I want to learn about the sport itself, and I figured a videogame about basketball would be a good place to start.

I'm curious whether I should get 2k14 or 2k13. Which do you guys prefer and which do you think may be easier for a newcomer? Is there a portion of the game to actually teach you the rules of the game, or are you expected to already know how basketball works?

There's a steam sale for the next 33 hours on both of these games, so I'm hungry for some info!

Oh yes, I'm obviously looking at the PC versions, if that wasn't clear.

If you don't mind me asking, why do you suddenly want to learn about basketball? Do you intend to play with friends or something?

Basketball is ridunkulously (Yes I went there) easy to learn, and you definitely don't need a game to teach you.

@turtlebird95: I would love to play, but basketball and sumo wrestling are the only two sports that hold any interest for me as a spectator.

I want to be able to watch a game of basketball and actually understand what's happening. Obviously I can eye the scoreboard and see who is technically winning with raw numbers, but, for example, when everyone suddenly stops playing and one man is allowed to fire a shot into the basket without interruption, I have no idea what just happened.

I'm hungry to learn the rules, damnit! Basketball is so cool and the players are so hot.

@verysexypotato: I'm not all too familiar with the PC versions of the 2k games, but I'd recommend 2k14 over 2k13. 2k13 was kinda odd due to a certain Hip-Hop mogul's influence, so I'm glad to say that 2k14 stepped away from that. In addition to some gameplay tweaks, it's the superior product.

As far as learning the rules of the game, it may take some time for you to take everything in. For example, in the situation that you described, that player is taking a "free throw" because he was fouled on the previous play (and was probably in the act of shooting). There are exceptions to that rule, but it's just one of the many details that makes up the game of basketball.

Do you have a favorite player/team?

@flappy: Okay, cool! Much appreciated for the explanation! I was also wondering what difference Jay would have made on the game anyway...

As for favorite player/team, I don't know enough about the players/teams to pick a fave. Here are all the things I know about basketball:

1. Shaqfu
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Bugs Bunny was trash until Micheal Jordan happened
4. Bill Murray
5. Sports
6. Lola Bunny
7. Team logo's are just so rad
8. Awesome goggles/protective eyewear
9. NBA Jam has bighead mode
10. Lola Bunny

The next gen console versions of NBA2K14 are vastly superior to the PC version which is based off the last gen versions. But 2K games have always been good basketball games so it's a good place to start either way.

@verysexypotato: The PC version is absolute shit compared to it's console counterparts. I have a Xbox360 controller hooked up to my PC, and it feels way different and shitty compared to playing on an actual 360. It's also worth noting that 2014 for PC is a port of the PS3/Xbox360 version of the game, NOT the PS4/XboxOne version, which is a huge fucking bummer... Also, it's a great local multiplayer game which is something to consider (I obviously don't know your setup). So, if at all possible play on a console!

Other than that, it's a great series! You'll get the hang of the rules as you go, but my guess is that the ones you'll struggle with at first will be 3-second violations, backcourt violations and 8-second violations. Look those up, otherwise it's very straight forward.

Edit: Not that those are complicated either, but it's something to look out for.

Okay, realtalk here. Which is more complicated: Anime, or basketball?

Well, basketball actually makes sense, and...

@sharkethic said:

Well, basketball actually makes sense, and...

Anime really varies series to series, but in general...

@verysexypotato: Oh! And I have missed you. Maybe I've just accidentally not seen as many of your posts, but you are always a delight. And a skilled fellow, at that!

NOW KISS!!!

The best way to learn basketball is going to be sitting down to watch a game with someone who knows the rules and asking them questions about it whenever you have any.

Watch March Madness. Then the NBA playoffs. These are the only things of interest to a casual basketball fan and the games will be good. There will be a handful of specific rules you won't understand that way, but when they're called, Google them or ask someone who cares, and you'll understand it pretty quickly.

Honestly, I would recommend NBA 2K12. It has the "NBA's Greatest" mode, a riff on 2K11's Jordan Challenge in which they faithfully recreated about 14 classic teams including their arenas and rulesets. Want to play basketball at it's most simple, in black and white without a three point line, as the 1965 Bill Russell Celtics? It's in there. Want to play in sepia tone with the run-n-gun showtime Lakers of 1990 Magic Johnson? It's in there. Curious what the difference is between a pick and roll heavy team like Stockon and Malone's '98 Utah Jazz and a more aloof form of inside-outside offense like the '1994 Olajuwon Rockets? Pit 'em against each other and find out!

As for 2K13 vs. 2K14, I can't honestly speak to the differences because you're on PC and I picked up the next-gen version of 2K14 which is an exclusive product. But the reputation for the 2K games on PC isn't very good at all other than the texture modding and draft class creations.

@nodima: The guy doesn't know why "everyone suddenly stops playing and one man is allowed to fire a shot into the basket without interruption"...I don't think he gives a shit about the 1965 Celtics. I might check it out though, thanks!:)

First of all: this.

Secondly--2K14 is the way to go. It's the best NBA 2K release since 2K11 (which, in my mind, is still the best of the franchise, in terms of playability).

Third, if you know nothing about basketball--absolutely nothing--then it might be worth doing thousand-foot view, birds-eye reading on the sport. Some of the sport's nature is obvious, but things like why there are different positions might not be so apparent off the bat.

Fourth, there are a couple folks on these forums, myself included, who are massive basketball fans. Feel free to ask us questions about who, what, and why.

@sharkethic I just think it's a good way to learn the basic rules, because the mode adds rules into the game as you go along. The Celtics game is super simple; make your 2 point shots, stop the other team from making 2 point shots. As you progress through the teams it becomes more about learning set plays on offense (which, should be noted, can be displayed on the screen and easily followed like a map once you learn the basic format of the play art), and then learning how to utilize the three point line/three point specialists, and then how to penetrate with slashers from the wing positions.

It's a fairly dynamic mode that starts out with playing just the basic form of basketball and by the end you're playing, essentially, a modern version of the game, albeit more pure because power forwards were still power forwards in 1998.

@verysexypotato:

It's hard to say. If you want to learn the basics then the game would work. But the next step past the basics is learning strategy which is something I've found basketball games bad at doing or I just don't get it.

For all the shit Madden gets, it is easier to learn strategy with it simply because football is turn-based. You have time to read plays, think ahead, and experiment until you start to get your mind around strategy. Everything is faster with basketball and it all happens in real time. So it is hard for me to take the time to strategize. Then there's a lot of variables that impact plays and sets that makes it difficult to know if you just called a bad play/set, didn't run the play correctly, or if there was some random variable that impacted that particular instance of that play.

It's a pretty good spot. I would also really recommend watching some NBA ball and really watch what they are doing. What all the different positions do on any given play? Look at the pick and rolls, watch how they space the floor, how they are defending certain players vs others (do they give them room to shoot? play them to go right or left?). Look at the match ups between who is guarding who and how that plays out.

Running through it in 2K would be good too, it's just a lot at once and you can pretty easily just play badly and do okay. If you really don't know much about the sport though, watching with an actual interest in how the game is being played (vs just watching the game to see who wins) is probably the best place to start in my opinion. Then you can start applying that to 2k.

Also thinking playing the MyPlayer mode would be good, as you can limit yourself to one position and then learn kind of what that position should be doing on the floor. You could fill in your knowledge that way, position by position. That mode is always a bit robotic (and basketball is the smoothest flowing sport just about) so it's not perfect but it's good. Maybe be a PG and figure out how you have to think to run a team on offense.

@jasonr86: While you can learn plays in 2K, there's a glitch playing human opponents that causes any play to break when the defense switches, ie. from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone defense. Therefore it's by no means a perfect introduction to learning how and why teams would run certain plays. There are also a lot of plays in the game, many of which involve misdirection and running around picks in order to create size mismatches and one-on-ones in the low post. A lot of them result in the ball ending up in the same spaces of the floor, making them hard to keep apart from each other in your head.

But in terms of seeing the game as a game board and not a flurry of physical prowess, I think a combination of actual games and playing 2K on the Broadcast camera (I've recently finally converted to the 2K cam due to this year's changes to the shot stick, but Broadcast is better for this specific reason) is the best way to learn basketball. That's how I learned to appreciate it beyond Amare Stoudamire's dunks when I was old enough to care about more than Jordan dunking or Iverson dribbling and picked up a copy of NBA 2K5. Eventually you begin to see where you'd want to throw lead passes, where you want certain players to get the ball on the court (each game since...2K9 I want to say lets you view a player's hot spots in Practice mode as well) and so on.

Eventually most players learn that the easiest way to run a play is to simply use the pick-and-roll commands and lead/icon passing as cleverly as you can, essentially making them up on the fly (which, as you come to find out, is still how most professional basketball is played).

Granted I don't enjoy these modes in general, but MyPlayer can give people a really horrid idea of what a good basketball player is considering it's basically impossible to turn in something like an 11 point, 8 rebound game in 18 minutes off the bench and get an A rating at the end of the game even though that would be all you could ever ask for out of a player like, say, Tyler Hansbrough. Nothing about my experience with that mode has ever felt like basketball; maybe YMCA basketball.

Just keep watching games of basketball on tv.

Anyone else come into this thread thinking it was about baseball?

As I say, it isn't perfect, but it's as close as you can do in a videogame. I also don't care if I get a stupid A every time because there are always things you can do that will randomly dock you in that mode. I just try to have fun. But then again, I know how to play.

I think being told REBOUND if you are a big guy is at least a place to start for someone who knows nothing about basketball.

@belegorm: No. I've never heard anyone use b-ball for Baseball.

Huh. Apparently the mobile site lies when it says your message was posted, and instead just deletes it. That's cool.

Basically, while possibly doing some good, I don't think the games would be particularly effective in learning the sport (though they're pretty dang fun). I've played plenty of soccer and hockey games without having learned crap. I'd recommend reading up on the basic rules, and a few of the more technical ones as well. After that, start watching whatever team is broadcast locally. Local broadcast commentators are generally better at describing what's actually happening on the court and why, as opposed to the ESPN or TNT guys who just like to talk about LeBron James or Kevin Durant whenever they possibly can, and often disregard what's actually happening on the court.

@verysexypotato said:

Okay, realtalk here. Which is more complicated: Anime, or basketball?

Ironically, one of the things that helped learn more about basketball while growing up was when I watched the anime, Slam Dunk. I'd consider it as one of the best sports animes (well animes that are based on basketball at least) though it was unfinished. There are actually some episodes where they talk about certain basics of basketball, such as rebounding and the free throw because the protagonist is also completely new to the sport but got into it because (like in most stories set in high school) hew wants to impress a girl who is into basketball. It's also pretty old, its around 20 years old at this point. I don't know if you watch anime but if you do and also want to learn a bit of basketball, then I'd recommend Slam Dunk, which is on Crunchyroll.

Not necessarily. If you tune in to the games where in the commentator is paired up with an analyst that is a former coach (which is what ESPN does at times with Avery Johnson, Doug Collins, or Hubie Brown; I'm leaving out Jeff Van Gundy since he's kinda divisive though personally I really like him) and some former players (such as Steve Kerr on TNT) for example they can talk about certain plays very well especially when they review it or replay it during a dead ball situation of coming off a break. I agree though with the sentiment that the video game versions themselves are not a great teaching tool to learn the sport.

Basketball is really great to watch especially when you have an understanding of the rules but at the same time understanding those same rules can make it frustrating especially in situations where a ref would call something like a foul that could have went either way or it could have been a no-call or if a ref clearly missed a call due to it happening from a bad angle but was clearly scene if you were watching it on TV or from the stands.

cc: @verysexypotato

Going into the complex controls of an NBA 2K game with no idea how much of basketball works seems like it could go poorly. If you don't know basketball many of the descriptions of the controls might not even make sense

Also, if you are an analytics guy at all, Zach Lowe will do some tremendous breakdowns of 5-to-10 seconds of individual plays to explain a point he's making. Here's a pair of examples from his latest article:

Their perfectionist transition defense has sprung leaks; nearly 16 percent of opponent possessions have come via transition since early February, up from about 12.5 percent before that, per Synergy Sports. The Pacers haven’t been as diligent in keeping pick-and-rolls on the side of the floor, allowing ball handlers access to the juicy middle:

Acclimating Turner to a much different system has proven difficult — a risk inherent in the Turner–Danny Granger trade. The Pacers prefer to minimize help, but Turner is coming from a more chaotic system, and it has shown in some of his non-Pacery help decisions:

Leaving Jeremy Lin for a meandering bit of “help” on this Omer Asik post-up was particularly egregious:

2. Indiana, Tricking People

The Pacers break out this little side out-of-bounds play for George Hill once every few games, and when it works, it’s a beauty:

The Pacers slot a big man at each elbow, clearing the basket area, and they have Luis Scola and Hill position themselves as if Hill is going to curl off a Scola pin-down at the right elbow. There is also lots of talking and pointing, all phony misdirection. Good stuff.

@nodima: You're really putting the cart before the horse in this thread, man. But it's all good stuff, regardless.

Eh, I have friends who weren't into many sports at all before analytics became a thing and now they're arguably more invested than I am. So for people new to a sport I'm not shy about throwing that at them in case it's the thing that sticks, especially on a video game message board.

Once you've got some of the basics down, I do recommend Bill Simmon's basketball book. It's a big one, but it goes over pretty much the entire history of the sport. But wait until you've got the basics down and have watched enough games to be comfortable with the sport, otherwise it'll all be lost on you.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Basketball-According-Sports/dp/0345520106/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1394823783&sr=8-1

It warms my heart to see basketball fans on GB. If that one person didn't recommend College Ball, this topic would be perfect.

(College Ball irks me because it usually consists of 20~ seconds of passing the ball around the perimeter, someone looking up at the shotclock, then another 7-8 seconds of scrambling for a contested 3 or a mid-range J. That stuff kills me. I usually tolerate it for March Madness, though.)

Good luck, Potato! I hope this all workd out for you and you find a fanbase/player that treats you well. I'll pray that you don't become a Knicks fan.

@verysexypotato: Ah, I see. I really have no idea what the best way to learn the sport is, I guess 2K isn't the worst place to start. Maybe if you have TV and a friend who knows a bit about basketball invite them over to watch a game with you and have them explain any questions you may have. If not I'm sure there are plenty of duders who would be more than willing to explain things to you. I know the rules and how to play but I stopped watching years ago so I have little knowledge on current teams and players.

Oh, and I heard you like Space Jam...

@verysexypotato:

Personally I think it's easier to start conceptually with some 1v1 or 2v2 Basketball games (like an NBA Jam or NBA Street) before getting into the 5v5 stuff . Before you can really understand Zone D, pick and rolls etc you need to understand the basics.

I don't think videogame Sim basketball captures the cooperative flow of something as fluid and dynamic as basketball very well. Fwiw I personally feel MOBAs (which are also 5v5) actually do a better job of capturing how Basketball feels to play than the even the Best sim game. Obviously though other important aspects of MOBAs are completely different which don't make them a useful tool to teach the game.

honestly the best way to learn basketball is go play the real thing, there are a lot of courts around if you live in the US, just go mess around with some friends in some pick-up games and you'll get the basics very quickly.