Some info for those of you that like to go deep into your Association.....

[CWSapp757]

Before I waste your time reading this extremely long post, I want to say that most of this information is for people that like to do a lot of simulating and go deep in to very deep in to Association. However, there are a lot of random bits of information that others may find useful so if you have the time, it might be worth it to read this.

Let me say that I have an obsession with this game and the bulk of that obsession comes from my love for Association mode. I always develop several draft classes each year that will add more realism to the already marvelous mode. So as usual, I did some simulating and studying before I even took the time to play the actual game. Below are some interesting things I have found. Draw whatever conclusions you may from this info, but I simply wanted to put it out there for everyone.

For me, it is important that the balance of the out of the box roster is in tune (or at least close to being in tune) with the roster as your Association progresses. Below is a brief count of how many players fall into the top 3 rating categories when you first begin your Association. Keep in mind that I did this with player roles and chemistry off so that I could get there actual rating without any other variables.

90 and up overall players - 9

80 and up overall players- 36

70 and up overall players - 113

Now, below is the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists after simulating the first year of an Association.

Points
Kevin Durant - 30.9
Derrick Rose - 29.5
Lebron James - 28.9
Monta Ellis - 28.8
Kobe Bryant - 27.6
Amare Stoudemire - 27.6
Carmelo Anthony - 25.0
Dirk Nowitzki - 25.0
Russell Westbrook - 24.8
Dwayne Wade - 23.0

Rebounds
Dwight Howard - 12.5
Blake Griffin - 11.0
Kris Humphries - 10.3
Emeka Okafor - 10.1
Marcin Gortat - 10.0
Chuck Hayes - 10.0
Zach Randolph - 9.8
Kevin Garnett - 9.7
Dejuan Blair - 9.7
Anderson Varejao - 9.5

Assists
Jason Kidd - 10.4
Rajon Rondo - 9.9
Chauncey Billups - 7.0
Kyle Lowry - 6.9
Russell Westbrook - 6.8
John Wall - 6.8
Luke Ridnour - 6.8
Raymond Felton - 6.8
Ty Lawson - 6.5
Jose Calderon - 6.3

Scoring looks very good. Rebounds and assists look a tad low but not too bad I suppose. Now fast forward four years.

Nov 1 2015

90 and up overall players - 13

80 and up overall players - 60

70 and up overall players - 111

I think it is important to note that while the number of players with an overall of 90 or higher increased by only 4, the number of 80 and up players almost doubled. Let’s look at the stats after the 2015-2016 season.

Top scorers
Kevin Durant - 26.2
Amare Stoudemire - 25.4
John Wall - 24.3
Lebron James - 23.0
Jordan Crawford - 22.4
Brandon Jennings - 21.0
Chad Valentine - 21.0 New Orleans SG that they took with the 2nd overall pick after they lost Chris Paul
Russell Westbrook - 20.5
Blake Griffen - 20.3

Rebounders
Blake Griffin - 11.7
Andrew Bynum - 11.3
Dejuan Blair - 10.8
Greg Monroe - 10.7
Kevin Love - 10.7
Al Horford - 10.6
Andrew Bogut - 10.1
Joakim Noah - 10.1
Amare Stoudemire - 9.7
Patrick Patterson - 9.5

Assists
Rajon Rondo - 9.5
Mike Conley - 7.8
Chris Paul - 7.7
Brandon Jennings - 7.6
Kyle Lowry - 7.2
Russell Westbrook - 7.2
DJ Augustin - 7.2
Dick Welsch - 6.8 2nd year computer generated PG that NO took number 2 overall
Derrick Rose - 6.7
Jonny Flynn - 6.4

Stats for rebounds and assist did not seem to change much but scoring did appear to take a slight dip. Last, we will look at the 2019 – 2020 season data and stats.

Nov 1 2019

90 and up overall players - 22, 13 real players and 9 computer generated rookies

80 and up overall players - 62, 29 real players and 23 computer generated rookies

70 and up overall players - 114

Scorers
Derrick Rose - 26.5
Kevin Durant - 23.1
Stephen Curry - 22.3
Russell Westbrook - 20.8
Lebron James - 20.5
John Wall - 20.4
Eric Gordon - 19.9
Brandon Jennings - 19.7
Rodrigue Beaubois - 19.3
Brook Lopez - 18.7

Rebounds
Jamaal Columbus - 11.8
Geoffrey Ray - 11.6
Anton Gornev - 11.3
Antonis Patsatzoglou - 11.3
Carlton Daley - 11.1
Taylor Campbell - 10.9
Greg Monroe - 10.7
Lonnie Posey - 10.6
Sidney Pollard - 10.2
Blake Griffin - 10.1

Assists
Jackson Jefferson - 8.5
Chris Paul - 8.5
Brandon Jennings - 7.4
Rajon Rondo - 7.2
Dick Welsch - 7.1
DJ Augustin - 7.0
Lebron James - 6.9
John Wall - 6.9
Ricky Rubio (93 overall... go figure) - 6.7
Stephen Curry - 6.5

Obviously I haven’t taken the time to do multiple tests, but this brief simulation shows that in the later years of Association, the amount of 80-99 rated players will double (or close to it). I’m glad to see that this does not have a visible effect on rebounds and assists, but it does seem to have an effect on scoring. In my opinion, there are two things that should be done to prevent this. First, potential should be lowered across the board. Secondly, draft classes need to be edited to prevent the computer from giving you draft classes with too many highly rated players and too many players with very high potential.

Well, that’s all I have for now guys. Hopefully, you got something enjoyment out of it. If not, thanks for reading anyway.

[CWSapp757]

Oh, a few other random notes….

- Lebron James won the MVP award five years in a row before Stephen Curry finally broke his streak.

- It appears you can’t skip David Stern’s little speech at the beginning of the draft. It was cool the first time, but now it is just annoying.

- I didn’t do a lot of testing, but there appears to still be a small issue with centers and their tendencies. Some of the higher rated rookie centers I came across had a shot tendency of like 35 and lower. I’ll have to look more in to that though.

- 2K really believes in Ricky Rubio. As I stated earlier, he gets pretty high up there in rating. The highest that I saw him rated was a 93 and I believe it was his fifth year in.

- As many people have already stated, you cannot change the age of players (NBA or D-League). However, you can lower the age of rookies BEFORE the draft.

- Speaking of age, you’re going to want to edit those rookies either before or right after the draft cause I had a draft where the top 4 guys were 23, 23, 24 and 24 years old respectively. That’s just a little too old for my taste.

- Trade logic during the draft seemed a little off. I can’t recall the exact trades but there were a few that I know for a fact would never go down in real life.

- One of the things that I am really happy about is that the top players are being signed during the free agency period. During the first five years that I simulated, the highest rated player at the beginning of any season was a 71 overall. However, in the latter years, I saw players rated in the high 70s and a couple 80 overall players in the pool. However, this can be attributed to the huge increase of players in the 80-99 range.

- I think the best news of all is that through all the years that I checked, no team stacked up on superstars at the same position. The closest thing to it was the 76ers having Evan Turner and some other SG that were both rated 84 and I can definitely live with that.

Alright fellas, off to sleep. Gotta start on these draft classes tomorrow. Peace.

[bfrombleacher]

Good job. Can't wait till I get it.

P.S. If you have time please do more tests. Much appreciated.

[kjjnesb]

This all sounds fantastic my only complaint would be the age editing but teams not staking up at one position is awesome

[morningstar777]

Derrick Rose isn't top 10 in scoring 5 years from now but he leads the league 10 years from now? Was he hurt?

[Hotobu]

Aside from what you pointed out I'd like to know where the hell Kevin Love is in the rebounding. If anyone should have maxed out numbers it's him.

[morningstar777]

Derrick Rose isn't top 10 in scoring 5 years from now but he leads the league 10 years from now? Was he hurt?

Edit: No he wasn't, I see him in the assist column

[CWSapp757]

Quote: Originally Posted by morningstar777

Derrick Rose isn't top 10 in scoring 5 years from now but he leads the league 10 years from now? Was he hurt?

Damn. That's a good question man. I was so busy just writing down the stats that I didn't even realize that Rose was no where to be found in the top 10 scoring during that season. That is a little odd.