05 vs. 06 or 07: better stats?

[Leander]

Which is the best concerning stats? With Live 2003 I could easily get appropriate stats. I had around 24 apg...my PG could get his 8-10 apg.

In Live 2005 the passing is bad. I can't get many assists. You just can't pass as quickly as in Live 2003. I can have some 5 assists with the PG but my PF and C never have assists.

Is 2006 or 2007 better?

[Andrew]

I don't recall having many problems getting assists in NBA Live 2005 but I tend to get a good amount of assists in my NBA Live 06 Dynasty. In a game where I score around about 100 points, I usually have 20-25 assists.

[GoHornets]

06.
I remember that the only time I played an entire Dynasty, my pg (Parker)
usually averaged 5 assists or more, while the assists leader averaged 9 or more.

[Platinum]

06 was the game i remember the most too when it comes to dynasty mode.. i finished 25 years with my sixers team and i remember the stats were spot on

[Leander]

Andrew: Passing in Live 05 is slow as the player catches the ball and waits a second. I can't pass the ball around quickly. Or am I doing something wrong?

If passing is the same in 06 there is no need to buy 06.

What are the pros and cons of each version? What's better in 05, what's better in 06?

[Andrew]

It's been a long time since I played 2005 which is why I don't have much recollection of the passing issue. I wouldn't say NBA Live 06 is perfect but I certainly don't have any problems racking up assists. In a game where the scores are around 100, I usually get around 18-25 assists. If it's a high scoring affair, I might have over 30.

Perhaps the main disadvantage is that NBA Live 06 has Freestyle Superstars, which not everyone likes. You can disable those abilities though.

[Fitzy]

2003 wasnt that good for me, there were too many blocks. my sf would always average 5 or 6 blocks a game

[Andrew]

Not to mention the blocks that rocketed all the way to the opposite baseline.

[Fitzy]

they were unrealistic, but fun when you did them

[Andrew]

The novelty quickly wore off for me, much like the humour in the cutscenes.

[Leander]

Just played my 12th (approx.) game of Live 2005 and had my 1st win, wooow!

I used the random "select a team"-button, got the Raptors and played vs. Sacramento on the road. And I had fun! Wow, I had fun.

Andrew I just badly passed. I always used the "position pass" (button + pass, shoot etc. buttons). Those passes were slow and I couldn`t get many assists. In contrast to this I mainly used faster "direction passes" (move left analog stick in a direction and then press the pass button) and succeded. Finally, the game is fun. I could pass really quickly in Live 2003 with the position pass (direct pass?), that`s why I chose to use those passes in Live 05 as well.

My assists increased with fast passes. I had 26 assists with 10-minute-quarters. Over the last 11 games I had only about 10 assists per game.

Current Game Toronto Sacramento

Pts 114 93
Rebs 35 36
Ast 26 7
Stl 5 8
Blk 5 7
Fouls 9 11
TO 9 15
FG/Att 47/82 37/86
FG% .573 .430
3P/Att 12/16 5/22
3P% .750 .227
FT/Att 8/13 14/17
FT% .615 .824
O. Reb 10 16
D. Reb 25 20

I love statistics. I play for the stats. Live without good statistics is boring.

My 3P% is always too high. Good shooters with the 3p-icon hit way too many shots. J. Calderon hit 6/6 in this game.
Moreover, the number of offensive rebounds is too high. Both the cpu and I tend to grab offensive rebounds and the D is unable to get the ball.

Player stats:

My team / Raptors:

Calderon: 23 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Bosh: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
Ford: 8 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds in 14 minutes
Bargnani: 22 points, 6 rebounds etc etc...

CPU / Kings:

Brad Miller: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals
Abdur-Rahim: 18 points, 15 rebounds...
Ron Artest: 5 points, 4 rebounds...2 of 14 shooting.

[Andrew]

When you're passing into the post you'll probably find there's sometimes a delay that prevents you from taking advantage with the defense rotating back before you can make a move but that happens in most of the recent games so you won't get around that with a more up to date instalment in the series.

[Leander]

Andrew Is there a difference between exhibition and season games? I won three games in a row...same team, same opponent. FG% was always over 50%. My 3p% was damn good.

Then I started a season with Toronto to see players' averages develop...I lost both games so far, 87-100, 88-100...in two games I had a total of 28 assists...only three more than I had in each of the exhibition games. My FG% went down to 41. My 3p% was horrible. Nothing went in.

Especially in the first game I hit just nothing. Jumpers didn't go in, only layups, shots from very close range and hook-shots.

Is the cpu's D tighter in season mode than in exhibition games?

[deihatein]

Exhibition games are played like one game only and you can customize the setting, its like a tune-up game for you. Season mode you play for one NBA season like what they do in the league but only one whole season plus the play-offs i think.

For better explanation of these terms because i cannot explained them good enough
here are answers from the NBA Live Wiki

[url=http://wiki.nba-live.com/index.php?n=Modes.Exhibition]Exhibition Mode
[/url]Season Mode

[Andrew]

I believe Leander understands the difference, but wants to know if there's any difference in the difficulty or team strategy when it comes to facing the CPU in Season Mode compared to exhibition games.

There's nothing in the databases that would suggest teams become any better during one of the game modes as opposed to exhibition play, but I suppose we can't rule out the possibility that it's part of the logic. It's interesting that you mention it though, since I've often found I can nail threes more easily in exhibition mode but when I've been playing an actual season it's usually been my weakest skill.

Perhaps there is something to it. I had a big winning streak back in a Franchise game back in NBA Live 2002 and as the streak continued, it felt like it was getting harder to keep winning as the CPU stepped up the challenge. However, that might have been purely psychological, the same as a "meaningful" season game feeling more difficult than a "meaningless" exhibition game. Since the purpose of playing a season is ultimately to win a championship, I'd suggest most players approach those games more competitively whereas an exhibition game would be more about fun without any pressure (for those of us who get involved in our seasons).

I've experienced something similar when I've been playing "Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold". Though I came to be pretty good at the game, I kind of hit a wall with my total score in the Hall of Fame. Most of the time, I'd enter my name as "A. Begley" so that my name would be up there with the best score. One school holidays my cousin and I were playing the game using a new pirate with a silly name and though we were the same tactics we'd found to be so successful, we weren't trying for a high score. As you can probably guess, we easily surpassed my old score, forcing me into a new attempt using my name.

It's not so much a matter of succeeding by accident but rather just not trying too hard and making the game more difficult than it needs to be. In NBA Live, we set goals just like a real NBA team and thus enhance the challenge somewhat, perhaps making it more difficutl for ourselves than it needs to be. I think this is especially the case if we try to play realistically since you sometimes have to get a little cheesy to counteract the CPU when it turns in a superhuman performance. Of course, it could also be part of the game's logic which would mean we're making a game that's already trying to be harder all the more challenging, which I guess isn't always a bad thing.

Anyway, that's my long and rambling answer to your question.

[deihatein]

since I've often found I can nail threes more easily in exhibition mode but when I've been playing an actual season it's usually been my weakest skill.

I am also like that, can hit 3 in play now but on dynasty almost 0% from the 3 point line(i think i was like that since 07 but when i play 06 its great)

[Leander]

Thanks for your replies.

Andrew: No, I don't play better in season mode or with higher concentration. I just play, no matter if it's season or exhibition mode. There must be a difference in my opinion.

I played three games in exhibition mode.
I played the first two games with your sliders but my adjustments. For the third game I switched back to your original sliders. Still I won easily and it cannot be due to your sliders that I lost both season games as I already had used your original sliders in the third exhibition game.

Here are the stats of the three exhibiton games + the two season games:

Pts: 114 // 107 // 116 // 87 // 88
FG%: 57 // 52 // 52 // 43 // 37
3P%: 75* // 50 // 22 // 13 // 33
Ast: 26 // 24 // 20 // 12 // 16

* 12 / 16

The difference is obvious.

I played vs. the Kings in the exhibiton games, then vs. New Orleans and Phoenix for the season games. The Kings aren't that good but I think it is still due to the game mode. In the second exhibition game C. Bosh hit 12/14 from the field. He even hit long jumpers. In the season games even open jumpers were bricks.

It could be that in exhibition mode all teams are fresh and hot while in season mode teams and players have ups and downs and streaks and bad days...and a "at home bonus" vs. "on the road" handicap.

Although my team shot below 40% A. Parker made five shots in a row. I bet players can be on fire.

Pro Evolution Soccer has a system with condition and moral. You can play with both set to "good" but also randomize them. In season mode players then have bad days and so on.

[Leander]

Another game.

Almost won (3P in the last seconds...known issue)...still bad stats.

86 points, 16 assists, 37% FG...

Now I will play 1-2 games with shotcontrol set to cpu. After that I will play 1-2 exhibition games with the same teams I had the horrible stats with in season mode.

It's also hilarious that bad players are good in the game. C. Bosh gets double-teamed while P. Brezec's defender stands one meter away from him...two easy points. It's too easy to score with Brezec as he is never guarded tightly.

Two other things:

1) Is it possible to avoid fast break cheating? Steal -> TJ Ford runs towards the basket but although Ford is damn fast a big forward catches up and gets in his way.

2) Anrew, have you tried to reduce the cpu's pro hop to a minimum? Could this decrease the insane number of cpu driving with PGs (any other players)?

[Andrew]

Andrew: No, I don't play better in season mode or with higher concentration. I just play, no matter if it's season or exhibition mode. There must be a difference in my opinion.

I don't mean to say that it's necessarily a conscious difference in our approach to the game. The game may well be more forgiving and "easier" in exhibition mode but for me that hasn't been consistent. Like I said, maybe it's a bit of both. Whenever you try for realistic stats, the CPU doesn't always want to play along even if you've done extensive work with the sliders.

1. There's nothing you can do about the fastbreak issue, unfortunately.

2. I haven't done anything with NBA Live 2005 for a long time but that's definitely worth a try. It's going to make things a bit harder for the CPU to abuse you in the lane with the pro hop so you might want to give it a shot.