NBA 2K11
50 Achievements
1,000
The Big Day
Get drafted in the 1st round of the NBA draft in My Player mode.
15
How to unlock the The Big Day achievement in NBA 2K11 - Definitive Guide
To get the achievement, you need to firstly create a player (which will see you nab the "birthday" achievement) and then guide him through 3 draft camp match-ups, as well as 6 skills drills.
The six skills drills will give you extra skills points to incorporate into your player's make-up in order to improve their skills. The three match-ups are full on 5-on-5 games involving your player and nine other players drafted into NBA franchises before the 2010/11 season.
In each of the match-ups your play starts with a "C" grading, and must improve it through good play, to at least an "A" grading in order to virtually guarantee you will be drafted in the first round.
To guarantee a first round draft slot, achieve 3 straight A+ ratings in your games.
As a reference point, I played through the three games once, achieved B or B+ grades and as drafted early in the second round. Currently I have played two A+ games and am slated to be drafted in the middle of the first round.
One thing to remember is to not get your overall grading confused with the three tasks or targets that are set for you at the start of each of these games.
Achieving these tasks is no guarantee you will receive the grading you require to be drafted in the first round. In fact, in many ways, they are unrelated - you can actually achieve 1 or 2 of the three and still get an A+ grade, while achieving all 3 might still only see you graded a B or so.
Three other things to remember are:
1 - increase the length of your game in your My Player preferences (at the start of My Player) to 10 or so minutes, while decreasing the sim game length to 1-2 minutes. Longer games allow you to gain better stats and recover from mistakes, while shorter simmed games will benefit you later on when you make the league and are striving to be named Rookie of the Year, MVP, etc.
2 - Find a camera angle you are comfortable with. This will allow you to play to the highest standards you can (including on defence).
3 - In the My Player preferences at the start of the experience, turn auto save off. This will allow you to have a trial run of some of the skills drills - and maybe even a game - and not have them autosaved if you play poorly.
As to achieving the A+ grade itself, your attitude should be to play good solid team basketball and fulfil the roles and responsibilities your on-court position requires - not unlike playing a game of Team Up through NBA 2K11's online modes.
The game is a harsh marker - mistakes such as letting your man score, being out-rebounded, making bad passes and taking bad shots all attract big deductions to your overall mark; arguably moreso than the bonuses awarded to you for good play.
What constitutes good and bad play obviously depends on the position your player plays, so I won't go into extensive details here. But be prepared to work hard for a whole game and be actively involved in the play both at the offensive and defensive ends.
Personally, I have played as a PG and have a number of techniques that have seen me notch games of 21 points/9 assist/2 blocks, and then 19 points/17 assists/2 rebounds in back to back games with a minimum of turnovers.
This has seen me get two A+ grades while defending John Wall and minimising his impact (but boy is he quick!)
Happy to share these PG techniques, and discuss other ideas, in the comments below.
One other thing for guards - on defence, don't ever get caught on a switch and end up defending an opposition power forward or centre. It is the quickest way to get abused on the low block and scored over - and the game will still take marks off you for this despite the fact the centre has height and weight on you.
This a challenging trophy for many. It does NOT matter what your in-game stats are as the only thing that matters and counts is your teammate grade. There are only three combine games and in those games have your quarter length set to 10 or 12 minutes long. Since there are only three games, you want to give yourself a better shot at getting a B+ or higher teammate grade. After each game you will see at the bottom or your My Player homepage your stock value in the draft (where you are projected of being drafted). Once all three games have been played, you will enter the NBA Draft and if you have been getting good teammate grades then you should be drafted in the 1st round.
My Player mode is all about creating your own NBA Superstar from scratch. You start out with the Pre-Draft Combine and you will be put into 3 games against the best rookies from the real 2010 NBA Draft. Getting into the 1st round may be a struggle if this is your first basketball game. An average grade of about a 'B-' should scrape you into the bottom end of the 1st round unlocking this achievement.
Your grade will rise with many things such as good shot selections, on and off ball screens, assists, defensive and offensive rebounds, steals, tipped passes and many more.
Your grade will fall with many things such as bad shot selections, turnovers, bad passes, bad transition defense, bad steal attempts, allowing man to score and many more.
As your stats aren't that good, take your time and try not to control the game with your player. Only take wide open shots and keep an eye out for players cutting to the basket. A quick way to raise your grade is by good shot defense and defensive rebounds which can come with ease for even small 6 foot point guards if you run to the basket as soon as the opposition shoots.