by fjccommish on Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:47 am
"Has the gameplay changed significantly?"
Seems to have changed a lot.
Through 1 1/2 season Bogut was averaging (in played games, me locked on SG) 13 PPG and around 10 RPG. In the first three games with the patch he can't score - gets blocked almost every time. A lot of his shots, and the blocks, are this little hop with the ball just kind of popping out of his hands. The defender does a little hop, blocking the ball seemingly with his shoulders.
Some plays seem to be opened up, in other words guys like D. Rose get some benefit from a screen then drive in to score, or get fouled instead of (pre-patch) missing the shot or being blocked easily. But, just as before patch, when I'm playing (locked onto someone) the superstars seem to lose their skill.
I tried a number of games last night.
3 games as Heat, locked onto Bosh or the PF. LeBron was around 4-24 and Wade 5-20 in each game. They were both taking and missing a lot of shots. Neither drove very much. If I let the CPU control both teams Wade and LeBron started driving and scoring. Maybe I'm running the plays incorrectly, but I go to the spots the play art shows, set the screens, make the passes. Maybe it's a matter of having to adjust CPU and Human controlled team sliders.
Tried the same with the Clippers. Locked as Davis or the PG, Griffin was blocked about half his shot attempts, shot around 30% in three games. HIs most common shot was a play where he'd get the ball on the block, then instantly go into a disputed shot animation, flipping the ball across his body. About 1/4 the time he was fouled, the remaining 3/4 of the shots he mostly missed. Tried another game CPU v CPU. Griffin was driving, making moves from the block to get an open shot, shooting overall much better (45%) and scoring a lot more (avg 20 PPG in the three I controlled the PG, 36 in the CPU v CPU.)
Tried the same with the Bulls, locked as SG (mostly Bogans and Brewer.) Knowing the plays from playing as the Bulls seemed to help. In one game, even as I controlled the SG, Rose had 17 1st Q points. There was a play (auto called constantly) I've never before seen with the SG posting near the block, popping out, then Rose cuts to the basket. Passing to him resulted in a lot of layups and contested shots for fouls (when the defender kept closer to him.)
One of the issues seems to be running the play strictly by the play art, vs knowing the play well enough to run variations off it, recognizing the spots when certain guys will tend to be open (not just seeing it when it happens, but anticipating when it will happen, being ready to take advantage if he's open.)
I do like the fouls at the basket, because shorter guys (like Rose) get the foul. Before the patch they'd just be blocked.
I don't like the way the bigs are shooting, and the way they're getting blocked, but it might just be a matter of becoming accustomed to the patch play, finding the spots where guys are open. It's a lot harder to get the ball to the bigs for a score. The windows of opportunity seem smaller.