March Madness USA

If you watch NBA games, you’ve probably noticed that there is a greater emphasis on one-on-one play, as opposed to the running of set plays. Sure, you might see a coach calling out a play during crunch time, but that is usually to ensure that the team’s best shooter gets the ball when it matters most. During the rest of the game, however, the ball is frequently passed around a few times, before one player decides to challenge his defender. This is not the case in college ball, where coaches rule the roost and players have to follow their instructions to a T. It’s nice to see, then, that EA has decided to implement what’s known as the Floor General Play Calling System, which allows you to call, set up, and execute a play without altering the flow of the game.

Using the Floor General system is amazingly simple, even for those players who don’t know the difference between a weak side screen and a screen door. When bringing the ball up the court, simply press the D-pad up, and you’ll see three different offensive formations appear. You can select one of these by pressing the D-pad in the corresponding direction, or you can press up again to bring up three more offensive sets. After you decide, pressing the right thumbstick will show you where to set up, and which player should receive your pass. At first, figuring out how plays were supposed to be run was a challenge, as you can only see the first step of the play. However, once you figure out what to look for (a player curling around a screen or your big man wide open underneath, for example), you’ll have no problem putting the ball in the hoop.