2k11 basics/tips

[DRiccio21]

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.

[dealer4014]

thanks this will definitely be helpful!

[Cnasty]

Good shit Dave, awesome post.

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

How do you call plays?

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

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

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

[ajalves]

L2 is to box out.

you can shoot with the Rstick or box button

[dealer4014]

to call plays I think it was tapping the L1 button and then choosing which ever play

i know Nasty posted in the other thread, but are there things that would be considered "cheese"??

[Weasel]

you can shoot with the Rstick or box button

Holy shit that was a great thread. Good times

[DRiccio21]

cheese --

some people think not guarding the man yourself is cheese. i don't.

if you're guarding off the ball you should stay near your guy and not be running all over the court trying to double team guys 20 feet away from your man. if you're playing a guy on the wing and you want to cheat down to double a big guy thats fine but to run to the opposite side of the court would be a little ridiculous.

its not even so much 'cheese' tho as if you just swing the ball to that guy you'll get burnt every time.

pick and roll used to be considered cheese cause it was very tough to stop but this years version the passing is so much harder that i've found it to be fine.

i'm sure there are some things that are 'cheesey' that i just don't know about but i'm pretty leniant about what i consider cheese for the most part. i don't know of any tricks that work everytime or shit like that tho.

[DRiccio21]

Do you find using the icon passing the best way to do all of your passing? yes. most of the time i use it

How do you call plays? i think its L1, but i forget... its tough for me to tell buttons cause its just muscle memory for me at this point.

Is shooting like other bball games where you release at their highest point or is there more tips into that? yes, you want to release at the height of the shot... there is a feature you can use that tells you if you're releasing too late or not

Is there a button to box out? In the demo I had position but wasnt getting the rebounds. looks like AJ answered that, I don't box out that much, i usually just hit triangle and jump... this year there have been a lot more over the back calls tho

How often will we have to sub since we are only playing 5 minute quarters and should we have rules on subbing more? for this tourney its going to be alot of 6 or 7 man rotations... with the timeouts, you can keep your starters fresh the whole game basically with 5 min quarters.. for this tourney there wont be any rules but hopefully we'll be active enough to up the quarters for our season so all the games aren't playing in the 30's and 40's

[dealer4014]

Do you find using the icon passing the best way to do all of your passing? yes. most of the time i use it

Is shooting like other bball games where you release at their highest point or is there more tips into that? yes, you want to release at the height of the shot... there is a feature you can use that tells you if you're releasing too late or not

do you know how to turn the feature on that tells you if you're releasing to late or too early? i was in practice mode and had it and that helped out quite a bit!!

[DRiccio21]

i think its in the options somwhere but i've never used it... not sure.

shooting really wont be a major problem for you after a week of playing the game. the release point is kind of a big deal but its much more important to get open looks.

[shel311]

Do you find using the icon passing the best way to do all of your passing? yes. most of the time i use it

Is shooting like other bball games where you release at their highest point or is there more tips into that? yes, you want to release at the height of the shot... there is a feature you can use that tells you if you're releasing too late or not

do you know how to turn the feature on that tells you if you're releasing to late or too early? i was in practice mode and had it and that helped out quite a bit!!

I believe it's under options>Presentation somewhere.

I still leave this on as it is really important especially when using different teams.

It's called jumpshot feedback, turn it ON. It'll tell you after every jumper if you release too early, too late, or perfect.

[shel311]

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.

[Cnasty]

Good stuff Shel!!!

Now get that league created and lets do this!!!!

Gonna be on later tonight practicing.

[shel311]

Good reminder, i'll create it now, lol.

[shel311]

Couple more things real quick:

I said in that long post, maybe no one read through it all to get revenge on me LOL.

Go to practice mode>Freestyle. You use just 1 guy and you can practice using all the moves Dave and I mentioned and can also practice shooting jumpers. With jumpshot feedback turned on, you can get a better feel for it.

You can also go to practice>Playcalls. You have ONLY your 5 guys on the court, and simply run plays they call, just to get a feel for running the plays and knowing when to pass, come off screens and all that good stuff.

[The_Niddler]

Man do I suck at this game.

Heading to practice mode now.
I have no fluidity with my guys and moving on the court.

And running plays..damn it is tough for me.
I will continue practicing though.

Thanks for all the info above guys.

[dealer4014]

Man do I suck at this game.

Heading to practice mode now.
I have no fluidity with my guys and moving on the court.

And running plays..damn it is tough for me.
I will continue practicing though.

Thanks for all the info above guys.

i was the same way man...just keep practicing and playing games, definitely start to get the hang of it after awhile

[DRiccio21]

can't stress how important it is to read these tips.

for the guys who haven't played online yet... either try to play eachother first or try to get some random games in.

one of the most important things i think i'm seeing is people aren't going up strong when they are shooting inside. if you're just hitting the shoot button from close you're going to miss alot. you have to use the r2 button or try to get yourself some space when close to the hoop.

[Cnasty]

Im still having major issues passing the ball.

I suck at the R1, see which icon is which, and then pass. Seems to take up way to much time from my shot clock and I lose flow. But if I dont use it, its turnover city.

Need to find a happy medium and also develop a post game.

I hate the get all close, shoot and they miss these little weird shots that never go in.

[DRiccio21]

Im still having major issues passing the ball.

I suck at the R1, see which icon is which, and then pass. Seems to take up way to much time from my shot clock and I lose flow. But if I dont use it, its turnover city.

Need to find a happy medium and also develop a post game.

I hate the get all close, shoot and they miss these little weird shots that never go in.

l2 and r2 to post up and back guys down

you have to use the icon passing, not sure how thats messing up your flow and taking time away.

you need to get guys coming off screens and hit them and shoot in one fluid motion... there shouldn't be a pause in between. pass then shoot/dunk should be almost one motion.