GBA CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL Typed in by RICKY of BELGIUM. Edited by PARASITE. GETTING STARTED DO NOT write-protect your GBA Championship Basketball: Two- on-Two disk. You must use a joystick to play GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two. For a one-player game, plug a joystick into port 2 on your computer; you may leave your mouse plugged into port 1. For a two-player game, plugh another joystick into port 1. To bypass the introductory music and credit screens, press your joystick button while the game loads. SELECTING OPTIONS AND DRAFTING PLAYERS Moving the joystic will will highlight the various options on the screen when you're making selections from the chalkboard menus and player draft pool. PRACTICE OPTIONS GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two keeps score when you're playing in either of the two practice modes. THE SCOUTING REPORT When you're rating your abilities on The Scouting Report screen, the ratings categories are grouped as follows: INSIDE OUTSIDE DRIBBLING QUICKNESS STEALING JUMPING You also select the RACE of your player. UNIFORM COLORS Player One and his teamate are always in blue; Player Two and his teammate are always in red. THE PLAYCALLING SCREEN On the PLAYCALLING SCREEN, the home team is always on the left and the visiting team on the right. TO PLAY ANOTHER GAME When a game ends, press your joystick button to return to the chalkboard menus. KING OF THE COURT Basketball. The lightning-paced sport for super-athletes. The game of strategy, guts, stamina, and -- most of all -- teamwork. It's all here, in GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two. Two-on-Two helps you develop the strategies and skills to make you play like a pro. You can play with a teammate and lear teamwork. You can pick your offensive allignment while your opponent sets his defense. And when your opponent has the ball, you can choose among several defensive strategies. Two-on-Two gives you lots of ways to compete: one player against the computer, two players against a computer tea, two players against each other, practice sessions, and even a 23-team league competition climaxing in the GBA Championship Game. This Player's Guide includes all the information you'll need to play Two-on-Two. The first section, "Getting Started", tells you how to load the program into your computer. "The Chalkboard Menus" describes all your options for playing the game, from the two practice modes to the four game modes. This section also tells you how to use the joystick and command keys. "The Scouting Report" shows you how to rate your playing skills from inside and outside shooting, dribbling, stealing, quickness, and jumping. In addition, you'll get your first look at your computer opponents -- all the teams you'll have to beat to make it to the GBA Championship game. In "How to Pass and Shoot", you'll find all the information you need to develop your passing game and become a team player. And you'll learn all about jump shots, hook shots, slam dunks, tip-ins, and rebounds. "The Player Draft" tells you all about your superstar computer teammates -- 10 players in all, each one patterned after a real professional basketball star. "Calling Plays" describes the offensive and defensive strategies you'll need to outsmart and outplay your opponents. The "Penalties" section explains fouls and other violations and describes how you can use the clock to your advantage by calling time-outs. "After the Game" tells you how to read the box scores from the game you just played and how to start a new game. THE CHALKBOARD MENUS Following the introductory music and credit screens, a green chalkboard appears on your screen with two choices; GAME or PRACTICE. You make your selection by joystick; the chosen option will become backlit. Once you have made the above selection, a new chalkboard appears, allowing you to select ONE PLAYER or TWO PLAYER action. (If you select the two-player optionm, joystick number 2 becomes active when the top of the screen displays PLAYER TWO. When prompted for your TEAM NAME or YOUR NAME, type the letters on the keyboard (use the DELETE key to erase any mistakes you make), then press RETURN. Names must be at least one letter and no more than twelve letters. PRACTICE OPTION No one wants to hit the courts cold. Just as in real basketball, it's a good idea to warm up a little before playing a game. Two-on-Two offers you two different practice modes. ONE PLAYER (one player on the court by himself) Make sure that your joystick is plugged into port 1. You can practice shooting inside and outside and work on your hook shots, jump shots, slam dunks, tip-ins, and rebounds. Although there's a scoreboard above the basket, in the practice mode the scoreboard doesn't work. There are no penalties or time clock either. When you make a basket or the gol goes out of bounds, the ball is automatically returned to you. Press F7 when you want to return to the chalkboard menus. TWO PLAYER (two players on the court) Player Two should plug his or her joystick into port 2. Notice that Player One is always in the blue jersey and Player Two is in green. You can practice different shots, from hooks to dunks, as weel as dribbling, rebounding, and tip-ins. You can play straight one-on-one, or you can play other "pick-up" games like "Around the World" or "Horse". How to play "Around the World". Player one tries a shot from the baseline -- say, at the edge of the key (the key is the area between the inner white line and the basket. Every time the player makes a basket, he or she moves further along the edge of the key, working around the key to the baseline on the other side of the basket. If Player One misses a shot, Player Two gets a turn. When a player misses a shot, he must shoot again from the same spot on his or her next turn, and stay in that spot until he or she makes a basket. The first player to go "Around the World" wins. How to play "Horse". Player One makes a shot from anywhere on the court. Player Two must then make the same shot or he will het an "H". When Player One misses, Player Two can make a shot from wherever he or she wants, and Player One has to make the same shot. Every time a player misses, he gets another letter until the word HORSE is spelled. Whoever gets all the letters first, loses. (Note: The letters in HORSE do not appear on the screen. You must keep track of the "score" yourself). As with the ONE PLAYER practice option, there are no scores, penalties, or time clock. To leave the practice mode and return to the chalkboard menus, press F7. THE SCOUTING REPORT Once you're warmed up and ready to play ball, you still have to rate your playing abilities on a screen called The Scouting Report. It might look like this: INSIDE 2 OUTSIDE 6 DRIBBLING 3 STEALING 5 QUICKNESS 4 JUMPING 4 INSIDE refers to your shooting accuracy inside the key. OUTSIDE refers to your shooting accuracty outside the key. DRIBBLING rates your maneuverability with the ball. STEALING rates your ability to outmaneuver the ball handler and steal the ball. QUICKNESS rates your maneuverability both on defense and when you're not handling the ball on offense. JUMPING rates your ability to block shots and come down with rebounds. The highest rating you can give yourself is 6 (very skilled), and lowest is 2 (minimally skilled). Notice the INSIDE and OUTSIDE are grouped together, as are DRIBBLING and STEALING and QUICKNESS and JUMPING. Within each of these three groupings, the total always equal 8. So if you choose to rate yourself 3 as an outside shooter, you must be a 5 inside. If you choose a 6 rating at stealing, you'll only be a 2 at dribbling. After all, you can't be great at everything. Remember, too, that in a game situation you'll want to select your offensive and defensive strategies accourding to your strengths and weaknesses. Use your joystick to move among the categories on The Scouting Report, and press the joystick button to change the numbers. As the number on the left goes up, the number on the right automatically goes down. NOTE: In the practice modes, all palyers are given a 4 rating in all categories. GAME OPTIONS TWO PLAYER HEAD-TO-HEAD Each player has a computer teammate. Each player names his team, then types in his own name and rates himself. He also picks a computer teammate from the Player Draft, which includes ten pros, each one patterned after a real-life basketball superstar. Player One and his teammate are always in blue; Player Two and his teammate are always in green. On yhr dvtrrn, yhr plsyrtd you vonytol str trptrdrnyrf in yhr lighter uniforms; the players the computer controls are in darker uniforms. For example, if you are Player One, you'll wear a light blue jersey and your computer teammate will wear dark blue. TWO PLAYER TEAMMATES When you select this option, you and a friend team up against a hard-driving computer team. You first type in a TEAM NAME of 12 letters or less, then pick a DIVISION to play in. The division you choose determines the caliber of your computer opponents. NORTH is the easiest division, SOUTH is tougher, EAST is tougher still, and WEST is the toughest of all. Take a look at your COMPUTER OPPONENTS CHART (coming along shortly). It gives you a breakdown of all the teams in every division. Notice that the rating tools are higher in the tougher divisions. For example, in the easy North, the INSIDE and OUTSIDE ratings total 7; but in the tough West, they total 10. Since the players in the West are better, the West teams have higher ratings. When Player One types in his name (12 letters or less) and presses RETURN, the Player One Scouting Report allows Player One to rate his abilities. Then Player Two types in his name and rates himself. In this mode, Player One has the light blue jersey, Player Two the dark blue jersey. ONE PLAYER EXHIBITION GAME You and your computer-controlled teammate challenge a computer team. Type in your TEAM NAME and YOUR NAME and pick a DIVISION. Again, the division you select determines how tough your opponents will be. Next, rate yourself on inside and outside shooting, dribbling, stealing, quickness, and jumping. Finally, you select your computer-controlled teammate from the Player Draft. Do you want the great outside shooting of Larry Berg or the dynamite inside moves of Kareem Ugrin? Strategy is important, because you'll want a player whose talents will complement your own, someone who's going to be effective against your opponents. (Again, use the chart "Your Computer Opponents" to scope out your opponents' strengths and weaknesses). Your team will always be the HOME team, with the player you control in the light blue uniform. ONE PLAYER LEAGUE PLAY This game mode allows you and a computer teammate to play in league competition that can take you all the way to the GBA Championship. You first choose a division to play in (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST), then play a five-game season against the other five teams in that division. Once you've selected League Play, the computer screen will ask if you want to GET TEAM or assemble a NEW TEAM. If you select GET TEAM, you'll continue to play with a team you're already created -- tha is, your current team. Select NEW TEAM to create a new team; your old team (if you had one) and its league record will be erased from the game disk. In other words, you can have only one team at a time. (If you try to create a new team and there's already a team on the disk, the screen will display the message "WARNING: SELECTING NEW TEAM WILL ERASE YOUR CURRENT TEAM.") However, you can go from League Play to Exhibition Play without erasing your League Team from the game disk. You'll play a five-game schedule. The computer will select your opponents within your chosen division until you've played all five. Playing in the easier division will of course mean easier games -- until you get to the playoffs. At the end of the season, the computer will compare your win/loss record with the records of the other teams in your division. If you have the best divisional record, or if you're tied for the division lead and have beaten your co-leader, you'll advance to the playoffs. The playoff schedule is set up so that the easiest division (NORTH) plays the hardest divison (WEST) in Game 1; in Game 2, SOUTH meets EAST. The winners from Game 1 and Game 2 then meet in the GBA Championship Game. YOUR COMPUTER OPPONENTS +----------+---------+-----------+-----------+ Divisions Teams: | OUTSIDE | INSIDE | STEALING | JUMPING | | #1 #2 | #1 #2 | #1 #2 | #1 #2 | +----------+---------+-----------+-----------+ NORTH Cougars | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | Unicorns | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | Wildcats | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Sharks | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Generals | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | SOUTH Dazzles | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Hammers | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Kernals | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Steamers | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | Masters | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | EAST Condors | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Mystics | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Marvels | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Hawks | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Wizards | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | WEST Stars | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Dragons | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Cosmics | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Waves | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | Lazers | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | +----+-----+-----+---+------+----+-----+-----+ HOW TO PASS AND SHOOT Naturally, good teamwork means getting the ball to your teammate when he's in the open. And to do that, you've got to become a good passer. To pass to your teammate when you have the ball, quickly press and immediately release the joystick button. If your teammate has the ball and you want him to pass to you, quickly press the button. Your teammate will usually pass you the ball, but not always -- after all, any player can become a ball hog now and then. Your teammate may also pass the ball to you if he sees that you're open, even if you don't press the joystick button -- unless you're moving, in which case he'll never pass to you unless you press the joystick button. If you pass to your computer teammate while he's moving, he'll stop to try to catch the ball. In order to catch the ball you must be directly in line with it. Otherwise the ball will go out of bounds or will be stolen by your opponents. SHOOTING SHOOTING BASICS When you have the ball and want to make a shot, first hold down the joystick button. Your player will begin his shot by jumping and will release the ball at the same time you release the button. You must time the release to the jump. If you release the ball at the top of the jump, you have a better chance of scoring. So your success in shooting depends on your ability to release the joystick button at just the right moment. If you look very closely, you'll notice that at the very top of his jump your player will cock his wrist slightly, preparing to shoot. It is at this moment that you should release the button. If you release the button too early or too late, you will still make some of your shots, but a smaller percentage than if you time it perfectly. You should also be aware that if you fail to release the button before your player comes back to the floor, you'll be charged with traveling (See "Penalties"). In addition to your timing, the other factor that will determine your shooting percentage is your Player Scoring Report -- that is, your rating as an inside and outside shooter. HOOK SHOTS To make a hook shot, you must be downcourt, near the baseline, with your back to the basket (as you look at your player on the screen, he must be facing 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock). With a hook shot, the ball is released as the player's arm "hooks" over his head. The advantage of this type of shot is that is cannot be blocked. SLAM DUNKS A slam ducnk may be the most satisfying shot in basketball. What could be better than actually stuffing the ball through the hoop? To slam dunk, you must have a 4, 5, or 6 rating as a inside shooter. You must be at the baseline, as far downcourt as you can go, and you must shoot when you're in one of three areas: under the basket, half a step left or low post left (LPL), or half a step right of low post right (LPR) (See "Zones on the Court" chart that will follow shortly). Finally, there must be NO DEFENDERS under the basket. If all of these conditions are met, a slam dunk will always be successful. TIP-INS If an offensive player grabs a rebound while directly facing the basket (as you look at him on the screen, facing 12 o'clock with his back to you), he'll tip the ball in for a basket. As long as the player is facing the basket and underneath it, the tip-in will be automatic if you make your player jump. Again, only an offensive player can tip the ball in. (In the practice mode, either player can tip the ball in). REBOUNDS A player can rebound only when he's in the area immediately surrounding the basket. To rebound, press the joystick button in the same way you do to make a shot -- your player will jump for the ball. Timing your jump is the key to successful rebounding. SHOOTING PERCENTAGES Nobody can make every kind of shot every time. But you can increase your shooting percentage by working on the timing of your release. (Of course, it also helps to have a high rating). The following charts show the percentage of outside and inside shots you'll make based on the timing of your release and your outside shooting ability. OUTSIDE SHOOTING PERCENTAGES Outside Rating: 6 5 4 3 2 When release is: very early...............10% 10 10 10 10 early....................30% 20 10 10 10 a little early...........50% 40 30 20 10 perfect..................70% 60 50 40 30 a little late............60% 50 40 30 20 late.....................40% 30 20 10 10 very late................20% 10 10 10 10 INSIDE SHOOTING PERCENTAGES Inside rating: 6 5 4 3 2 very early...............30% 20 10 10 10 early....................50% 40 30 20 10 a little early...........70% 60 50 40 30 perfect..................90% 80 70 60 50 a little late............80% 70 60 50 40 late.....................60% 50 40 30 20 very late................40% 30 20 10 10 3-POINT SHOTS If a player shoots a basket from outside the white 3-point line (See court illustration to follow shortly), that basket is good for 3 points instead of the usual 2. Successful 3-point shots are based on a player's outside shooting rating and the timing of his release. However, if a player shoots from outside the white 3-point line, the odds of that shot's being good are only half the odds of a regular outside shot. For example, if a 6-rated outside shooter releases the ball perfectly from beyond the 3-point line, he has only a 35% chance of making that shot. SHOOTING FROM UNDER THE BASKET Whenever a player shoots from directly under the basket, his chance of scoring is based only on his inside rating, not on his timing. As long as he releases the ball before he's called for traveling, it's assumed that his timing is perfect. NOTES ON DEFENSE: STEALING THE BALL AND BLOCKING SHOTS To steal the ball from the offense, you must "bump" the ballhandler on the side on which he's dribbling or holding the ball. Any player's success at stealing the ball will be based on his rating at STEALING (See "The Scouting Report", previously shown). To block a shot, move in close to the ball handler and press your joystick button to jump just as he goes up for a shot. Your success in blocking the shot will depend on how close you are to the ballhandler and your rating at JUMPING -- (Also see, "The Scouting Report" previously shown). YOUR COMPUTER TEAMMATE Your computer teammate is an intelligent player. If he's under the basket, he'll shoot. If he sees that you're open under the basket, he'll pass the ball to you. If the clock is about to run out (either the 24-second shot clock or the quarter clock), he'll shoot if he has the ball. If he's being covered and he realizes he can't drive to the basket, he'll pull up and shoot from as close as he can get. Remember, just as in real basketball, the key element in Two- on-Two is teamwork. Your computer teammate is designed to work with you to beat your opponents. No matter how good you are as an individual player, you'll never make it to the GBA Championship unless you learn to play as a team. THE PLAYER DRAFT After you've rated your abilities, you get to draft a computer-controlled teammate. In the two-player mode, each player gets to draft a computer teammate unless you're playing the TWO PLAYER TEAMMATES option. You have ten players from which to choose, each patterned after a real basketball superstar. When the player draft screen appears, you'll see ten names in white letters, with the two "pointer" basketballs on either side of a name. Use your joystick to line up the basketballs next to the name of the player you want, then release the joystick and press the joystick button. This will highlight your choice in yellow. Finally, move the balls down to the word CONTINUE and press the joystick button to go to the next screen. YOUR SUPERSTAR TEAMATES Here are the computer stars you can play with: Magic Lyndon. One of the best players in the game, famous for his sleight-of-hand passing. Now you see it, now you don't. Magic provides that extra magic that can take you all the way to the GBA Championship. Jerry Orr. A consistently high scorer, Orr has been known to score over 50 points in a game. He know how to draw fouls from opponents and almost never misses from the free throw line. Elgin Cutter. Some say he's the best pressure player in the game. He once scored 61 points in a GBA playoff game -- a record. Cutter has some dealy inside moves. Joh Madland. An excellent defensive player. When Madland's on the court, expect lots of turnovers. Also a dynamite outside shooter. Larry Berg. If you want a teammate who can do it all, Berg's your man. A real team player who knows how to win. Great all- around abilities. Berg can shoot and pass with either hand. He received the GBA Most Valuable Player Award two years in a row. Walt Barnett. A superb rebounder and one of the best defensive players around. Julius Keith. Dr. K. When he's not selling basketball shoes or soft drinks on TV, Keith can be found driving defenders crazy on the court. He averages over 30 points a game and has some of the best moves in the game. Oscar Dunbar. A player with all the right moves, Dunbar is considered the best guard of all time. A great player at any position, he's equally adept at inside and outside shooting. Wilt Dulmage. a.k.a. Wilt the Tilt. This man is great at blocking shots and coming down with the ball. Also one of the few unstopable inside shooters. The Super Teammate Player Draft chart rates the talents of your computer teammates. The numbers indicate their skills at inside and outside shooting, dribbling, stealing, quickness, and jumping. Unlike the ratings for yourself, these are fixed. Because all these stars are excellent players, they rate no lower than 4. A 6 is the highest rating a player can have. Notice that the total within each grouping (Inside and Outside, Dribbling and Stealing, and Quickness and Jumping) totals 10 for your superstar teammate, as opposed to 8 for your other player. SUPERSTAR TEAMMATE PLAYER DRAFT PLAYERS: Outside Inside Dribbling Stealing Quickness Jumping Magic Lyndon 5 5 5 5 5 5 Jerry Orr 6 4 5 5 6 4 Elgin Cutter 4 6 5 5 6 4 John Madland 6 4 4 6 5 5 Larry Berg 6 4 4 6 4 6 Kareem Ugrin 4 6 5 5 4 6 Walt Barnett 5 5 4 6 4 6 Julius Keith 4 6 6 4 5 5 Oscar Dunbar 5 5 6 4 5 5 Wilt Dulmage 4 6 4 6 4 6 CALLING PLAYS In all the game modes except two-player teammates, you must choose an offensive and defensive alighment every time you're on offense or defense. The PLYACALLING SCREEN comes up when ever there's a change of possession because of a basket, steal, defensive rebound, or penalty. Although the game is actually played on a full court, you see only half the court at a time. Every time there's a change of possession or a basket is good, the players run down the court and the offensive brings the ball up from mid-court. The playcalling screen replaces the scoreboard for about seven seconds while the players automatically run down the court and bring the ball back into play. The playcalling screen disappears when the ball handler crosses the center court. So you have seven seconds to select a play. If you fail to select a play, the computer will automatically pick one for you. (On defense the computer will pick LOW ZONE (LZN) and on offense it will pick BASKET (BKT). As you can see in the screen below (Well, you can't because I can't put a picture into the middle of this document), the playcalling screen is divided into OFFENSE on the left and DEFENSE on the right. For offense the screen shows a picture of your joystick surrounded by the abreviations BKT, RHT, TOP, LFT, and SCRN, which stand for the five offensive plays you can choose from. For defense the screen shows a picture of your joystick surrounded by the abbreviations LZN, HZN, MMD, and MML, which stand for the four defensive alignments you can choose from. You select a play by moving your joystick forward, back, right, or left to "point to" the play you want: forward for BKT or LZN, back for TOP or HZN, right for RHT or MMD, and left for LFT or MML. On offense you can also use the joystick button if you want to select the SCRN play. When you're going to be on offense, the word OFFENSE on the playcalling screen will be in green; once you select your offense, the word will turn blue. On defense the wordDEFENSE is first highlighted in yellow; once you select your defense, it turns blue. Note that these colors have nothing to do with the player's blue and green jerseys or the teams themselves; they merely indicate when a play has been selected. If you've called a play, but change your mind while the playcalling screen is still visible, simply push the joystick in the direction of the new play you want. Whenever you call a play, you'll hear a tone at the same time the word OFFENSE or DEFENSE turns blue. Whanever you call a play, whether on offense or defense, you are telling your computer teammate what to do. Following is a complete rundown of the plays. It will help you to understand the plays if you also study "Zones on the Court". ZONES ON THE COURT +----------------------------------------------------------+ | | | BASELINE | | +-------+-----------------+-------+ | | | LPL | BKT | LPR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | LFT | | <--- KEY ---> | | RHT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HPL +-----------------+ HPR | | | | \ TOP / | | | | \_______________/ | | | | | | | | | | | \ / | | \ / | | \ / | | ----------------------------- | | 3-POINT LINE | | | +----------------------------------------------------------+ OFFENSIVE PLAYS You have five offensive plays from which to choose: Left Wing LFT Right Wing RHT Top of Key TOP Basket BKT Screen SCRN LEFT WING (LFT). Your teammate runs to the high post left or high post right (HPL or HPR) and stays there for one second. Then he runs to the left wing (LFT), stays there for two to four seconds, and runs a random pattern on the left side of the court. RIGHT WING (RHT). Your teammate begins by running to the high post left or high post right (HPL or HPR) and waits there for one second. Then he runs to the right wing (RHT) and waits there for two to four seconds before running a random pattern on the right side of the court. TOP. Your teammate runs to either the right or left high post (HPR or HPL), waits there for a second, and then runs to the top. He stays there for two to four seconds and then runs a random pattern at the top of the key. SCREEN (SCRN). You use your teammate as a screen to block out any defenders trying to cover you. Your teammate runs to HPL or HPR and stays there for six seconds, allowing you to dribble around him as he blocks the defender. Then he runs a two-step pattern between the high posts. BASKET (BKT). Your teammate runs to the high post left or right (HPL or HPR), then drive under the basket. He waits there for two seconds and then runs a random three-step pattern under the basket. DEFENSIVE PLAYS You have four defensive plays to choose from: Low Zone LZN High Zone HZN Man-to-Man Zone MML Man-to-Man Dark MMD LOW ZONE. When you call low zone, your teammate will stay in the key (between the basket and the inner white line on the court). When an offensive player enters his zone, he covers him man-to-man. If the offense floods the low zone (which means both offensive players enter the key), your teammate will cover the ball handler. In this case, you should cover the offensive player withou the ball. When your opponents are not flooding the low zone, your teammate always take the man in the low zone, and you take the man outside the key in the high zone. HIGH ZONE. If you assign your teammate to the high zone, he cover the ball handler when that player is in the high zone. When the ball handler enters the low zone area around the key, you must cover him, and your teammate covers the player without the ball. MAN-TO-MAN LIGHT. Your teammate covers the opposing player who wears the light-colored uniform. He stays with that player everwhere on the court. You cover the player in the dark uniform. The goal in man-to-man coverage is to stay between the man you're guarding and the basket, trying to keep him from getting under the basket and making an easy shot. MAN-TO-MAN-DARK. This is the reverse of man-to-man light. Your teammate covers the man in the dark uniform, and you cover the man in the light uniform. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF ZONE DEFENSE The zone defense is very effective against inside shooters. If the ball handler breaks away from the man playing the high zone, the man playing the low zone can usually cover the ball handler before he can get into position near the basket. The weakness of the zone defense is that one defender is always in the key, resulting in a two-on-one situation outside the key. This sometimes means that one of the offensive players can take an easy outside shot. If you're playing against the computer, it's easier to beat the computer when you play a zone defense. If you want a more challenging game, play man-to-man. PLAYCALLING AND LOOSE BALL If nobody grabs a rebound and the ball is loose, the computer will sometimes allow you to regroup your offense and call another play. You'll know this is happening if the playcalling screen appears. PENALTIES FOULS Bumping into an opposing player continuously for more than one second results in a foul in the following situationa: A defensive foul occurs when one of the defensive players bumps into the ball handler. The penalty is either ball out of bounds to the offense or free throws. Chargin occurs when the ball handler bumps into a defensive player. The penalty is change of possession or free throws. Fouls and other penalties are displayed on the scoreboard in flashing letters right after they occur. However, if a player is fouled while shooting, the foul won't be displayed on the scoreboard until after the shot has either gone in for a field goal or missed. Fouling the shooter results in one free throw if the basket is good and two free throws if he misses his shot. The number of TEAM FOULS is also displayed on the scoreboard. Teams get five fouls per half; the count is reset to zero at halftime. If a team accumulates more than five fouls in a half, this results in bonus free throws for the other team. OTHER VIOLATIONS TRAVELING is called if you jump to shoot but don't release the ball in time. It won't be called if your shot is blocked by an opponent and you come down with the ball. Traveling results in a change of possession. THE THREE-SECOND RULE is invoked if an offensive player stays inside the key for more than three seconds at a time. However, when the ball is in the air or up for grabs, all players can stay in the key for as long as they like, until someone comes up with the ball. Staying in the key too long results in change of possession. THE 24-SECOND SHOT CLOCK gives the offensive team 24 seconds to make a shot after they bring the ball into play. The scoreboard has a SHOT CLOCK which counts down the seconds. Failure to make a shot in time results in change of possession. Here's a summary of all violations and penalties: With five or fewer team fouls: Fouling the Shooter: if ball goes in.........1 free throw if ball misses..........2 free throws Fouling the Ball Handler.................Ball out of bounds to the offense Charging....................Change of possession Three Seconds in Key........Change of possession 24-Second Clock.............Change of possession With more than five team fouls: Fouling the Shooter: if ball goes in.........1 free throw if ball misses..........2 free throws Fouling the Ball Handler.................2 free throws Charging....................2 free throws Three Seconds in Key........Change of possession 24-Second Clock.............Change of possession A WORD ABOUT FREE THROWS. Players don't have control over free throw accuracy. It's based on the outside shooting rating. To make a free throw, just push the joystick button and release it. All players can rebound after the last free throw attempt. THE QUARTER CLOCK AND OVERTIME You'll play four 6-minute quarters in each game. If the teams are tied at the end of the fourth quarter, you'll automatically go into overtime, which is another 6-minute quarter. The amount of time left in each quarter is shown on the clock in the middle of the scoreboard. At the end of each quarter, a buzzer rings and the screen displays which quarter has just been played. You then go immediately into the next quarter. At the start of the game, the home team always takes the ball out (Player One is always the home team). The visiting team brings the ball into play in the second quarter. The home team again takes the ball out when the third quarter begins, and the visiting team starts off the fourth quarter. CALLING TIMEOUTS AND PAUSING THE GAME To pause the game, simply press the F7 key on your keyboard; TIMEOUT OR F5 TO RESUME wil be displayed on the scoreboard. If you merely want to pause the game, press the F5 key when you're ready to resume. You can call a timeout only when you're on offense. If you want to call a timeout, first press the F7 key, then press the joystick button. Each team is allowed five timeouts per half. On the scoreboard you'll notice five little yellow lights on the HOME and VISITOR sides of the board. Each time you call a timeout, one of the yellow lights will go out. Calling timeouts saves precious seconds at the end of the game. If your team is behind and the clock is about to run out, you should call a timeout right after you've called a play. When you call a timeout, your players don't have to take the time to run down court and set up the play; they'll just appear on the court, in position, when play resumes. To quit a game inprogress and start over, you must run off your computer and load GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two again -- see "Getting Started", previous discussed. AFTER THE GAME At the end of every game, you can read all about it. The sports page of the Gamestar Gazette appears on the screen with the following boxscore writeups: the team names, the final score, the total field goals for each team, shooting percentages, rebounds, steals, blocked shots, and the name of the leading scorer. Here's what the numbers mean: FIELD GOALS. This is the total number of baskets that each team made. Each basket is worth either 2 or 3 points, depending on where the player was on the court when he made the shot. Free throws do not count as field goals. PERCENTAGE. The field goal percentage is calculated by taking the total number of actual field goals and dividing it by the total number of field goal attempts. This number is the team percentage. REBOUNDS. Every time your team pulls down a rebound, it's recorded here. STEALS. This number records the number of times your team stole the ball from the opposition. BLOCKED SHOTS. There are two type of blocked shots. After the shot is blocked, either the defender comes down with the ball or the offensive player retain possession. Blocked shots are only recorded here when the defender gains possession of the ball. LEADING SCORER. The top scorer's name will be displayed with the number of points he scored. TO PLAY ANOTHER GAME When a game ends, press F7 to return to the chalkboard menus. If you've just played any game (except in league play) and want to play the same game again, you don't have to type in your name again or select a new computer teammate unless you want to. Just press RETURN or move the basketballs to CONTINUE and press the joystick button as you move quickly through the menus.