THE ADAPTIVE COACHING ENGINE
This engine allows the AI to dynamically and progressively adapt to you, the gamer, as you play in your Exhibition, Season, and Playoff games. For the first time ever, each player is treated differently depending on the team, score and situation.
Here is what lives within:
NEW - TEAM-SPECIFIC DEFENSES – All 30 NBA Coaches will have their own adaptability and defensive coaching philosophies in NBA 2K16.
Like mentioned above, these coaches will now adapt to players differently depending on
Exhibition
Season
Playoffs
Player type
Behavior
Efficiency
And more
NEW – Legendary team adjustments (Some highlights).
Jordan RULES – Yes, the infamous “Jordan Rules” are in the game. The entire progression on how they disrupted Jordan’s rhythm in the late '80s is here. From where they forced him when he had the ball, to the change from Dumars to Rodman depending on success.
Scottie Pippen matching up with Magic Johnson - As you know this was the adjustment that changed the entire '91 series.
Gary Payton on MJ in '96 Finals.
Celtics adjustments to the Showtime Lakers.
“How many adjustments are in this Adaptive Coaching Engine?” – To be honest, I’m not sure. I stopped counting at five thousand.
Let’s continue…
NEW - Player efficiency evaluation – In basketball games prior to NBA 2K16, the only defensive adjustment you would see take place is a double team once a player has scored a particular number. NOW scoring 30 with KD on 26 shots is not the same as KD scoring 28 on 15 shots. Each team will react differently depending on score, the player and efficiency that he’s producing at.
NEW - Specific Player archetype adjustments – Scoring 20 with Andre Miller and Steph Curry will mean totally different things to the 30 different teams in the league. Coaches like George Karl may look to stop the bleeding immediately with an aggressive adjustment while Steve Kerr is fine with keeping everyone else on the floor in check.
NEW – Stretch 4s and pop recognition – Again, in games prior to NBA 2K16, players like Kevin Durant can come over and set 1-3 ball screens and destroy you! Now teams understand who the screener is and how he’s playing.
One Example:
Problem: Durant is going to set a ball screen on the point guard, he’s on fire and on track to score 40+
Answer: Hedge defender now decides to “hug up” on Durant, eliminating the pop threat.
NEW - All playoff adjustments against particular players in last season’s playoffs are in NBA 2K16
Here’s a few examples:
Matt Dellavedova pressuring Curry at 94 ft.
Cleveland doubling Curry on every pick and roll.
Bogut matching up with Tony Allen. – Don’t be surprised if you see this adjustment if Golden State is down in the series again.
Etc.
I know what you’re thinking, “Is this just based on historical data?”
Nope! Let me give you an example of how this works:
This past season I noticed an adjustment on Chris Paul in screen and roll from a particular team. I called over there and asked them, “Hey, I noticed you guys were showing hard on CP3 last night, is this a new change to the scheme? I haven’t seen you guys do that all year.”
“Nope, that was just for him.”
“Do you guys plan on continuing to guard him like that in the pick and roll?”
“Yup, it worked well for us.”
I show you this to tell you that these are the regular conversations we had throughout the year and we’ll continue to have this season.
So with that said….
NEW - Every pick and roll defense in the NBA is in NBA 2K16!
Our Adaptive coaching engine has allowed us the ability to incorporate positional hedging combinations. A team like the Raptors who can now hard hedge with their power forward and drop their center in the pick and roll.NEW – Pre rotations - You can now pre-rotate in pick and roll situations. This is great to use against strong dive guys such as Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan.
NEW - Team-specific help rotations - Some teams like to pre-rotate on side pick and rolls, and others like the Sacramento Kings may help one pass away but only from the corner.
Make the extra pass - Look to see more two and three man back side rotations. Along with that, look to see specific rotations around particular pick and roll scenarios.
Yes... I do have one offensive feature for you
NEW - Pick and roll mechanic – SimNation, you now have the ability to choose the screen side of the screener and decide when he will slip, roll or fade. This becomes essential to use in side screen and roll against heavy ICE teams. Controls: Hold LB/L1 to call for screen > Tap RT/R2 to flip side of screen, Tap RB/R1 for roll/fade, Tap LB/L1 again to slip or pop early.
Now let’s get back to defense.
NEW - CPU “Junk” defenses – a team like the Mavericks will show you a man look until the first or second pass, then they will transition into a 2-3 zone. This is all dependent on the team or player they are facing.
NEW – Multiple defensive player assignments - Just like the finals, a player like LeBron could see up to four different Warriors match up with him throughout a game. This can change due to quarter, score and how he’s having success.
NEW - Elite defender responsibility – In any other basketball game prior to NBA 2K16, a Cavs vs. Bulls match up would have Dunleavy guarding LeBron the entire game. Now certain teams will put their best defenders on you depending on the situation. Expect players like Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, or Kawhi Leonard to switch on to elite perimeter players.