To people who know, i've touted the benefits of an expanded and more dynamic right stick defense for some time now. Why? Because its really important. FACT: The NBA league leader in steals got just over 2 per night last year, the blocks leader got 3. The simple fact is that NBA is not a blocks and steals league, its a position defense one. Its a league where good defenses make shots harder...where good defenders bother/change more shots than they send into the front row or swipe away. NBA 2K is a good sim but its still a game where defenders are trying to block jump-shots, one of the biggest basketball no-no's of them all. And its not as if there isn't a way to challenge those shots by getting a hand up instead. Blocks and Steals are high risk plays and simply have to be more foul-prone, more Risk/Reward, and gameplay has to punish bad timing and using the wrong personnel instead of allowing it as a band-aid for defensive gameplay.
But first Right Stick defense (hereafter referred to as the D-Stick) must be the dynamic and effective tool we know it can be. Its simple: We need a way to play less foul-prone but aggressive position defense, a middle ground if you will. But we need it to be intuitive and responsive enough to keep up with how fast the game of basketball is. We need a way to quickly contest shots even though our defender may not be in textbook defensive position right in front of the offensive player. That tool is the D-Stick.
Challenging perimeter shots has always been well done. Its why this ability has to be expanded to anywhere on the court. Obviously all defenders aren't created equally and guys like Tony Allen and Iguodala will deliver effective defensive animations with more frequency. While D-Stick contests should have lower chances of fouls, there's still the chance we'll be whistled--albeit a much lower one. Defender, skill-set and positioning will matter most, because defenders should be able to contest shots--even from behind, like happened here.
I can't stress enough that the ability to challenge shots should be skill-based. While blocks and steals don't require aiming, its necessary gameplay requires pointing the D-Stick in the direction of the offensive player for it to be effective. Simply moving the right stick shouldn't reward us with animations that contest shots.
Here's a play that happened the other day. Notice how my being off by mere inches allowed a dunk. While Stauskas is NOT a good defender, these and baseline drives (where its hard to judge the space between the baseline because of the camera angle) are the plays the D Stick was quite literally made for.
There are several mechanics that defensive tools need to counter in NBA 2K, here's how the D-stick could stack up:
1. Pump-faking - Gameplay still rewards guys doing this stuff...and spamming pump-fake has been a long-time issue.
An effective D-Stick could be a natural counter for guys pump-faking or with no movement simply waiting for the defender to jump. Pointing the D Stick at the player would result in good defensive position and them being "bottled up" and losing their dribble, and contact animations resulting in very low percentage makes if they force up shots. This improves the strategy aspect of the game by forcing players to out-think their opponents rather than use gameplay loopholes--it also rewards the person actually "doing something". The two videos below are great examples of the good defensive position the D-Stick challenges should offer:
2. Organic Charges - Its important we remember that defenders can be moving and draw offensive fouls, if they beat an offensive player to the spot. Allowing defenders to draw charges in realistic situations (i.e. when a "bottled up" offensive player tries to dunk "through" a set defender) will better balance gameplay. Good and Elite defenders should trigger animations like these with the D-Stick:
3. Auto-strips - Another counter a D-Stick could provide is a turnover mechanic to counter pump-faking, drives to the basket and aggressive moves. This forces offensive players to be more strategic with these. While we wouldn't want to see this animation every possession--many legacy issues in 2K can be balanced with the proper consequences. Ball-handlers losing their dribble is well-done in 2K17, to expand that to losing the ball would be even better.
These are just some of the benefits a well-done D-Stick could offer to the defense in future versions of 2K. Its important gameplay provide less-risky alternatives to Blocks and Steals not to mention a way to avoid being baited by players looking to draw fouls--because we know thats coming.
Until Next Time,
Kushmir
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