19/20 2k18 Community Rosters "Final Edition" v4.2 (RELEASED)

I have been watching what James Harden is doing in games terrorizing Team after Team from since the beginning of the Season. He is a BEAST! PLUS!!
Look at what teammates he is doing this with...and Capela is injured!

Lebron is still injured or "recovering while playing" and is not playing like the #1 Basketball player in the NBA at the moment.

Lebron should get the mentoring from Magic instead of Ben Simmons on being a Point Guard.
I am watching Lebron stand at the top of the key after he passes waiting for the ball to come back...he barely cuts...

The Lakers offense is boring and predictable at the moment because Lebron is making it easy to defend his team when he's running things...
He messes up the spacing so he should just play Point Guard and let someone truly play SF or PF so they flow better offensively.

I agree about all the Lebron messing up the offensive scheme. He is so boring to watch him in the half court --- wait at top of key until 8 sec, drive, kick to a shooter, repeat.

I also agree that Harden is the best player in the nba right now. The thing that impressess me most about Harden this year, is that his footwork has gotten better. I've been watching him a bunch and the way he sets up his body position with his footwork is amazing. His footwork reminds me of Jordan 95-98. That's the problem i see with Giannis, Ingram, Lebron, Durant ... they are so tall they just jump/shoot over people. They don't have to work on their footwork or fundamentals. Jordan was the first person to be super athletic and have the right foot, right hand on every single play. I am seeing the same from Harden this year. Every play he has the correct positioning / footwork. He doesn't take a play off to do something sloppy. His basketball IQ and fundamentals right now are so impressive.

I would put this year's Harden's footwork over kobe. Jordan, Harden, then kobe. Harden has really improved his footwork this year.

But yeah, i would put lebron down even further.

Harden

Durant, Giannis are about the same level

Curry next

Then Anthony Davis and Lebron.

Sorry, Lebron just hasn't impressed much through this year.

anyways, those are my personal ranking.

edit: watch harden's footwork compared to ferguson's footwork.


here's a jordan footwork clip. Poor bryon russel recovering with his right foot. best he could hope for is a blocking foul if jordan didn't cross back to his left.


Harden's precision is almost as good. Harden has put real effort into it this offseason/season compared to last season.

edit2: they both time their cross as the defender is in the air (feet not planted). about 1/4 second opening or so. both are unreal.

I agree about all the Lebron messing up the offensive scheme. He is so boring to watch him in the half court --- wait at top of key until 8 sec, drive, kick to a shooter, repeat.

I also agree that Harden is the best player in the nba right now. The thing that impressess me most about Harden this year, is that his footwork has gotten better. I've been watching him a bunch and the way he sets up his body position with his footwork is amazing. His footwork reminds me of Jordan 95-98. That's the problem i see with Giannis, Ingram, Lebron, Durant ... they are so tall they just jump/shoot over people. They don't have to work on their footwork or fundamentals. Jordan was the first person to be super athletic and have the right foot, right hand on every single play. I am seeing the same from Harden this year. Every play he has the correct positioning / footwork. He doesn't take a play off to do something sloppy. His basketball IQ and fundamentals right now are so impressive.

I would put this year's Harden's footwork over kobe. Jordan, Harden, then kobe. Harden has really improved his footwork this year.

But yeah, i would put lebron down even further.

Harden

Durant, Giannis are about the same level

Curry next

Then Anthony Davis and Lebron.

Sorry, Lebron just hasn't impressed much through this year.

anyways, those are my personal ranking.

edit: watch harden's footwork compared to ferguson's footwork.
[ Image ]

here's a jordan footwork clip. Poor bryon russel recovering with his right foot. best he could hope for is a blocking foul if jordan didn't cross back to his left.
[ Image ]

Harden's precision is almost as good. Harden has put real effort into it this offseason/season compared to last season.

edit2: they both time their cross as the defender is in the air (feet not planted). about 1/4 second opening or so. both are unreal.

I agree about all the Lebron messing up the offensive scheme. He is so boring to watch him in the half court --- wait at top of key until 8 sec, drive, kick to a shooter, repeat.

LMAO!! Bongo88 your killing me!!
I was laughing to myself saying Lebron got to be kidding if this is the Gameplan he thinks will get him a Championship.
Other great NBA Players are not stupid either...an offense with no MOVEMENT and not willing to play physical will not beat Golden State.
A 250 pound monster that wants to stand beside the Point Guard at the Top of the Key!! SMH...I need a BEER

Is it no surprise he can't recruit another STAR. Would you be excited to be a part of that Offense and watch a guy go Half Hearted on Defense?
And be called the greatest player in the game by the Media...you see how Durant feels about all of that!


Ok...
So I'm not the only one who feels the Ratings need to be re-adjusted even more

I am the same guy who used to get into heated arguments with my friends on how GREAT Lebron is and that he can be mentioned in the same sentence as Jordan.
So I am not hating...I had promised to be fair from the first Roster I released and hope the King can rise again.

This is the reason I only go to 97 with Ratings...
Most of the Top Players in the Rosters have been given 99 Potential and 90+ Intagibles so based on how they perform in Association everyone has a chance of claiming the #1 spot.

I am feeling your Ratings Bongo88
Don't be surprised if v5.1 looks very close to that.

Let me play around with the Rosters a bit and I'll post the Updated Top 24 Players so everyone will see them before the Rosters are released and if anyone has something to say they can get involved in the conversation.

Someone was asking if the Ratings could be closer to 2k19 so I will try to achieve the equivalent based on our current Rating System in our 2k18 Community Rosters.
I am aiming on completing that by v5.2

I agree with all you are saying about Harden...from the days in Oklahoma compared to now...The Beard has evolved BIG TIME!!

I agree about all the Lebron messing up the offensive scheme.
He is so boring to watch him in the half court --- wait at top of key until 8 sec, drive, kick to a shooter, repeat.

I also agree that Harden is the best player in the nba right now.
The thing that impresses me most about Harden this year, is that his footwork has gotten better.
I've been watching him a bunch and the way he sets up his body position with his footwork is amazing. His footwork reminds me of Jordan 95-98.

That's the problem i see with Giannis, Ingram, Lebron, Durant ... they are so tall they just jump/shoot over people.
They don't have to work on their footwork or fundamentals.
Jordan was the first person to be super athletic and have the right foot, right hand on every single play.
I am seeing the same from Harden this year.
Every play he has the correct positioning / footwork.
He doesn't take a play off to do something sloppy.
His basketball IQ and fundamentals right now are so impressive.

I would put this year's Harden's footwork over kobe.
Jordan, Harden, then kobe.
Harden has really improved his footwork this year.

But yeah, i would put lebron down even further.

Harden
Durant, Giannis are about the same level
Curry next
Then Anthony Davis and Lebron.

Sorry, Lebron just hasn't impressed much through this year.
anyways, those are my personal ranking.

edit: watch harden's footwork compared to ferguson's footwork.
[ Image ]

here's a jordan footwork clip. Poor bryon russel recovering with his right foot. best he could hope for is a blocking foul if jordan didn't cross back to his left.
[ Image ]

Ok...
So I'm not the only one who feels the Ratings need to be re-adjusted even more

I am the same guy who used to get into heated arguments with my friends on how GREAT Lebron is and that he can be mentioned in the same sentence as Jordan.
So I am not hating...I had promised to be fair from the first Roster I released and hope the King can rise again.

This is the reason I only go to 97 with Ratings...
Most of the Top Players in the Rosters have been given 99 Potential and 90+ Intagibles so based on how they perform in Association everyone has a chance of claiming the #1 spot.

I am feeling your Ratings Bongo88
Don't be surprised if v5.1 looks very close to that.

Let me play around with the Rosters a bit and I'll post the Updated Top 24 Players so everyone will see them before the Rosters are released and if anyone has something to say they can get involved in the conversation.

Someone was asking if the Ratings could be closer to 2k19 so I will try to achieve the equivalent based on our current Rating System in our 2k18 Community Rosters.
I am aiming on completing that by v5.2

Here is what I am thinking for the v5.1 Roster Update
Top 24 Players

What do you think?

Here is what I am thinking for the v5.1 Roster Update
Top 24 Players

What do you think?

[ Image ]
[ Image ]
[ Image ]

It looks great ! .... except for Paul George ahhahaha
I'm just not a Paul George fan. I understand that he is having a great season, but i would put him right below Kwaih Leonard ..... that would put him in the tier of Leonard, Embiid, Irving, Jokic, Westbrook.

For me personally, in a theoretical draft, i would take Harden, Durant, Giannis, Curry, Lebron, Davis all as primary franchise superstar player. then the sidekicks would be Paul George, Leonard, Embiid, Irving, Jokic, Westbrook.... those are all 2nd tier franchise players.

But,yeah, he's having a good season, but i personally would rate him right below Leonard. the other players are rated perfectly great job

Anyways, sent you a PM about roster stuff... hope you look at it.

Here's a post on reddit about top 50

https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/a ... h=4e42b740

was an interesting read, considering 2k18 roster ideas.

Here is what I am thinking for the v5.1 Roster Update
Top 24 Players

What do you think?

[ Image ]
[ Image ]
[ Image ]

It looks great ! .... except for Paul George ahhahaha
I'm just not a Paul George fan. I understand that he is having a great season, but i would put him right below Kwaih Leonard ..... that would put him in the tier of Leonard, Embiid, Irving, Jokic, Westbrook.

For me personally, in a theoretical draft, i would take Harden, Durant, Giannis, Curry, Lebron, Davis all as primary franchise superstar player. then the sidekicks would be Paul George, Leonard, Embiid, Irving, Jokic, Westbrook.... those are all 2nd tier franchise players.

But,yeah, he's having a good season, but i personally would rate him right below Leonard. the other players are rated perfectly great job

Anyways, sent you a PM about roster stuff... hope you look at it.

@Bongo88

LOL
I feel you on Paul George...
I agree that he should be in Tier 2.
I was going to make him a 94 (possibly a 93) but he is actually in the MVP conversation at the moment.
So, I'm not guaranteeing he will stay at 95 for long especially if he falls off after the All-Star Break but he deserves it for the moment due to how great he is playing.

That's my unbiased opinion...I'm not a Paul George fan either but I respect his game.

I will take a look at the link you provided and your PM.

Anyways, the Rosters are not released yet so I'm glad we are having this discussion.
It's good to get other opinions in the mix.

If more people agree with you I will drop Paul George's rating to 94 since it took me a while to give him the 95 rating anyways.

Here's a post on reddit about top 50

https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/a ... h=4e42b740

was an interesting read, considering 2k18 roster ideas.

This is great Bongo88...and I actually felt bad for Ranking Lebron 6th
This guy is even more ruthless than me

I listed his Top 10 so we could share it


Credits to OC


(1) James Harden: 36.6 PPG, 7.7 AST, 62% TS

We start off on a controversial foot already, because James Harden vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a genuine debate at the top.

Personally, I don't believe you can tally off all skills as equally important. Some are simply more valuable than others. Chief among them: being able to score the ball efficiently. And scoring efficiently at this volume is historically rare. Harden has put this team on his back, night after night. We have to marvel at his scoring ability (however it comes about) and give proper respect for the durability that he's managed to maintain as well despite that workload. Moreover, his defensive effort has quietly improved, utilizing his strength to guard inside when needed.

When I list Harden slightly ahead of Giannis, I don't mean to disrespect the Bucks. Rather, it's the opposite. The Bucks actually have a strong and deep roster right now. To illustrate, 5 of their players will crack our top 50. Harden is only one of two Rockets. And for that reason, he's at the top of our list.

(2) Giannis Antetokounmpo: 27.2 PPG, 12.7 REB, 64% TS

Giannis Antetokounmpo is obviously a viable candidate for the # 1 slot himself. The individual numbers are ridiculous. The Bucks are at the top of the East. In fact, based on point differential, they've been the most dominant team in the NBA this season.

You hope that dominance doesn't work against Giannis as the season wears on. The Bucks are so good that he'll start to rest some more. It’s already started to happen; at the moment, he lags well behind Harden in minutes per game (33 to 37). His rebounding numbers (once 15+) have subsequently trended down, and may continue to do so as the team gets him ready for the playoffs.

(3) Paul George: 28.7 PPG, 2.3 ST, 60% TS

Is Paul George better than LeBron James or Kevin Durant? No. Has he been better this season? I would say so. George has been scorching hot on offense this season, hitting 40.6% of his threes (on 9.6 attempts per game!) Moreover, his work on the other end has earned him genuine "Defensive Player of the Year" consideration. A lot of superstars earn a pass on defense because it requires so much effort, but George happily takes that assignment on. He ranks first in ESPN’s real plus/minus among his position.

I don't love the whole "best two-way player!" mantle because (as mentioned), not all skills should be measured equally. And really, when we say "best two-way player," we tend to mean the "superstar who's the best on defense." But semantics aside, George has snatched that mantle and that type of candidacy from Kawhi Leonard for this season.

(4) Kevin Durant: 27.6 PPG, 5.9 AST, 63% TS

Kevin Durant will have another reason to get surly here, because in a way, he's being penalized for being so consistently good. His staggering stats aren’t new and surprising in the same way they have been for Paul George. But here he is, scoring at a ridiculously efficient rate, upping his assists to 5.9 per game, and leading the # 1 seed in the West. Ho hum.

But at the end of the day, Durant made his own bed. It's always going to be hard for him to win these types of awards while playing on a super team. He simply doesn't have to go balls to the wall every night to get a W. That said, he's a historically great player who shouldn't be taken for granted.

(5) Nikola Jokic: 20.4 PPG, 7.7 AST, 59% TS

The engine that drives the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic deserves the lion's share of the credit for their success this year. Some of his teammates have been injured and others have been underperforming -- and yet here they are, in the # 2 spot.

The knock on Jokic has always been his defense, but that's hard to hammer him for right now. The Nuggets were in the top 10 for most of the season (although trending down to # 13), and Jokic has held his own. In fact, he grades as a positive defensive player, +1.7 on ESPN's real plus/minus.

(6) Joel Embiid: 27.3 PPG, 13.5 REB, 59% TS

In a crazy and uncharted new era of NBA basketball, Joel Embiid offers a throwback MVP candidate. The unstoppable center averaging 27-14 per game. Given his impact on defense and his team success, he should right up there with the best in the league. The battle between Jokic and Embiid isn't only for our # 5 spot, it should be a fascinating one to watch in regards to All-NBA first team.

Of course, Sixers fans should be most pleased with the fact that he has been durable right now and shown no signs of slowing down yet. If there's any knock on Embiid, it's that he thinks he's a better spacer than he actually is; he's firing up 4 threes a game and only making 29.5% of them.

(7) Steph Curry: 28.6 PPG, 5.2 AST, 66% TS

As with Kevin Durant, Steph Curry's greatness tends to get taken for granted. The dude is making 44.4% of his threes on 11.5 attempts per game! And yet, somehow, we forget about that as we get hung up on other breakout stars.

In Curry's case, injuries do add a legitimate excuse to ding him down a few spots. He's missed 15 games this season, which is a sizable portion of our hypothetical 60 game season. If he had played 10 more, he would be in consideration for the top 3. correction: he missed 11 games not 15, my bad!

(8) Blake Griffin: 26.3 PPG, 5.4 AST, 60% TS

The Pistons' 26-30 record is nothing to brag about, but hey, it's good enough for the # 8 seed and a playoff spot right now. And as long as that threshold is met, we have to consider the merits of Blake Griffin as a top 10 MVP candidate.

Quietly, Griffin has been doing his LeBron Lite act all season long, racking up averages of 26.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. His ball-handling and passing has always been an underrated part of his game, and he's been able to showcase that without Chris Paul around.

Should we actually reward Griffin for making the playoffs as a sub .500 team (and dock players on the West who miss out with better records?) I am doing that for this exercise, but you can certainly argue that decision as well.

(9) Kawhi Leonard: 27.0 PPG, 7.7 REB, 61% TS

After some MVP buzz early on, that chatter has quieted down for Kawhi Leonard. He's taken some games off, and hasn't revved up his defensive intensity every night either. With only 43 games played, he's on the low end of our candidates.

That said, he's still a stone-cold efficient scorer and a plus defender, on one of the better teams in the league. That's usually the type of recipe you use to cook up an MVP campaign.

(10) LeBron James: 26.8 PPG, 7.6 AST, 60% TS

Based on per-game averages and based on the "eye test," LeBron James is as great as ever and should be a top 5 MVP pick by default.

But we can't put this Top 50 on autopilot, because there's some serious context to consider. As mentioned, making the playoffs is a crucial threshold for us, which dings LeBron James and his flailing Lakers. And of course, we can't discount the 15+ games missed either. That’s a sizable chunk of the season so far. His 39 games played represents the lowest total on the top 50 board.

As the season wears on, James should climb back into the conversation if he can stay healthy and lead the Lakers back into the playoff field. But right now? They're not in it. And that matters.

Anyways, sent you a PM about roster stuff... hope you look at it.

@Bongo88
I saw your PM.

I did make a lot of changes already to the Roster but I am going to reply to you so we can collab

I am also going to fix the Tendencies as you recommended since that is major and I really want to see what a difference it will make

I will PM you with the details.

Thanks Bro

Here are the New Player Rankings for v5.1 of the Community Rosters that will be released soon.

Thanks to Bongo88 an adjustment has been made to the Rosters that greatly improves Gameplay.

More details will be provided when the Rosters become available for download

Get ready to BALL!!!

Sounds good, but Harden and LBJ defense are tooooo high

Sounds good, but Harden and LBJ defense are tooooo high

Harden perimiter D maybe should be B+ or A- . I really don't think that Harden is horrible at defense. maybe a B+ perhaps. He gets his switches correct on the permiter and makes "some" ... not much.... effort to stay in front of his man.
the thing about the rockets and jazz defense, is the players are just trying to funnel the drive into the center (capela/gobert) so sometimes it seems like harden isn't doing much, when he's just following the game plan. same as the jazz players... although the jazz players do give more effort than harden, of course.

He isn't like the Jazz rookie Grayson Allen... that kid can't get a permiter defense switch correct for the life of him. so harden isn't too bad in my opinion.

Now Lebron his defense is too high .... there really isn't a tendency or skill rating for "Player stop working on defense" hahaha

saw this on reddit..... https://twitter.com/bustedcoverage/stat ... 5005175808 hahahaha not sure how Darth can simulate this in 2k18

edit: maybe try to set lebron defense iq to 20? haha

Harden is better this year but you cant give him A- and A to Butler, Klay

For Lebron, defense must be under C, and for the setting you mention, perhaps defensive awareness

Harden is better this year but you cant give him A- and A to Butler, Klay

For Lebron, defense must be under C, and for the setting you mention, perhaps defensive awareness

I don't understand about butler and klay. you think that butler and klay should be higher than A or lower than A?

Personally, looking at the list, i think that all the defensive ratings are correct for all the players --- except lebron and harden.

Harden i think is somewhere between B+ and A- .... If you look at the other players, steph and durant are both B+. I agree that both steph and durant should be B+. Durant with his length and quickness could shut down any player in the league. But he only gives about 80% effort and relies on his length with bad positiong and footwork. steph gives pretty good effort, but his small size limits him on defense.

The only player who gives great effort every night on defense for the warriors is Klay. Klay should be an A defender. It is easy to compare Harden to Steph and Klay because of similar athleticsm and body type. Now, relative to Klay and Steph-- Harden straddles between a Steph (pretty good effort) gameplay and other times Harden gives more effort (not as much as Klay, just below klay's defensive effort). But Klay, Durrant, Steph, and Harden all make the correct switches, reads, and positioning on defense... the reason Klay is rated at "A" is the amount of effort/hustle that Klay gives every night. Guy just works hard every play to body up a player and fight over screens. Steph and Harden have good positioning, make good reads, they just don't give the same effort as Klay, but they also are way better effort wise than derozon, lillard, and irving.... who are all lost on switches, give no effort sometimes and they all play bad defense for lots of possessions.

When it comes to elite gaurd/forward defenders, only Leonard and George are playing elite defense (as well as Holiday, but he isn't pictured here). Other than that, the other players fall down a tier. Giannis, westbrook, butler, Klay, and Paul are all the next tier of Gaurd/small forward perimiter defenders. they are all at A rating. Are you wanting Butler to be A+ rating? He really isn't, in my opinion. If Butler is equal to Kwaih and George, then he is A+. But he is not, so he had to go down a notch to the A rating fellows.

People in the media acting like Harden is Kyrie or Lillard who play absolutely horrible defense on effort, foot position, defensive scheme. I'm surprised that kyrie doesn't get more blame for his poor defense, but with so much else wrong with the celtics, it just isn't worth mentioning his bad defense on most plays.

Lebron is harder to fix in 2k18. Lebron is a good defender on some possessions. But other posessions he just stops working, like literaly just stand there. He's been doing it for years in the weak eastern conference, but the west is just exposing it more. How to quantify that is difficult. Like Durant, if Lebron put effort, then he could shut down any player.

Anyways, not sure exactly what you are talking about Butler and Klay. They are not top tier like george, kwahi, and holiday. they belong on the "A" tier. In my opinion of course. The whole Harden bad defense thing is just not true this year. Harden plays about the same defense as Steph and Durrant (sometimes a little harder) this year. of course, just my opinion. But i like all the defensive ratings that Darth posted.... including the ones on the big men.

just noticed simmons is also B+ --- same as Durrant. they could shut down anyone, but lack of effort knocks them down a few rating tiers.

But yeah, harden plays about the same defense as steph. so B+ baseline for harden. But harden also plays a little harder on defense than steph. so yeah, he is somewhere in the B+ to A- range.

What do you think? How would you rate Steph Defense? not a B... not an A. Does Harden play about the same defense as Steph? In my opinion, for this year, steph and harden are about the same defensively.

Butler and Klay should have A or A+, i'm ok with that.
But A- for Harden and for LeBron, no way.
And I'm even harder in my judgment about LeBron. Since he left Miami, he dropped defense. He shut down no one for years, even in Playoffs.
I didnt check every players, but you mention Kyrie, his rating is more coherent.

Sounds good, but Harden and LBJ defense are tooooo high

@sticky-fingers
Thanks for reminding me...I updated the Ratings for Defense on Harden and Lebron.

It's not that they can't play defense they just choose not to...so I didn't make them into BUMS....yet...LOL

See below

Sounds good, but Harden and LBJ defense are tooooo high

Harden perimiter D maybe should be B+ or A- . I really don't think that Harden is horrible at defense. maybe a B+ perhaps. He gets his switches correct on the permiter and makes "some" ... not much.... effort to stay in front of his man.
the thing about the rockets and jazz defense, is the players are just trying to funnel the drive into the center (capela/gobert) so sometimes it seems like harden isn't doing much, when he's just following the game plan. same as the jazz players... although the jazz players do give more effort than harden, of course.

He isn't like the Jazz rookie Grayson Allen... that kid can't get a permiter defense switch correct for the life of him. so harden isn't too bad in my opinion.

Now Lebron his defense is too high .... there really isn't a tendency or skill rating for "Player stop working on defense" hahaha

saw this on reddit..... https://twitter.com/bustedcoverage/stat ... 5005175808 hahahaha not sure how Darth can simulate this in 2k18

edit: maybe try to set lebron defense iq to 20? haha

@Sticky-fingers & Bongo88

You guys are making me laugh and cry at the same time...TOO FUNNY.

Ok. I agree...So I'm going to make some more tweaks and repost after I update defense on some of these ELITE BUMS

I'm surprised I didn't hear anything about Giannis going over Harden yet...I'm waiting...LOL

Last edited by Darth-Skinett on Fri Mar 01, 2019 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

@Bongo88 & Sticky-fingers

Ok.
I like where this is going....

So what we are talking about is

1 - On Ball Defense
2 - Defensive Consistency
3 - Perimeter Defense
4 - Inside Defense
5 - Steals
6 - Shot Contest
7 - Hands
8 - Rebounds
9 - Blocks
10 - Boxout
11 - Lateral Quickness
12 - Strength
13 - On Ball Def IQ
14 - Per Def IQ
15 - Pick n Roll defense
16 - Help Defense

I try to take all these Ratings into consideration when Rating a Player "defensively" since it creates a wide variety of styles.
Let's also not forget that COACH RATING also plays a role in overall Team Performance

I really want to release v5.1 so you can see how the Rosters are playing now.
I am TESTING Association Mode and it's fun.

Using the UAR Game Sliders
https://uarneweramods.blogspot.com/2018/11/game-sliders-for-1819-community-rosters.html

I almost broke my PC the other night when I had no answer for the 3 Point Storm the Golden State Warriors let loose on me...
PRIDE allowed me to lose by only 4 points with the Miami Heat

I made trades...so they are better than the actual Heat team...LOL

Last edited by Darth-Skinett on Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:32 am, edited 2 times in total.

Butler and Klay should have A or A+, i'm ok with that.
But A- for Harden and for LeBron, no way.
And I'm even harder in my judgment about LeBron. Since he left Miami, he dropped defense. He shut down no one for years, even in Playoffs.
I didnt check every players, but you mention Kyrie, his rating is more coherent.

I agree Sticky

The challenge we have is how to rate him...meaning Lebron.
So I'm going to play with the Ratings I provided above to try and resemble the "Matador Style" of defense he is playing....LMFAO

Here are the updated Ratings

Last edited by Darth-Skinett on Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

NEED YOUR HELP!!

I am still touching up the Rosters but I need help with the following:


I am trying to get the missing Sponsor Logos for the following Jerseys
Washington
Houston
Portland
Phoenix (I only have the Home Jersey with PayPal Logo)
Indiana
Chicago

If you can get the .iff "Jersey files" from 2k19 that would be Great
or
If we only need the sponsor logo file that is fine too...I'm just not sure if that will work with the existing Jerseys from 2k18.

Harden is better this year but you cant give him A- and A to Butler, Klay

For Lebron, defense must be under C, and for the setting you mention, perhaps defensive awareness

I don't understand about butler and klay. you think that butler and klay should be higher than A or lower than A?

Personally, looking at the list, i think that all the defensive ratings are correct for all the players --- except lebron and harden.

Harden i think is somewhere between B+ and A- .... If you look at the other players, steph and durant are both B+. I agree that both steph and durant should be B+. Durant with his length and quickness could shut down any player in the league. But he only gives about 80% effort and relies on his length with bad positiong and footwork. steph gives pretty good effort, but his small size limits him on defense.

The only player who gives great effort every night on defense for the warriors is Klay. Klay should be an A defender. It is easy to compare Harden to Steph and Klay because of similar athleticsm and body type. Now, relative to Klay and Steph-- Harden straddles between a Steph (pretty good effort) gameplay and other times Harden gives more effort (not as much as Klay, just below klay's defensive effort). But Klay, Durrant, Steph, and Harden all make the correct switches, reads, and positioning on defense... the reason Klay is rated at "A" is the amount of effort/hustle that Klay gives every night. Guy just works hard every play to body up a player and fight over screens. Steph and Harden have good positioning, make good reads, they just don't give the same effort as Klay, but they also are way better effort wise than derozon, lillard, and irving.... who are all lost on switches, give no effort sometimes and they all play bad defense for lots of possessions.

When it comes to elite gaurd/forward defenders, only Leonard and George are playing elite defense (as well as Holiday, but he isn't pictured here). Other than that, the other players fall down a tier. Giannis, westbrook, butler, Klay, and Paul are all the next tier of Gaurd/small forward perimiter defenders. they are all at A rating. Are you wanting Butler to be A+ rating? He really isn't, in my opinion. If Butler is equal to Kwaih and George, then he is A+. But he is not, so he had to go down a notch to the A rating fellows.

People in the media acting like Harden is Kyrie or Lillard who play absolutely horrible defense on effort, foot position, defensive scheme. I'm surprised that kyrie doesn't get more blame for his poor defense, but with so much else wrong with the celtics, it just isn't worth mentioning his bad defense on most plays.

Lebron is harder to fix in 2k18. Lebron is a good defender on some possessions. But other posessions he just stops working, like literaly just stand there. He's been doing it for years in the weak eastern conference, but the west is just exposing it more. How to quantify that is difficult. Like Durant, if Lebron put effort, then he could shut down any player.

Anyways, not sure exactly what you are talking about Butler and Klay. They are not top tier like george, kwahi, and holiday. they belong on the "A" tier. In my opinion of course. The whole Harden bad defense thing is just not true this year. Harden plays about the same defense as Steph and Durrant (sometimes a little harder) this year. of course, just my opinion. But i like all the defensive ratings that Darth posted.... including the ones on the big men.

just noticed simmons is also B+ --- same as Durrant. they could shut down anyone, but lack of effort knocks them down a few rating tiers.

But yeah, harden plays about the same defense as steph. so B+ baseline for harden. But harden also plays a little harder on defense than steph. so yeah, he is somewhere in the B+ to A- range.

What do you think? How would you rate Steph Defense? not a B... not an A. Does Harden play about the same defense as Steph? In my opinion, for this year, steph and harden are about the same defensively.

I agree with what Bongo is saying...
In the Miami vs Golden State game I played.

I exploited Steph Curry using Justise Winslow based on his size and strength...I bullied Curry and drove the lane and dished for easy baskets if the double team came or dunked on his A**

but!!!
if I try to cross him over or get too cocky Curry will strip me and pop a 3 on a breakaway to humiliate me.

Durant and Cousins would come out of nowhere and block my shots when I thought I was in the clear.
Draymond would just beat me to where I want to go and muscle me up so I have to take contested shots

I reduced Lebron's
- Def Awareness
- On Ball Defense
- Help Defense
- Pick n Roll Defense
- Perimeter Defense
- Post Defense
- Defensive Consistency

That should do it

Butler and Klay should have A or A+, i'm ok with that.
But A- for Harden and for LeBron, no way.
And I'm even harder in my judgment about LeBron. Since he left Miami, he dropped defense. He shut down no one for years, even in Playoffs.
I didnt check every players, but you mention Kyrie, his rating is more coherent.

I agree Sticky

The challenge we have is how to rate him...meaning Lebron.
So I'm going to play with the Ratings I provided above to try and resemble the "Matador Style" of defense he is playing....LMFAO

Here are the updated Ratings

[ Image ]

looks slightly better

Butler and Klay should have A or A+, i'm ok with that.
But A- for Harden and for LeBron, no way.
And I'm even harder in my judgment about LeBron. Since he left Miami, he dropped defense. He shut down no one for years, even in Playoffs.
I didnt check every players, but you mention Kyrie, his rating is more coherent.

I agree Sticky

The challenge we have is how to rate him...meaning Lebron.
So I'm going to play with the Ratings I provided above to try and resemble the "Matador Style" of defense he is playing....LMFAO

Here are the updated Ratings

[ Image ]

looks slightly better

@Sticky-fingers

Cool!
Did you catch last night's game Lakers vs. Pelicans?

This is the problem...
As soon as we start to say Lebron isn't good on defense he shows signs that he can still play defense.
He definitely isn't a "C" yet...
His "consistency and on-ball Ratings" are what I'm going to play with...if it's still required, with the changes I already made.

As soon as I dropped LeBron's Defensive Ratings the overall Team Rating dropped to 21
I had to adjust the Coaching Settings to get the Lakers back to 17 Overall

Like I said before, it's not that these guys (Harden & LeBron) can't play defense, they just pick their moments to turn it up.

Well, i didnt

it's hard to watch games on this side of the planet when you work few hours later But i used to watch long recaps

We know LBJ can defend ; but one game good defense per year doesnt justify a good rating. Klay, Kawhi, PG, Butler make this job mostly every night. So IMO the difference must be significant.

Anyway, thank you for your work, 2K18 is the unloved one but with good mods like yours, and good sliders, i still enjoy playing this game.

Well, i didnt

it's hard to watch games on this side of the planet when you work few hours later But i used to watch long recaps

We know LBJ can defend ; but one game good defense per year doesnt justify a good rating. Klay, Kawhi, PG, Butler make this job mostly every night. So IMO the difference must be significant.

Anyway, thank you for your work, 2K18 is the unloved one but with good mods like yours, and good sliders, i still enjoy playing this game.

I hear ya Bro.
What side of the planet are you on?

I made significant changes to Lebron's Rating on all the categories related to defense.
I am still making a few adjustments so I'm not finished yet.

I'm going to release v5.1 soon so if we need to make more adjustments on defensive ratings we will fix them in v5.2

Thanks for your input and supporting the Rosters
Let me know what you think when you get the chance to try v5.1 once it is released.

DeerOnTheRocks made this video on reddit: https://streamable.com/orspw (original link https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/a ... t/ehj1g6d/)

not sure whether to laugh or feel bad about the poor kid. haha

figured you'd enjoy it. lol