Why the Nova L Reminds me of NBA2K
One of the reasons that 2K Games’ NBA2K series is so popular is that there’s a lot of different ways to play it. While the competitive element of the 2K has certainly has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, the game is also a top-notch RPG as well as a robust social network. For every person who digs deep into actual gameplay, there’s another who could care less about actually playing virtual basketball.
They’re here for the sims.
Not unlike the decades-long phenomenon of Football Manager, the world-building power of a custom league is immense and sometimes exhilarating. Some see the ultimate challenge of the game as to build a powerhouse franchise that doesn’t involve gameplay—the player’s own hand of God—instead simulating every event on the schedule. In recent years, 2K has increasingly catered to the sim crowd, building intricate tools to micro-manage your team, installing sliders that plot out rotations by the second, knowing that you won’t manually play 82 games in a season. It’s intense, but there’s an audience that’s completely attuned to these incremental adjustments. There’s drama in the details.
Watching KU’s disappointing-but-not-devastating loss to Villanova on Saturday, I thought about NBA 2K and the micro-movements within basketball, and the overarching narrative of the season so far. Both teams played well enough to win, and in the end it came down to a few plays. (Advantage: Jay Wright. I’m sorry.) While it was discouraging to see the Jayhawks miss so many good looks—they only took 13 threes and made three of them—some good stuff bubbled under the surface.
First off, Marcus Garrett—get well soon my king. Self, needing offense and ball-handling, had to give Tristan Enaruna and Christian Braun long looks. Outside of a few small mistakes, both made the most of their burn. Enaruna, in particular, looked active—on defense, the effort was there, and he got involved in a couple tie balls. Braun’s game is an alluring mixture of herky jerky, off-kilter drives capped with deft finishes that communicate a high level of polish. Enaruna only took one shot, an open three, and buried it. The best unit yesterday was the group that included Dotson, Enaruna, Doke, Braun and Agbaji, and that’s a combination that could lift KU’s ceiling even higher.
The rotation has issues. While Doke and McCormack on the floor at same time has crushed smaller opponents, it wasn’t effective against a roster like Villanova’s. Devon Dotson got hot and created for teammates, but he needs help in the half-court so he can afford to expend a little more energy on defense. (In an on-air timeout break, Self chided Dotson for ducking under a pick, but not closing out once the pick was cleared.) Agbaji did not go to the free throw line. There’s a lot of stuff to clean up.
But the rotation switch-up showed a flash of potential against high-level competition. While the media is loving the “#1 goes down again!” plotline in a season where there isn’t one beat to keep hammering for months, the truth of the matter is that there’s not one breakaway team yet in college basketball. It’s December. But instead of worrying about a non-con loss, I’m concerning myself with the small tweaks this team needs to be a true contender. These details—while small in the imagination, now—could blossom into something special.
Happy Holidays, everyone. Rock Chalk.