Weird title for an article huh? Yeah we thought so too but it's all about content. So why should 2K love the Spurs? We think the answer is pretty simple: Because their team is much greater than the sum of its parts. Their depth, chemistry and execution is a wonder to behold. The simple truth is this: The San Antonio Spurs should bring about a change in the way teams and players are rated.
We were so happy to hear The Spurs mentioned among the serious title contenders on Da_Czar's recent radio show. Although most of their core players relatively maintained their level of play (Parker did have an amazing year, however) you could make the argument that Duncan and Ginobli could actually have declined or stayed the same ratings-wise. Duncan shot his worse percentage in 5 years and Ginobli had has lowest ppg average since he was a 2nd year player.
Here's the thing: It doesn't even matter. By every estimation San Antonio is one of the league's elite teams and has a great chance to take home the NBA title. Their rotation is ten deep, easy. So how do you make a team better in NBA 2K without improving their players? Especially if individually, it doesn't make sense. In Madden, Donny Moore would raise Swagger, Kicking Power or some other useless stat, raise the OVR a tad and people would be happy. We're like to talk about something we've wanted for some time...a Team Chemistry rating. We're ready to see a paradigm shift in the approach ratings people use to improve teams. With 2K's gameplay being so good, we believe its time to see more of the little things, intangibles and execution aspects of the game as a way to improve teams. Its past time we saw a more realistic and subtle separation between Elite, Good, Solid and Poor teams. Gameplay that has higher rated teams "just hit more shots" or "spin-dunk with Lebron at will" certainly isn't simulation-worthy. The ability to raise a Team Chemistry rating would be a great way to improve teams when no single player is responsible for momentum
Unforced Turnovers - This is one of the hidden highlights in 2K12 and in truth its one of the the aspects that make the game a great simulation. Just like in reality, sometimes passes are too high, bobbled or just out of the reach of recipients. What about three second violations and illegal screens? Let's see them in 2K13.
Silly Fouls - Watch any NBA game. The ability to avoid bad decisions that result in whistles is one of the best indicators of the better teams. It will be a new day in sports gaming when we see a realistic amount of fouls and FT attempts. We've all seen some slow PF get caught on the perimeter with Chris Paul and get called for a reaching or blocking foul late in the shot clock, haven't we? Right now it seems the game is afraid to call fouls for fear of offending the casual players. What if we want a sim-style game? Lord willing we'll be able to find our style game online in the future where things like illegal screens, over-the-back fouls, reaching and blocking fouls get whistled when they're sommitted.
Execution - Elite teams like the Spurs are precise in their execution/discipline and it'd be nice to see it better displayed in-game. All screens aren't created equal. It'd be nice to see the better teams use screens more effectively and avoid things like defensive three seconds and goal-tending violations.
Depth - For years hardcore players have wanted to see depth better displayed by using fatigue. We're not sure it happens this year but it SHOULD. It'd be nice to see worse play from tired players but we acknowledge that sort of thing may be years away. At the very least a system that auto-subs players out when their energy falls below a certain level (60 out of 100, for instance) and doesn't allow them back into the game until it regenerates to an acceptable level (say 80 out of 100) would be just as effective.
These are just a few of the intangibles and "little things" that we'd like to see in future gameplay. Hopefully they'll be implemented quickly and we can further see the differences between Good and Bad teams.
good read.
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