Blocks & Drawing Fouls

Guess what true-believers, blocks in NBA 2K17 are largely unchanged from NBA 2K16, yup I said it...While we're not seeing the chase-down block animation every two minutes, players with low block ratings are STILL blocking shots at a rate that is simply too high. Consider the case of shot-blocker extraordinaire Jeremy Lin...............

Worse, block timing doesn't seem to matter as much as it should, as we're seeing blocks on the way down (a big no-no) and defenders regularly mistime their blocks, but then leap again for a block before the offensive player can get his shot off. While Elite defenders should get off the floor quickly shouldn't we see blocks require a longer gather before the second jump?


There are still too many instances where non-shot blockers are getting rejections when the strength of their skill-set lies in stripping/stealing the ball. Picture the look on your face if you were controlling CP3 at the top of the key setting up a play and another user had Roy Hibbert rip him straight up and stole the ball. Again, he doesn't possess the skillset to do that. Watching Jose Calderon get blocks is no different. It shatters the immersion, and more importantly is a bad mechanic in H2H play where we alter our gameplans and actions around player strengths/weaknesses, and rightfully so. Imagine someone setting up a last second 3pter and drawing it up for Julius Randle--simply not gonna happen. Taking Mike Conley and trying to dunk on Dwight Howard is a poor choice that won't end well and rightfully so....Jeremy Lin swatting shots in the third row is the exact same thing.


The worse part is out-of-position blocks. These are rare and we should primarily see them from elite shot-blockers and the elite athletes in the NBA. Gameplay can't bail-out beat defenders or guys in bad position. This happened to me online, and it was the right interaction, a foul is what we should see in most instances like this. It cheapens the recovery block when anyone can do it.

2K's gameplay is beautifully organic so there are no absolutes, merely chances of success...and blocks with guys like CP3 while not impossible, should be really, really low. Again, this isn't 2K10 where guards don't have the choice of using the "Hands Up" or try to strip the ball--there are better options. Blocks with these guys should have a much higher chance of a foul than anything else. This is a layup avoiding him, so how crazy is it that Joes Calderon (block rating 32) actually got this? Keep in mind online users will do whatever gameplay allows and even some stuff that it shouldn't...ratings and skillset have to matter here.

Drawing Fouls is tied to this because it can provide some balance to block spam and good counters are essential in H2H online play. In his Blog Thread on OS, Beluba mentioned that left stick into an airborne defender to "draw" fouls might be patched into 2K17. He was talking about jump-shots but its the same all over the court. The proper counter to guys spamming the block button is a way to take advantage of over-aggressive defenders. In the same manner reaching fouls are more risk/reward, now that more fouls are called, this would balance out blocked shots.

Defenders having to weigh the consequences of their actions instead of jamming the block button as an all-purpose way to defend. Offensive players too, would have to think strategically as pump-fakes are easily stripped as well, see how good balance and synergy works? They can't simply pump fake until a defender jumps because the counter for that is already in gameplay. In the end what we'll get is a more balanced game where playing basketball is rewarded and that's all any of us is looking for.

Until next time,

Kushmir