NBA 2K13 Strategic Improvements

[RayAllen20]

This thread is all about what improvements need to be made for next year's game to make the AI even more better. Right now, I think 2k12 has maybe the best AI in all sports videogames in a very complicated sport. Still, there's a lot of room for improvement to make this game even more of a fun chess match. I realize some of this may not be possible, but I'm just throwing out some ideas.


1. CPU Down Late in Games

Example: I'm the Celtics playing the Heat. I am up 4 with 10 seconds left. The Heat have no timeouts. LeBron kind of walks up the floor and then shoots a contested three with 5 seconds left. He misses, but even if he made it, the game would still be close to over because of poor clock management.

What needs to happen in these types of situations, is the CPU decides whether or not they want to go for a quick two or the three. I am absolutely fine with either choice. I'm not here to debate which choice the CPU should make, as it is a complicated decision. But I'd like to see the computer rolling the ball maybe while inbounding, or inbounding the ball as far up court as possible. Then sprinting up the court, and either pull up for 3, or keep going to try and get a quick 2. The CPU needs to try and shoot the ball as quickly as possible in this situation or else it's almost impossible to come back.


2. Denying Late in Games

Example. Once again I'm the Celtics against the Heat. I'm up two with 10 seconds left, inbounding at my own end. Obviously, the Heat are going to try and get a steal, and if they can't, they'll foul. The CPU Heat are full court pressing, which they should. But, it's too easy to inbound. I just select Ray Allen, move towards the ball, pass it to him, and it's an easy two points, game over.

What should happen is the CPU should deny everybody. Make it an actual challenge to get the ball in bounds. Or atleast deny everybody who's over a 75% FT shooter. How awesome would it be if the CPU Heat were trying their hardest to deny Allen, Pierce, and Garnett, but left Rondo absolutely wide open, so they could foul him instead. That would be great CPU AI.


3. Late Game Playcalling

Example. I'm the Thunder against the Spurs, down 3 with 3 seconds left. I'm inbounding at my own end, and want to get Durant an open 3. I don't know the Thunder's plays very well at all, so I don't know what play will get me a quick catch and shoot for 3 for Durant. I end up just free lancing, which is pretty much just me getting Durant open and shooting a contested three.

What would be nice, would be an easier naming system. For each player, there'd be quick plays. Quick 3, Quick 2, Isolation, Quick Post Up, Quick Alley Oop. So if I'm down 2 with the Thunder and say I want to go for the tie with Russell Westbrook, I select Quick 2. Then I just control Westbrook, follow the play diagrams, and hopefully get a good look at a 2. It should still obviously be hard to get open, and not get a contested shot off, but it would be a lot easier to run.

Other than the quick inbound plays, you would still have your inbound plays, that just get the ball inbounds and take about 10-15 seconds to complete the rest of the play.


4. Timeout Strategy

I miss the points of emphasis feature. It was a pretty good example of what coaches did in real life. They'd tell their team that they need to focus on rebounding, taking care of the ball, defense, shot selection. I think we should get this back, but make it go a little deeper. So after a timeout, you can choose these types of things.

-Focus on taking care of the ball.
-Focus on forcing turnovers.
-Focus on shot selection.
-Focus on on ball defense.
-Focus on rotations.
-Focus on stopping..(select a player on the other team, and your team would help out more on covering that one player)
-Focus on boxing out.
-Focus on crashing the offensive glass.
-Focus on transition defense.
-Focus on getting out in transition.
-Focus on hustle.

These 11 things are basically what any coach has to say out of a timeout. In a 20 second timeout, you should be able to select two things, while in a minute timeout, you can select 3. Then depending on how good your coach is, the more your team actually does what it is told. So in the game, Doc Rivers would give his team more of a slight boxing out boost than Avery Johnson would. That way coaches' ratings would actually make a nice impact when they didn't at all before.

Also in timeouts, you should be able to scroll through plays, and select which one you'd like to run, just like teams do in the NBA all the time.




Alright so those are my strategy ideas to make 2k13 more like a chess match. Post some of your ideas or let me know if you agree/disagree with mine.

[StraightBaylien]

Quote: Originally Posted by RayAllen20

This thread is all about what improvements need to be made for next year's game to make the AI even more better. Right now, I think 2k12 has maybe the best AI in all sports videogames in a very complicated sport. Still, there's a lot of room for improvement to make this game even more of a fun chess match. I realize some of this may not be possible, but I'm just throwing out some ideas. 1. CPU Down Late in Games Example: I'm the Celtics playing the Heat. I am up 4 with 10 seconds left. The Heat have no timeouts. LeBron kind of walks up the floor and then shoots a contested three with 5 seconds left. He misses, but even if he made it, the game would still be close to over because of poor clock management. What needs to happen in these types of situations, is the CPU decides whether or not they want to go for a quick two or the three. I am absolutely fine with either choice. I'm not here to debate which choice the CPU should make, as it is a complicated decision. But I'd like to see the computer rolling the ball maybe while inbounding, or inbounding the ball as far up court as possible. Then sprinting up the court, and either pull up for 3, or keep going to try and get a quick 2. The CPU needs to try and shoot the ball as quickly as possible in this situation or else it's almost impossible to come back. 2. Denying Late in Games Example. Once again I'm the Celtics against the Heat. I'm up two with 10 seconds left, inbounding at my own end. Obviously, the Heat are going to try and get a steal, and if they can't, they'll foul. The CPU Heat are full court pressing, which they should. But, it's too easy to inbound. I just select Ray Allen, move towards the ball, pass it to him, and it's an easy two points, game over. What should happen is the CPU should deny everybody. Make it an actual challenge to get the ball in bounds. Or atleast deny everybody who's over a 75% FT shooter. How awesome would it be if the CPU Heat were trying their hardest to deny Allen, Pierce, and Garnett, but left Rondo absolutely wide open, so they could foul him instead. That would be great CPU AI. 3. Late Game Playcalling Example. I'm the Thunder against the Spurs, down 3 with 3 seconds left. I'm inbounding at my own end, and want to get Durant an open 3. I don't know the Thunder's plays very well at all, so I don't know what play will get me a quick catch and shoot for 3 for Durant. I end up just free lancing, which is pretty much just me getting Durant open and shooting a contested three. What would be nice, would be an easier naming system. For each player, there'd be quick plays. Quick 3, Quick 2, Isolation, Quick Post Up, Quick Alley Oop. So if I'm down 2 with the Thunder and say I want to go for the tie with Russell Westbrook, I select Quick 2. Then I just control Westbrook, follow the play diagrams, and hopefully get a good look at a 2. It should still obviously be hard to get open, and not get a contested shot off, but it would be a lot easier to run. Other than the quick inbound plays, you would still have your inbound plays, that just get the ball inbounds and take about 10-15 seconds to complete the rest of the play. 4. Timeout Strategy I miss the points of emphasis feature. It was a pretty good example of what coaches did in real life. They'd tell their team that they need to focus on rebounding, taking care of the ball, defense, shot selection. I think we should get this back, but make it go a little deeper. So after a timeout, you can choose these types of things. -Focus on taking care of the ball. -Focus on forcing turnovers. -Focus on shot selection. -Focus on on ball defense. -Focus on rotations. -Focus on stopping..(select a player on the other team, and your team would help out more on covering that one player) -Focus on boxing out. -Focus on crashing the offensive glass. -Focus on transition defense. -Focus on getting out in transition. -Focus on hustle. These 11 things are basically what any coach has to say out of a timeout. In a 20 second timeout, you should be able to select two things, while in a minute timeout, you can select 3. Then depending on how good your coach is, the more your team actually does what it is told. So in the game, Doc Rivers would give his team more of a slight boxing out boost than Avery Johnson would. That way coaches' ratings would actually make a nice impact when they didn't at all before. Also in timeouts, you should be able to scroll through plays, and select which one you'd like to run, just like teams do in the NBA all the time. Alright so those are my strategy ideas to make 2k13 more like a chess match. Post some of your ideas or let me know if you agree/disagree with mine.

This. I agree with everything here, completely 100%

[morningstar777]

How about focusing on not giving up a 3? Focusing on not fouling? I mean, to be honest, my hopes aren't too high for 2k anymore at the simulation aspect, there was NO WAY to play a true sim game in 2k12 like you did in 2k11. Hopefully 2k13 will be more like 2k11 in terms of simulation basketball, but I am not holding my breath.

[RyanFitzmagic]

-The CPU should double-team before a player scores a whole bunch of points and gets hot. Certain players should be doubled (sometimes, not all the time) at the beginning of the game if they're in a position to score in an iso situation against a bad defender (or if the player is just that good and can score on anyone). Also, the golden rule for defending the post in the NBA is basically if a low-post player either takes more than two dribbles, gets both feet into the paint, or both, you double-team. Would like to see this logic to an extent.

-The CPU should have lineups for all different end-of-game situations-- Free Throw, Defense, Offense, Rebounding, Small/Quick, etc, and they should use those lineups accordingly.

-Perhaps a system in which players have a list of positions that they can effectively guard, so that the CPU can switch them onto star players when needed. For example, Tony Allen can guard point guards, so if I play the CPU Grizzlies and I have the Clippers, the CPU will assign Allen to guard Paul.

But, at the same time, the CPU should know that, for example, if I start Nick Young with Paul as opposed to starting Foye with Paul, Nick Young against Parker would be a bad matchup, so they'd just stick with Parker on Paul.

-The CPU's strategy should change when players are in foul trouble, whether it's our players or theirs. If one of our players is in foul trouble, the CPU should maybe look to attack him to force him to defend, and if one of their players is in foul trouble, that player should be less active/physical defensively to avoid picking up an additional foul.

-CPU strategy should also change to adjust to our strategy. For example, if I'm playing against the Clippers and I keep driving into the paint with a perimeter player to draw DeAndre Jordan's attention, and then I kick it to my center for an easy basket five or six times in a row, DeAndre should start to stay at home more on his own man. And the inverse-- if I keep driving with a wing player and shooting layups because he's staying at home, he should look to be more aggressive in stepping up on the slashing ballhandler.

Also, if I've been going for a lot of pump fakes on the perimeter in a given game (or even a given season-- that'd be kinda cool), the CPU's jump-shooters will look to pump fake me more than usual. If Dirk Nowitzki or Kobe Bryant see you biting on shot fakes, they're gonna rip you apart with pump fakes and such.

-Certain players should have what I call an "Eff jumpers" mode. The best example I can think of is LeBron James-- when he's not making perimeter shots, he'll start to bull his way into the paint (sometimes recklessly) more often, or he'll go into the low post as he's doing this year. Point being, when one scoring option isn't working for a player who has multiple facets, he should abandon it to an extent.

Now that's NOT to say that this should be absolute-- it applies well to LeBron because he's not a jump-shooter. But if someone like Dirk Nowitzki isn't making jumpers, he'll still shoot them, but maybe not as often, or he'll try to get different looks (i.e., different spots, off screens, post-ups, pick-and-pops, etc.). A player's ratings in a certain offensive area should determine how much faith he has in his ability to get out of a slump in that area.

-I think I suggested this before, but I'd like to see something like a "Fearlessness" and "Intimidation" rating. This would determine how willing slashers are to go right at shot-blockers, and how willing shot-blockers are to step up and possibly get posterized.

So, say Dwight Howard has a 99 Intimidation and Dwyane Wade has an 80 Fearlessness. Wade MIGHT try to go at Howard and dunk over him if he has a good step, but for the most part, if Howard is waiting for him, he'll pass it or try to go around him/over him with a floater or something as opposed to attempting to dunk.

At the same time, someone like Westbrook might have a 90 Fearlessness and someone like... Andrea Bargnani has a 50 Intimidation. Westbrook isn't gonna give two damns that Bargnani is under the basket by himself and he's probably gonna try to dunk over him.

And then, what would be my personal favorite, someone like Serge Ibaka might have a 99 Intimidation and Josh Smith has a 99 Fearlessness. At that point, it becomes a game of "Chicken," and both players refuse to back down from the other in a one-on-one "Slasher vs Shot-Blocker" situation. That's when you get this: