Anyone know all those offenses mean in Team Strategy??

[moby323]

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable basketbal fan, but I really don't know what the differences are between 1-4 High, Double-High, Flex, or Motion offenses in the Team Strategy menu.

Anyone know where I can get at least a partial description of those offenses?

Also, what do you find effective?[/b]

[Andreas Dahl]

Let me guess; you're not from Europe. (just kidding)

Here's a few that I found by google, so they are likely to not be just like the ones in the game, although the basic ideas are still the same:
http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays. ... e-1-4.html
http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays. ... -flex.html
http://www.jes-soft.com/playbook/plamotion.html

Double High is a lot like the 1-4. Image

[moby323]

Thanks man. Do you use any of these, or just the stand pick-and-roll, isolation, stuff like that?

[Andreas Dahl]

I haven't played the game in a while, but when I did I never used the Isolation, although I did use the pick-and-roll a lot. It's a great weapon to free up for a three pointer for a short while. I also used zone (2-3) on defence sometimes, but that's not that effective since the CPU tend to make every uncontested three pointer on the highest difficulty level.
I haven't used that many different plays, so I would recommend that you try some of them out yourself whilst playing and see which ones you like and think works well, that's the best way to do it really...

[FendeR`]

I find it easier to just use pick-and-roll and basket cut, because they are simple. I don't think it's possible to move/pass quickly and fluently enough for those more complicated plays to work.

[moby323]

Do you use basket cut maily for ally-oops or for inside jump shots? Cuase my experience is that close-basket shots, even if you are almost wide open, with a player like Pao Gasol, dont seem to be as high-percentage as you would think.

[mjordan23ljames]

if you guys had experience in school basetball or league basketball you'd know what each of those are...... My school team used motion last season

its not that hard to no what the plays are

[soloredd]

For NBA-style games, all you need is Post Up and Isolation. The problem in this game with Isolation is, naturally, the defenders are close to impossible to get by, so it's pointless. And because at random times a player will do some stupid, drawn out pass animation, it's kind of pointless to run a Flex or Cut offense.

The 2 MAJOR issues I have had with Live for years has been the isolation issue and the speed of the CPU on defense. Both issues are still there, unaddressed and not fixed. It really ruins any type of run-n-gun offenses.

[OldFoolStyle]

I do use plays both for myself and I set them for the CPU. It works perfectly for me most of the time, but I should note that my rosters are completely customised, so take these suggestions as you will.
Before i get into the specifics of the plays, or what little I take from them, I want to address passing. part of what people here complain about with passing is a controller issue, if you use a keyboard to play Live just stop reading now, you just can't get the passes out fast enough. Everyone else, if you don't hold the pass button long enough you'll just toss a slow lob pass, hold it longer and press turbo and you'll see a huge improvement. It also helps to use direct passing.

The three main sets(not specific plays but sets)I use are Box(the first one, not the one after ballscreen), 1-4 High, and Ballscreen.
Box works best for me if a have a good shooting PF, an excellent passing PG, and a SF that scores inside. The C can also see some play, but the SG mostly just sits outside and waits for the three. Box usualy starts with the SG rubbing his man off on the PF and setting up at the elbow of the three-point line, if you pass to the SG then your PF will set up in the post, feed the PF and you will have options for the PF to either score himself or pass to a cutting SF or C. The other side, has the SF and C in the post, occasionaly the SF will rub his man off on the C and stand alone under the basket, have your PG shake his man(seems i should do a primer on this as well)and drive to the basket, one of the opposing forwards will step up to stop you leaving you with either a SF ready to dunk or a PF with a wide open shot from 10-feet.
1-4 High I only use when I play as the '86 Celtics. Half the time the play starts with the SF getting a high rub/pick from the C, the I pass the ball to the SF(larry bird)and see what I can create. The other half of the time, the SF goes under the basket and sets up about 13-feet on the baseline, then either juke-and-jive with the SF or call for a pick.
Ballscreen I only use when I want the PF in the post, and the C up at the free-throw line(watch the original dream team, or barkley/olajuwon era rockets). The SG and SF don't do much in this set but wait for three's, but if you call for a cutter with the ball in the PF's hands you should be able to create something for them.

Designating a set(again a set, not a specific play)is probably more importaint for the CPU team than for yourself. Don't belive me, play a game against a team with a high-scoring PF without setting a play, then play against the same team and give them either the Turnout or Inside Triangle set, now compare the amount of shots the PF took and where he took them from. You can do the same thing with a C and either Flex or Sideline Triangle for an even bigger difference. All plays should be considered as having the PG as the primary scorer, unless you guard the crap outta the little bastards like I do. Here are the plays I set for other teams and what the results usualy end up being.
1-4 high, good for SF with long range and SG that can run, tends to use PF and C in the post on occasion.
Box, good for teams that have strong PF and C but only if you harass the other players.
Flex, the best play for C, but the PF is non-existant on offense.
Inside Triangle, mostly isolation plays for the SG and SF, but if you guard them they will pass to the post, more for the PF than C. Also the SG will get the most assists.
Motion, used to be the play for SG, this year it's better for the SF, also provides a few plays for the C.
Turnout, primarily a play for the SF, but if you can shut him out the PF becomes the highest scorer.
Secondary Break, PF and C are almost non-existant in this set. Mostly for the SF.
Sideline Triangle, a lot of play for the SG, but will play through the C quite a bit. SF usualy leads in assists with this set.
Utah, last year this was the best play for high scoring PF, this year it's all SG and occasionaly SF, again the inside players might as well not be there.

[FendeR`]

if you guys had experience in school basetball or league basketball you'd know what each of those are...... My school team used motion last season

Not neccessarily, I played for my school in the winter and we used versions of motion and 1-4 but it's not the same as in the game. That would be pretty sweet though, I could create all the players on my school team and practice our offense.

Old School, that whole thing you typed about the plays sounds awesome, I'm going to try them out right now. Thanks for the effort it looks like it'll work great.

[moby323]

I do use plays both for myself and I set them for the CPU. It works perfectly for me most of the time, but I should note that my rosters are completely customised, so take these suggestions as you will..........................
.................................Utah, last year this was the best play for high scoring PF, this year it's all SG and occasionaly SF, again the inside players might as well not be there.

I see, but can you just explain in simple terms what the box, 1-4, and ballscreen does? I can't use it effectively if I don't understand what is going on, and what the objective is.

Thanks!

[OldFoolStyle]

The second part of my post was only describing how the computer uses the plays.

1-4 high is mostly high screens for the SG and SF, the plays in the link Dahl provided are pretty close to how Live uses them.
Ballscreen I tend to only look at for the spacing, PF in post and C at freethrow line. The other players don't realy move much unless you call a quick play. You still have to call for a pick to get the screen the plays name implies.

The best way to get a feel for the plays is to fire up 2004 and look at the diagrams from there, but the new spacing ai does negate some of the movement.

[maes]

1-4 high, good for SF with long range and SG that can run, tends to use PF and C in the post on occasion.

I use 1-4 often with the Sonics, works well.

[Strike Freedom]

i played without strategy..
just played like steve nash..
dribble, penetrate then pass to the open player.
i can do more things by not playin strategy..
however, i could never improve in that way.