by rilokiley » Wed Nov 25, 2020 6:16 pm
Its the best Basketball Sim there exist.
But for people, who have high standards like Football Manager or Out of the Park Baseball, this game is far away from it.
Still, the game is great... for a Basketball Sim.
Lots of little issues like performance, quality of life annoyances (incomplete roster, stats not being filterable, etc.). This game will probably never have 3D presentation of the game, which is okay, but the current 2D presentation is hard to follow. I either read the Boxscores or the ticker. The jerseys on the court maybe needs to be replaced with faces with jerseys, i dont know. But then i personally just simulate the game and read about the boxscores afterwards.
The best thing is the rotation matrix, but there needs to be more tools with information and stats about it OR the 2D presentation has to be attractive enough, that i like to follow the games, so i can remember what happens in the game.
Without following the 2D games, you rely heavily on the stats, the games provide to analyze what your team has done. And the stats can be expanded like i just want to see the stats of the last game or last 4 games, since i changed my rotation and strategy and see how many drives or catch and shoots, etc. a specific player has done. Now these stats are not necessary, if i would follow the game in 2D, because then i can recall from my memory, how my team played.
I just had a test season with Dallas and could trade an Allstar Squad. Ok, Dallas has still their 1st round picks they traded in real life to NY, so there is a little headstart.
But my team turn out to be Doncic, Klay Thompson, Jonathan Isaac, Porzingis and Brook Lopez. Then i had Draymond Greene, Marcus Smart, TJ Mcconnell, Dorian Finney Smith, Jaden MCDaniels, Wesley Matthews on the Bench. As you can see i added a lot of Elite Defenders and shooters for Doncic.
I gave up 2 First Round Picks, but had 3 Second Picks each from Indiana, GSW, Milwaukee for the next 3 years. The first 10 players of the Team had at least 2+ more years of contract and J.Isaac already signed the extension of about 75 million for 3 years starting next year. So the Team is set to compete for at least 2+years, not needing the 2 First Round Picks at all, that i traded away.
Draymond Greene is a tough fit for any rotation/system to be honest, and thats what i like about the game. I started him obviously, but he turned out to be a negative asset. I tried to transfer him, but lots of teams shied away from his contract, which i also like. I think the 1st Round Picks of Dallas were overvalued by the other Teams, but maybe it was just this session. On the other hand, when you can make a trade work, you can always just add all their 2nd round picks. They carry so low value, that they seem to always willing to give them to you.
Still i think the 2D presentation needs to be more exciting, so that i would enjoy the game in 2D. Thats why i just prefer to sim the game and read the boxscore afterwards. I just make my conclusions and assumptions because of the boxscores, +/- and the rotation then.
Overall its by far the best basketball sim, but i still decided against buying it.
I dont want to sound to negative, because i love the game so far, but i feel like there is not enough to do/manage if you compare it to the other management games. When i had my trades done and my team was set, all i did was simulating games, then look at the boxscore and my rotation. I wasnt changing my strategy anymore. This was all i did until the Allstar Break, when the Demo ran out. But probably would do the same until the end of the season, replace injured players in the rotation and then simulate the game.
I think for a management game, there needs to be more to do. Maybe a Matchplan is interesting to prepare for every specific game. Maybe define training sessions, when the team has a couple of days off. Maybe have a Road Tour plan, when you have a couple of Away Games, where you can tell a player you rest him after a back2back game etc.
I dont know, but besides a more exciting 2D presentation, i wish there is more to do during the season.