NBA 2K13 News Post

NBA 2K13: More Advanced Stats Are Needed

02:37 PM - September 7, 2012 by RaychelSnr

The advanced statistical revolution has arrived in the basketball, just a few years behind its arrival in baseball. As documented in Michael Lewis’ Moneyball, the use of sabermetric stats in baseball led to a dramatic turnaround for the woebegone Oakland A’s in 2002. Those same principles also played a big part in getting the Boston Red Sox their first World Series title in 86 years in 2004.

In basketball, statisticians like John Hollinger have developed metrics like Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in an effort to go beyond the often deceptive per-game numbers that have been in use for generations. The NBA 2K series has responded to this evolution by providing advanced metrics in its last several iterations, including stats like True Shooting Percentage, Effective Field Goal Percentage, the aforementioned PER, and others.

But there’s so much more they could do.

Read More - NBA 2K13: More Advanced Stats Are Needed

Game: NBA 2K13Reader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 75 - View All

NBA 2K13 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 nova91 @ 09/07/12 02:40 PM

Shot charts and the player/team comparisons are what I would really like to see added.

# 2 iLLosophy @ 09/07/12 02:42 PM

Great suggestions.

Not to mention with more advanced stats, it will make problems and imbalances the sim engine, sliders, tendencies, gameplay stats that much more apparent.

# 3 youALREADYknow @ 09/07/12 02:44 PM

They had some advanced stats in 2K12, but one would think that there's a lot more coming since they have the STATS license.

Part of the problem could be data storage though. Storing play-by-play data for one entire NBA season takes at least a couple GB of storage space (on the conservative end) and that's probably the major design drawback. On the lighter versions of the 360, that's not going to be feasible.

Rolled-up team data should be possible without much storage requirement though.

# 4 Gramps91 @ 09/07/12 02:46 PM

Personally I really like the way they're been doing stats since 2k10. 2k12 was amazing in that they showed averages against every team, as well as home and away games. I think it's fine the way it is, but if they want to add more, then I welcome it. I'm a stat nut. As long as they don't take anything away from what they already have.

# 5 ffaacc03 @ 09/07/12 02:50 PM

I would like, as stated, for 2k to use such advanced stats, not only display them ... use the shot charts for hot spots, use the advance metrics for ratings, use synergy info for tendencies and playbooks ... I want 2K to fully embrace and integrate this ...

Then again, I understand that not everything is numbers and that there is subjectivity and context ... thus just make the distinction of what is objective (individual ratings, tendencies), apply the metrics, then separate the subjective (overall rating, players goals, etc) and please, make it all editable.

# 6 youALREADYknow @ 09/07/12 02:59 PM

One thing mentioned in the GameInformer article is that a developer worked on capturing in-game player tendencies within MyPlayer Mode and integrating that into gameplay for how teammates act/react.

This actually was already somewhat included in 2K12 in Quick Play games where you could create a "Profile" of how you played based on shot type, shot location, tempo, defensive style, etc. I wondered if they would ever extend that into other game modes and it looks like they have.

Hopefully that kind of dynamic and real-time data analysis will allow players and coaches to have dynamic attributes, tendencies, hot spots, and hot zones in career modes in future NBA 2K games.

For example, the Clutch rating could be a dynamic rating from year-to-year that "progresses" up/down based upon Clutch statistics from the previous season. The Durability rating could progress up/down based upon injury frequency from the previous season. All Hot Zones could be determined based on actual shot location data from the previous season.

There's a ton of potential there if that's the route they choose to go. I've always had the opinion that career modes in sports games will not take the jump to the next level until more aspects are dynamically generated and evolving.

# 7 scatman @ 09/07/12 03:10 PM

I've thought about this extensively. I would love to see these kinds of stats and more added to the mix. I really like the idea of having shot charts available outside of a game. Being able to see where my guys are being most effective would be invaluable to this game, as well as coaching and scouting other talent be it for upcoming games, trades or free agents.

Per 36 or Per 40 is another tool I would love to see. I usually have to go online and look up the stats of guys myself and I use it when I want to create someone (upcoming rookie or legend not in the game) to get an idea of how good and productive I should make them.

# 8 shmitty @ 09/07/12 03:29 PM

Great article...

Play per possession by play type and advancing the shot chart/sig skills should definitely be the next steps for this game.

There isnt much that seperates most players in each position, every Pg Sg Sf Pf or C kind of has the same "game", its just that some players are more likely to score or be successful playing that game. You can see this whenever you work hard to get a star in foul trouble, only to get destroyed by his back up as if the star player never left. (especially if its that "time" for the cpu to go on a run.)

Right now we cant really use real life strategies in the game becuase the game doesnt always play by those rules.

I think we are off to a nice start with the shot charts/sig skills and tendencies, but I think gameplay at its core isnt going to get much better until they go into overdrive and really focus on having each player stay true to his abilities and role on the team.

Something as simple as the cpu never ever passing the ball to Dwight Howard 20ft away from the rim, or major changes like Chris Paul passing out of pick n rolls early in games then looking to score in the 4th. Thats a lot of information it put into the game, but no matter what animations or skills they give us it wont completely translate until they better utilize advanced stats.

# 9 Kashanova @ 09/07/12 03:36 PM

When I play the Association mode there is an advance stats league leader screen, it includes a wide array of different stats

# 10 RedSceptile @ 09/07/12 03:38 PM

A major implementation would be dynamic injuries. What I mean by that is say you're playing Association and your young star forward tears his ACL. When he comes back from injury his playstyle should reflect the injury. So instead of attacking the rim recklessly he'd more tentative in his approach and as he comes back to full strength his playstyles shifts dynamically.

I know we're talking about stats but dynamic generation could lead to a more realistic approach to each stage. Having guys have serious injuries and comeback after the allotted time like nothing happened is something that I'd hope to see addressed in the future.

# 11 ffaacc03 @ 09/07/12 04:39 PM

Since we touch the dynamic topic, I would love to finally have a truely dynamic commentary.

# 12 SHAKYR @ 09/07/12 05:53 PM

Man, you my hero! I love what you posted. It's similar to a post I made for another sport. You got my attention with this and I hope 2k attention as well.

# 13 rudeworld @ 09/07/12 06:40 PM

I love stats.... The more the merrier

# 14 cmehustle @ 09/07/12 08:03 PM

It would be better if the cpu would use those metrics to adjust to how you play during your association. Or if you have that info available to you for who you play against online you could defend better and force your opponent to adjust their game. But have it in the game just to have it in there? I don't know if I agree with that.

# 15 tril @ 09/07/12 08:14 PM

Im a stats nut, so the more the better.
Like what cmehustle stated. it would be grade to have the ai adjust based on your metrics. I havea feeling that the AI does those adjustments based on play style, but it needs to be more robust.

# 16 Thunder Storm @ 09/11/12 12:27 AM

I didn't even know any of these metrics were in the game. I really need to play offline more.

# 17 jfsolo @ 09/11/12 12:30 AM

If they add that stuff, great, but it's not something that I would spend that much time looking at. My feeling is that the sim engine and the in game A.I. would have to advance exponentially for all that data to have the relevance that it does in real life.

# 18 K.So @ 09/11/12 12:59 AM

It would make me happy to have what mySynergy has for individual players: you can see the PPP they give up on defense, the FG% they allow, etc. gives a more 'moneyball' feel to the game, and really makes defensive specialists important in the game, etc.

More Links

NBA 2K13: More Advanced Stats Are Needed