If you’re playing man-to-man defense and the dribbler keeps exposing the ball without doing anything to protect it, you have a great opportunity to pick their pocket.Īnother technique you can use against reckless dribblers is forcing turnovers through fouls. When should you try and steal, though? Well, it takes practice to know what works and what doesn’t, but in general, you want to watch for opportunities in traffic or when the ball handler is getting too careless with dribble moves. To steal, press Square (X on Xbox One, Y on Switch), or, if crowding the dribbler, quickly press down and release the right stick. In 2K19, steal attempts are more successful. Often times, it simply didn’t make sense. Too often in earlier versions did a quality steal attempt result in a reach-in foul. Pick their pocket and force turnoversīesides shot contests, the one area of defense that has dramatically improved in NBA 2K19 are steals. You’ll still affect the openness rating for the shot doing this, lowering the likelihood the shot will fall. If you move the left stick away from the shooter while using the contest control, you’ll go straight up, which all but eliminates the chance of blocking the shot or fouling. However, if you find yourself fouling shooters on a consistent basis, you may want to try the vertical contest instead. If you’re playing close defense, you might also get a hand on the ball. Often times, stick controls work better as your thumbs are always on both sticks anyway.īy default, the shot contest control is also for blocking. If you’re comfortable with stick controls, you can also move the right stick up quickly to contest a shot. Once you see one foot leave the ground, it’s time to go up for the contest using Triangle (Y on Xbox One, X on Switch). We’ve found that watching a player’s feet helps. In 2K19, you have to manually contest shots, regardless of your defensive stance. This meant that if you stuck close to your opponent, it was hard for them to get an open look if that’s all you did. When they went up for the shot, you’d automatically stick a hand up to contest the shot. In previous games, you could simply stay hugged up next to the ball handler with a combination of L2/LT and holding up on the right trigger. NBA 2K19‘s most crucial defensive adjustment has to do with contesting shots. If you find that you’re struggling on the defensive end in NBA 2K19, these tips and tricks will get you on the road to becoming the ultimate shutdown defender. Still, you have to be on the prowl at all times and you can’t take possessions off. In NBA 2K19, defense is appropriately balanced and opens up the door to shutting down your opponent with greater efficiency. On offense, you dictate the tempo and make the first move, but on defense, everything you do is a reaction to the opposing team.
Playing good defense in the NBA 2K series has always been harder than playing quality offense.