2k11 basics/tips

[Weasel]

GREAT stuff Matt.


Maybe we can start a new thread, or Dave can edit his original post with all of that info.

Awesome.

Wasnt he just quoting?

[shel311]

GREAT stuff Matt.


Maybe we can start a new thread, or Dave can edit his original post with all of that info.

Awesome.

Wasnt he just quoting?

Yes.

I was just saying, instead of having it on page 5 of a thread, we can get it stickied at the top of a thread. I'd do it, but I'm on my phone.

[shel311]

Post moves tutorial, thanks to Jsence for finding it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h8GmBaTUl8[/youtube]

[nick]

10 fuckign minutes!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

[buckeye76]

i would consider myself a 2k10 expert (probably played close to 200 online games) 2k11 i haven't played as much but the game is pretty similar so i figured this thread could help bring along the new guys.

basics --

the game is very representative of real life so if you try to go one on one with a guy every play or run one play each time down you probably won't have much success, unless the guy you're playing completely blows.

open jumpers are hit most of the time, especially inside the arc. in the NBA its rare you see an open 16 footer that isn't knocked down by a good shooter. 3's are certainly a little more tricky, as they should be but if they are open and with set feet, they are hit more times then not.

sounds simple, get the guy open and he'll hit a shot... its really not that simple.

ways to get guys open:

there are different types of plays: quick plays and set plays

quick plays are 1) isolation, 2)pick n roll 3) quick post up and 4) i forget cause i dont think i use it
set plays differ for each team but basically you can scroll thru each position and run a play that will correspond to that position so a shooting guard will have plays run for him that set him up for open jumpers or for isolations, big will have plays that free him in the post, etc etc

not all plays are run to a T. a quick post might get your guy posting up 15 feet away if you don't have a good angle or if the guy is a good defender... you may have to back it out and run another play.

also, i believe each player has seperate plays based on their skill sets, so if you have Kobe at the 2 his plays won't necessarily be the same as Matt Barnes' plays at the 2 even tho its the same team.

like in the NBA, isolation is a big part of the game. you need to learn how to drive by guys.
first you set up on a side or the top of the key or wherever, you call for the isolation in quick play which will clear everyone and then you go to work. l2 is a shake or juke feature that will do a dribble drive type move that will seperate the defender from you (the better defender stays closer, teh better dribbler makes better moves) then when you get a step on the guy if you have a free lane you hit the dunk button (even if you're far away) i believe its r2 and up on the analog. if you are just inside the arc but made seperation your guy might pull up for an open jumper but if you are driving directly towards an unguarded hoop he'll go strong. those are like pre-automated moves that the better players do crazier things while in the air... you have no control. when you don't have a direct path and there is some defense you can hit the triangle button which is like a jump stop but can do spin moves or a step back as well depending on the situation. if there is one guy you'll likely spin around him and be able to make a move to the basket. if there two guys and you try to spin into them you'll likely fall down or charge or dribble into a turnover.

backing down guys to the basket is l2 and r2 and can be effective if you have isolation with a good post scorer, there are a bunch of moves you can run from the post or you can call for a cutter by quick play post up ... what that will do is basically send the other big guy crashing towards the goal and you can hit him. tha works especially well if you're being double teamed.

defensively you can try to play on the ball d... its very hard. i generally play off the ball and switch on the ball every once in a while to sneak into a passing lane for a steal. it is clearly more fun to try to stay on a guy, but its almost impossible and you'll realize that if you want to be competitive you have to suck it up and play off the ball every once in a while.

passing is very difficult. in 2k10 you could quick pass it up the court and just whip passes to your guy in the lane and it'd go thru defenders... not in this game... if you're passing to a guy he better either be open or have seperation. a better passes can get it thru trickier holes, but be aware that alot of long passes will be inaccurate or stolen.

body control you'll notice a guy like Derrick Rose can move much smoother then say a Shaun Livingston. this is another added feature to 2k11 that is important on many levels. gone are the days you can take shaq from 15 feet out and headfake and drive with him. he's gonna dribble off his knee a bunch more then he will get to the basket.

free throws are pretty self explanatory, the only thing to know is that due to online, you shoot slightly sooner then you would offline

the best thing to do right away is to just play a few games online. see where your issues are and what you can naturally do. after a few games there is a tutorial you can do that is really helpful. i think doing it from teh start would be overload, play a few games first then do it.

i know that was a lot but its a start and it'll help and i'll try to add more things as i think of them... ask questions if you have em.

Do you find using the icon passing the best way to do all of your passing?

Not ALL, but most definitely. Hit R1 to pull up the icons and that is a great tool for hitting the right guy. But, for example, if I'm gonna iso a perimeter guy, I don't use it because using Triangle(hop step) is a vital feature to create separation for a jumpshot or to drive the lane. If you have the icon passing on, triangle will pass the ball.

A quick tip on the triangle. Say, you try to run a play but it just doesn't work, and now there's only :08 on the shot clock, happens a lot. For you, back it out, give it to Bron or Wade or someone else to mix it up obviously, call a quick Iso, then if you can't beat your guy off the dribble, press Triangle and he basically does this sweet stepback move to create space, and you want to shoot the ball immediately. So, basically Triangle/left stick(shoot), like in rapid succession.

How do you call plays?

Quick plays--> It's mostly muscle memory, but I believe it's RIGHT on the DPad, then you can read the screen and it'll tell you how to quick iso/quick screen/post up/pick and roll. I know X is pick and roll, and think circle is ISO.

Set plays--> Make sure you have the play art ON in the settings to show you where to go. It's a pretty cool feature as the plays can really work. Press L1. This brings up what looks like the passing Icons. Say, you wanna run a play for a center, his icon will always be L2. Press L2, then you'll see a list of set plays for him, pick the one you want to run, then follow the instructions to run the play. I also leave the playcalling on AUTO, so I let the CPU do it each trip down the court and run whatever they say. Then sometimes I'll call my own plays for my own playmakers.

Is shooting like other bball games where you release at their highest point or is there more tips into that?

YES. And like I said, turn that Jumpshot Feedback on. Head to practice mode in FREESTYLE, and just practice shooting and you'll get the hang of it quickly.

Is there a button to box out? In the demo I had position but wasnt getting the rebounds.

L2. I use it a ton. I sometimes try to guard on ball, but it's so hard, if I'm getting beat a lot, I'll just control a big to try and cover the paint. When a shot goes up, I get in front of my man and press L2, works awesome.

How often will we have to sub since we are only playing 5 minute quarters and should we have rules on subbing more?

Dave is some magician who does his own subs. There is a pretty cool feature where you can make your own subs while a play is going on, like when you're walking the ball up the court. It is ridiculously hard though. I Never ever do manual subs. I turn them on AUTO, let the CPU do the subs as they have rotations you can use. The CPU does an excellent job. For example, use Chicago and Crawford is a 6th man, but will play tons of minutes. Utah will put Watkins at the PG and move Deron to SG for a good bit of the game. It is very realistic.

Dave gave me some great tips yesterday and I can already see improvement.

--Set play calling to manual. Start your play calling as you dribble up the court instead of auto and waiting for the cpu. I found this helped a ton and didnt even know about it.

--Shoot as quick as possible when open. I found myself pausing a second on my timing when coming off a screen or pick and roll and that allowed my opponent to get in my face. It sounds easy, but hit practice mode and work on your timing of jumpers. Also helped a ton.

--Call a play every time down, even if its just an iso or pick and roll. This at least makes your guys run around and clear up spacing instead of all the clusters that normally happen.

--Use the R1 passing. Its already been preached and I felt uncomfortable early with it but now its becoming second nature and helps a ton.

--Research your team. Know their strengths on the court and where their hot zones are. I was taking a lot of jumpers outside their maximum range even though wide open.

--L2 and the moves is huge when the shot clock is running down or tryign to clear some space to pop a jumper. The moves are sick depending on who you are doing them with and play a big part at the point.

I still suck and shouldnt be giving tips but this is just stuff I finally had time to mess with a lot during my gameathon yesterday and found my point totals going up and turnovers going down.

One more tip, dont play Dealer. Bitch doesnt miss open jumpers/3s. I need to go to his instructional class and learn about his timing.

a ton of good info like shel said in these posts above, now if i could train myself to use half of it i might win a game.

i want to keep this on the current page for us nba 2k challenged people....

[autiger730]

I'm not 2k challenged. I'm 2k fucking retarded. The really frustrating thing is I used to be pretty damn good at these games. haven't had a shot to play much the past couple days, as soon as I get this project I'm working on done today, I am hitting this hard.

[ReignOnU]

I haven't played a basketball game since early on PS2, but picked up 2k11 Friday night. This game is amazing (as you know). I have to admit, I was completely overwhelmed on Friday night. I played 3-4 games vs. the computer on Pro and lost all 4 by about 5-10pts. Then talked to jeffdaddy and he mentioned we'd be playing the D League on All-Pro, so I went ahead and kicked it up, even without winning a game on Pro yet. I got trounced all day Saturday, losing 5-6 9min games by 20+. Finally, yesterday, I logged back in and lost my 1st game on All-Pro by 5. Feeling better about the game play, I decided to jump online and ended up going 3-2. Not great, but not bad.

I read through this post on Friday and I think I just killed myself with info overload. I've played so much NCAA (and really no other console games) and my fingers just couldn't do the stuff I needed to do. I'd frequently find myself driving to the hole with my Icons up and try to use the dribble modifier and turn it over, because that passed it to my C. I'd get tons of shot clock violations trying to run plays. And I'm still struggling with shot timing.

So with all of that said, I think I've made huge improvements in 3 days and the muscle memory is developing, which makes it easier. I don't think as much when calling plays and I'm starting to know what to look for.

Here's some general things that I think are helping me and if you see anything that I should switch up, please let me know.

- In bounds the ball, call the play before half court
- I use L1 Icon play calling

- If I'm going to run a quick play, I call it after I cross half court, once my players are set

- Camera view - I've switched to the 2k view. It made a huge difference in just about everything. It took me a few games to get used to post play/defending/boxing out... but offensively, it's invaluable.

- Icon Lead Passing ON - This is a huge difference because if guy has separation, you can keep it on the pass. With it turned off, you throw it to the location they are at when you hit it, which lets the distance close.

- Adjusting the coaching strategy during the game is incredibly helpful.

Things I need to improve and things I want to really work on...
- Paying attention to the lane for defensive 3 sec... I'm used to rec league rules where I can get away with 1 foot in / 1 foot out on a clear... that doesn't work on this game.

- Total Control Passing - This looks like something that can be a HUGE part of the game. I don't like that my ball-handler seems like a sitting duck when I'm using it, but I started working with it yesterday and I know there are some big benefits to it.

- Finishing at the rim - I can't do it. I have a terrible habit of driving in with a PG and getting munched. Do you guys use Icon passing when you're driving with the PG or do you only go with directional at that point?

- Triangle (Gather/Hopstep) - When are you / are you not using this? Outside of the fact that I've had about 5-7 traveling calls, it looks like a necessity on anything outside of 12'. Anything in the paint seems to result in a charge... am I wrong there?

- Shot Stick usage - It seems like it's a must under 12'. Do you also use it beyond that? If so, how? Are you simply pulling down, pushing up or using it some other fashion?

If you guys seem me on AIM after 5pm EST, then I'm usually up for playing... I'm really enjoying the game.

[buckeye76]

This is coming from someone who has played 40 games and starting to feel a little comfortable now...but no ways near any good.

Here's some general things that I think are helping me and if you see anything that I should switch up, please let me know.

- In bounds the ball, call play before half court
- I use L1 Icon play calling I use d-pad

- If I'm going to run a quick play, I call it after I cross half court, once my players are set [I call all my plays before half court

- Camera view - I've switched to the 2k view. It made a huge difference in just about everything. It took me a few games to get used to post play/defending/boxing out... but offensively, it's invaluable. I use default maybe thats my problem

- Icon Lead Passing ON - This is a huge difference because if guy has separation, you can keep it on the pass. With it turned off, you throw it to the location they are at when you hit it, which lets the distance close. Lead passing....hmmmm whats this

- Adjusting the coaching strategy during the game is incredibly helpful.

Things I need to improve and things I want to really work on...
- Paying attention to the lane for defensive 3 sec... I'm used to rec league rules where I can get away with 1 foot in / 1 foot out on a clear... that doesn't work on this game.

- Total Control Passing - This looks like something that can be a HUGE part of the game. I don't like that my ball-handler seems like a sitting duck when I'm using it, but I started working with it yesterday and I know there are some big benefits to it.

- Finishing at the rim - I can't do it. I have a terrible habit of driving in with a PG and getting munched. Do you guys use Icon passing when you're driving with the PG or do you only go with directional at that point? I still screw up here but i dont usually use the icon passing after unless i have time to hit the l1 button

- Triangle (Gather/Hopstep) - When are you / are you not using this? Outside of the fact that I've had about 5-7 traveling calls, it looks like a necessity on anything outside of 12'. Anything in the paint seems to result in a charge... am I wrong there?I thinks its a must if you want to get separation

- Shot Stick usage - It seems like it's a must under 12'. Do you also use it beyond that? If so, how? Are you simply pulling down, pushing up or using it some other fashion? try using the square button on outside shots, if im driving its the right stick

If you guys seem me on AIM after 5pm EST, then I'm usually up for playing... I'm really enjoying the game.

Keep in mind im 4-21.

[ReignOnU]

That's how I'm shooting right now. Shot stick in the paint, square on anything beyond that.

And a few things that others might look in to. I'm @ work so I can't get you the direct videos, but I think the guy that did the video that jsence posted (shakedown or something like that) has a whole series of videos. I think I saw that one in his list this weekend. The main video guy for Operation Sports has a series of videos, including 1 that is an entire first quarter of play with some commentary. I watched about 4-5 of his videos and they were quite helpful.

Lead Icon Passing, when turned on, is just like it says. If you throw a pass to triangle while pressing a direction on your left stick, it will lead him in that direction. This helps to throw passes away from defenders.

Total Control Passing (off by default) - When you select the icon of the player, you hold it in and while you're holding it in, the passer just stands there dribbling and you take over control of the receiver. When you release the icon, it will pass the ball. (Lead Icon is in effect still too, from what I've read). The downfall is that the dribbler/passer is just standing still while you're controlling the receiver. So if you're getting pressured, it's a bad idea to try to use this much.

[shel311]

- Finishing at the rim - I can't do it. I have a terrible habit of driving in with a PG and getting munched. Do you guys use Icon passing when you're driving with the PG or do you only go with directional at that point?

To be most effective on the drive, when you want to go up to the rim, you want to be holding R2 + shot stick. That being said, you'll still get blocked a lot with your PG in that situation if you're going straight up into a big man. I never use icon passing in that very situation where I'm in an iso and driving into the lane. Reason being is you lose the ability to hopstep(triangle)

- Triangle (Gather/Hopstep) - When are you / are you not using this? Outside of the fact that I've had about 5-7 traveling calls, it looks like a necessity on anything outside of 12'. Anything in the paint seems to result in a charge... am I wrong there?

Use it a lot. Late in the shot clock on the perimeter, it's a great way to get separation for a jumper. As for as in the paint, it's a great manuever. Something that helps that I read(though it didn't seem to work every time), it says if you're holding R2 when you press triangle, the guy does the spin move, which is where you get lots of charges. If you're not holding R2, you get the hop step. There's been plenty of instances where my guy spins when I'm NOT holding R2, but the ratio is a lot better so that's something to think about.

- Shot Stick usage - It seems like it's a must under 12'. Do you also use it beyond that? If so, how? Are you simply pulling down, pushing up or using it some other fashion?

Always use shot stick. I think on jumpers, it doesn't matter one bit. But in the lane, it definitely does. I always use UP on the analog, though to be honest, I'm not sure why or mainly, not sure if using the other directions has some other meanings/uses.

[ReignOnU]

Shel - Do you notice any delay or feel a hesitation when you go from executing the hopstep with triangle, to moving your thumb down, then back up with the right stick? That seems like a lot of travel and it wouldn't be so smooth.

[shel311]

Shel - Do you notice any delay or feel a hesitation when you go from executing the hopstep with triangle, to moving your thumb down, then back up with the right stick? That seems like a lot of travel and it wouldn't be so smooth.

I dont notice a delay but it's definitely a weird transition.

But obviously, the quicker you do it, the better. Once you hit triangle, there's usually obviously a hop step or spin move, so it gives you time to get down to the analog. Plus you can hit the analog before he's finished his hopstep/spin move and it'll do it in rhythm after making the move.

[ReignOnU]

If you're holding the analog up, before the move is finished, are you still timing the shot against the peak of the release, or is it timed against what their original release timing would be? (hope that makes sense)

[shel311]

If you're holding the analog up, before the move is finished, are you still timing the shot against the peak of the release, or is it timed against what their original release timing would be? (hope that makes sense)

I don't even time it if I'm driving the lane and putting up a driving shot as i don't think it makes any difference.

if the shot stick timing thing doesn't pop up, I assume it doesn't matter. And I haven't noticed a difference or anything as I do a decent job of finishing in the lane.

[ReignOnU]

I'm thinking more on outside shots, where the timing does matter. Say you're coming off of pick and hit triangle for separation, are you starting the shot stick movement while the animation is going on? And are you still waiting to visually see the release point?

[shel311]

Say you're coming off of pick and hit triangle for separation

I know it's a separate issue, but coming off a pick, you want to be shooting the absolute second you catch the ball. I use the triangle solely in iso situations.

are you starting the shot stick movement while the animation is going on?

Yea, kinda. Obviously i'm not pressing it right after i hit triangle as i know they'll make a few dribbles. But also, if you try to time it and wait you will get that hesitation. Now i get what you're saying.

But you do want to start it early, definitely. It wont affect the motions the guy is going through or cut them off or antyhing. It'll wait and you'll shoot in motion, everything much more fluid.

And are you still waiting to visually see the release point?

Yes, most definitely.

[ReignOnU]

Awesome, thanks for the help. At least while I'm taking my lumps in the D League, I can put some of this to good use!