Contested Shots & Bad Shot Selection

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Contested Shots & Bad Shot Selection

Postby Andrew on Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:51 am

As much as I want to celebrate enjoyment of NBA 2K17 and basketball gaming in general, and share more positive stories, there is an issue that has been bugging me since one of the tuning updates went through a few weeks back. Open shots have been tuned to go in more often (though I don't seem to benefit from that in 2K Pro-Am), whereas contested shots are now more difficult to make. A good idea in theory, as that's generally how it works in real life. However, in practice, there are a few problems with how it's been implemented. Reiterating what's been said in another thread:

  1. Players making contested shots isn't that uncommon in the real NBA. The nerf has been a bit harsh here.
  2. There are now too many airballs on contested shots, often due to automatic fadeaways or unlikely shot trajectories.
  3. What counts as a contested shot is kind of buggy, or at least very biased towards the defender, with late closeouts having far too much of an impact.

Here's a good example from a game NLSC THRILLHO played last night:

phpBB [video]


It's not a wide open attempt. but I've created space with the dribbling move and taken what is a pretty decent look for players with three-point range. The release is OK, but the defender definitely doesn't get right up in my face until the shot is in the air. At worst, it should be neither a Good Shot Selection nor a Bad Shot Selection, and should probably hit the rim. However, you can just see the ball subtly change trajectory and pop up a bit while it's already in flight, resulting in an airball, a Bad Shot Selection, and just to add insult to injury, a turnover (on me) when Kenny grabs the rebound as it's going out of bounds.

It certainly shouldn't have been a guaranteed bucket or anything, but everything played out much worse than it should have. It's even more frustrating when "Good Shot Defense" on my part, with much tighter D on the shooter:

phpBB [video]


Admittedly, he was a Shot Creator, so he should make some difficult ones that I as a Playmaker probably wouldn't. Mind you, I've had the same thing happen while guarding other Playmakers, which is frustrating (especially when they're rated lower than I am).

I do hesitate to use the word "broken", because it's become a buzzword that's thrown around way too often when we have issues with the games. But something definitely feels amiss with the contested shot logic and shooting in general following that tuning update, primarily online (or at least in 2K Pro-Am). In MyCAREER and other modes, I haven't noticed it quite as much. Archetypes do have some issues too, and judging by the 7'3" centres and 6'7" point guards, there's definitely still some min-maxing and cheesy stuff going on. As for the grading logic...well, it is pretty riddled with issues, and has been for a few games now. Combined, it all leads to some pretty frustrating moments.

Oh, and getting Update Required during the games is guaranteed to result in a few turnovers and whatnot with the lag that occurs just before the notification pops up. It should wait until the game has finished, and it'd be nice to be able to minimise it until we can get back to the main menu and dismiss it.
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Andrew
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