Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five basketball gaming tips and tricks that you may not remember.

To state the obvious, success in basketball games comes from employing basketball strategies; at least to some extent. Older games have more primitive mechanics, arcade titles facilitated strategies that wouldn’t work in sim games (or real life, for that matter), and even newer releases aren’t entirely free of exploits. Still, then and now, most tips and tricks for basketball games adhered to concepts that also applied to real hoops: take the open shot, pound the ball inside for higher percentage looks and to draw fouls, position yourself properly, take advantages of mismatches, and so on.

Those are all important points to remember, and they generally apply to all basketball games, new and old. Of course, because they are video games at the end of the day, there are predictable moments and useful tricks that are more “video game tactics” than “basketball strategies”. Outside of exploits such as Curry slides and zigzag cheese, these have become less common as games have become more sophisticated. Trying to play old games with a realistic approach that’s more suited to modern titles can work, but you’ll have more success if you use some antiquated tips and tricks. Here are five examples of such strategies, some of which you may have forgotten.

1. Force Turnovers in NBA Live 95

This is a trick for NBA Live 95 PC that my cousin Clinton and I discovered when we were playing our season with the Houston Rockets. Because the PC version lacked a steal button, forcing turnovers by picking pockets was more challenging than usual. For those who are unaware of how it functioned, defenders would immediately begin swiping and poking at the ball when they were close to the ballhandler. This worked, but with such limited control over steal attempts, it also led to an inflated amount of reach-in fouls. You could play the passing lanes, and jumping to block often helped in picking off passes. There was another effective method of forcing turnovers, though.

Crowding the inbounder forced them to make a bounce pass, or longer overhead pass. If you positioned the defender just right, either the bounce on the pass landed out of bounds, or the recipient would step out trying to catch the overhead toss. It wasn’t as effective against another person, as savvy gamers could wise up to what you were doing and attempt to pass to another teammate instead. Tips and tricks like this one are therefore far more useful against the CPU, which wasn’t always smart enough to counteract the exploit. Either way though, it was worth a try if you needed to get the ball back in a hurry…or if you were that jerk running up the score on a friend!

2. Pump Fake in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition

When I asked NBA Jam: On Fire Edition producer Cody Sawatsky (RIP) if he had any tips and tricks to share for the then-recently launched game, the first one he gave was to pump fake. On the surface, this undoubtedly seems like obvious advice, as it’s a basic move to elude a shotblocker. However, on top of this elementary basketball strategy, getting a defender to bite on a pump fake granted a huge bonus to shot percentage. This meant that even if there was enough air space for a decent look, it was worth taking the time to fake them out and get a boost, rather than putting up the shot as quickly as possible. In short, it made a basic basketball move doubly useful.

At the same time, it wasn’t a foolproof trick that could be exploited over and over again. While a pump fake could avoid a block and earn a shooting boost, it also left a player vulnerable to being shoved and losing the ball. As such, trying it against a savvy opponent, or the AI on higher difficulty levels, could be risky. On easier levels, the CPU will obligingly bite on fakes. On harder levels, the AI is far less likely to be fooled, and will make you pay. Experienced NBA Jam gamers likewise know that a shove isn’t just an emphatic way of stealing the ball, but also as good as a shot block if timed properly. Nevertheless, pump fakes are an effective weapon in NBA Jam: OFE.

3. Wait For Two Pump Fakes in NBA Live 2000

Speaking of pump fakes, this is one that I do know very well, but nevertheless often forget when I revisit NBA Live 2000. One of the underrated improvements that we’ve seen since the early days of basketball gaming is the AI’s ability to properly utilise the same tips and tricks as we do; even something as simple as a pump fake. Of course, it tended to be predictable in titles that were just beginning to make inroads into having deeper logic. To that point, when the CPU threw a pump fake before a jumpshot in NBA Live 2000, there was always a second fake before it finally attempted the shot. Remembering this habit naturally went a long way in sending back those jumpers.

I’d argue that for the time, it was actually a good solution. It established a pattern that we could observe and counter, yet the predictability didn’t make it overly simple. It’s easy to forget and bite on one of the fakes out of habit, especially as the CPU didn’t fake on every single shot it took. The second pump fake also bought us a little time to recover and possibly still get the block. Also, even when you knew when the shot was actually coming, proper positioning and timing were still vital. It was easier to block shots once you knew the pattern, but it was still balanced. Mind you, it’ll also make you feel foolish when the CPU does succeed in eluding you with such a simple move.

4. Change Player Positions in Franchise Modes

Not all tips and tricks from back in the day related to the action between the lines. There were sneaky ways of increasing your chances of getting the CPU to accept trade offers in franchise modes. The trade logic in old games wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now, but it still took a few factors into account. On top of ensuring that a deal satisfied rules regarding the salary cap and roster size, getting a deal done hinged on the CPU getting equal or greater value to what it was giving you in terms of Overall Ratings, not becoming too weak at a certain position, their current standing and future prospects, and whether the proposed trade involved one of the top players in the NBA.

There was a way to try to game the system: change a player’s position. This could work for a few reasons, and wasn’t necessarily cheating. A player that could viably slot in at a different position in their potential new team’s lineup became far more appealing if it was set at as their primary position, thus allowing the CPU to realise their true value (and that they weren’t actually losing depth). It could also lead to their Overall Rating being calculated slightly higher, which helped deals to go through. Of course, this did facilitate exploits by assigning incorrect positions for higher Overall Ratings, and fooling the CPU into trading for a player that didn’t fill their needs.

5. Don’t Jump For Rebounds

Let’s wrap things up with one of the most important tips and tricks to keep in mind when going back and playing basketball games of a certain vintage: don’t jump for rebounds. This one is tough to remember, because it goes against all of your instincts. If you don’t outleap your opponents, you’re going to get beaten on the boards, right? Well, not necessarily. You will definitely snag boards if you jump for them, but a much better strategy in old games is to let the rebounds fall into your hands, or scoop them up off the virtual hardwood. It was a solid strategy in general, but against the CPU in particular, it made a huge difference when cleaning up on the defensive glass.

NBA Live 2001 and NBA Live 2002 both had issues where there were seemingly far too many offensive rebounds compared to defensive boards. However, that problem is somewhat mitigated if you consciously avoid jumping on defense, and instead move into position to catch the rebound flat footed. It’s made a huge difference when I’ve done that while playing those old titles. As I said though, it goes against all of your basketball instincts to not jump when contesting for rebounds. As much as I don’t like players having magnetic hands, and rebounds thus feeling canned in recent titles, it’s preferable to missing out on a board because I jumped while my opponent didn’t.

Have you ever employed any of these tips and tricks? What other strategies – or indeed, exploits – have you utilised in basketball games over the years? Let me know in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.