Fool the other USER, not the AI, part 2

Another misdirection play in 2K that requires us to fool the other user is the Pump Fake, we're all familiar, think about it: You're basically trying to fool the opponent into thinking you're shooting when you're not. The hope is that they'll jump and foul you or get out of position so you can score easily. But ask yourself, when the pump-fake doesn't work--what should happen?


I'm glad you asked. Well, in a balanced game, one user just picked paper and the other picked SCISSORS. Thats right, it has to be Risk/Reward like every other area of gameplay. The pump fake just can't casually be part of every ball-handler/defender interaction. When it doesn't work the user should often get tied up, have the ball poked away or lose their dribble after being crowded by the defense like so:

 Now does that mean the defender is guaranteed a block or steal? NO. But now he has a pretty decided advantage after not falling for the misdirection. Think about a defense that knows a reverse is coming in football. Its not going to be very successful, now is it? I saw this animation the other day and thought it was perfect for users that make an offensive move or pump-fake and are then static waiting for the defender to jump or fall for whatever they were doing. Watch as the Amir Johnson and TJ quickly converge and strip Lonzo after he makes a move and then does nothing:

And thats what SHOULD happen. No defense allows a player to threaten the paint and then just waits all politely for them to do something, THEY REACT. The problem is that in 2K our defenders do exactly that. They regularly let a static offensive player or one who was unsuccessful with a pump fake off the hook like this:

 Easy shots in those situations should be rare. In those situations we should see the Hands Up Contain take away their dribble and affect their shots significantly if they decide to shoot. Shooting vs the HUC should be heavy on misses, offensive fouls and outcomes where the defender strips the ball.

 This? UGH. We should NEVER see this kind of thing. Its unworthy of 2K gameplay. Can anyone say Charles Smith? Spamming pump fake like this should result in a travel, being stripped or tied up:

 This happened to me a few weeks ago and it was BEAUTIFUL. Pump fakes that don't work shouldn't have Neutral Outcomes. Even a huge post mismatch like CP3 on a player like Drummond or KD on a poor defender should have them try to strip the ball or tie them up. Watch what happens when I try to shoot despite the HUC and Lopez being in perfect position:

On the flipside we should never see an offensive player just "allowed" this kind of static position:

These are bad too, and should be super rare:

 And the notorious pump-fake-with-everyone-until-a-defender-jumps tactic is long overdue for burial. Lets do gameplay a favor a retire this thing.

 We want the 2K Experience to be about skill and savvy, not abusing the loopholes in gameplay. Removing this kind of exploitative "gotcha" gameplay will only make the game better. Another good thing? When we finally get the ability to draw fouls, Cheesers wont be able to just drive into the paint and spam pump fake until the defender finally jumps--it won't work as we'll have Hands Up as an effective Counter, they'll actually have to use some strategy for a change.