I do not have this game, but I was thinking about getting it for the GC when it comes out. I am a big fan of the Franchise modes in games, but I have heard 2 disturbing things about this game. I have heard that you can not load altered rosters into Franchise mode, and that you can not play Franchise mode with more than one human controlled team. Are either one of these things true?

I heard that in Courtside that you can only have one human team in Franchise, but I did expect more out of this series.

Someone out there has this game.

I haven't played franchise mode yet, but I thought I'd give you a bump by asking another NBA2K2 question.

I'm 7-2 in a 28 game season (how could you finish enough seasons to play franchise mode anyway? ). I'm doing OK with the Lakers, but mainly I just force everything inside. I'm so sick of Rick Fox missing wide open jumpers on the rare occasion that I do pass it back outside after drawing a double-team.

I think the secret is to learn how to use the offensive plays. Does scrimmage mode make any sense to anyone? How am I supposed to learn the plays based on that? I can't tell who's supposed to go where. I remember seeing some animated X's and O's in the section where you pick which plays you want to have available. That would probably be easier but I think it's in the 'customize' section which isn't available unless I forgo my season in progress.

Other than that, my only complaint is that the buttons don't always respond. At least once per game I'll have a guy wide open breaking for the basket. I'm mashing R2 like mad but it doesn't respond until it's too late.

gromit you are right about scoring. this is my main prob with 2k2. You need to run strategic plays, like they do in the nba, to score. jump shots barely ever fall unless wide open and dunking is nearly impossible. when you call a play, they guys will follow the patterns in the animated sequence you were talking about. just practice in exibition mode. as for franchise mode, i have no idea as i have not used it. sorry.

to answers your questions Anthony.
in franchise mode you are stuck with the default roster. for example if you make the big Dallas/Denver trade into game, and then you start a franshise, it would be as if the trade never happend. the same thing goes for created players and what not.
and for the second question, no you can't control two or more teams in Franchise or Season mode. (this is based on the PS2 version, but I'm sure its the same for GC)

and about Courtside. according to the Gamespot review, there is no Franchise in Courtside.

Thanks! That sucks if you can't take edited rosters in the Franchise and it SUCKS even more that you can only have one human team in the Franchise mode. Damn that is disappointing.

Anyone else upset about the trading format during the season!? It's horrible!!!
Why couldn't it be the same as the franchise format!?!
ARGH!!!

After playing a couple of games last night I've decided that this game sucks (IMHO of course). NBA players should not miss wide open shots! About half way through my second game, all of my free throws went nutty. I would only see one 'green arrow'. If I moved the sticks around a bit, the other one would flicker in and out, but there was no way to make a free throw. It's just too buggy. I'm sooooo glad I only paid $20 for it (used a gift card too).

Thats too bad

The last few weeks I've tried to decide between NBA 2k2 or NBA Live 2002. Looks like Live 2002 is the answer for me. I've heard lots of good things about 2k2 but if you can't control 2 or more teams in season mode then it just made my decision easy.

You must not watch too many NBA games...especially check out The Hawks!


Stick to NBA Street!

This is what frustrated me about this game, too. First, they put the emphasis on "working for an open shot" by having the computer play tough D (which in reality is just the computer sliding around real fast and the having the collision detection set up so that anytime there is contact - your player just stops - especially annoying on fast breaks where the D doesn't have to be in front of you, just alongside you). Then when you do work for the open shot, you often don't get rewarded with actually making the open jumper. Or, your player has to go through an animation under the basket that takes so long that the defense recovers and blocks the shot. The NBA2K series is turning into another NFL Gameday - where a company takes a great game and builds a great reputation, but then each update adds "fixes" that slowly makes the game worse each year. It seems the Dreamcast had the least amount of annoying "fixes" because while I found that version to be at least playable, the PS2 and XBox versions made me want to throw my controller through my TV.

As always, just my opinion.

Daryl

Wrong system, but I find NBA2K1 to be a much more pleasant gameplay experience than NBA2K2 on my Dreamcast. I especially find annoying the little 'freezes' that the screen does, especially noticeable on fast breaks. I wish I was better at juke moves.

Now, I'm not that much of a purist that I mind playing my Spurs with AJ still in the lineup, and am only playing a regular 82 game season, not franchise mode (I think that will take me just as long as the NBA season to complete, as I sometimes play a couple games in a row, but can go 4-5 days between sessions easily).

I have been playing this game for some time, but I don't think I have much problem with this game. I already set the difficulty to all-star, but I can still easily win games without running any plays at all. I score most of my points through fast break, but when it comes to half court, set, I usually just pass it to my best player, have him do a post up, follow by a quick spin move. This will usually get me a easy dunk. As for defense, it is quite difficult to play against the computer, but the key is to try to guard their PG with your PG and whenever their PG dumps the ball inside to their big man, and they proceed to double team, go for the double team and try to steal the ball (I can usually get it almost every other try). Another helpful hint is that when the computer inbound the ball, hit the block button, if the timing is right this will make your player do a jump forward motion and try to steal the inbound pass or deflect the ball.

Jerry

what is the difference between season and franchise mode? and you can make trades in a regular season mode, right?

i have the dc not the gc version, so i don't know how much of a difference it makes, but for me, i find the fg% in this game is very realistic. i make about 40% of my open threes, if the person is good, and about 45-50% of my regular shots. if this is about what you are shooting gromit, i wouldn't complain, because this is how it is in the nba. if you're looking for a game that is not as realistic, this is not the game to be playing. i personally think this is the best nba game ever to come out so far, one reason is because i really like the realism, i don't care for making 30 for 31 three point shots a game, to me it's just not as fun. but gameplay is all about preference, so if this is not what you're looking for, i would say ditch 2k2 for something else.

I'll second that thought.

The DC version of NBA2K2 is different than the PS2 version though. I've heard that a lot of people prefer the DC version, because the shooting seems to be more accurate to real life.

jerry4fish said:

It sounds like you're quite a bitter better than I am, but I'm starting to see the same pattern. It bothered me that my entire offense consisted of post up dunks. I was starting to get more steals by double-teaming, but the computer often kicks it back out to the open man and nails the open shot (which I can't do of course). Playing defense didn't bother me that much (other than watching the computer make open shots while I can't). I had a lot of success by switching to a zone defense every once in a while. That wouldn't work with all teams, but for a lot of 'em, it would really throw them out of rhythm and would help me end a run.

Maybe I just need to play more. I was tempted to trade it in towards NHL 2002 though.

Trust me when I say that these days, NBA Live is NEVER the answer.

I played another game last night. I did better this time, beating the Spurs 71-51 (bringing my record to 8-3). I'm playing at the 'pro' level BTW.

2 new changes: crash the boards set all the way to the max and I discovered the half-court press. Switching between man-to-man, a 2-3 zone and the half-court press kept the Spurs completely off balance. Of course, who knows what the next game will bring.

Out of 71 points, 52 were scored in the paint. I did hit a few outside shots, including a couple of 3 pointers off of screens (I was shocked!). Rick Fox went 0-9 from behind the line though. I started using the Lakers because the game was so challenging initially, but I can't get Fox to hit hardly anything.

Some stats:

31/51 shooting (.607)
5/19 3 pointers (.263)
27 rebounds (4 offensive, 23 defensive)
4 players with double-figure scoring.

It's just one game, but I am starting to see a difference.

I still haven't figured out the plays on offense. I've tried to run a couple of simple plays, but the players aren't moving where I expect them too.

Any other pointers?

I have another question about this game. Can you edit the real players for exhibition games?