Unlike football, the sport of basketball doesn't feature players huddling together to agree on a play to call. Shooting with no one defending you is one thing, but it's completely different to have someone trying to either steal the ball or has his hand up in your grill. Once you think you've gotten this under control, go ahead and play a regular game. Releasing it too early or too late will increase the odds of you missing your shot. You want to release the ball at the highest point of your jump. Get a feeling for the controls and understand how the shooting system works. On the same token, your point guard probably won't be a great dunker, so feed the ball to your big man in the paint, and slam it down your opponent's throat.īefore getting right into the game, practice your shooting in the gym. Your center probably has pretty poor ratings for 3 pointers, so try and keep him down by the basket whenever possible. Look at the attribute ratings each of your players have in shooting and passing, for instance. This is not limited to your starting five, of course. This may sound obvious, but it's very important to understand what each of your players is capable of. In this section, we will be covering the basics of an effective offense in NBA Live 08.