Preparing matches

Orders and tactics

Before each game, set three things for your team in the Orders page (the « Give your orders » button at the top, or the match's button in the Calendar).

Nothing is sent until you click Save, at the bottom of the page; leaving the page without saving asks for confirmation, and Cancel goes back to the saved orders.

Preparing in advance: the matchday selector at the top of the Orders page lets you set up any upcoming match, league or Cup. When that matchday becomes the next match, your prepared orders automatically become your current orders, and you can still change them until tip-off. The lineup is locked 15 minutes before tip-off; the pre-game show starts 5 minutes before tip-off.

3 offensive priorities: choose exactly 3 styles out of the 10 available (Balanced, Inside game, Outside game, Dribble-drive offense, Pick & Roll, Post-up, Isolation, Motion offense, Fast break, Quick shots). The 3 choices carry equal weight in deciding how shots are split between inside, mid-range and three-pointers, as well as the pace, the assist rate and the risk of turnovers. An Inside game or Post-up favors shots close to the basket; an Outside game or Quick shots rely on the three-pointer; Fast break and Dribble-drive offense push the pace, at the cost of more turnovers.

Defense: a single choice out of 5 systems. Man-to-man is the neutral setting. Zone press puts pressure on the opposing guards, at the cost of heavy fatigue. Box and one sticks a defender on the opponent's best player: formidable against a true star, costly against a balanced five (the other four defend in a zone). Outside zone and Inside zone strengthen one area of the court at the expense of the other.

Pace: Slow, Normal or Fast. The higher the pace, the more possessions there are (and so the more scoring chances, at both ends), but also the more fatigue and turnovers.

Intensity (under Pace): Conserve, Normal or All out. All out makes your players perform better (+3%) but every minute played costs more condition after the match; Conserve does the opposite (-3%). The AI always plays Normal.

Matchday roster: one starter per position (all 5 positions must be filled), plus substitutes who can each cover several positions. Without a full five available, the match is lost by forfeit (20-0).

Tactical level: Beginner or Advanced, at the top of the Orders page. This choice changes the interface's complexity, with one exception: in Beginner, "Defensive matchups" is not applied (your assignment is kept, the match is played position vs position). Advanced reveals seven additional settings: Screen defense (No instruction, Over, Under, Switch, Double team), Help defense (Low, Medium, High), Post-up management (No instruction, Push to the baseline, Push to the middle, Double team), Close-out (Controlled, Aggressive), Defensive matchups (Defense card: the opposing position guarded by each of your positions), Offensive rebound (Cautious, Normal, Aggressive) and Watch (Opponents card: up to 3 targeted opposing positions, each with a specific focus, always with a trade-off; the instruction applies to whoever plays that position on court, starter or substitute).

End-of-game management (at both levels): Standard keeps the usual behavior. Adaptive adds real garbage time as soon as the margin reaches 10 points from the 3rd quarter onwards (in the 4th quarter, with an 18-point margin, the starters come off to save their form), and slightly speeds up the pace in the last 5 minutes of a close match.

Head-to-head
The match poster shows your record against this opponent, across all seasons and official competitions (private leagues and Hoop Champions League included, friendlies and forfeits excluded). Hover over it for details.

Saved tactics

The Tactics tab stores up to 3 complete, named tactics (6 with Premium): offense, defense, pace, advanced settings, matchday roster, starting five, rotation and playing time.

You can create one from the next match's orders, from another tactic or from one of the last matches played. In Orders, the My tactics bar applies one in a single click, to the next match or to the matchday on display. Players who have left in the meantime are simply removed.

Below, Tactics mastered shows a gauge for each option (10 offenses, 5 defenses, 3 paces): see Tactical knowledge.

Tactical knowledge

Your team masters each tactical option to a greater or lesser degree: one gauge per offensive priority, per defense and per pace (visible in the "Focus area" menu of Training).

Mastery of the options you play affects the whole team in matches, up to +/-8%, on top of chemistry.

Each player has his own mastery. The team gauge averages it, weighted by the minutes planned for the next match. A new signing starts at 40 everywhere.

Playing an option raises it, for each player according to his minutes (full gain from 30 minutes): +3, +4, +5, then +6 per match if you keep it. The Tactics team session raises it for the whole roster on each rest day: +12 at 40, +9 at 60, +6 at 80, +4 at 95 (never on a friendly day). A friendly raises it a little according to each player's minutes, youth included, and never lowers it.

Neglecting an option lowers it, gently: nothing for the first 2 matches, then -2, -4 and at most -6 per match, never below 40.

Scouting

Click an opposing team (standings, schedule, Cup) to open its team page: an overview (summary, jerseys, trophy case, latest interview), its results and schedule as seen from that club (your matches against it are marked "Against you"), its roster and the team analysis.

The name, position and height of opposing players are always visible; their salary is only shown as a range, and none of their values is ever exact. Hire a video analyst (Staff tab) to run a video session on an opponent (one per day, once per opponent per season): it estimates some of the attributes of its entire roster as ranges, which are more numerous and narrower the better the analyst is, along with a confidence level. An estimate can be wrong, and an old report becomes less reliable from one season to the next. An opponent's team analysis shows, for free, the strategies it has used (offense, defense, pace) and its players' statistics. The full Scouting Pro report (game plan, suggested starting five, profile and playing style, shot zones, recent form) unlocks once a month if you watch an ad, or without limit with Premium. Analysis of your own team (how your opponents see you) is reserved for Premium.

Live match

Every match is played at its scheduled time, whether you watch it or not.

When you are online, follow it from the Live tab (or with "Watch live" on the Dashboard and in the Schedule): scoreboard with the margin curve, court, match feed, head-to-head of both teams and box score. A pre-game show starts 5 minutes before tip-off, and at halftime a "Watch the show" button opens the halftime show. During a live match, the Dashboard offers "Watch live" instead of the orders. The Full screen button enlarges the court.

2D court: the ten players, the ball, the passes and the shots follow the match engine in real time. The floor is the home club's (its Premium floor if it has one, otherwise light wood in the club's colors), with only one floor ad, the arena sponsor's, in its official colors (the same as in the Arena tab).

Shot chart (button next to Court): the same floor, the same markings and the same ad, with every shot shown where it was taken. Filters: one team or both, the whole match or a single quarter, all shots, made or missed; hovering over a shot shows who took it.

Match events: a substitution only happens at a stoppage in play (never right after a made basket or free throw): the referee blows the whistle once, the substitute comes on, the replaced player walks back to his bench, and the five on display changes at the same moment. Free throws are taken one at a time. Every basket by the home club sets off the arena's siren; timeouts and halftime show a countdown.

Entertainment: cheerleaders during timeouts, the mascot at the end of the first quarter (trampoline dunk or lap of honor with the crowd), a t-shirt cannon at the end of the third, and a big show at halftime, each with its own music. The Commentary button turns on the commentator's voice; the Sound slider sets the volume of the sound effects and the crowd atmosphere (all the way left: muted).

After the game, click on a score (Schedule, Cup, player profile) to open the full box score.

Predictions

During the live broadcast shows, answer the pre-match and half-time predictions.

Each correct answer earns 10 points in the world ranking on the Predictions page. In a tie, whoever gave fewer answers ranks higher. The ranking resets every season; its winner receives one month of Premium.

Replay a match

Replay the live broadcast replays a match from your league that has already been broadcast, from its stats sheet, with the word Replay shown in the banner.

A time slider lets you jump to any moment of the match, and the -30 s and +30 s buttons let you go back or forward.

The replay shows exactly the same match as the live broadcast: same plays, same entertainment and same music on every viewing (two different matches can have different entertainment). The timeout and half-time countdowns run at the replay's pace, without jumps.