It's been almost a month now since i went on and on about retiring from Live EASO play. And after perservering I find that Live 06 does have some "realistic" qualities. Contrary to popular belief, '06 does have defense, it is just takes more effort. First of all, DO NOT choose a team with no defensive superstars, almost a guaranteed loss against an experienced player. Secondly, (and again going against the grain) EA actually made the game more like real NBA ball in the fact that, yes you score score alots and often, but you can also go on defensive runs. I have started many games in a slump and won with DEFENSE, not scoring, but the D. Three or four steals in a row can make a huge impact on a seesaw game of offense. Here are some of my observations for D strategy online.
Half Court Man- IMO the best option with agood D oriented team; decent AI doubles and big men rotate well; susceptable to frequent mismatches.
Half Court Trap- use this to slow down peeps who like to try and run around and score with one guy(i.e., switch T-Mac to the point); traps as soon as the cross half court; be watchful, your big men WIll vacate the paint giving up easy opps and dishes for layins; keep a manual lookout for the lob
Full Court Press- same as Half Court with more aggressive AI; gives up some easy layins due to increased pressure.
Double Team- They reverted here, the spacing in '06 is better but the double team defense still slows the pace of the game heavily; prone to giving up open Js and 3s if u don lookout
And of course Superstar Steals, Blocks and Charges are your friend, don get over zealous though, a skilled player will eat u alive if you try and take charges all the time or go for steals at the wrong moment