NBA Showdown - Re-Creating the Original Strategy Cards

     Now for all of you that play MLB Showdown with me, or have at least talked about it with me, you know that myself, along with Bob, Jeff and Peter, I do not use strategy cards when playing the MLB version of the great Showdown games. During the pandemic I purchased an NBA showdown starter set and a couple lots of commons off eBay to play some games, check the Harry Potter League I ran, so much fun. Basketball is my absolute favorite sport and with all the down time and the late start to the MLB season, I did some research in recreating NBA showdown. My first iterations are on the site, and unfortunately that iteration will not continue. The great news behind that is because I have found the formulas that I want to make the new seasons versions compatible with the old ones. It may not be 100% the same but I feel will allow them to be played together.  With that being said the 2020-2021 NBA season will bring the first official NBA Showdown set to the blogsite which I am already super excited for. Player cards along with some other variations and concepts to highlight what takes place during this upcoming season. 

    Another thing that excites me, one of the reasons I absolutely fell in love with this blogsite when I was just a fan and avid reader of Peter's early iterations was the creations and posts of full legendary great MLB teams. I am going to do that with the NBA trying to bring some of the all time NBA teams back to card life. (The more recent the season the better, but I will try to go back to the 90s and further for some of the all time greats.) 

    Now for the moment that we are all here for. once the NBA bubble was up and running, I was in basketball heaven, NBA games all day in the middle of the summer, starting on a week that I took vacation from work, no better plan could have happened. So while I was watching the games I kept looking at the game and thinking of fun ways to implement the season. So I made a template type of strategy card (early iteration as well) and recreated each strategy card from the original game, but with an updated picture from this current NBA season. I really enjoyed this project, looking up pictures and trying to decide which player may fit the description of said card. Apologies to those who feel I left their favorite player or team off of that but I tried to be inclusive to all. After seeing all the recreations of the early strategy cards, I will finish this post with some of my very own strategy card creations to add some more fun into the game. 

OFFENSE:

This card needed the Jazz Love after Malone and Stockton were in the initial.

DEFENSE

One of my favorites just to remember the wild year, and having no fans in the crowd.

Formerly Known as Double - Foul: I chose to turn this into a defensive decision, as when a double foul occurs it leads to no free throws, so I chose the intentional foul.

My Own Creations:

The Evolution of the three point shot, compared to 2002-2003, threes are being shot at such a high rate. PJ Tucker fits his shooting role on Houston last year by being one of the best three point threats in the league. This card is good to give that shooter a boost in the quarter to maximize his roll.

I felt the need to incorporate a slight chance at a game changing play to happen. The Flagrant 2 is rare, but if it is played correctly and it works you could eliminate an opponents top threat.

Another thing we see in the current NBA is players look to switch on pick and rolls so often, and the offense will seek out the matchups that they want to exploit, forcing mismatches to score more points.

The glue guy of a team may not get the love or the flash but they can impact the game just as much as a star player in spurts. A season can be a long grind, and energy players are a must to help your team pick up the intensity.

Scripting up a play to get a shooter a open look is a great way to get your hot shooter going. The Hawks used to do it with Kyle Korver in the mid 2010s, and JJ Redick has made a career of it. Or like in the photo below the Raptors drew it up for a game winning three to beat the Celtics.

Everyone loves a buzzer beater to end a quarter. This gives the last team on offense a chance to get a second bucket to take momentum to the next quarter or to end the game.

The 4th quarter scorer is the most fun to watch in a NBA game. As a few teams in the bubble found out this year, Dame Time is real, the fans wait for it, as do his teammates. When a top level player gets in the zone, he can effectively change the course of a game.

The fast paced offense and getting out in transition allows teams to score before the defense gets set. This card allows a boost to your team pace of play for the rest of a quarter. 

Space on the floor for an elite ball handler is a premium in todays game with the lack of aggression allowed to be used by a defender. If you put a shooting lineup on the floor you can give a big boost to your superstar to take over a game. 

This card was purely inspired by Luka and James Harden and the nasty step backs threes that they take. 

My absolute favorite moment of the bubble, was this 7 game series between the Nuggets and Jazz for this battle between Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray. This card is high risk but also would be so much fun to see it get played in a big matchup.  

A player can get cold, and sometimes it just takes a coach to call a timeout and let that player know, keep shooting its going to fall eventually. Gives a strategic play as you can only use it once per game, but if a key player gets cold you want to use it ASAP.

Chase downs have been LeBron's thing but many players do it effectively on defense to take away points.

Had to make a second version for the legendary chase down block.

This is a new concept, where the card says defense, it should say strategy, and this would be a card played before a quarter starts. This allows a team with good depth at a position to play their best five players instead of a traditional lineup.

Strength on the boards can get a team that one extra rebound in a game that can make a difference. 

The opposite of spread the floor, when a player who is known to not be able to shoot has the ball, let him shoot, and see if he can make you pay. 

Another big card, like the offensive one being able to remove a cold marker, this momentum stopping timeout is used to cool down a hot player on the opposing team after he gets hot against you.

As I am getting ready for this next season, there will be a new batch of strategy cards to add into this mix, and I look forward to watching games this year and seeing something happen on the court that makes the light bulb go off and I make a strategy card for it. 

A  preview of what is to come in the future: A look at Russ in his new uniform and what his original card looked like. Thankfully the Wizards had done media day already to get a great pic of him in his new number 4.

NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant was so much fun to watch, especially down the stretch of the season, he is going to be a truly spectacular player to watch his game evolve. Here is his regular card, and it is followed by a concept card using the rated rookie from the old Donruss rookie cards. I want to have a few special cards going forward in my set.

Finally, the League MVP, The League Defensive Player of the Year, and potentially the Leagues Biggest Free Agent Next Off Season (Sorry Peter). Giannis is a special talent, and joined elite company this season, joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in NBA history to win the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. He is also 1 of 5 players to have won both awards in their careers, with David Robinson and Kevin Garnett doing those in separate seasons. This Card will simply dominate, versatile enough to play in two positions, he will likely find mismatches all over the court. 

I hope everyone enjoyed a glimpse into what I have been working on since the MLB season ended, and also hope some of you will join me on this adventure in making another great showdown game. I will do updates throughout the season on my twitter account and probably in the discord as well. Who knows, for those that play the MLB Showdown TTS, you may even see an NBA version at some point very soon😉. As always let me know what you think, looking forward to hopefully a full, and healthy NBA season in these crazy times. Be on the lookout for more NBA content coming soon!!!!!