NBA 2K16 News Post

NBA 2K16: Aggressive On-Ball Physicality

02:38 PM - February 12, 2016 by ChaseB

When it comes to NBA 2K, the developers who have to figure out the best way to create an environment where both defense and offense are rewarded has to be a tricky balancing act. I would even say it has to be frustrating at times. Some of the decisions you have to make in terms of deciding what two-man interactions you implement, deciding how dribble moves work, how the defensive slide works, how defensive assist plays into the equation, how the ball itself acts in this situation, and how physical you can even be all play into a showdown that occurs 100 billion times a game.

In other words, it feels really complex to me.

Some folks have been poking me to write about on-ball defense, and I�ve sort of tried to avoid writing about it because it�s a quagmire of sorts. I don�t know if it�s really possible to nail a perfect balance when you have a million animations, a ton of attributes, oodles of dribble moves, and a lot of various player types and bodies all bouncing off each other in all these scenarios. It�s not a simple paper beats rock scenario (though come on, we all know rock flies right through paper).

That being said, I�ve come to think of on-ball defense like a mini-game version of a fighting game. It�s reading and reacting as one player tries to do an input that the other is predicting or trying to counter. I�m not sure if that�s the right way to think about it or not, but it�s the way I�ve settled on thinking about on-ball defense as I�ve written this all up.

After the jump, I�ll talk a little bit about the real NBA vs. NBA 2K. From there, I�ll dive into what I see as the positives, the negatives and the I-am-not-even-really-sure territory of on-ball defense in NBA 2K16.

This one might get a little weird. Let�s do it.

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# 1 ChaseB @ 02/12/16 02:42 PM

Quick notes:

-I did not talk about warping back into place once you've beat your man as I feel like that's just an obvious thing that should be fixed and worked on.

-I also did not talk about boosting charging calls on-ball, though obviously it's one thing that could be done. I know many folks grew tired of questionable on-ball charging calls in the past though so steered clear of that in this article.

# 2 jeebs9 @ 02/12/16 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseB


	Quick notes: -I did not talk about warping back into place once you've beat your man as I feel like that's just an obvious thing that should be fixed and worked on. -I also did not talk about boosting charging calls on-ball, though obviously it's one thing that could be done. I know many folks grew tired of questionable on-ball charging calls in the past though so steered clear of that in this article.

Nice Chase! I've only drawn 2 charges this season. I'm still shocked to see my opponents standing in the back court waiting for me to run them over.

# 3 Rockie_Fresh88 @ 02/12/16 04:25 PM

Playing pro am all of my charges have come on perimeter. I have not drawn a single on ball charge anywhere else. Anything else is a blocking foul. That takes away a lot of defense from me. I've always pride myself on getting good position yet I'm not rewarded for it.

I have drawn so off ball fouls in the paint though

# 4 Baebae32 @ 02/12/16 04:58 PM

Maybe 2K should penalize ball handlers that try to barrel through their defender with a push off charge animation. Maybe that would help deter that play style. Idk just a suggestion

# 5 infam0us @ 02/12/16 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockie_Fresh88


	Playing pro am all of my charges have come on perimeter. I have not drawn a single on ball charge anywhere else. Anything else is a blocking foul. That takes away a lot of defense from me. I've always pride myself on getting good position yet I'm not rewarded for it. I have drawn so off ball fouls in the paint though

It's so frustrating when your match up is going baseline 90% of the time and you set yourself up to be there to defend and you get hit with a blocking foul when's he's running into you.

# 6 Dyslexicphish @ 02/12/16 05:38 PM

Great post about something I feel no one really talks about: on-ball defense in 2k is a poor representation of actual real life on-ball defense. 2k is far too physical and is more about bumping and in some cases holding the ball handler to restrict their movement. In the NBA that kind of contact is a foul most of the time. Even when it isn't called you'll sometimes hear the crowd moan and groan about the contact. I have however seen overly physical on-ball defense called a foul in 2k but it seems almost random.

# 7 PPerfect_CJ @ 02/12/16 05:38 PM

Awesome article, Chase. Made perfect sense. This really needs to be worked on.

# 8 DirtyJerz32 @ 02/12/16 05:51 PM

Great write up Chase. This is my main issue with this good game. Sliders do help to clean some of this up, but it really needs to be addressed next year. It makes playing on the higher difficulty levels almost unable for anyone that's not sharp on the sticks... like me.

# 9 Junior Moe @ 02/12/16 06:02 PM

Great write up. There are a lot of good points here. I'm interested in where 2K goes with this.

# 10 NINJAK2 @ 02/12/16 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baebae32


	Maybe 2K should penalize ball handlers that try to barrel through their defender with a push off charge animation. Maybe that would help deter that play style. Idk just a suggestion

That's a great idea Baebae!

# 11 Caelumfang @ 02/12/16 07:38 PM

Unfortunately playing physical defense like this is the only way to deter some of these iso ballhogs. Seriously, take away the physicality, and you're back to 2k14/2k15 where the ballhandler can go absolutely crazy with the dribbling with no way to stop them from spamming except attempting a reach.

# 12 Ichi @ 02/12/16 08:00 PM

I love this post. I was just discussing this in the MyTeam forum.
Too many times you get cut off with the kind of animations that are clearly a foul, and those animations are so long that you can't do a dribble move to counter, so not only is a foul not awarded, you can't react and loose precious seconds of the shot clock.
They really need to reduce the physicality drastically and let us defend by cutting angles and closing out shots.

# 13 strawberryshortcake @ 02/12/16 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyslexicphish


	Great post about something I feel no one really talks about: on-ball defense in 2k is a poor representation of actual real life on-ball defense. 2k is far too physical and is more about bumping and in some cases holding the ball handler to restrict their movement. In the NBA that kind of contact is a foul most of the time. Even when it isn't called you'll sometimes hear the crowd moan and groan about the contact. I have however seen overly physical on-ball defense called a foul in 2k but it seems almost random.

For those who have a solid recollection of the NBA of yesterday (I've been watching the NBA since the 1980s but it's been so long I don't remember much), how was defense refereed? It was more physical was it not? Does this factor in how NBA2k' defensive gameplay is constructed considering NBA2k does have classic teams? Is it truly possible to create two separate 2k gameplay eras? If you stack a classic team vs a current team, how should 2k "enforce"/"implement" on ball defense?

# 14 ILLSmak @ 02/12/16 08:43 PM

It's like this, as I stated in my mostly-unread defensive post:

You are right about the physicality, but the issue is that within a certain space the ball handler and the defender are bound. That means, your reactions will actually affect them. With a bit more space, they are completely open and untied to you... if they would widen the 'bind' they could remove some of the physicality on ball and allow you to actually affect the ball handler... thus making it more realistic.

I don't mind the stickiness as long as there are more outcomes.

-Smak

# 15 ronjonsballin200 @ 02/12/16 10:23 PM

can any of you tell me what tracy mcgradys release is on nba 2k16, i saw a post earlier in the year on it but theres no such thing as a base shot anymore so im curious what his release is now. thanks

# 16 Mobb2015 @ 02/12/16 11:24 PM

I actually love the defense in 2k16..... I'm pretty nice defensively and I must say I feel like I have a chance in this years game. the last 3 clips in this article in my opinion displays very realistic dfense. yes, at times the game is really physical but I comnd 2k for this addition. I mean DOG, not always but 90% of the time I can stop the zigzag cheese. I would prefer a more realistic basketball sim but its just a game yo. I did really enjoy this article btw and also agree with most of what u said. mobb2015 @twitter/utube/twitch(quickplug) What I would like is for the a.i to stop leaving players open. ish blows me

# 17 2_headedmonster @ 02/13/16 01:44 AM

Im glad that this topic is coming up. The on ball defense in 2k16 leaves a lot to be desired in the way of foot work, and as the article mentioned, the physicality.

I think some of the animations in the game are in place because the average gamer is much more relentless than a real player would be (thanks to the forgiving fatigue rate). With that in mind, i can understand that i might be difficult to recreate hypothetical situations that are balanced for the game but some of these collisions are intentionally, unrealistically disruptive. Much more of the subtle contact animations that you highlighted in conjunction with riding animations for many more angles would make a world of difference in the freedom of movement and spacing.

It may not be very apparent but many of the dribble and contact animations in the game promote a wide angle of movement for what i can only assume is to allow maximum time for defensive recovery. Improvements in the angles allowed and duration of perimeter contact animations could really open things up.

# 18 TarHeelPhenom @ 02/13/16 03:22 AM

My man Sam Pham has some awesome videos on how to play on ball defense in this game. Totally changed my outlook on how to play d in this game.

# 19 hanzsomehanz @ 02/13/16 08:09 AM

Quote:


	In short, the visuals matter as much as the inputs when it comes to making both parties feel like they�re in control in these scenarios. If the overly physical animations are playing out (or no fouls are called when they do), it can look and feel like human bumper cars at times.

We made the bed but 2k provided the sheets: that's what this last paragraph conveys to me. I also gather that defense is the way it is because offense is also liberated to be the way it is and neither simulate NBA mechanics in their entirirety which is a given.

I appreciate the conversation here and the gifs, both have opened my eyes to what you have clearly exposed and opined on. I do hope 2k devs consider your reflections here and pursue cleaning up the mechanics on both side.

As users we are guilty for making a mess of the game but 2k is also guilty for affording us the opportunity to get away with these crimes with no reasonable price or punishment.

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk

# 20 hanzsomehanz @ 02/13/16 08:14 AM

While I'm here I'd also like to submit my request for a Chase expos� on Steals and Blocks in 2k vs NBA. 👐

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