In this week's Monday Tip-Off, Andrew reflects on what his shot chart says about his basketball gaming habits and strategies.
The post Monday Tip-Off: What Your Shot Chart Says About You appeared first on NLSC.
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a look at what your shot chart says about your style of play on the virtual hardwood.
Well, that’s a trashy, clickbait headline if ever I’ve used one! Then again, is it still a clickbait title if it’s kind of making fun of clickbait and trashy, vapid headlines? Arguably, yes. What if I’m truly intending to run some hopefully thought-provoking experiments and share the results? Probably still a bit cheesy! Anyway, have you ever really looked at your shot chart after a game? If you haven’t, there’s no shame. After all, whether you won or lost, hit a statistical goal, or achieved some measure of progression in a mode, tends to be the more pertinent and interesting information.
And yet, it’s interesting to look at our shot chart. As in a real NBA game, it says a lot about how we shot the ball and ran our offense. To that end, it can provide insights into how we won or lost. In video games, it also illustrates some common gaming habits, the reasons for which are interesting to delve into. I’ll admit that I haven’t made a habit of looking at my shot chart after games in recent years, probably because I’ve been focused on grinding for VC and Badge XP rather than playing a sim style in MyCAREER. However, in the interests of experimenting, exploring theories, and self-reflection, I decided that I’d see what my shot charts look like these days.
Since I’ve been playing a lot of NBA Live 10 this year, I’ll begin with a shot chart from one of those games. I was playing as the Magic taking on the Nuggets, in an attempt to finally get the Achievement for blocking three shots with cover player Dwight Howard. I did get those three rejections by the fourth quarter, though in an amusing twist, Anthony Johnson had an easier time coming up with two swats in far less court time! I’d battled back after an early deficit to take complete control of the game, so I was free to gamble in order to chase blocks, and that Achievement. One of the reasons that I pulled ahead and put the game away was my three-point shooting.
As much as I’ve grumbled about the three-point-happy nature of the modern NBA, it’s clearly had an effect on the way that I play basketball video games. In MyCAREER in recent NBA 2K titles, I’ve set some ridiculous three-point records with my shooting playmaker builds. The ability to knock down threes is also an essential ingredient to winning online, and is often the deciding factor in Pro-Am and Rec games. As you can see from the above shot chart, even when I go back to an older title, I now find myself launching more attempts from beyond the arc than I once would have. While I made quite a few threes, those red Xs also show a number of bricks from downtown.
Thinking back to my habits and style of play in older games however, it arguably isn’t as big of a change as I thought when I first examined that shot chart. I’d suggest that many of us that grew up with classics from the 90s, such as NBA Live 95, developed habits that are difficult to break. Because jumpshots were often risky dice rolls in those older games, it was common to ignore the midrange in favour of taking a three or finishing at the hoop. In some respects, this predicted the analytics craze and its effect on the NBA style, though it was due to gameplay mechanics rather than a strictly mathematical approach to basketball. We just did what worked in the games.
Thankfully, shooting mechanics have evolved. For all the controversy that comes with guaranteed green releases and other aspects of modern controls, it’s preferable to the confusion and frustration that came with missing several well-timed releases due to unlucky dice rolls. Midrange shots – and jumpers in general – are now more reliable than they used to be. This does cause some problems when retro gaming of course, as I’ve grown used to taking shots in newer games that once would’ve been too risky to attempt with regularity. Referring once again to the above shot chart, you can see that I attempt a good amount of midrange shots outside MyCAREER (more on that later).
Further analysis of that shot chart also reveals a number of misses in the paint. There are a couple of reasons for that. NBA Live 10 – on the default sliders at least – has a lot of contact in the paint that results in contested and adjusted shots, and fewer fouls than it probably should. There are elusive moves that you can employ, but you do get sucked into a two-man animation quite often. Knowing that however, I can also see how I forced the issue inside, driving into traffic and ending up with a difficult shot because I tried to bully my way to the rim with a straight drive. I can also see that I pulled up unnecessarily in the post, though sometimes that was the game’s mechanics.
Conversely, observe the shot chart for Kobe Bryant in the game in which I aimed to score 81 points with him for another Achievement. You can see that I was leaving less to chance, constantly attacking the rim and scoring most of his points in the paint, or drawing shooting fouls to get free throws. You’ll also note that to rack up points a bit quicker, I was letting it fly from downtown, where I was much less efficient. I also took some midrange shots when the opportunity was there, and in an effort to still try to play somewhat realistically. Still, driving for dunks and layups – or at least to get free throws – was my preferred strategy in vying for that 81-point Achievement.
Something else that you’ll notice in the individual shot chart for Kobe and the team chart for the Magic is the way that my shot attempts are distributed across the floor. I’m taking shots from a variety of spots, but it’s not an even distribution. This isn’t actually unrealistic compared to a real NBA game, and of course the Dynamic DNA powered by Synergy affected jumpshot success in NBA Live 10 according to real life data. However, there are also gameplay habits that affect the distribution of attempts, and the subsequent imbalances between sides of the floor in the shot chart. Believe it or not, your choice of camera angle is often a factor in where you like to shoot from.
It’s not the case for everyone, but if you play on the broadcast view as I do, there’s a tendency to favour taking attempts on the side that’s closest to the camera; especially pull-up jumpers. It makes sense as the players being closer to the camera allows for a clearer view of how much space they have, as well as their shooting form for timing purposes. There are exceptions of course, and I also attempt a number of shots from the far side of the court, particularly as the area that a player is most effective from flips when you change ends on broadcast cam. There’s comfort in going to work on the near side of the floor, though. Of course, it can mean passing up some good looks.
I alluded to having different habits, and thus a rather different shot chart, when it comes to MyCAREER games. Through a combination of grinding shooting Badges and aiming to break three-point records, I don’t take as many midrange shots as I would when I’m controlling the entire team. The same goes for the connected modes, where I’ve used my point guard builds to be more of a distributor, chipping in with a few three-pointers or getting inside when I can. On top of being the most efficient way of grinding for VC and Badge XP, it’s also the style of play that’s favoured in the online arena. Going against the homogenised style sadly isn’t a recipe for success.
The goal of winning and pursuit of statistical achievements will always skew our shot charts. Ideally for gamers who favour the sim style, victories and big numbers will occur in a fairly realistic manner. This isn’t always feasible, which leaves us with two options: do what looks right, or do what’s right to win. As games have evolved, it has become more feasible to win and put up stats with a realistic shot chart. Still, if the game or a statistical goal is on the line, most of us will do what it takes to accomplish it. After all, are you going to give up the win or fall short of achieving a set goal just because a wide open slam would result in having an unrealistic amount of dunks?
To that end, looking at your shot chart may lead you to realise that you’re not quite as “sim” as you thought. There’s no shame in that; the games have their limitations, and again, it’d be silly to sabotage your own success out of some staunch adherence to statistical accuracy. Nevertheless, it can illuminate a few things about your style of play that may not be immediately apparent when you’re in the thick of competition. It’s interesting to see how often you attack the rim, or how trigger-happy you are from beyond the arc. You’ll notice habits that just seem natural while you’re playing, such as preferring to shoot from the side closest to the camera on the broadcast angle.
Putting aside my earliest experiences as a young basketball gamer, I’ve long thought of myself as being all about “sim”. When I glance at my shot chart though, I can see that I do take more liberties than I sometimes think I do. I’m all the more aware of how difficult it’s been to break habits such as shooting from the side closest to the broadcast camera, or taking threes from 45 degree angles because I once read that it was the best spot to shoot from in the early NBA Live titles. I also realise how little I care about realism in MyCAREER, where levelling up ASAP is the name of the game. That’s what my shot chart says about me. What does yours say about you?
The post Monday Tip-Off: What Your Shot Chart Says About You appeared first on NLSC.
