Associate Producer: Sean Campbell

Game Tempo Control – Part 1

Hello, my name is Sean Campbell and I am a Producer on NCAA Basketball 09. I’m here to discuss the improvements we’ve made in our game this year to Team Styles of Play and the introduction of Game Tempo Control. These are two features that have a significant affect on the Gameplay experience in our game, and a lot of time and effort has been spent on making them as authentic, realistic and fun to play with as possible.

For the regular visitors to Op Sports you’ll already know this is NCAA Basketball’s first year on the common EA SPORTS basketball engine. Our goal at the start of the year was to recreate the feel of authentic college basketball. We felt that focusing Team Styles of play was the area where we could really see the biggest gains in terms of replicating the college game and differentiating from NBA.

When focusing on styles of play we talked about the college game and what different teams like to do, the different speeds, different types of full and half court defenses and the different match ups that made games so exciting and different. As you all know – the college game has longer possessions because of the 35 second shot clock and less possessions overall because of the 20 minute half length. This contributes to teams approaching the game differently with more of a focus on clock management and heightens the importance of every possession. The interesting thing about the differences in the college game is that the fewer possessions create an opportunity for any team to have a chance to win if they are able to execute their gameplan.

I’ll give you an example. Let’s say I’m playing with Washington State a half court team, against Memphis which is Up Tempo. My half court style strategy of using a lot of the shot clock on every possession would mean that over the entire game there would be fewer possessions for Memphis to score on. The fewer possessions they have, the more important each one becomes. If I slow the game down it’s going to make it tougher for Memphis to get points in transition and limiting the amount of shots their used to taking.

When the dust had settled we decided on 3 styles of play that we felt were the most reflective of the college game and its different tempos: Half Court, Balanced and Up Tempo.

Halfcourt – Half Court teams look to use a lot of the shot clock and get quality shots by moving the ball and running sets. By doing this, they limit the overall number of possessions in the game making each possession more valuable. Quality shots and a high FG% help them limit opportunities for their opponent to fast break as it is more difficult to get out in transition after made baskets than after a defensive rebound.

Balanced - Balanced teams are teams that can run in transition and also play in the Halfcourt. These teams are well rounded and can play any style to a certain extent.

Up Tempo – Up Tempo teams like to get up and down the court fast, score early and often and get up a lot of attempts. These teams tend to pressure defensively; they push the ball in transition and look to be aggressive in the half court, shooting early and often.

You will see these different styles of play through the way each tempo behaves and the supporting animations. For example, for Up Tempo teams in transition you will see guards coming back for outlet passes and playing contextually appropriate receptions where they catch and look to break out up court; guards on Half Court teams will catch and sweep before advancing up court. Wing players on Up Tempo teams will fill the outside lane sprinting up court calling for the ball and looking for the hit head pass. The lead post will run the middle of the floor with a greater sense of urgency looking for the hit ahead pass as well. Wing and Post players for Half Court teams will get up court at a slower pace and settle into their positions in the front court with appropriate off ball animations. Overall, Up Tempo teams will look like they want to get the ball and get up court compared to Half Court teams that look and feel like they want to be under control and ready to set up.

Now that you know what we wanted to accomplish with Team Styles of play let’s get into how it ties into Game Tempo Control. I’ll begin with talking about the importance of tempo to the college game and how we integrated it into the game for 09.

Anyone who watches college basketball knows the importance of tempo. Setting and controlling the game tempo is important and exciting especially at the college level because it can help to close gaps in athleticism, rebounding, shooting % as well as home court advantage. A goal for the user is to force your opponent to play at a speed or a style they are not suited for. Game tempo also affects the game on a strategic level by setting the stage for interesting match ups of similar and contrasting styles. We saw game tempo as something authentic and exciting that every team looks to control and it was these reasons that we knew we had to have it in NCAA Basketball 09.