If you have been paying attention to the community’s efforts to tweak NBA 2K9 during the past few months, you probably noticed that Neon1, one of the hardest-working NBA 2K community members, redid the ratings and tendencies for every player and coach in the game.

As someone who had previously shelved NBA 2K9 out of frustration, I was initially excited to sit down and try this tweaked version of NBA 2K9 now that March Madness is in full bloom.

But after only a few games as my underachieving Grizzlies -- who have actually gotten a lot better, ratings-wise, since I last touched the game -- it became clear to me that the same opinion I had formed a few months ago still holds true:

NBA 2K9 is a mess, and no amount of slider tweaking or roster editing can save it.

So, in the first of a two-part series, I am here to explain why I have given up on NBA hoops this year, and I am also here to detail what needs to be improved in 2010.

Watching the computer attempt to play defense in NBA 2K9 is like watching a rec-league team of first graders.

Reason being, players in NBA 2K9 do not really "defend" so much as they just stand upright next to their man and stare blankly into space.

Defensive Fundamental #1 -- The Basic Defensive Stance

Instead of having defenders that get low, bend their knees and assume a stance that will allow them to keep a hand on their man and a hand in the passing line -- like they teach you to do at any level of basketball -- NBA 2K9’s idea of man-to-man defense is to simply have defenders stand upright next to their man and stare out into the open space of the arena.

I know pro basketball players tend to have attractive girlfriends/wives/mothers coming to watch them play, but would it kill these guys to pay attention to their man for the 24 seconds (max) that they are on defense?

Defensive Fundamental #2 -- Guarding Off the Ball

Perhaps because they are so distracted by off-court starlets (or poor A.I. coding, you decide), when their man finally starts to move, defenders in NBA 2K9 will usually delay a half-second or two before they start jogging alongside their man with total disregard for another basic principle of basketball: Defenders should always position themselves between their man and the basket.

Instead of protecting the hoop, defenders routinely play their man on the high side of the ball, giving up wide-open lanes to the rim. And since computer players running free to the basket do not seem to glitch out and come to a complete stop mid-pass like human teammates often do (more on that later), way too many defensive possessions end with a computer player cutting into the paint and receiving a free layup because of the negligence of a brain-dead A.I. defender.



What's wrong with this clip? Gay and Conley are glued to their men in terrible help-defense position. Warrick literally stands there and allows his man to cut to the basket while he's dazed and confused. Gasol provides zero help.

Defensive Fundamental #3 -- Be Aware of Tendencies

Apparently, defenders in NBA 2K9 cannot see the magic icon circling around their man’s feet that signals 3-point shooter.

Instead, they often decide to leave good shooters wide open so they can double team lesser players who do not require the extra help.

Because there are no coaching options to decide for your A.I. teammates what players your teammates should be helping off of, bad switches are something that occur just about every trip down the floor.

Defensive Fundamental #4 -- Switching and Helping

I have already mentioned how the computer fails to make smart switching/helping decisions based on player’s tendencies; but, frankly, it is hard to expect it to do something that "complex" when it does not even understand the basic principles of help defense:

• Always step in front of free ball handlers to force the extra pass.
• Guard the floor from the inside-out.

For bullet point number two, it is amazing how many times the computer will decide that it is better to stay glued to the shooter in the corner instead of taking a few steps inside and picking up the open forward on the block.

And, spitting in the face of bullet point number one, defenders will also randomly switch off of ball handlers who are clear scoring threats, and expect you to run in to cover the switch for them while they go guard their man who is standing way out of the play in the corner. The logic really is baffling.



What's wrong with this clip? An unnecessary switch by Parker and Bargnani creates what should be a favorable matchup on the perimeter, with an agile SG guarding Shaq. Somehow, Shaq crosses Parker over, skates by him and dunks it over two guys, while Chris Bosh thinks about cutting off Shaq's path to the hoop -- only to get sucked into a crazy warping animation.

Defensive Fundamental #5 -- Low-Post Defense

Rarely in the NBA will you see a big man catch an entry pass within five feet of the basket. That is because real-life defenders know that the biggest part of protecting the paint comes from what they do before their man catches the ball -- not after he has already got the ball in his hands, only a step or two away from the rim.

What the defenders in NBA 2K9 do not realize is that they should be using their strength to rough up opposing big men and push them as far away from the basket as possible before the entry pass is attempted.

Instead, they just let their man go wherever he wants, standing next to him in a placid, upright position like everyone else on the court.

I could spend this entire article talking about how big of a letdown the teammate A.I. is on the defensive end of court, but I would rather move on and show how, offensively, it is not much better.

I have played on middle school teams that could execute sets from playbooks twice as thick as those in NBA 2K9 with a speed and precision so great that, if you compared the two teams side-by-side, you would think the middle schoolers were the ones being pressed by a shot clock -- not the pros.

There are three key reasons why the pros in NBA 2K9 have so much trouble running simple designs:

1. Set plays cannot begin until the point guard (and only the point guard for the designated play) is parked inside a tiny circle and the other four players are glued to their magical spots.

2. Rather than sprinting to their set spots, teammates jog around the court like idiots, often getting stuck on defenders or on each other.

3. Once the play finally begins, step two often repeats itself and the play is either temporarily disrupted or completely broken off.

Essentially, your teammates in NBA 2K9 are inept to the point that they cannot quickly execute anything beyond a simple pick and roll, and even that often goes awry when the roller will stop moving to the basket mid-pass, allowing the defender, whom he has beaten to the hoop, to catch up and turn a would-be layup into a steal or a swatted jump shot.

The bottom line is that, if you try to run set plays, and even if you hold down turbo and sprint to the magical "point-guard circle" to trigger the play as quickly as possible, there will often be 10 seconds or less on the shot clock by the time your teammates start running the design, which means you have no chance to get a decent shot off if the play does not go smoothly (and many times it will not).

And if you think you can just freelance your way into creating open shots for you and your teammates, well, forget that, because now you are going to see what it is like…

When Animations Attack

When I want to pass the ball quickly up the court to a teammate streaking down the wing –- oops, he has to come to a complete stop to catch the pass, losing all his forward momentum in the process, which allows the defense to get back and cut him off.

When I want to explode past an off-balance defender and drive past him to the hoop -– nope, cannot do it because my ball-handling guard magically goes into some crazy "slumping shoulder" animation that slows him down and allows the ice-skating defender to catch up and cut off the open path to the hoop.

When I want to come off a double team at the top of the key and jump out on the wing to contest an open shooter –- nope, cannot do it because I get stuck in a silly collision animation with the guy I was double teaming.

When I have the inside position on a defender and a clear path to the hoop for a quick layup off the glass -– forget it because my guy wants to come to a standstill, allowing the defender to catch up so he can swat a long-winded jump-shot animation back in my face.

I could go on and on with examples, but I will simply stop to say that there are so many basic fundamentals of moving, passing and shooting -- a lot of that felt fine in older versions of the 2K-basketball engine -- that have become slow, clunky and cumbersome in NBA 2K9.

The most infuriating part is that none of these animations ever seem to plague the computer players -- maybe because they are allowed to:

Clip, Slide, and Travel All the Way To the Hoop

I have literally seen guys catch a pass, not even stop to dribble the ball, then take three steps and throw down a dunk, usually while clipping through two or three defenders.



What's wrong with this clip? Marc Gasol blatantly changes his pivot foot while the ref stares the play down and calls nothing. In the second play, a Sacramento player catches the ball in the corner, takes three steps towards the basket without even dribbling the ball, then clips through Rudy Gay's body and Mike Conley's hand on the way to completing a reverse layup.

How are we supposed to keep people from getting to the rim when their limbs, their body, and most importantly, the ball, can morph right through the backboard, the goal, defenders, and so forth like they are not even there?



What's wrong with this clip? Darrell Arthur actually makes a nice box-out on Josh Smith, but then stands there like a statue and does not try to grab the ball as it comes right to him; the ball winds up in Smith's hands. Mike Bibby takes advantage of the second-chance opportunity by clipping right through O.J. Mayo's body on the way to the hoop for the layup.

It is not like there are not good things about NBA 2K, but in many ways this year's game felt like a step sideways or backwards. At a base level, it is things like foot planting and physics that need to be focused on in 2010 to bring some gamers back to the hardwood.