<++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++>
| |
|NCAA March Madness 2003 FAQ |
|For the PlayStation 2 |
|By: W. Dixon (
[email protected]) |
|Version 1.2 |
|11/26/2004 |
| |
<++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++>
+=================+
|Table of Contents|
+=================+
1. Legal Information
2. Version History
3. Introduction
4. Controls
5. EA Sports Freestyle Control
6. The Plays
7. The Main Menu
8. Game Modes
9. Walkthrough/Helpful Hints
10. Giving Credit Where It's Due
/========================\
+| 1. Legal Information |+
\========================/
This FAQ is the sole property of W. Dixon. This FAQ is not to be used
for any selfish ambitions (money, glory, etc.). This FAQ will only be
found on GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) and the IGN Network (www.ign.com),
since many other sites can't update when I update. So do not bother
asking me if you can host this FAQ.
/======================\
+| 2. Version History |+
\======================/
Version 1.2
Updated e-mail address information.
Version 1.1 5/4/2003
Just started this FAQ.
/===================\
+| 3. Introduction |+
\===================/
Welcome to W. Dixon's FAQ on NCAA March Madness 2003. This is my first
time writing a FAQ for not just a sports game, but a game for the
mighty PlayStation 2. This is more of a FAQ that will help people get
into the game. There is no real strategy for NCAA MM. Go out, play
hard, and win. So let's get things started, shall we?
/===============\
+| 4. Controls |+
\===============/
UNIVERSAL CONTROLS
Move player = Left Analog Stick (hereafter known as L.A.S.)
Turbo = R1 Button
Pause = Start Button
BASIC OFFENSIVE CONTROLS
These are the basics to the game:
Shoot = Circle Button
Pump Fake = Tap Circle Button
Pass = X Button
Crossover = Square Button
Spin = Triangle Button
Back down Defender = L1 Button
Alley-Oop = R2 Button
Direct Pass = L2 and X, Triangle, Circle, or Square
Dive = R2 Button (when ball is loose)
Timeout = Select Button
Offensive Plays = 4 D-Pad directions
EA Sports Freestyle Control = Right Analog Stick (hereafter known as
R.A.S.)
ADVANCED OFFENSIVE CONTROLS
Hold the L1 Button to perform these moves:
Jump Hook/Slam Dunk = L.A.S. towards basket and Circle
Fade Away = L.A.S. away from basket and Circle
Drop Step = L.A.S. side step and Circle
Spin Move = L.A.S. in direction and release L1
Finger Roll/Slam Dunk = Drop step, L.A.S. towards basket and Circle
Button
PLAYER LOCKED CONTROLS
These controls only apply if you lock your player:
Move player = L.A.S.
Make computer shoot = Circle Button
Call for Pass = X Button
Post Up = L1 and L.A.S.
THE FREE THROWS
These controls apply when you are at the line. Line up the basketball
cursor in the middle of the 2 bars and press the Circle or X Button.
DEFENSIVE CONTROLS
Switch players = X Button
Steal = Square Button
Take Charge = Circle or R2 Button
Block/Rebound = Triangle Button
Faceup = L1 Button
Direct Player = L2 and X, Triangle, Square, or Circle (switches
player)
Switch to Defender Closest to Basket = Tap L2 Button
Intentional Foul = Select Button
Defensive Plays = D-Pad (double tap for 4 extra
plays)
EA Sports Freestyle Control = Right Analog Stick
/==================================\
+| 5. EA Sports Freestyle Control |+
\==================================/
The R.A.S. initiates the Freestyle Control. This little feature allows
you to perform good moves like jukes and switching the ball from one
hand to another.
On offense, moving the R.A.S. in any direction, while running, causes
you to perform a move.
When on offense and you stand in place, moving the R.A.S. in a
direction causes the ball to move to another hand (left or right), a
jab step (up), or a back step (down).
When on defense, pressing the R.A.S. either left or right allows you to
try and steal the ball from the opponent with that respective hand.
Pressing down on the R.A.S. allows you to aggressively defend your
opponent.
Pressing up on the R.A.S. allows you to raise your arms up, allowing
you to block the shot. You can also move with the L.A.S. at the same
time.
There are other special moves out there that will enable you to
dominate your opposition. Explore this handy feature to truly master
the court.
/================\
+| 6. The Plays |+
\================/
In NCAA MM, you are able to call 4 quick offensive plays and 8 quick
defensive plays.
OFFENSIVE QUICK PLAYS
Isolation: This is the play that causes your entire team to move to one
side of the court, allowing you to work alone against your opposite
guard. Press down on the D-pad to call for Isolation.
Post Up: This is the play that causes one of your teammates to get into
the low post and perform moves like the finger roll. Tap the D-pad
down to call for the Post Up.
Pick and Roll: This is the classical play that allows you to call for a
pick from a teammate on your defender. This teammate will then roll
toward the basket. So now, you can either take it to the hole or give
it to your roller. Press right on the D-Pad to call for the Pick and
Roll.
3 Point Play: The wonderful play that allows 3 of your teammates to set
up a man for a 3 pointer. Press left on the D-pad to call for the 3
Point Play.
DEFENSIVE QUICK PLAYS
Man to Man: Just as it says, allows you to cover your opponents one to
one. Press up on the D-pad to switch between the two Man to Man zones.
These plays are ideal for outside shooting, but weak against isolation
and post up plays.
School Specific Full Court Zone: This play puts pressure on the
opposition once the ball is inbound. Press the D-pad left to switch
between the 2 types of zone presses. These plays are good for
turnovers, but ineffective if the offense breaks the zone.
School Specific Half Court Zone: This play allows your teammates to
cover a particular area of the court, not a player. Press the D-pad
right to switch between the 2 types of zone presses. This play is
strong against isolation and post ups, but weak against outside
shooting.
Double Teams/Trapping: These plays allow you to bring extra coverage
against a player. Press the D-pad down to switch between the double
team and trapping plays.
/====================\
+| 7. The Main Menu |+
\====================/
At the main menu screen, there are 5 options to select from: Play Now,
Game Modes, Rosters Manager, Options, and EA Sports Extras.
Play Now allows you to play against your school's rival. Entering Play
Now allows you to play one exhibition game against either your rival or
another school. Select Play Now and you will see the School Select
Screen.
1. Move the D-pad to select the Home or Away team.
2. Move the D-pad to select the schools.
3. Pressing Square chooses your rival.
4. Pressing Circle allows you to lock a player.
5. Press L1 or R1 to select the next school from the alphabetic list.
6. Press L2 or R2 to select random schools.
7. Press Start to move on to the Quick Settings.
8. Choose your settings from the Quick Settings screen, like camera
view, half length, and difficulty.
9. Press Start when satisfied.
Game Modes allow you to go deeper in to the game than Play Now. More
on this later.
Roster Manager allows you to edit a player, or, for the hell of it, a
school.
To edit a player:
1. Press L1 or R1 to go through the schools.
2. Press Square to roster original rosters.
3. Press Triangle to cancel edits.
4. Once you found the player you want to customize, press Circle.
5. Enter the Player Information, like name, position, his hand, year,
etc.
6. Adjust the player's ratings in the categories given to you.
7. Adjust the player's appearance in the categories given to you.
8. To swap players, highlight one with X and another with X and they
will swap.
To create a school:
1. Enter the School Information, like name, nickname, abbreviation,
etc.
2. Edit the Team Information, like the logo, the coach, and type of
stadium.
3. Edit the Uniform, like choosing jersey styles and colors.
The Options menu allows you to adjust game settings, like difficulty,
audio options, and the view of the court during the game. You can also
save and load your games and settings here.
The EA Sports Extras is where you view the credits and things of that
nature.
/=================\
+| 8. Game Modes |+
\=================/
There are 4 other game modes that allow you to enjoy the beauty of
college basketball. These modes are Single Season, Dynasty Mode, the
NCAA Tournament, and the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
SINGLE SEASON
In Single Season, your main objective is to lead your school to the
Final Four.
1. Select Single Season from the Game Modes menu.
2. Cycle through the conferences in the NCAA with L1 or R1.
3. Press the D-pad up or down to select your team from your desired
conference.
4. Press Circle to add a Custom team.
5. Fill in your non-conference schedule. Press the Circle button to
switch to the opponent's screen.
6. Move the D-pad up or down to select teams and press X to select your
desired opponent.
7. Press Start to generate your schedule.
The Single Season Main Menu is where you can check out who your next
opponent is, your rankings in terms of RPI and the EA Sports Top 25,
and your conference standings. You also can see which teams are
playoff bound, what awards you win, adjust game options, manage your
roster, change your coaching priorities, and of course, play your next
game.
Once you run through your entire schedule, you will enter your
conference's tournament. Win this tournament to determine who's the
best in your conference.
Once you finish your conference's tournament, it's on to the tournament
of tournaments, the NCAA Tournament. Fight your way past the best
teams in the country and see if you can make it to the Final Four.
Once all user-controlled teams have been eliminated, you can view the
results of the entire tournament, or, just exit to the Main Menu.
DYNASTY MODE
In Dynasty Mode, your goal is to bring your team up from a good team to
a team of legendary status. Experience the joy of going through a
maximum of 20 seasons of March Madness.
1. Select Dynasty Mode from the Game Modes Main Menu and select your
team.
2. Continue like you would the Single Season mode.
In Dynasty Mode, injuries play a key factor in the game. Watch out for
injuries and substitute well if you want to become the ultimate team.
Continue through the 2 tournaments like in Single Season mode. Once
you have become victorious, or defeated, in the Tournament play,
continue to the Off Season.
In the Off Season, you have much to do. You have to know who's leaving
your team due to graduating or the NBA draft, take part in the EA
Sports Roundball Classic, recruit players, cut and redshirt players,
and proceed to the next season.
When your players leave for the Draft or graduation, remember what
positions you need depth in.
Play the EA Sports Roundball Classic to play with the 20 best high
school seniors in the country. Or, you could skip this game and begin
recruiting.
Recruiting takes place over the span of 5 weeks. During this time, you
must make contact with potential players and make them offers to get
them to come to your school.
1. Highlight a recruit using the X Button.
2. Press Circle to view his statistics.
3. Choose which of the types of contacts you will make to the potential
recruit.
4. You are given 100 points to use in your recruiting process.
5. Players whose names are in red are interested in attending your
school. Players you have contacted are in green.
6. To see who is coming to your school, press Square and view the
returning and prospective players.
7. Once you have chosen your recruits, select Continue at the bottom of
the contact screen to continue recruiting.
8. Press Start to move on to the next week.
9. Repeat the process for the next 5 weeks.
Once you have whom you want, or could get, it's time to begin cutting
and redshirt potential players.
1. To redshirt a player, press the Circle Button. To reactivate, press
the Circle Button again. A redshirted player cannot play during the
season, remember that.
2. To cut a player, highlight him and press Square.
3. Reorder your roster the same way you would substitute players.
4. Press Start to continue.
Once you have finally put your team together, select Start New Season
to continue building your dynasty.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Why go through all the hassle of a season when you could hop right into
the NCAA Tournament?
1. Choose NCAA Tournament from the Game Mode Main Menu.
2. Select Tournament Setup and press X to setup your tournament.
3. Press the Circle Button to randomly arrange the tournament.
4. Press Square to make schools user-controlled.
5. Press Start once you have everything the way you want.
Once you have won, or lost, the Tournament, you can exit back to the
Main Menu.
EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONAL
When you're the best, you deserve to play the best. Accept the
invitation to the EA Sports Maui Invitational and prove what you are
worth.
1. Select EA Sports Maui Invitational form the Game Modes Main Menu.
2. Highlight Tournament Setup and press the X button.
3. Use the D-pad to highlight teams and press the X Button to have them
user-controlled.
4. Press Start to begin the Tournament.
5. To change the invitees, press the L1 or R1 buttons.
6. To simulate a user-controlled game, press Circle.
/================================\
+| 9. Walkthrough/Helpful Hints |+
\================================/
You will go through 12 non-conference games (13 if you choose to play
the EA Sports All Stars). Once you play trough these games, you will
then begin to face the schools in your conference. As each game goes
on, your chances of making the NCAA Tournament rises and falls
alongside your progress and the progress of other teams.
Keep your eye on the EA Sports Top 25. The top 25 programs in the
country will be listed here. Play hard enough, and you will make the
list.
Also watch out for the RPI and Conference standings. These will play a
vital role when you want that top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Most games have a steady pace. You want to play hard and drive hard
into each and every game that you enter. Play each game like it is
your last.
Many of the teams you will play are difficult. They will drain every 3
pointer they shoot most of the time. Don't get frustrated or try to
match them shot for shot. If you do that, you will begin to lose
composure and eventually lose the game.
Just remember that basketball is a team game. Give it to your
teammates and allow them to shine.
Listen to the Coach's Council before each game. Helpful hints from
real life coaches are the difference between you walking away
victorious, or shaking your head in defeat.
Also remember that the game is more realistic if you take a loss,
especially in Dynasty Mode. Your record doesn't always play a factor
in the game you know.
Avoid intentionally fouling someone. You don't want to have your
opponent in the bonus, or the double bonus for that matter.
3 pointers are hard to drain in this game. Take your time and let it
flow.
Driving down the court and dunking or doing lay ups is much more
effective than constantly trying to shoot 3 pointers.
And just remember; it's a game ladies and gentlemen. Root on a real
NCAA team if you're truly passionate about college basketball.
/====================================\
+| 10. Giving Credit Where It's Due |+
\====================================/
First off, I would like to thank CJayC of GameFAQs for making such a
wonderful site.
Next, EA Sports for making good games for the past decade.
And finally, to you, the reader. Without you, there is no me.
This FAQ is protected under International Law.
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| END OF NCAA MARCH MADNESS 2003 FAQ |
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