Community Question: Would you like to see more stepback jumpers and leaning jumpers end in successful makes?

 

Everybody is working for the shot above. The open corner 3 should probably be framed in the lobby of every NBA office. It’s beautiful. It’s magical. It’s efficient. 

 

It’s also not going in every time. Missing open shots infuriates some people, but it’s going to happen y’all. I'm sorry to have to break it to you, but even the corner 3 is only going in about 40 percent of the time. 

 

I know you may have worked hard to get that shot, or made the perfect drive and kick pass, but even at 22 feet, the corner 3 is still not a gimme.   

The discussion about the transition 3-pointer comes with some caveats. I’m not saying NBA 2K doesn’t need to work on its transition defense, because boy do the developers have to work on the transition defense. The fact that you know you’re pretty much going to have to deal with being outgunned on a fast break if you miss the back-end of a pair of free throws is not a good look. The fact that you'll sometimes see four defenders rush back to the paint even though there are guys on the perimeter that should be marked in transition is not a good look. The fact that you'll see defenders go into jog-back animations after a made basket even though the offense is already coming back at them is not a good look.

 

But here’s the thing, there’s a reason Seven Seconds Or Less makes sense. The best time to destroy a defense is before it’s set. Transition points per possession destroys points per possession in the halfcourt.

 

I get just as mad as others do when people just turbo up the court and drain a shot or attack the rack because, much like making contested shots, “it takes no video game skill” to pull it off. 

 

That being said, it would be a shame if it was incredibly hard to score in transition. Nobody wants to see the Tony Parker transition 3-ball being shot all game (especially Popovich), and 2K does need to work on matching up in transition and making defenders eschew some animations after made baskets, but it’s not unfair to say this stuff happens in NBA games. 

 

 

Not every player has the okay to do Steph stuff, but even if you ignore the Lillards of the world who also do this, it’s not like Westbrook and Wall aren’t doing the same thing, just instead they’re attacking the rack or immediately setting someone up for an open jumper -- even after made baskets.

 

But yo, let me be clear, I'm still turning off my console if the shot below ever goes in during a game of NBA 2K: 

 

Before getting to my final point, I want to make a quick note here to show two GIFs and then ask a question that relates to transition 3-pointers and stepback/leaning shots.

 

Here are the two GIFs:

 

 

 

Community Question: Do you think there’s an A-minus to D-minus difference in these shots just because Steph is leaning in one, while sprinting and coming to a stop in the other?  

Finally, I want to end this by once more talking about the defense. I don’t want a user on defense to feel helpless and feel like the GIF above is something that’s constantly happening to them. Running back and forth while holding turbo and then firing up a shot when the contest range is minimal should never really be an option -- even if I could totally see real Steph doing this just for kicks.

 

A lot of what I’m talking about here is about making choices. As video game players, we sometimes have a problem accepting that we can’t take away everything -- even though we know that's true about the real NBA. If you want to hug up on everybody, then backdoors and layups are going to occur. If you want to prevent layups, then you're going to have to give up some open mid-range shots and 3s. If you don't want to get destroyed by a faster player on a dribble drive, then he's going to get chances to do stepbacks and hit mid-range shots.

 

In other words, you shouldn’t be able to play five or six feet off the ball handler to prevent a drive, and yet still force D-plus and C-minus grades on shots when a player pulls up. Everything is about balance, so a lot of what I’ve talked about here is about accepting that.

 

Remember: Contested shots are a fact of NBA life. Embrace that concept and accept it on some level. There’s only so many elevator sets or double screens that will get you open during a game. There’s only so many times you can drive and kick on a possession before you have to shoot. 

 

And if you play perfect defense, players are still going to hit some contested shots. Don’t get mad about that or say the game is cheating you when it happens. It’s why the NBA is a make or miss league, and it’s why as a fan it can be so fun and frustrating to watch a NBA game play out. 

 

We’ve been programmed as video game players to think, “if I do everything right, I should be rewarded” because that’s how game mechanics generally have to work to be successful. I’m not here to dispute that, but if we want “sim-oriented” games, we also have to accept that "perfect" defense can still be trumped at times.