Extending Playcalling
Currently, four plays may be called during the game (with the D-pad). By default, these are set to Pick-n-Roll, Basket Cut, Postup, and Isolation. All four are very useful to be able to call up on the fly, but these aren't really full set plays. There is a real need to be able to retain these options, while also being able to call up actual set plays. This would greatly enhance the half-court basketball experience. Additionally, it would be great to give the user more control over how the teammates move on fast breaks. How can all this be achieved?
A solution is to use other buttons in conjunction with the D-pad. For instance, on the Xbox controller you press the white button to activate icon passing. Additionally, this could activate extended set plays with the D-pad. Simply press the white button while walking up the floor and choose from four set plays with the D-pad. It would be very cool if, additionally, if the player you're controlling looks towards the bench as if he's getting instructions from the coach and holds up his fingers as if to communicate the play to everyone else.
My idea for fastbreak is somewhat similar. Ever get annoyed when your teammates simply stop running when you want them to continue to the basket? Wish you could control that? Well, it would be relatively easy to do. Suppose in a fastbreak situation you want your teammates to continue to the basket. There should be something like a fast-break control mode. Here's how it could work. Whenever there are two or fewer defenders inside the three point line, holding down the turbo button will put the D-pad in the fast-break mode. Specifically:
- If you hit the up-arrow, your players will continue towards the basket.
- If you hit the right-arrow, the player to your right will stop at the wing to setup for a wide-open jumper.
- If you hit the left-arrow, the player on the left will do this.
- If you're controlling the player on a wing with the ball and you want the player in the middle to stop at the top of the key, you hit the bottom arrow.
I just realized that this fastbreak idea wouldn't work well. You'd have to take your thumb off the left joystick to hit the D-pad buttons. If there was a way to get the player to continue moving while you tap the D-pad buttons, then it would work. Hmm, maybe they should make it so that if your holding down turbo your player will continue driving for a short while when you take you finger off the joystick. Sort of like a momentum thing. That could give you enough time to quickly tap one of the D-pad buttons on the break.
Create-A-Play Feature
In addition to this, a play editor would be a wonderful option in the game. Imagine an easy to use interface with various icons you can place on the court which represent various players, picks, basket cuts, etc. The user can create plays and add them to custom playbook for his favorite teams. This could also be a great way to make timeouts more interesting. Imagine that you're down by two points with 15 seconds left, and you call a timeout. And during the timeout, you can actually create your own play on the fly! How cool would that be? This is something I'd really like EA to look into.
Freestyle Passing
Alright, this year EA put in Freestyle Air in the game. Next year, how about Freestyle Passing? Ever get annoyed when you want to make a simple pass to teammate, and he throws a ridiculous, lazy floating pass that gets picked off? Wouldn't it be nice to actually specify if you want to perform a solid chest pass, a bounch pass, a lob, or an over-the-shoulder toss? Additionally, how about optionally combining all this with icon passing? How could this possibly work?
The important thing is that it's easy for the user to do these things without requiring complex finger gymnastics. And I believe there's a good solution. If the user doesn't want to do icon-passing, he holds down the turbo and back-down button simultaneously (they should be mapped to the two triggers). While these buttons are held, the action buttons will be a specific type of pass, which of course can be directed with the left joystick.
If the user prefers to do icon-passing, it will be slightly different. First, user presses the icon-passing button. If he doesn't want to bother about specifying a type of pass, he just hits the player's button as usual. Otherwise, he'll additionally hold down the turbo and backdown buttons and follow it with a two-button sequence. The first button specifies the player (as before), and the second button specifies the pass style. It will be tough to do at first, but eventually I think it would become second nature (much like icon passing).
Pass fakes
To add yet another dimension to the passing, how about pass fakes? Wouldn't it be great if your on a fast break with Jason Williams, and to perform the behind-the-back pass fake to the player on your right and then drop it off for the player on your left? Can this all be implemented seamlessly? I believe it can.
Like much before, this will utilize the turbo button. While holding down the turbo button (only), the pass button will become tap-sensitive. That is, a quick tap will be a pass-fake, and holding it down a split-second more than a tap will actually execute the pass. Imagine driving down the lane and execute a deft pass fake to your center, throwing the defending center off guard, and smoothly laying it in. Maybe if you're a flashy player like J-Will, this fake will be a behind-the-back fake every now and then. Depending on the player's quickness and creativity rating (yes, I want a creativity rating!), the fake might be very effective or not at all effective.