Is 2K driving people to abandon playing bigs?

[Erithtotl]

So, I made the 'mistake' of starting this year with a PF, SC/Post. Like a lot of people I saw the good ratings and badges and thought it would make a nice blend of skills, especially with supposedly improved post play in 2k19.

What I have discovered though is that due to the inability to finish inside, glacial post moves, and the ease of scoring 3s and transition, that bigs are more worthless than ever unless you want to play a pure rebounder.

So after getting my guy to 90, I abandoned him and started a PG. With my PF, I could go into rec and get a game almost immediately, but with my PG, %95 of the time I go in and its me and 2 wings waiting for 5-10 minutes without success to get the 4 and 5 spot filled.

This tells me no one wants to play bigs anymore.

There is an argument that the NBA itself is de-emphasizing big men so 2K19 is just following the trends. Here's the problem though. 2K19's build system isn't flexible enough to create a 2018 big man. You can't make a Draymond Green, an Anthony Davis, a KAT, or a KP. Heck, even Durant is essentially a PF or C now. You can only make one dimensional stretches, rebounders, dive men and post scorers. While there are definitely some players that like to play dunking rebounders, the scarcity of them in rec tells me that they are in the minority.

If 2K wants to really reflect the modern NBA, we need more flexibility on big men. Look at a playmaking shot creator or slashing shot creator. Those guards/wings can do a bit of everything. Maybe not as well as their real life counterparts, but you can at least create a multi dimensional shooting/passing/driving threat. You can't do that 'well' with a big. And if you try, the 7'3" pure rebounder is going to get 25 boards on you. (I can't recall Draymond Green getting destroyed by Dwight Howard or Clint Capella every matchup.)

Is 2K even aware of the death of the big man in their game? Do they care? It seems like for it to be viable going forward they need people playing all 5 positions.

[ksuttonjr76]

Personally, I blame it more on the online mentality of gamers. Being a big in itself is not the problem. The problem lies with gamers who don't know how or care to work with a big. If you not setting screens for them or grabbing rebound to kick back out to them for 3's, then most people really don't care about bigs. I usually have a defensive type big just so I feel like I'm doing something else other than doing the aforementioned things.

It's all about breaking ankles and how many threes you can splash in someone else's face with a green release.

[Erithtotl]

Quote: Originally Posted by ksuttonjr76

Personally, I blame it more on the online mentality of gamers. Being a big in itself is not the problem. The problem lies with gamers who don't know how or care to work with a big. If you not setting screens for them or grabbing rebound to kick back out to them for 3's, then most people really don't care about bigs. I usually have a defensive type big just so I feel like I'm doing something else other than doing the aforementioned things. It's all about breaking ankles and how many threes you can splash in someone else's face with a green release.

This is definitely a factor. But it remains that bigs just aren't that effective on offense because perimeter is overpowered. Shooting %60 from the post is like shooting %40 from 3, and most sharps shoot way higher than that because of overpowered outside shooting.
5 min
Once again I'm sitting waiting in rec center, 2 PGs and an SF. 15 minutes and counting.

[24ct]

Well the bigs in the NBA are pretty much a thing of the past. If you look at it there’s not many post up bigs in the NBA. They’re all face ups now. The adapted players shoot 3s just like guards. No big gets a call for a post up anymore except for maybe Boogie, AD & Aldridge, so it’s not 2Ks fault for the online community not wanting a big to dominate.

I say that to say post scoring is near unstoppable this year. Post hop fades are hard to guard. The drop steps are deadly if you use them. Stretch bigs are just as good as pure sharps. Athletic finishers lethal. But Park is run & gun. 3s in Park is just like a 3 in the NBA. Why take a 2 if you can get a 3?

I wouldn’t say bigs are dead but the meta/winning formula has always been a primary ball handler/scorer, a shooter & a defender/rebounder build. It won’t change.


I don’t really understand the dilemma tho. If you are a big IRL your job would be to set hard screens, space the floor, grab rebounds & finish at the rim & protect the rim, right?

[Mani Gultinder]

Quote: Originally Posted by Erithtotl

This is definitely a factor. But it remains that bigs just aren't that effective on offense because perimeter is overpowered. Shooting %60 from the post is like shooting %40 from 3, and most sharps shoot way higher than that because of overpowered outside shooting. 5 min Once again I'm sitting waiting in rec center, 2 PGs and an SF. 15 minutes and counting.

Moneyball baby! That being said I run with a slashing max post who is a beast. We run four out options when in half court and it works well cause his IQ and ability is pretty high.

For some reason he doesn’t suffer the difficulty in finishing at all that I know many others do.


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[3ShowTime2]

Quote: Originally Posted by ksuttonjr76

Personally, I blame it more on the online mentality of gamers. Being a big in itself is not the problem. The problem lies with gamers who don't know how or care to work with a big. If you not setting screens for them or grabbing rebound to kick back out to them for 3's, then most people really don't care about bigs. I usually have a defensive type big just so I feel like I'm doing something else other than doing the aforementioned things. It's all about breaking ankles and how many threes you can splash in someone else's face with a green release.

I agree with this. Bigs themselves are not the problem, they are powerful. And I think the problem is not even that people "dont know" how to utilize them, its that they DONT CARE. Why waste time with a post scorer if I can just catch a screen, run to the baseline and hit 14/15 difficult shots. Really, im already seeing shotties again going 15/17, sharps going 9/11 from downtown regularly like its 2k18. Why should you go big or on the other hand give them the ball if its that easy to score?

[loso_34]

I think most bigs haven’t adjusted to the new layup timing this year.

[Goffs]

7'1 Rim protector/finisher here and I average like 5 blocks a game in the rec. Even though I'm a finisher I rarely hang around the post because it way too crowded and my guy can't really finish strong anyway.

So I hang back a bit to stop the outlet passes and I love it when they want to dunk on me only to be blocked. I may not score at all but on the defensive side I'm a force.

This is the first year since 2k11 that I've felt good as a defensive center. I kinda wish I went pure instead since inside slasher can't score anyway. Maybe the cap breaker will help but I doubt I will go past 91.

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