ESPN College Hoops 2k5

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Already said, but for some reason by default you have to change the option for schedule edits to "on" when setting up a legacy.

I want to read a dynasty writeup, your season sounds very interesting.. good job with Albany.

Todd

I might do one, just updating monthly. Console to PC takes forever to a highly detailed one.

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

How do I access? What specific menus?

Edit: Is there anyway to do it in-game (without pausing)?

Is there a way to do it out of game?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Balldog

I might do one, just updating monthly. Console to PC takes forever to a highly detailed one.

You're right there. I thought about one, but it's so easy with a PC game. Keep posting your game progress though, I love reading stuff like that.

I think I'm ready to take Mizzou under my wings. I was going for a small school, but after that beating last night by Creighton, it's time. LOL!

Are you using 20 min halves?


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

neuqua, i too was first confused.. every monday, i use up all the points i can as they reset every week i believe.

The above quote is in reference to recruiting points. Recruiting points do not reset each week. You have two limits on recruiting action, one is time. Your coaches amount of hours (shown at the bottom of a recruiting action screen) do reset each week. However, the number of recruiting points (shown in the upper left hand corner of the screen) have to last all year long. That was the mistake that I made which I alluded to in this thread. At first, I went crazy with the recruiting points. However, since Nicholls State only had 3000 for the season, I realized this mistake after a week and reset.

I actually just finished my first season, and I ran out of points right at the end of the year so I guess I rationed them correctly. Basically, I could only afford to bring in a few guys for visits as this was a very costly recruiting action (dependent upon geography and how far away the recruit is) and I was able to go visit each of my top recruits.

As far as my first season.. I finished 11-17 and was the 7th seed in the Southland conference tournament. I gave UT - San Antonio a good run for their money in my first conference game, but my offense totally relies on my star shooting guard penetrating and drawing fouls. Well, he fouled out with 5 minutes left in the game due to a charging call, and we lost as they outscored us 12-2 in the last 5 minutes for a final score of 75-68. I can't wait to progress to the offseason (where recruiting points do get I reset - I think) and see if I can get a couple of these really good athletes to commit to our school. Hopefully, I get them as I lost my 4 best players to graduation this year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I did manage to call each of my top recruits every week (even this used up 5 precious recruiting points per call).

As far as a dynasty, I thought about it. However, after doing aborted dynasties with several console games, I realize it is just so much extra work going from console to PC for a dynasty.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Dola -

I did manage to call each of my top recruits every week (even this used up 5 precious recruiting points per call).

As far as a dynasty, I thought about it. However, after doing aborted dynasties with several console games, I realize it is just so much extra work going from console to PC for a dynasty.

Well, at least keep us updated of your progress.


Todd

[RainRaven]

Would anyone be interested in playing a game over LIVE tonight?

[Pumpy Tudors]

My UNO Privateers are now 2-6. We hung with Southern Miss through the first half (helped by their 3-for-12 free throw shooting), and we were down by only about 6 at halftime. Then the Golden Eagles blew the game open on me. I couldn't make any shots, and they were hitting everything. They opened up a lead as large as 38, but then they started giving me the ball in the final two minutes of the game, and I finished on a big run to end up losing by only 28. Our next game is at Alabama, and that's the the last game before conference play. Alabama is currently ranked in the top 10, and I have a feeling that we're going to get mauled on their floor. I'm going to have to keep the pace VERY slow, as I don't want to get into a track meet with an overpowering SEC squad.

I'll probably play this game tonight, but there's a chance that I'll get distracted and not play it until sometime tomorrow.

[CraigSca]

After getting cocky at 2-1, Navy lost a squeaker to Morgan State and got annihilated at Ohio. I am now hereby humbled...but still ready to take us to the Big Dance

[Pumpy Tudors]

I lost to Alabama 111-89. The score was reasonable at halftime, but then I got desperate in the second half and allowed them to score very quickly. I didn't keep the pace as slow as I wanted to. Conference play is about to start. Here's hoping that I can improve upon my 2-7 record.

[Eaglesfan27]

FWIW, the upset problem in tournaments might be limited to outside legacy mode. Perhaps, starting a tournament using the tournament mode doesn't bring in the sorry teams for the #1's to beat up on in the early round?

In any case, in my first season, all 4 #1's made it to the sweet 16. 1 of them was shocked in the sweet 16 as #1 Wake Forest lost to #8 Ohio State 75-73. #1 Duke easily crushed #4 Kentucky 85-72, and then #6 U Mass 97-75 to make it to the final 4. #1 Cincinatti made it to the elite 8 before being beaten by #3 Kansas 86-81. #11 Pittsburgh made it the furthest of the low seeds, but they were beaten in the elite 8 by #1 Illinois 82-54. So, in the final four we have 2 #1's, #8 Ohio State, and #3 Kansas. Overall, I've been quite pleased with the realism of the Big Dance results in my first season of my dynasty.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ok, I just finished the season, and the awards were very nicely presented. I couldn't see my all-conference team however Apparently, one of my players made it on the team as I got a notice to that effect. I also immediately went to my coach improvement screen after the national championship game, where it told me I accomplished 3 goals so I had 3 attribute points to spend. I put 2 into recruiting (now an "A" recruiter which appears to be helping nicely) and one into defense.

Right after that, I got word of hirings and firings. It's a very cool process as the top schools take their pick of the crop first and then other schools filter in as necessary. In my dynasty, Purdue's coach retired and they hired away Utah State's head coach. Very cool to see the ripple effect that had. I'm still loving this game.

Oh yeah, I can't see the results right this minute but Kansas upset Duke (barely) and Illinois took care of Ohio State. Illinois beat Kansas to win the national championship thanks to their very highly rated backcourt.

[Eaglesfan27]

Double Dola -

To answer the question about recruiting points, I did get some extra recruiting points at the end of the season for my offseason recruiting. 500 precious points which is 1/6 of my recruiting budget. I'm not sure if I had to do something to get these points or not, but my AD did send me an email telling me he likes the direction the team is heading (I did almost double the previous season win total with 11 wins) Now, I have my "A" recruiting ability to try to bring in these big recruits I've been working all season on..

[Eaglesfan27]

Maybe I should start a mini-dynasty. In any case, I signed my first four star recruit!!! I'm not sure if I should be thrilled by this or not? I did also lose out on a four star recruit who was Mr. Basketball in Louisiana who went to Southern Miss. That four star recruit had a few A's in areas, and mostly B's. The one I got was from fairly close to my school, and he wanted to "feel wanted" and I paid a lot of attention to him all year. He has mostly B's in each area with good potential. He and my early signee should form a nice backcourt for upcoming years... Oh yeah, I think it is funny that recruiting is now lowering my "golf time" since there are no games. Also, I got another coaching point to use at some point in the future for signing a four star recruit.

[astrosfan64]

what difficulty level do you play your dynasties on?

[MizzouRah]

Nice EF! Do you do all the recruiting on your own or do you use the assisted?

Also, are you using the full 20 min halves?

More, more!!!


Todd

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm doing every bit of recruiting on my own. I'm playing full 20 minute halves, and I'm playing on the 3rd of 5 difficulty levels (All-Conference) which gave me a nice challenge last year.

I've gotten my coach up to an "A" in recruiting, but he is fairly bad at everything else, and I managed to get 2 "4-Star" recruits at the end of my first season (one at SG and one at SF) and 2 "3-Star" recruits (A PG and a SG)

There weren't any good local big men, so I didn't recruit them. I'm finding PF's and C's with good skills appear to be more rare in the game, and subsequently they appear to be recruited harder. In my 2nd season, I only have 2 scholarships available and I need some talented size. Therefore, so far I'm working hard to recruit a few PF's and a few C's. However, the closest ones with some decent skills are in Texas and one guy in New Orleans.... so far the recruits are strongly favoring Texas schools (or big national schools.)

As far as my 4 recruits.... one of them was being recruited heavily by LSU. The 4 star SF, he is 6'7 230 and he was a JUCO Freshman. Maybe LSU preferred a true freshman as they signed a differeent 4 star SF. In any case, so far this SF seems to be the only guy who might actually be worth his rating, so my poor scouting might have overestimated some of the guys. In any case, this SF has an immediate overall rating of a 77 which is much better than any other guy on my team (and better than my star SG who had a 70 last year.)

The other recruits: The 4 star SG has an overall of 66 for now, but a potential of 80. The 3 star SG has an overall of 64 with a potential of 71. The 3 star PG has an overall of 60 with a potential of 70. I'll be interested to see if those potentials ever go up.

Another interesting thing: Despite giving out all 4 scholarships, I got 3 walkons this year. 2 of them are garbage, but one is a decent PF. Well, not really that good but better than what I had and will likely play quite a lot (overall 59, my previous backup PF had an overall of 46)

[Eaglesfan27]

In my second season, I'm going after big men for my 2 scholarship spots, and I'm finding much more competition so far for any of the PF's or C's that I targeted. Last year, only 4 of the G's/SF's I went after were gone to other schools in the early signing period (and 1 signed with me) With the PF's/C's, 12 of the 16 I went after signed with other schools. 1 is semi-interested in me, but he is also interested in University of Texas and he is from Dallas... hmmm, I wonder which school he is going to choose....

In any case, despite the bleak early outlook for recruiting some big men this year, I'm having a blast with my second season. The SF that LSU decided to abandon and fell into my lap (my first 4 star recruit) might not have been good enough to play for LSU, but he is good enough to dominate the southland I suspect. So far, I'm doing much better in my pre-conference schedule, and I'm playing some decent schools. The team feels much different because this guy can actually dunk!! More importantly, he is a good post defender and an average perimeter defender.

Also, since my biggest weapon my speedy SG graduated, I'm not running it up the court as much because I don't have guys that can blow by the opposition. However, I do have this amazing SF who can dunk, pass well, and shoot the medium range jumper pretty well. As a result, he is averaging 20/10/5 so far in the season. He gets a lot of jump shots to fall, and then he'll get a guy to bite on a fake and blow by them for some great dunks. I like the increased variety of dunks in this game compared to ESPN NBA 2k5. Also, this guy will draw double and even triple teams from the computer when he gets going and he is a good enough passer to rack up the assists (it would be a lot more if my other players were decent jump shooters.) Thanks to my star's defense and my slowed down pace, my scores are routinely in the 60's now as opposed to last year where we sprinted down the court much of the time and averaged close to 80 points a game for both sides.

In any case, I'm 3-2 so far and feeling good about where my team is heading and having fun on the journey.

[Balldog]

Anyone experiencing a very low number of 3-point shots by the CPU during coach mode? I'm seeing 1-4 a game.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Balldog

Anyone experiencing a very low number of 3-point shots by the CPU during coach mode? I'm seeing 1-4 a game.

There's a great coach mode thread over at Operation Sports.


Todd

[CleBrownsfan]

Anybody with a PS2 want to start up a season? I tried to get in a few season but they just go under...

My Kent State team is now 12-11 forgot what my conference record is but I now I'm ties for second with 2 other teams. I've lost a lot of close ass games. I think I'm 1-3 or 1-4 in OT. If Kent State had a long range shooter my team would be much much better - my #1 rating guy for 3 pnt range is 72... arggg

[CraigSca]

Start up a season - you mean play online?

My Navy team is 3-5 right now...we lost 4 in a row after going 2-1 (exactly when I though, "Ok - I have this game beaten"). We just won our last game - it had been awhile.

Just like in NCAA 2005, this game has been pretty unforgiving when your team has lesser talent.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Start up a season - you mean play online?

Yeah, online

[digamma]

Just picked this up at Target on sale for $15. Looking forward to trying it out when I get home tonight.

[Scoobz0202]

I am loving this game. In my Navy legacy I have scored 100 points in 2 of my first 3 games of my 2nd season. I won both those games, but lost big in my only loss. After my opener in one of the small preseason tournies I beat New York College by 30, 106-76 and I thought, " Holy shit, my team is going to romp over everybody. " That was until I met Tenn. Tech in the final of the tourney, it was only a 2 game preseason tourny. I lost by like 25.... their back court was ungodly. Their starters were a 78 Overall PG, 77 SG, and a 76 SF. The back up SG was a 74. I couldn't stop them. Rebounded against Yale with a 102-76 home opener though. God, this game rocks.

[CleBrownsfan]

In my open legacy I just finished a full season of playing each game with 14 min. quarters on All-Conference with Kent State.

I finished 11-13 and lost in the first round to Ball State in our Conference Tourney. I had a 8 point lead with 4 min. left and my go to center could not hit a shot and Ball State went on a huge run. I think I lost by 7 or 8 points - they couldn't miss a free throw at the end of the game!! The good thing is I recruited three 3 star players and I have 4 out of 5 starters coming back. My point guard Haynes was at a rating of 79 and gained 4 points in the off season and is my best player.

Played the first game of season two and beat some crappy team 91-52

I'm looking at no less than winning 18 games this year with the team I have!!!

~I am absolutely loving this game!!!

[Ryno]

Has anyone simmed through multiple seasons using the real player file on OS? The reason that I ask is that there are 8 conferences where every player has a potential of 90. The WAC, Missouri Valley, and 6 small conferences are affected. I'm wondering if these conferences become much better than real life or if they normalize after 4 years.

[Dave66]

I have the Xbox version of this game. Has anyone had a problem with the game freezing? I have tried starting an open legacy three times. Every time in my first game, the damn game freezes. This is really making me mad because I am having so much fun with the game. (when it works)

Any insight is appreciated.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've played about 50 games in my career legacy (starting at Nicholls State) and I've never had it freeze. So far, I haven't seen any bugs (unlike last year.) I'm still having a blast with this game.

[INDalltheway]

It might be a problem with your Xbox. I know when mine started to crap out, it did stuff like that. I called Xbox, i sent it in, they fixed it, and I got it back.

[Ironhead]

I too am still having a blast. I am starting my fourth season with LIU (Long Island). I play about half the games. The plan was to jump ship after the third season, but the team took such a step backwards (something like a 9-19 season after going 18-10 the year before). I didn't get any job offers in the offseason that I felt were vertical moves - only positions were for other small conference teams. So I stuck it out with LIU and had to finish recruiting 7 players in the offseason.

Previous to this recruiting period I was only able to get maybe 2 or 3 three star players in all of my time at LIU. Now, I don't know how but with about three weeks left in the offseason recruiting process I started heavily recruiting two four star players that no one had interest in. It was strange, because I would see teams like Connecticut or Syracuse suddenly pop up on the list as recruiting him but none of them were offering scholarships. So I just kept plugging away and sure enough both signed with me.

My recruiting class turned out to be awesome and my team is very strong. I just won my first preseason tourney, coming back from a 15 point deficit to beat 13th ranked Wisconsin. That was also my first win over a ranked team. The thing that sucks big time is that with the talent on the team I know I can win the conference and get a seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think that I would then be guaranteed a good job offer after the season. But it is going to suck to leave behind the recruiting class I just picked up. On to bigger and better things I suppose though.

[Gary Gorski]

I have both ESPN 2k5 and March Maddness 2k5 and there are things I like and dislike about both but one thing really bothers me with ESPN...maybe nobody else has noticed this since its a small school in Michigan and in the Mid-Con conference but why does ESPN have the Oakland Union Cardinals or something like that? The school is Oakland University and their mascot name is Golden Grizzlies and has been for a couple of years now (EA has it right in MM2k5) - you would think that if they were going to put out a NCAA licensed product that they would put the correct teams in it. Other than that though the game seems pretty solid.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

I have both ESPN 2k5 and March Maddness 2k5 and there are things I like and dislike about both but one thing really bothers me with ESPN...maybe nobody else has noticed this since its a small school in Michigan and in the Mid-Con conference but why does ESPN have the Oakland Union Cardinals or something like that? The school is Oakland University and their mascot name is Golden Grizzlies and has been for a couple of years now (EA has it right in MM2k5) - you would think that if they were going to put out a NCAA licensed product that they would put the correct teams in it. Other than that though the game seems pretty solid.

Hey, get going on TPB: The College Years




Todd

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

I have both ESPN 2k5 and March Maddness 2k5 and there are things I like and dislike about both but one thing really bothers me with ESPN...maybe nobody else has noticed this since its a small school in Michigan and in the Mid-Con conference but why does ESPN have the Oakland Union Cardinals or something like that? The school is Oakland University and their mascot name is Golden Grizzlies and has been for a couple of years now (EA has it right in MM2k5) - you would think that if they were going to put out a NCAA licensed product that they would put the correct teams in it. Other than that though the game seems pretty solid.

Sega apparently doesn't have the rights to all the team names, for some reason. There's a school in California that they also don't have the rights to. It might be Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, but I'm not positive. I don't know how EA got the rights and Sega didn't, but somehow, I'm not terribly surprised.

[Eaglesfan27]

Quick update on my team and a related question. That 4 star SF I got that LSU decided they didn't want, has been dominating The Southland. He is averaging 21 ppg which leads the conference, 9.4 rpg which also leads the conference, 4.2 apg, and 2.6 blocks per game which leads the conference. My senior point guard is also doing well.

I love how this team is totally different than last year. Last year, my SG had amazing speed and I had to rely on the fastbreak to win games. We ended up scoring about 75 ppg with our opponents also averaging about 75 ppg. This year, our SF is the best offense and he is good at dunking on fast breaks, but doesn't have the speed to consistently beat everyone down the floor like my SG had. So, I'm playing a much slower tempo and averaging about 63 ppg while holding my opponents to 50 ppg thanks to great defense mostly lead by the SF.

But, I digress. My question is: Has anyone found a way to view the all conference teams? I couldn't figure it out in my first season (despite knowing I had a guy on the team from the notification.) I could see all of the individual awards, but no all american or all conference teams. Hopefully, someone can tell me how to view them. (I have the X-Box version.) Thanks.

[kingfc22]

Just got this game last week and am having a blast. I'm currently playing on the 4th highest difficulty (forget the name of it) and am a lowly 1-11 as Western Illinois U. I have no real SG and that is hurting me because I have nobody to kick the ball out to for an open jumpshot.

[ScottVib]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

I have both ESPN 2k5 and March Maddness 2k5 and there are things I like and dislike about both but one thing really bothers me with ESPN...maybe nobody else has noticed this since its a small school in Michigan and in the Mid-Con conference but why does ESPN have the Oakland Union Cardinals or something like that? The school is Oakland University and their mascot name is Golden Grizzlies and has been for a couple of years now (EA has it right in MM2k5) - you would think that if they were going to put out a NCAA licensed product that they would put the correct teams in it. Other than that though the game seems pretty solid.

Yep that was one of my biggest annoyances with last years... unfortunately they haven't fixed it yet

[kingfc22]

Does anybody have any suggesstions on a slider set to use or are the game defaults good enough?

[Eaglesfan27]

I've been completely happy with the game defaults. I'm playing on the 4th hardest difficulty level, All-American.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - I was a little worried in my first season as both my team and my opponent were routinely shooting a little over 50%, but now that I've recruited some decent defenders and I don't fast break all of the time, I usually shoot around 45% with my opponent shooting in the range of 35-45%.

Ratings of players seem to be very important in keeping shooting percentages down, particularly the on ball and post defense ratings.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Quick update on my team and a related question. That 4 star SF I got that LSU decided they didn't want, has been dominating The Southland. He is averaging 21 ppg which leads the conference, 9.4 rpg which also leads the conference, 4.2 apg, and 2.6 blocks per game which leads the conference. My senior point guard is also doing well.

I love how this team is totally different than last year. Last year, my SG had amazing speed and I had to rely on the fastbreak to win games. We ended up scoring about 75 ppg with our opponents also averaging about 75 ppg. This year, our SF is the best offense and he is good at dunking on fast breaks, but doesn't have the speed to consistently beat everyone down the floor like my SG had. So, I'm playing a much slower tempo and averaging about 63 ppg while holding my opponents to 50 ppg thanks to great defense mostly lead by the SF.

But, I digress. My question is: Has anyone found a way to view the all conference teams? I couldn't figure it out in my first season (despite knowing I had a guy on the team from the notification.) I could see all of the individual awards, but no all american or all conference teams. Hopefully, someone can tell me how to view them. (I have the X-Box version.) Thanks.

They took that [Viewing All-Conference Teams] out with this years version, for some fucked up reason. I think you get an e-mail if one of your players is picked for the All-Conference or American team. You just can not view the team.

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Does anybody have any suggesstions on a slider set to use or are the game defaults good enough?

http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...splay.php?f=77

This is the Operation Sports forum dedicated to the sliders for College Hoops. I play default, but supposedly Jistic makes some good sliders so you may want to check his thread out. I haven't tested them out like I said, so I can't verify that they are good.

[kingnebwsu]

I just bumped the game up from default to the middle (of 5) levels. I played vs Tx-Pan American after playing really well as my mid-major Wright State team. I was 8-2 before the game and it was quite a step up in challenge. I was quickly down 18-8, but battled back and hung around the whole game. I finally took my first lead with 4 minutes left. Down the stretch I had a 3-point lead and I milked the clock to :40 before taking a crappy shot BUT I got the rebound!!! They fouled me the rest of the way and I won by 9. The intensity in this game is fantastic. I was hanging on every defensive possession, realizing their importance.

Most fun I've had with a hoops game maybe ever.

9-2 Wright State, next game is vs Morgan State. If I struggle with them, I know the middle level will be a challenge

[mgadfly]

I like this game but have had a few problems with coaching mode:

1-Is there anyway to get your team to burn clock before taking shots? (I know that the last minute or two of the game they will run some clock, but I was up 13 over the Illini with GU and my guys kept jacking up shots with 26-29 seconds remaining on the shot clock... It was killing me.)

2-Are there any sliders that get FG% about right (it so far has seemed a little high)?

3-Are there any sliders that get amount of 3PA right (most of my games have very few 3PA)?

4-Does anyone know how the "game speed" option works?

5-Why doesn't the game have the new arena for Gonzaga? (just kidding, though that would have been cool).

Thanks for any help,
A

(I've been looking around at OS, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet)

[henry296]

I have been playing with the FG%. The key is the defend sliders, like defend jumper, low post, etc.

I am still working on the 3PA issue. If you bump up the 3 point range they will take more, but then make a better %.

Todd

[CleBrownsfan]

Anyone know if the game has some sort of home court advantage? Seems like my Kent State team plays a little better at home than on the road - but I could be worng

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by mgadfly

1-Is there anyway to get your team to burn clock before taking shots? (I know that the last minute or two of the game they will run some clock, but I was up 13 over the Illini with GU and my guys kept jacking up shots with 26-29 seconds remaining on the shot clock... It was killing me.)

I'm not in front of the game right now, so I could be wrong - but isn't there some type of an aggressiveness coaching style slider? If so, that may be it.

Kevin

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by Celeval

I'm not in front of the game right now, so I could be wrong - but isn't there some type of an aggressiveness coaching style slider? If so, that may be it.

Kevin

I don't think you can change that during the game though. You can however lower fast break settings.

[mgadfly]

Originally Posted by Balldog

I don't think you can change that during the game though. You can however lower fast break settings.

Yeah, I know there is an aggressiveness for coaches prior to the game but as far as I can tell there is no way to get at that after the game starts.

I tried lowering the fastbreak setting but that didn't seem to help.

[Balldog]

Are you calling plays or just letting the players play late in the game?

[mgadfly]

Originally Posted by Balldog

Are you calling plays or just letting the players play late in the game?

At first I was just letting them play, but then I tried to call plays to see if that would slow things down. Neither worked. I also tried calling multiple plays by calling play 1, and then waiting a second and calling play 2, to see if they would reset and try to run the offense.

Letting them play, calling a play, and calling multiple plays didn't stop my guys from hoisting the ball up like crazy even with the lead late in the game.