NBA Showtime/NBA on NBC tips document
Dreamcast version
by GJ
12/99
version 1
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1. Document Information
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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.
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2. Introduction
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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.
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3. Teams to Pick
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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.
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4. Offensive Strategy
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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.
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4. Defensive Strategy
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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.
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5. Creating Players
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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
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6. Other stuff
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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!
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7. Codes
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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.
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8. Submissions
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If you have a submission for codes, created players, or other stuff,
then send it to
[email protected]. 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.
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9. Credits
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Me, myself, and I for writing this
[Want your name here? Submit something already!!!]
