by Gary Gorski » Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:55 am
All of the choices you have available to you do impact the game but they're not going to turn players into something they are not. If your top offensive player is not a 3 point shooter then he's not going to suddenly start launching threes no matter what setting you choose - he might shoot more than he otherwise would but its still going to be a very small amount. This is where the floor range and ball actions are so important. If you want a team that is launching a huge amount of threes then you need to have players who have very high % in corner three and above the break three and have high % in catch & shoot and pull up jumper. Think of it this way - the strategy options will tweak what your players do but the biggest overall factor is the players themselves and that means how the player plays, not whether he has a high outside shooting rating. That just means he has a good chance of making one if he takes one - it does not mean he frequently shoots them.
As for defense your strategy page gives your four different styles of defense to play and there is a help button to explain those. You can also set general or individual assignments there for your top defensive players and of course while in game you have the control over factors like playing man vs zone, the intensity level you currently use, the matchups and whether or not to use full court defense. Again though if you have players who are poor defenders there is not a strategy that will make them better - you might be able to hide one bad defender using "switch" or hope to take advantage of a poor shooting team with "passive" but if you want to be a better defensive team you need players who are good defenders.
Players and their playing types mean EVERYTHING in the game - that is why roster construction is so important. It is not about finding just the highest rated overall players - its about finding the right players for your team.