i'm finally getting it!

after about 150 games, i finally got it. i'm now enjoying this game, getting that nice feelin of playin simulation ball. even went back to simulation mode already.

i play with the DEFAULT rosters. no tweeking whatsoever.

here are my recent stats.

10 minute quarters. simulation. superstar.
PPG: 105 ppg.
OPP: 93 ppg
RPG:40 rpg
ORPG: 15
APG: 29 apg
BPG:11
SPG:11
FTA:25
TO: 19
opponents FG: <50%
opp FTA: 20

i started out this game playin 8 min quarters, arcade mode (as others suggested), and i would have scores of 110-120. and it was impossible to play defense!

but you learn.

you learn to take care of the ball, to stop fastbreaks, and to PLAY REAL DEFENSE. and thats the key to good stats. play tight D without having to block 20 shots and steal the ball 20 times.

so i kept on playin, till i increased my minutes to 9. i think i played about 2 mid-length seasons with 9-min quarters. i struggled to keep my opponents to less than a 100 with honest realistic DEFENSE (meaning not so many blocks and steals). but i eventually did. i was able to constantly limit their scores up to thie point that i constantly limited them to about 85 pts a game.

great.

i tried switchin back to simulation. anbd it played better!! maybe because i now had the feel of the game, knew how to dictate the tempo, and so, the bug, it only exists in the beginning. dont know why. but i does. try it.


but with 9-mins, my opponents' FGA were too low. about 65 a game. and i could hardly get my rebounds to beyond 30 a game. thats not yet right. so i increased my quarters to 10 mins. hoping i would get more FGA and eventually more rebounds.

1st 10-min game was against the spurs. i limited them to 85 points!!

i played more games. and i would be able to constantly limit them to below 100.

now this is good news. my rebounding was up, about 35 a game. the average NBA team would average more than 40. but i thought my FGA were still low. now up to 70 on average. normally teams would get 75-80 per game.

then i felt lucky.

maybe i can do it with 11 minute quarters now. so i tried it.

played the offensive-minded kings. score was 108 for me. 100 kings. got them to 100. and the rebounds, i got more than 40. they shot 48%.

terrific. i can do it.

i played more. but i gave up scores of 100-110. nope. i still cant do it with 11-mintues. but i will eventually. i will. with more practice. and a hundred more games, i'll be playin 12 min quarters.

went back to 10 minutes and i am having great fun.

just play D guys. learn to use the hands-up move on D (try "dancing" in front of the player with your hands up). thats the only chance for you to make them miss and grab the rebound after. thats the key to good stats. it takes PRACTICE. but sooner or later, you'll get comfortable with it and you'll be able to play HONEST DEFENSE with it. you will have to block some shots (more than normal) specially in the paint. but you just have to do that in the beginning. to take your opponents out of their rhythm make them miss shots in the start, and they'll soon miss some more without having to block it for the rest of the game. and CRASH the OFFENSIVE BOARDS. it helps a lot in increasing your rebounding numbers.

and it would help if YOU DONT PLAY TOO WELL. so they can get more rebounds too. i started with them grabbin just about 15 a game, but now i have them grabbing about 25-30 a game.

and remember this. if you play better, if you blow them out early, they too will play better, specially in the final stretches, and the more chances that their "impossible" shots would go in coz its programmed like that. dont drive too much. take jumpshots. dont push a fastbreak if you're outnumbered. RUN SET PLAYS. it helps tone down the tempo of the game. the closer the gameis , the better. because the AI will not play catch up and they will not shoot too well.


final notes. here are my player stats. i play the '96 chicago bulls.

Michael Jordan. 35 ppg 7.1rpg 7.0apg 2.5spg 2 bpg
Scottie Pippen. 25 ppg 6.2rpg 8.0apg 2.8spg 2 bpg
Dennis Rodman. 3 ppg 15.5rpg 8orpg 3apg 2spg 2bpg
Ron Harper. 10 ppg 2.0rpg 3.2apg 1.5spg
Luc Longley. 9 ppg 4.0rpg 2.0apg
Toni Kukoc. 11 ppg 3.5rpg 3.0apg

YOU RIGHT!

TWEAKING mean CHEATING !!!

All you guys complaining about Live don't know how to play basketball.
don't try always to dunk , JUST PLAY BASKET!

Here's my stats 10min. superstar DEFAULT ROSTER(i was Indiana)

ntire Game Dallas Memphis

Points 99 95
Bench Scoring 23 49
Field Goals 36/70 34/87
Field Goal % .514 .391
3 Point FG 5/12 11/34
3 Point % .417 .324
Free Throws 22/28 16/34
Free Throw % .786 .471
Rebounds 46 48
Off. Rebounds 4 16
Def. Rebounds 42 32
Blocks 2 0
Steals 13 7
Assists 14 25
Turnovers 22 14
Fouls 30 17

great stats dude!

you got any tips on making them miss without blocking the shot?

which one were you again? you said indiana butthe game you posted was dallas vs memphis

I am glad that the two of you think this game plays like real basketball........................ because your probably the only two.
This is a video game, and a video game is programmed and "tweaked" this is not real basketball; its a game! Now i do know real basketball playing it and watching it most of my life. In the real game team's set up half court plays, the real game is not 100% run and gun, and when you miss an outside shot there is not a guard down the other end of the court ahead of everyone waiting for a dunk on every play.
So what you are saying is the guys at EA Sports who programmed this game, their rendition of basketball is 100% correct and so perfect that the reason for tweaking is only to cheat the computer and give yourself an advantage........................ C'mon if you ever watched one game of basketball you should know that this game is as far from a simulation as you get. Stats don't mean shit if the way you achieved them was un-real.
We tweak the game in hopes that it will play as close to the real game as possible, but from what i have seen so far it has not worked.
This game is arcade garbage, EA Sports let us down .............. but if you enjoy it them i guess they hit there target audience.

David

just how long did you play live david?

our exact point was that if you play it long enough, if you practice your game and practice your defense, you'll learn how to play it and it will play just right NBA ball.

I played about 15-20 games. It will never play like real basketball because the gameplay is too fast and the computer does not set-up real offense.................... not to mention way too many dunks. If EA would patch this game i would love it. Live 2003 has alot going for it, but i wish gameplay was one of them.

David

I have played a lot of games both on the console and PC. My conclusion is that AI defense needs to be overhalled, NOT mine. Unlike the computer I don't go for a steal every three seconds, and unlike the computer I actually watch my man on transition D so he doesn't get easy baskets. Another thing is I know that at least on the console it was a snap for me to drain threes with Shaq and most likely with other players like him.

I fail to see how tweaking is cheating, considering that it affects all players and slows the game down to where calling pick and rolls are actually a strategic move and not just for looks.

Out of the box, blocking shots is as easy as breathing. With DK's roster it takes proper timing and positioning. So now when I challenge a shot, just like in real life, I don't get a block every single time. In fact, I have used D Armstrong on defense for 10 games on my season so far and he has like 2 blocks. Out of the box I could probably get 4 a game with him playing REAL DEFENSE. That is jumping not sticking my hands up, in real life the latter only works on 8 year-olds.

With DK's latest roster some people notice that point guards don't shoot loads of random threes in a game.

This what I have experienced on a tweaked roster: opponents FG% usually ranges from 35% to 45%, although I played the Kings and they managed 50% shooting. Both teams never get over 10 blocks, usually much less but the computer can still block jumpshots with abnormal frequency. In terms of strategy the game takes a lot more thought, I can still shoot 50% but it takes lots of pick and rolls and passing. With that I easily average 30+ assists per game. 95% of my points are not scored by taking advantage of the "steal, steal, steal" mentality computer AI defense.

It is important to note that even on a tweaked roster the computer can shoot in the 60-70% range from the field when proper defense is not played. If you don't pay attention guarding J Kidd he will still launch a three and make it.

It has been awhile since I played with the default rosters but it also would be interesting to test how fast the players travel compared to the speed of a ingame pass(which are usually bullet passes). I know on the slower tweaked rosters passing is much faster relavtively, as it should be. Thus, passing to the open man is never in vain.

I honestly have not used freestyle much, except on the console. I do not have a dual analog stick controller so taking advantage of those new features are, to me, more burdensome then not.

One last thing, post some stats from an exhibition game against Sac Kings, not Memphis. Generally I find the Kings to be the toughest team to guard and beat.