Description

Welcome to the world of Inside the Paint Basketball (ITP) !

The game is driven by double-sided FACs where players make plays and the defense can make defensive stops on the floor or on shots possibly taking away great plays/shots from the offensive player. The use of FACs keeps the action moving along at a pace simulating the real sport.

All of the action comes from the players’ cards with no chart lookups needed. In ITP, each player will have 3 columns per card showing regular offense, offensive rebound and fastbreak sections. In each section the players frequency of 2/3 FGA, drawing fouls, turnovers and assists come into play. For the Dennis Rodman types when the offense does come his way a simple PASS may be the outcome. Each player has separate GOTO ratings where the more they are involved in the offense the better chance you will see him be called upon to make a play. You often see players that don't have great offensive stats (FG%, TO) but these are often guys that have to create offense. If you don't have a any offensive weapons (good or bad) on the floor then you will see the offense bog down in ITP.

Defense in ITP is not an afterthought and is intertwined into the game at all points. Players are rated separately for steals, blocks, committing fouls and overall defense. A special DENY rating for defensive players works with the aforementioned GOTO ratings where good defenders can actually keep a player from being able to take an action on the court. The defensive ratings come into play in what are called possible defensive stops. There are special notations on the FACs that can possibly stop an offensive action or affect a shot.

ITP keeps the action moving with a fastbreak system that is simple yet effective to use. The run-and-gun style teams will feel that way as will the plodders. Each player gets a fastbreak rating that shows his propensity to get out on the break and, when he does, his card has a column just for that event.

The special Momentum Factor (*MOM) is built into the FACs and either gives a team a boost or causes them to miss some shots. The use of timeouts can readjust this factor and keep the game on an even keel but you must use them wisely as timeouts can be very useful towards the end of a game allowing you to call plays and get extra time when you may need it. Managing timeouts can be very challenging. If you use too many timeouts for momentum swings then you will be limited to using your TO's for subs and especially late in a very close game when you want to call a designed play to a specific player. However, not calling timeouts on a momentum run can cause the game to get out of control, thus hurting a teams' chances to win.

So, if basketball is your game, get out of your seat and get Inside the Paint!