Electronic court training?
A few months ago, I saw an ESPN segment talking about how NASCAR drivers were using video games for consoles from, say, EA Sports to help them get prepped for races - the level of realism had reached such a level that they could drive through the virtual track and get a good idea of what they would face on the real track. I actually think that playing NBA 2K2 on my PS2 has helped me improve as a basketball player.
I've been playing through an 82-game season as both the Warriors and the Spurs, dealing with rotation minutes, injuries, and how best to execute offenses and defenses. I created realistic fascimiles of Mike Dunleavy and Manu Ginobili to basically give each squad their 2002-2003 roster, and about 2/3 of the way through the season, the Spurs are 65-1 with Duncan averaging 24 ppg - 11 rpg - 6 apg - 3 bpg, Robinson 18 ppg -6 rpg, Parker 18 ppg - 13 apg, and Ginobili 18 ppg - 6 apg - 5 spg (the one loss was due to a problem saving the season which forced me to allow the computer to simulate one game). I only recently started playing as the Warriors in mid-season, but after inserting Arenas and Dunleavy into the starting lineup they haven't lost, with Dunleavy averaging around 21 ppg - 11 apg - 5 rpg with 3 threes per.
The fun thing about playing the game is that I can watch and get used to offensive and defensive sets without actually being out on the floor. By forcing me to keep my eyes up and scanning all the players, I find that I've actually improved my court vision in real life. My instincts for moving without the ball, making backdoor cuts, and hitting players with passes right off of screens have improved in the last year or so. Not only that, but it seems that I've gotten more used to running the pick and roll and reading the defense, deciding quickly whether I'll be open for a jumper or if I can hit the cutter with a bounce pass. On defense, studying the schemes of the good defensive teams has given me some pointers on where to position myself to better provide help defense for my teammates. Who'd have thunk that I'd get this much out of a used video game?
'Course, I'd never use this as an excuse to play more in the virtual realm. Yeah.
A few months ago, I saw an ESPN segment talking about how NASCAR drivers were using video games for consoles from, say, EA Sports to help them get prepped for races - the level of realism had reached such a level that they could drive through the virtual track and get a good idea of what they would face on the real track. I actually think that playing NBA 2K2 on my PS2 has helped me improve as a basketball player.
I've been playing through an 82-game season as both the Warriors and the Spurs, dealing with rotation minutes, injuries, and how best to execute offenses and defenses. I created realistic fascimiles of Mike Dunleavy and Manu Ginobili to basically give each squad their 2002-2003 roster, and about 2/3 of the way through the season, the Spurs are 65-1 with Duncan averaging 24 ppg - 11 rpg - 6 apg - 3 bpg, Robinson 18 ppg -6 rpg, Parker 18 ppg - 13 apg, and Ginobili 18 ppg - 6 apg - 5 spg (the one loss was due to a problem saving the season which forced me to allow the computer to simulate one game). I only recently started playing as the Warriors in mid-season, but after inserting Arenas and Dunleavy into the starting lineup they haven't lost, with Dunleavy averaging around 21 ppg - 11 apg - 5 rpg with 3 threes per.
The fun thing about playing the game is that I can watch and get used to offensive and defensive sets without actually being out on the floor. By forcing me to keep my eyes up and scanning all the players, I find that I've actually improved my court vision in real life. My instincts for moving without the ball, making backdoor cuts, and hitting players with passes right off of screens have improved in the last year or so. Not only that, but it seems that I've gotten more used to running the pick and roll and reading the defense, deciding quickly whether I'll be open for a jumper or if I can hit the cutter with a bounce pass. On defense, studying the schemes of the good defensive teams has given me some pointers on where to position myself to better provide help defense for my teammates. Who'd have thunk that I'd get this much out of a used video game?
'Course, I'd never use this as an excuse to play more in the virtual realm. Yeah.
posted by Bob at
11:47 PM
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