NBA 2K9 has actually taken a page from College Hoops series because now you can assign a primary defender to an opposing player. What you want to do is use the medium lock-on D, and make sure your best defender is guarding them. If you play them tight, they will drive in for the dunk. Playing against superstars is a Catch-22 because they can kill you in so many ways. Sagging off your man also cuts down on some of the backdoor passes the CPU likes to use. Most importantly, he will be forced to give up the ball, because you’ve stamped out his greatest strength, which is driving to the cup for the layup or simply forcing the defense to collapse and kick it out to an open man. If he takes the jump shot, that’s better than him driving to the hole.
If you are playing defense against a poor shooter with good handles (Rajon Rondo), sag off of him. Tight coverage should be reserved for spot-up shooters (think Kyle Korver and Jason Kapono). Using tight coverage incorrectly will allow the opposition to drive right past you. If you have a poor defensive team like the Knicks, the players won’t be able to stay in front of a snail, let alone a NBA player. Cheese tactics like this don’t work in this game.
So I’ve devised a few pointers to help you out:įar too often, a user is getting beat to the punch, so he or she thinks it's a bright idea to play tight coverage on everyone. If your defense isn’t strong, changing the sliders will not help you. Slider tweaks may fix some of the high percentages in this game, but still, sliders should not be used as a crutch to substitute for bad defense.
Either way, many feel that it is entirely too easy to score (and get scored on). Some say that NBA 2K9 is the best representation of video game basketball ever, while others say it is far from that. It has been a good while now, and the verdicts are in.