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I would tend to disagree with that somewhat, as I have managed to have good success with some fairly average players and one dominant (but cheap) SF this season. But it certainly seems to be the prevailing wisdom.

Right, that's why i added "historically". In the past you could just as easily put a big man with tons of IS and overpower the other team at SF, plus you'd get all the extra rebounds without getting very man TO's, even against the guys you have built. The new GE has changed that, which i think is better (much better for the guys you've built too).

If you play another PG there, 3 out of 5 positions fail to execute inside shots very well. You are relying heavily at your PF/C then, hoping they take the right amount of shots (which happens faster due to playing 3 PGs instead of 2, I agree).

The issue goes even further than that if you play a 3-2 zone. This is because, if the SF goes inside he will still be matched-up against the PF or C. So really, unless you have a SF who can play with the big boys, you are effectively limited to 2 positions who can execute inside shots there, too.

There you have the reason why 3-2 zones can now be very effective against an inside offense.

Last edited by HeadPaperPusher at 1/26/2010 11:19:04 AM

Probably, yes.

Although you could create some great shots if the SF can go inside and pass the ball to another big men if he walks against the PF or C. You'll see some great mismatches then I guess.

Although you could create some great shots if the SF can go inside and pass the ball to another big men if he walks against the PF or C. You'll see some great mismatches then I guess.

I think you'll have to elaborate on that a bit so I can understand. I'm having trouble seeing how that happens in BB.

Do you mean if your SF has good enough inside shooting and a decent amount of passing/handling, that he can force the zone into some bad rotations? Is that how the game engine works?

Everybody has the right to complain about whatever unfair situation of the game. They are as free as I am to disagree and give my opinion. I think we can agree on this, because I´m just giving my opinion as the rest of the users.

It seems that you and other users think that BuzzerBeater is just a game where the only choice you have is to decide between an inside or an outside focus, and that's all, and the only problem is how to equilibrate both. However, the old engine had a stronger unbalance between a slow and fast pace, but nobody cared about it...
With the old engine, most attacks in slow tactics finished with a bad shot in the last second. But nobody cares... because you cannot see this in the ratings, and ratings are of course the truth about BuzzerBeater.
Nobody cared about the offensive flow as well, and many wondered whether this rating was the most useless and without a real effect on the match outcome. This is also improved with the new engine, so two useless skills, handling and passing, are now necessary. This is an advantage for those team who already trained these skills and a disadvantage for those who don´t. It will take some time for those teams to catch up.

The goal of the game is to build a succesful team and make it work better than the others. You don´t have to make work a tactic or a particular kind of players, because you are playing against other humans, not machines, and they will attack your weakest points. And you have to defeat to the other 15 teams of your league, and not to defeat "run and gun" or "look inside".

Sometime ago, I bought a PF with good passing skill and good jump shot. It was really cheap, less than 1800k, probably because his salary is quite low for a PF (and misteriously people prefer to pay higher salaries). He is playing really well with Run&Gun (by the way not my favourite tactic) and he is now my player with most assistences. If you take a look to the transfer list you will not find absolutely any PF with the same skill distribution.

Of course everybody is free to pay 6000k for a 150k PF. You will easily get an incredible inside attack rating and you will feel the strongest team in the world. If this is not taking you to the top, maybe you are doing something wrong.





Last edited by Emilio at 1/26/2010 1:46:24 PM

I don't know how the game engine works, just guessing and trying. But if you field an inside men with some passing at the SF against a 3-2 zone, you said he's gonna walks into the zone defense of the big men if he gets inside.

This is probably true, but still they have to defend 3 guys then (the SF, your PF and your C). If the opponents outside SF (i don't think it's smart to play a 3-2 zone with an inside SF) defends your driving SF, you can take a quality inside shot due to the lack of inside defense of the SF. If you drive into the zone of the PF and C, your shot won't be of such a good quality due to the help defense. Then if the passing skill of the SF is high enough, he'll find a oppertunity to pass to your PF or C instead of taking the low quality shot.

If he succeeds, your PF and C kan take a high quality shot, since at least one of them is in the last case, or defended by the SF without much ID, or completely open. And this brings back the importance of multiskilled inside men as well, they have to be able to take a jumper when they recieve such a pass.

I'm just thinking and guessing, but it's seems logical this way.

Biggest problem so far is the high elasticity of guards and centers performance due to offensive focus.

Guards with enough development for inside focus will get freakin owned in a motion/rng attack, because, well, sacrifices need to be made, and they will not be able to reach lvl18/17 JS, and 13/14 JR and at the same time, 9/10 IS, and right now, so they will get handled by 15/16 OD guards.

The same will happen to big men and inside oriented offenses (will sacrifice inside skill so they will be handled easily by some 15/16 ID like the ones most teams already have)

In the end, balanced players will NOT result in larger variaty of tactics, but they will be BASE OFFENSE players, in order to avoid especific focus and thus making them more effective.

LOL, I wouldn't say a good option, but a good physcial PG has many uses guarding the 1,2 & 3 spots.

If he succeeds, your PF and C kan take a high quality shot, since at least one of them is in the last case, or defended by the SF without much ID, or completely open. And this brings back the importance of multiskilled inside men as well, they have to be able to take a jumper when they recieve such a pass.

I'm just thinking and guessing, but it's seems logical this way.

I agree it seems logicial, I just don't know if the game engine is designed this way. I have seen guards drive inside and go up against forwards way too much in a 3-2 zone.

You are assuming that look x has some impact on look x+1. However, what if each look is calculated independently of the last? So if the PF guards my SF on look x, then he can still guard my PF on look x+1. Maybe the assignments are just completely random, so that if the ball goes inside the distribution of who defends is something like:

PG .01
SG .01
SF .02
PF .48
C .48

Not only that, but maybe the "help" defense is the same regardless of where the ball comes from.

By the way, in a zone I wish you could always see who is guarding who. Often when there is a good pass the defender is not mentioned. Does that mean there is no defender? If not, I get pretty confused when I am watching a game with a zone.


Last edited by HeadPaperPusher at 1/26/2010 2:45:20 PM