Basketball Okizeme

Introduction

I figured out recently that i've been going about basketball setups all wrong. Its not that the ball is supposed to hit meaty (even though it can), the ball is supposed to be thrown while Sean himself hits meaty. I had came up with flashy basketball combos a year or so ago involving shit like:

- Throw the ball then Jab x (let the ball hit) x Target combo

Just merely messing around, not knowing that these combos would actually become part of a knockdown situation that's actually paramount to Sean's pressure on wake-up.....

The ball is essentially like Sean's St .LP in nature (+5 on hit and block) and is a confirm for many things. The ball's juggle counter is 1 that allows Sean to DP you (and/or super) if the ball hits you out of the air and he's in range. The ball can stuff out reversals since its active for so long before it hits the ground (granted the blow-through attack doesn't flat out destroy it but this depends on how much invincibility it has). A St. LP or Cr. LK after throwing the ball is upwards to +12 (or more) on block and hit which is just ridiculous.

There's a secret effect that ball has that no other taunt does (to my knowledge), where as soon as he recovers from throwing it, the push back on the first normal he press afterwards disappears. This allows him to land combos he isn't able to normally such as Cl. HK x Dragon Smash which gives him a strong high-parry only confirm. It also allows him to Cr. LK x2 into super from a range which would never work normally.

The best (and most threatening) thing about Basketball oki is the fact that he can throw out a light normal before the ball hits and be 99% safe due to the fact that its un-punishable on parry (red parry too). In the instance this happens say if they parry his St. LP while the ball is still in play, he is +5 still even on parry. If the opponent tries to mash through it, Sean can punish them for it since hes still at an advantage. If they mess up the parry on the ball then Sean can confirm into super off of it too. Its advisable to just block the set-up (since its still a strike throw mix-up), escape or try to blow through it with an invincible attack (granted the risk is still there since if Sean blocks then he can just punish you and put you right back into this same situation with SA2).

Another key aspect about this is being able to link together normals like Cl.MP xx Cl.HK/HP or Cr. LK x Cl.MP/HP/HK due to the ball's hit-stun. Basketball oki makes Sean's damage out-put and meter gain on the ground the same as his jump-in combos. 

These set-ups are the strongest in the corner after an SA2 since you have all the time in the world to time the taunt but they can also be done midscreen but it might require a kara taunt (lol).

When doing these set-ups, height of the opposing character has to be taken into account. The shorter the character, the more advantage Sean gains in these setups.

Basketball Setup Variations:

• Taunt + Meaty Hit
• Close to Mid range
• Taunt + Meaty UOH
• Taunt + Dash
• Taunt + Jump 
• AND1 (ball kill set-ups that knockdown to taunt again faster)
• Meaty Taunt
• Thrown to hit reversals after their invincibility runs out
• Taunt + Cross-up
  
• Taunt + Roll
• Taunt + Cross-up J. MK

 

St. LP xx BB hit Advantages

• Hugo - +10
• Q- +12
• Urien - +13
• Remy - +14
• Yang - +14 on block (+21 on block frame trap)/doesn't combo but gives a strong frame-trap
• Alex, Ken, Ryu, Sean, Gouki - +15 on block/+17 on hit
• Yun - +16 on block (+21 on block frame trap)/doesn't combo but gives a strong frame-trap
• Dudley- +16
• Necro - +17
• Ibuki, Oro, Chun, Elena - +17 on block/ +22 on hit frame trap
• Makoto - +19 on block/+21 on hit

Cl. MP - +6 on mak

Combo Routes 

St. LP xx BB: 

• Cl. MP x EX Tornado or Super
• Cl. HP/HK x Super
• LP Tackle 
• Against Makoto, this leaves Sean 0 on block/+2 on hit and allows you to walk a bit out of range of her normal throw; True string if committing to the tackle portion (she has to red parry)
• Against the +17 group, this is -2 on block/+2 on hit                        
• Cr. MK  x EX Tornado or Super
• Dash Forward
• Against Makoto,+6 adv after dashing on block/ +8 adv after dashing on hit
• Against the +17 group, this is +4 on block/+9 on hit frame trap
• Against the +16 group, this is +2 on block/+3 on hit frame trap

Cl. MP x BB:

• St. LP x MP Dragon Smash
• LP Tackle (Shorties and Crouchers only)
• DP (Shorties and Crouchers only)
• Cl.MP/HP/HK into Specials at your own discretion (Shorties and Crouchers only)
• SA2 

Cr. LK x BB:

• Same as above

Meaty Basketball Set-ups

Character	Shoryu Cannon (SA2)	Hyper Tornado (SAIII)	LP Dragon Smash	Back Throw
Chun-Li	MP Tackle Dash - Dash Forward cancelled into Taunt	Dash Forward Once	Walk Forward 1-2 frames	Impossible
Yun	Dash Forward Once then Kara HP Taunt	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Ken	Dash Forward Twice	Immediately	Impossible	Immediately (w/o Meter)
Makoto	LP or MP Tackle Dash - Dash Forward cancelled into Taunt	Dash Forward Once	Immediately	Impossible
Dudley	Immediately	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Yang	Dash Forward Once	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Akuma	Dash Forward Twice	Immediately	Impossible	Immediately
Urien	Dash Forward Twice and Delay	Impossible	Immediately	Impossible
Ryu	Dash Forward Twice	Immediately	Impossible	Immediately
Oro	LP Tackle Dash	Immediately	Immediately	Impossible
Elena	Dash Forward Once	Impossible	Impossible	Immediately
Ibuki	LP Tackle Dash	Impossible	Immediately	Immediately
Necro	Dash Forward Once	Impossible	Immediately	Immediately
Alex	LP Tackle Dash	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Remy	Dash Forward Once and Taunt after a frame of delay	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Q	Dash Forward Once	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Twelve	Dash Forward Once	Impossible	Impossible	Impossible
Hugo	LP Tackle Dash	Immediately	Immediately	Immediately
Sean	Dash Forward Twice	Immediately	Impossible	Immediately (W/o SA3)

Meter Gain

Mid Starter:

• Cl.MP x BB hit x Cl.HK x HK Tornado on crouching opponents does 72 damage and builds 56 points of meter
• Cl.MP x BB hit x Cl. MP x HP Dragon on crouching opponents does 60 damage and builds an EX
• Cl.MP x BB hit x HK (Delayed Target combo) does 25 damage and builds 22 points of meter

Low Starter:

• Cr. LK x BB hit x Cl. HK x MK/HK Tornado on crouching does 57/59 damage + builds an EX
• Cr. LK x BB hit x Cl. MP x HP Dragon on crouching does 48 damage and builds 31 Points of meter
• Cr. LK x BB hit x Cr. LK x MP Dragon does 26 damage and builds 22 points of meter

Throw: 21 damage - Forward/24 damage - Backwards and builds 8 points of meter