Free-throws

[Tracy_McGrady]

I think if this game is gonna be more of a sim, that there should be a LOT more free-throws than in past versions. Live 2003 wasnt too bad, but I think that when you drive into a crowded lane, there should be an 80% probability of drawing a foul. Then reading the defense will come into play and players wont be able to drive at will and score two points.
However, I did read something about mid-air collisions, so maybe EA saw this topic coming??

I know this has been said, but I just thought Id see what you guys had to say.

[cocobee]

i think if you raise the bar on the foul sliders, you should get the result you want.

I hope they bring back free throw animations like Kidd's kiss or Malone talking to himself while shooting, or Van Excel shooting from like 5 feet behind the free throw line. Little touches like that, or the crowd going crazy if the away team is shooting a free throw. Or the other players giving the free throw shooter dap or a pat on the butt after a miss free throw.


I think stuff like that will add positive points in the realism category. I'd rather have these animations than the ones they have in the game like the autograph before halftime or the one where the coach gets mad at the players because they're sitting in there seat.

[Andrew]

The problem I've found with raising the foul sliders is that it usually results in your guards getting in foul trouble (perhaps I'm just too aggressive when defending the perimeter). Since Live 2004 is billed as having better collisions and ways to draw a foul, it's likely we'll get to shoot more free throws.

I think stuff like that will add positive points in the realism category. I'd rather have these animations than the ones they have in the game like the autograph before halftime or the one where the coach gets mad at the players because they're sitting in there seat.

I know what you mean. Those "courtside comedy" scenes, while being a small detail, didn't really grow on me. Mind you, much of the comedy was in the generic nature of the scenes - Brendan Haywood chewing out MJ for not listening during a timeout, Rasho Nesterovic signing an autograph at halftime of an away game, etc.

[Colin]

I know what you mean. Those "courtside comedy" scenes, while being a small detail, didn't really grow on me. Mind you, much of the comedy was in the generic nature of the scenes - Brendan Haywood chewing out MJ for not listening during a timeout, Rasho Nesterovic signing an autograph at halftime of an away game, etc.

Nd the one where Tim Duncan chews out the ref. or Sabonis pulls a practical joke on the ref at tipoff.

[Andrew]

Another one: during a home game against the Sixers in my Minnesota franchise, I noticed there was at least one Efthimos Rentzias fan eager to get his autograph as he walked into the tunnel at halftime.

[Icebane]

So all the scenes are based on something that reall happend??? Can I have a run down on them all???

[Andrew]

I don't think any of the scenes are based on anything in particular - just generic sort of situations (player argues with referee, teammates joke around before the game, etc).

[iceicebaby]

i think the bars for free throws should move faster as they are way too easy to shoot.

[Swoosh]

The speed is good like that, i know there are a lot of ppl who can hit evry free throw with shaq on superstar but a lot of ppl cant so the speed is good, it just needs practice and if it would be so fast its every time luck there aint nothing to it

[Icebane]

The players don't get enough free throws to get enough practice in... My character was 73 on Free throws and (In superstar) the bar moves extremely fast... It moves VERY fast in All Star too. So when I shot like 21 - 140 free throws in a franchise, I thought How ridiculous... Webber hit more free throws than this in HIGH SCHOOL!

So unless you can practise Free Throws, the speed is perfect.

[Andrew]

It's for this reason I think there should be an expanded practice mode. Rather than just taking a player into an empty gym, you should also be able to practice shooting with a hand in your face (like One on One, but with no scores or winner, just practice) and also free throw shooting. It would be great practice if you could spend some time just shooting free throws non-stop, familiarising yourself with the speed of the bar without having an actual game to worry about.

[Colin]

It would be great practice if you could spend some time just shooting free throws non-stop, familiarising yourself with the speed of the bar without having an actual game to worry about.

And every two free throws you'd have a slightly different speed so you can get used to all players you'd be shooting with. I don't think a practice one-on-one mode is neccessary because you can just play game after game of actual one-on-one. But I'd like to see you be able to get the ball in the post against a defender with your dribble, and be able to work on your post moves.

[Andrew]

And every two free throws you'd have a slightly different speed so you can get used to all players you'd be shooting with.

Alternatively, we could take a whole team (or at least a few different players of varying abilities) into free throw practice, and switch players as desired to get a feel for everyone.

I don't think a practice one-on-one mode is neccessary because you can just play game after game of actual one-on-one. But I'd like to see you be able to get the ball in the post against a defender with your dribble, and be able to work on your post moves.

That's actually more along the lines of what I was thinking - being able to practice different game situations such as posting up. The traditional practice mode could be retained so you can try out all the Freestyle moves (and perform free throw line dunks ).

[Icebane]

Yeah, they need to call fouls more when a guard comes to a posting Center and hacks the ball away... Every time:o

[Andrew]

Double teams in the post need to be less frequent in the first place. There's no need for Michael Doleac or Sean Rooks to draw a frequent double team when the post up.

[Icebane]

Sean Who?? HAHA, Nah... Didn't Sean Rooks play in Australia???

[Andrew]

No, Sean Rooks has never played over here...you might be thinking of Acie Earl and Todd Mundt. Sean Rooks is a better player than either of them.

[MikZyth]

The players don't get enough free throws to get enough practice in... My character was 73 on Free throws and (In superstar) the bar moves extremely fast... It moves VERY fast in All Star too. So when I shot like 21 - 140 free throws in a franchise, I thought How ridiculous... Webber hit more free throws than this in HIGH SCHOOL!

So unless you can practise Free Throws, the speed is perfect.

In most cases it depends on FPS.
Some people like to set details at MAX and they say that the bars are moving to fast (with 30 frames per second), but I think that FPS is just awful (how can they even play with that?!). You can hit FT easily with at least 70-80 fps.

But FT practice is a good idea (it's been implemented in some b-ball games).

[Icebane]

No, Sean Rooks has never played over here...you might be thinking of Acie Earl and Todd Mundt. Sean Rooks is a better player than either of them.

No, Acie Earl came over here and Bumbed his average in the NBA from 2 PPG to 33 PPG among other things...

[Andrew]

That's what I meant. Acie Earl played for Sydney, Todd Mundt appeared in a few games for Newcastle. Earl was the more impressive of the two.

[Power And Proud]

Even 33ppg and over 10rpg from Acie Earl wasn't good enough for the Kings. He was axed after one season. And we thought they hit the jackpot with James Smith, but nope, 2 years with the Kings, and he's out. Now they have Chris Williams and K. Franklin, how long with these guys last? Williams was MVP.

[Icebane]

I am positive there was a Sean Rooks playing in Oz... Or a Sean Marks?? Brown Skinned, Good Shot blocker...

Whats crazy is that Earl can come over here and dominate like that, but a player as Good as say Alonzo, wouldn't be able to do any better...

[Andrew]

Sean Rooks has always played in the NBA. I'm not sure about Sean Marks...he's from New Zealand, he might have played in the NBL but I'm not sure about that.

[Icebane]

I was sure there was a Rooks in the NBL... He wasn't a bad player...

[sixerfan03]

i think if you raise the bar on the foul sliders, you should get the result you want.

I hope they bring back free throw animations like Kidd's kiss or Malone talking to himself while shooting, or Van Excel shooting from like 5 feet behind the free throw line. Little touches like that, or the crowd going crazy if the away team is shooting a free throw. Or the other players giving the free throw shooter dap or a pat on the butt after a miss free throw.

They need to do that for some of the more famous legends. As dumb as it looks, Rick Barry should be shooting free throws underhanded. (Or maybe not, it looks really stupid.) I read Hal Greer always jumped when he shot FTs, and that wouldn't look bad.

For current players, Shaq should shoot one handed, and Anthony Mason should shoot super ugly about 5 seconds after you're done with the T-Meter.

They should also have a slider to adjust the speed of the T-Meter. Maybe it's my computer, but I can't hit anything on superstar difficulty. At the same time, other people can hit every FT.