NBA Showtime/NBA on NBC tips document Dreamcast version by GJ 12/99 version 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Document Information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This document is copyright GJ 1999. It can only appear on www.gamefaqs.com and any sites maintained by the author of the FAQ. You may link to the NBA Showtime contents of Gamefaqs, but not the FAQ itself. Thank you for your cooperation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NBA Showtime is a NBA Jam/NBA Hangtime style game. It features two-on- two basketball with huge dunks, free fouling, no rules to speak of, and neat four-player sessions. This document was written to help you win at this game, be it against friends or the machine. Without further ado, I will get into the strategy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Teams to Pick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- In general you want a balanced team when you make your selection. If you are playing a "season" then you can adjust your strategy to meet the teams you are playing against. If you have a created player then you'll need to balance his strengths – see Created Players. The basic team should have one guy who is quick, can dribble, and can shoot. The other guy should be able to block, dunk, and shove around inside. Sometimes you'll be able to anticipate the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. If so, then read on. Here's a list of various combinations of players. An A-type player shoots a lot, dribbles well, is quick, and has fast hands. A B-type player has a lot of power, dunks well, and is a general inside powerhouse (especially in blocking and rebounding.) A C-type is a combination of the two. This will tell you what to do against the combinations you'll face. Case 1: Twin A-types. In this case, then you want an A-type of your own who can keep up with the other team and get in their faces on defense. Usually this team likes to shoot so you should throw in a C-type for rebounding (and maybe a B-type if you like taking your chances.) Case 2: An A-type and a B-type. This is the most basic team and you should answer it with your own A-B combination. The trouble here is with mismatches. If you mismatch the A's and B's, you will find yourself getting burned on defense and knocked around on offense. Case 3: Twin B-types. Two B-types simply cannot compete with a team that is faster than they are. Therefore, you should use two A-types against this team. The main weakness, of course, is when you start getting knocked around. In addition, you can't get rebounds. So, you should try using three-point buckets to pull ahead in the first half, then switch the team for an A-C or a B-C when you get the chance. Case 4: Anyone and a C-type. This is interesting, because the chemistry is based off of the Anyone. The C-type can be cancelled out with any type. If you use two A-types (possibly against a B-C) then you're going to have to cope with physical play. The best teams to use, however, include San Antonio and Houston. Try to avoid teams with only five players, as they lack the versatility that six-man squads have. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Offensive Strategy ----------------------------------------------------------------------- There are a good number of offensive strategies. They can be as simple as taking the ball to the hoop and dunking to a pass in, pass out shot creation offense. In this section we will explore various strategies and which ones are winners. The most basic strategy is a dunk strategy. Here, you abandon all sense of perimeter play and go straight for the basket with the ball, hoping for a dunk. This usually requires physical players to pull off. The main advantage is its ability to tack up points constantly. The main disadvantage is its susceptibility to a three-point attack. If your opponent starts using perimeter shots to take a lead you'd better try something else. Another basic strategy is a perimeter strategy. Here, you dance around the perimeter and look for shots. The main point of this strategy is to get three-point bombs and make sure that your opponent can't counter. The big disadvantage here is if he can keep you from shooting well. If that happens, you'll need to switch strategies again. On a slightly more advanced level you can run a "weave" offense. Here, you take advantage of the fact that you can call for the ball from a drone teammate and pass, run down, receive, pass, run, receive, etc. until you are at the basket and can get a short two point bucket. The flaw with this strategy is in using it too often. If you do, your opponent will catch on and start picking off your passes. More advanced yet you can run an assisted dunk offense. In this offense, your small dribbling player dances around the perimeter while his teammate goes up for an alley-oop. The biggest advantage to this is its ability to get you on team fire if your defense is solid. Also, if you can keep defenses on their toes by having your teammate start shoving the defense around so the dribbler can go in for a layup. The main weakness is when the opponent catches on and starts playing a tight defensive set to keep you from passing well. In what is perhaps the highest-tier offense you can run a pass-till- you're-open offense. This offense requires very good execution. Your players must also have high pass ratings or you will get killed. This basic gist of this strategy is that the two players pass back and forth until the defense is magnetized to one player so he can pass to an open teammate or a dribbling player is isolated with a one-on-one wherein he can drive. If you use a big man-little man combo, then pass inside to the big man, let him go up for a high dunk, then kick it out for a three. (This is a good way to utilize hot spots.) Or, you can have your players parallel to each other. Just throw back and forth until someone is open or isolated. On the third hand (assuming you have three) you can use your dribbling player to drive in and kick to a big man who goes in for a dunk. If the dunk is successful, so be it. If the defense is smart, they'll get a hand up there, in which case the big man kicks to his teammate who moved back and is open for a trey. The downfall of this strategy is when you don't have quick passes and you get picked for lots of fast break points. If your perimeter shooting is subpar it can be difficult to execute this correctly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Defensive Strategy ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Defensive strategy doesn't have the complexity of offensive strategy, so here are a few basic pointers: If your speed is higher than that of the man you are guarding, don't use turbo to get down the court unless he does. This way you will have more turbo to use on high jumps or pushes. On a made basket, do not get hasty and try to push the pass receiver as soon as he gets the ball. You will typically miss. This leaves you with little turbo left, unable to get down the court, and it's essentially a two-on-one offensive setup for the other team. Your drone likes to take a man. Don't double cover. Instead, stay with your man and watch for passes. Crash the boards a lot. If you're big this is a very viable strategy. If not you can pick the ball out of the hands of the rebounder with a quick steal. Above all, stay aware and play intelligent. If your man has the ball, get in his face. Make him pay for shooting with a block, or steal the ball if he hesitates. If your man doesn't have the ball, shove him around and make a two-on-one situation in favor of your team. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Creating Players ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The complexity of player creation in NBA Showtime is much greater than that of NBA Hangtime. Basically, you want to have a balanced player, but you want one whose chemistry works well with players on other teams. Starting out is most difficult. Basically, you should pick a couple of stats to pump to the max, then balance out the others. Don't worry about height. You can make up for that with big guys as teammates. (San Antonio is good for this.) So, a good shooter would probably be a good idea. Currently this section is a little skimpy because I don't have much input. If you have a created player design, then submit it with information on: 1. How you started his attributes 2. How you developed his attributes 3. Hot spot information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Other stuff ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hot spots are an interesting feature. You'll have to figure them out for yourself in most cases, but a created player privilege will let you know in advance. The rule for a hot spot: If you can make two consecutive shots from the spot, then every other shot you take from that spot will have a much higher accuracy rating. If you're creating a player then you'll want to put a hot spot somewhere that reflects his abilities, like a three- point spot for a shooter or a short-range spot for a bigger player. Any contributions? Send them in! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Codes ----------------------------------------------------------------------- How to enter these codes: At the matchup screen, you can enter these codes. Example of how to use them: 1,1,1 down means to press Turbo once, Shoot once, and Pass once, then press Down. So it's turbo,shoot,pass direction 1,1,1 down - tournament mode (disables cheats) 0,0,1 down - shot accuracy 1,0,0 down - show hotspot 2,0,1 up - no hotspots 3,3,1 left - no replays 4,4,4 up - no tipoff 2,3,2 right - ABA ball 2,0,0 right - big head 1,2,3 up - fog on (for outdoor stadiums) Any codes submissions should be sent in. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Submissions ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have a submission for codes, created players, or other stuff, then send it to cubbies984@hotmail.com. You must have a return address and you can't have shorthand such as '2', 'u', or '4' in place of written out words. Good grammar and spelling are appreciated. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Credits ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Me, myself, and I for writing this [Want your name here? Submit something already!!!]