Friday, October 31, 2008

NBA RECAP 10/31/08

SIXERS 116, KNICKS 87
In case you were excited by the Knicks blowout of another lottery team, this should bring you back down to earth.

STUDS
Elton Brand (PHI)
Was total money from mid-range tonight, torching the Knicks for 24 pts and snagging 14 rebounds in a blowout win.

Andre Miller (PHI)
A line of 20/7/8 is as good as it gets for Dre.

Willie Green (PHI)
18 points on 8-10 shooting off the bench.

David Lee (NYK)
With 13/11/3 and 3 steals, he was the lone bright spot for NY.

DUDS
Zach Randolph (NYK)
Z-Bo scored only 12 points on 5-19 shooting. The Knicks were -28 points with him on the court. In case you didn't know, that's really, really, really bad.

RAPTORS 112, WARRIORS 108
Another close and entertaining game for the Warriors, they actually played "Tall Ball" for a change and made a feverish comeback with their defense before the offense fell off in overtime. The Warriors are essentially playing without a PG and are playing competitively, as if we needed more confirmation that Don Nelson is an offensive genius.

STUDS
Chris Bosh (TOR)
31 and 9 on 12-24 shooting. Tough to complain.

Andrea Bargnani (TOR)
You know he loved the pace of this game, as he scored 19 points off the bench (8-10 FG) and he even blocked 3 shots.

Al Harrington (GSW)
Little Al had 26 points and 11 rebounds, pouring in 6-12 from downtown as a matchup nightmare.

DUDS
Jermaine O'Neal (TOR)
Had as many points as he did fouls (5) as he shot 2-10.

HEAT 103, KINGS 77
Well, at least the Heat won't be the league's worst team as they manhandled a Sacramento team that should contend for that spot.

STUDS
Dwyane Wade (MIA)
Forget the 20/4/8 line. Wade had 4 steals and 4 BLOCKS tonight. He's back.

Jason Thompson (SAC)
Thompson had 10 pts and 7 reb (18 mins) off the bench, following up an 18 and 10 performance in the opener. Coach Reggie Theus said the player that rebounders will get to start. Thompson has outrebounded starter Mikki Moore in the first two games and could find himself starting soon. Remember when everyone was lambasting this draft pick?

DUDS
Kevin Martin (SAC)
9 points, 0 assists, and 5 turnovers. K-Mart is 7-27 from the field to start the season.

Beno Udrih (SAC)
2 points, 2 assists, and 5 turnovers. Remember when Marko Jaric got his mega contract? Why didn't Sacramento?

Mikki Moore (SAD)
As mentioned previously, Moore is on the verge of losing his starting job as he has grabbed only 3 rebounds in 2 games.

SWAHH!?
Mark Blount (MIA)
2-2 from 3pt range.

CELTICS 96, BULLS 80
The Boston defense held Chicago to a .298 FG%. There is no doubt the Bulls are still a middling offensive team, or that the Celtics are the best defensive team by leaps and bounds.

STUDS
Kevin Garnett (BOS)
The reigning defensive player of the year had 18 and 10, while completely shutting down the opposition.

Derrick Rose (CHI)
Was the only player who could score against the Celtic defense. Didn't post a great line (18-4-1) but in his 2nd game and against the defending champs, it's tough to be disappointed.

DUDS
Tyrus Thomas (CHI)
2-17 from the field. Semi-redeemed with 7-8 FT and his defense, but a Starksline is tough to swallow.

Luol Deng (CHI)
2-10 from the field. Were you expecting Boston's defense to fall off without James Posey? Think again.


GRIZZLIES 86, MAGIC 84
The Magic have not looked good in their first two games, losing to non-playoff teams.

STUDS
Rudy Gay (MEM)
Led the Grizz with 29 points.

DUDS
Dwight Howard (ORL)
14 pts and 14 rebs but 5 fouls and 5 turnovers. Should have dominated the Memphis frontline but did not.

Mickael Pietrus (ORL)
Didn't play a very smart game, with 5 fouls and 3 turnovers in only 17 minutes. He's not a shooting guard.

J.J. Redick (ORL)
Didn't score again, and seems to be losing his spot to Keith Bogans (27 mins, 7 pts).

NUGGETS 113, CLIPPERS 103

STUDS
Nene (DEN)
The Nuggets were +30 with Nene on the court. To put that into perspective, the next best player was Iverson w/ +10, and the worst was Nene's backup Chris Andersen at -17. That's was 22 pts (10-15 FG), 11 boards, and 3 blocked shots will do for you.

Kenyon Martin (DEN)
Gotta quote Yahoo for this one.
"Kenyon Martin missed nine of his first 10 shots and finished with 13 points. But he also grabbed 13 boards, made a key defensive stop to send the game into OT and made a 3-pointer in the final minute of the game to secure the victory."

Al Thornton (LAC)
30 points and 11 rebounds for the "Most Improved Player" favorite.

Tim Thomas (LAC)
20 points and 7 rebounds. Remember when his future was supposed to be full of games like that?

DUDS
Baron Davis (LAC)
Went down with a back injury and didn't return. Was easily the Clippers best player in his 13 minutes on the court though.

Jason Hart (LAC)
The Clippers were -25 with Hart in the lineup. Ya'think they missed Baron? Hart contributed 3 points, 2 assists, and 5 fouls in 29 minutes of play.

Cuttino Mobley (LAC)
14 points on 5-18 shooting. Chipped in 5 turnovers as well.

Ricky Davis (LAC)
Missed all four shots and finished with a 0-0-1 line off the bench. Paul Davis by comparison finished with 9-4-1.

BLAZERS 100, SPURS 99

STUDS
Brandon Roy (POR)
26-5-7. 3 steals, only one turnover to carry the Blazers to their first win over the Spurs in three years.

Nicolas Batum (POR)
Batum provided 12 points and 2 blocks off the bench after barely playing in the opener.

Tim Duncan (SAS)
27 and 10 for Big Fundamental.

Tony Parker (SA)
24 and 11 for Little Fundamental. They're going to put up huge numbers together until Ginobili comes back, but may not get many wins.

DUDS
Steve Blake (POR)
With only 6 points and 2 assists in 33 minutes, he's gonna have to do more to hold the job. Jerryd Bayless notably rode the pine tonight, but Blake couldn't capitalize.

An update on both ends

Ok, so I promised an update on Wednesday. Big mistake on my part. I underestimated how much time it would take to re-edit everything as there is so much more to edit now. I should have anticipated needing to spend time on team rotations during the edit process.

I only DLed the file and began using it as the base because it had new 3pt ratings for everyone, and figured I'd just start making changes and that way I could pick up any other unseen changes the Insider might have snuck in.

Unfortunately, there were no other changes other than the 3pt ratings, and it would have been much faster for me to just copy down everyone's new 3pt rating and adjust the existing file I had (which was overwritten).

So that's my reason for the lack of update. I'm going to get it up Friday night. For serious.

The 2K Insider, as if to strike me when I'm weakest and most foolish, posted his own update Friday morning. I took the time to review the file for any changes, and here they are.

BIG CHANGES
Mickael Pietrus: Position changed from SF to SG.


That's it.

Oh, and he updated the rotations for approx half the teams. Adam Morrison is still starting over Sean May. Nuff said.

I seriously question whether he spends more than one day a week working on this stuff. Don't bother downloading this, and head right to 2K Share. You don't even have to DL my roster. Just pick one at random and you'll probably get more realistic rotations.

Player Edit Checklist

I haven't added many players this week as I've been a bit overworked at the job and I pass out as soon as I get home. When I have been working, it's been to revise the 3pt ratings of players I previously edited as I pretty much have my criteria (and the criteria 2k was aiming for) in my head. There was also a bit of roster/rotation management as teams cut many players over the last couple days.

Players on NBA rosters: 242/455 (53.1% complete)
Previous: 234/458 (51.0% complete)

My rating with 2K Insider's rating in parenthasize

76ers 14/14
Elton Brand 91 (92)
Andre Iguodala 87 (87)
Andre Miller 84 (81)
Samuel Dalembert 81 (82)
Thaddeus Young 79 (78)
Louis Williams 78 (79)
Willie Green 77 (77)
Marreese Speights 76 (77)
Reggie Evans 74 (70)
Kareem Rush 74 (70)
Theo Ratliff 73 (75)
Royal Ivey 72 (69)
Jason Smith 70 (71)

Blazers 15/15
Brandon Roy 89 (88)
LaMarcus Aldridge 84 (85)

Greg Oden 83 (83)
Travis Outlaw 80 (79)
Rudy Fernandez 79 (78)
Channing Frye 78 (77)

Steve Blake 78 (78)
Jerryd Bayless 78 (78)
Martell Webster 77 (77)
Joel Przybilla 77 (74)
Ike Diogu 77 (73)

Sergio Rodriguez 74 (72)
Raef LaFrentz 71 (71)
Nicolas Batum 70 (70)
Shavlik Randolph 69 (68)

Bobcats 14/15
Emeka Okafor 86 (83)
Gerald Wallace 86 (84)

Jason Richardson 83 (83)
Raymond Felton 82 (81)
D.J. Augustin 78 (77)
Nazr Mohammed 78 (74)

Matt Carroll 76 ()
Sean May 75 (75)
Jared Dudley 74 (72)
Adam Morrison 72 (73)
Shannon Brown 70 ()
Andre Brown 69 (N/A)
Ryan Hollins 69 (67)

Alexis Ajinca 67 (N/A)

Bucks 10/15
Michael Redd 85 (86)
Richard Jefferson 83 (83)
Andrew Bogut 83 (79)
Ramon Sessions 77 (78)

Charlie Bell 77 (78)
Luke Ridnour 75 (73)

Tyronn Lue 75 (73)
Malik Allen 72 (75)
Austin Croshere 72 (73)
Damon Jones 67 (65)


Bulls 14/14
Luol Deng 84 (84)
Kirk Hinrich 84 (84)
Ben Gordon 84 (82)
Andres Nocioni 82 (80)
Derrick Rose 80 (80)
Larry Hughes 79 (79)
Drew Gooden 78 (76)
Tyrus Thomas 77 (73)
Joakim Noah 76 (74)
Thabo Sefolosha 75 (73)
Aaron Gray 74 (72)
Demetris Nichols 69 (N/A)
Michael Ruffin 67 (67)
Cedric Simmons 66 (66)

Cavaliers 14/15
LeBron James 99 (100)
Maurice Williams 85 (84)
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 85 (82)
Wally Szczerbiak 80 (79)
Delonte West 79 (77)
Ben Wallace 76 (78)
Anderson Varejao 75 (71)
Daniel Gibson 75 (74)
Sasha Pavlovic 74 (71)
Tarence Kinsey 74 (76)
J.J. Hickson 72 (74)
Lorenzen Wright 67 (68)
Darnell Jackson 67 (N/A)
Eric Snow 65 (N/A)

Celtics 15/15
Kevin Garnett 99 (99)
Paul Pierce 91 (92)
Ray Allen 86 (89)
Rajon Rondo 82 (83)
Kendrick Perkins 79 (75)
Leon Powe 79 (76)

Sam Cassell 78 (80)
Tony Allen 77 (76)
Eddie House 77 (74)
Gabe Pruitt 74 (73)
Glen Davis 72 (66)
Patrick O'Bryant 72 (64)
Bill Walker 72 (70)

J.R. Giddens 69 (69)
Brian Scalabrine 67 (64)

Clippers 9/15
Baron Davis 92 (94)
Chris Kaman 88 (86)
Marcus Camby 84 (88)

Ricky Davis 80 (78)
Eric Gordon 76 (77)
Jason Hart 74 (74)
Brian Skinner 73 (69)
Mike Taylor 72 (72)
Paul Davis 66 (63)
DeAndre Jordan 64 (64)

Grizzlies 7/14
Rudy Gay 85 (85)
Michael Conley 77 (77)
Kyle Lowry 77 (71)
Javaris Crittenton 73 (68)
Darko Milicic 73 (71)

Marc Gasol 71 (71)
Hamed Haddadi 68 (N/A)

Hawks 15/15
Joe Johnson 89 (89)
Josh Smith 89 (86)
Mike Bibby 83 (85)
Al Horford 82 (84)
Marvin Williams 79 (75)

Flip Murray 77 (74)

Maurice Evans 76 (72)
Speedy Claxton 75 (71)
Zaza Pachulia 73 (71)
Acie Law 72 (74)

Thomas Gardner 69 (N/A)
Mario West 67 (67)
Othello Hunter 67 (N/A)
Solomon Jones 66 (66)
Randolph Morris 65 (N/A)

Heat 4/15
Dwyane Wade 97 (97)
Mark Blount 75 (71)
Jamaal Magloire 71 (78)
Joel Anthony 66 (N/A)


Hornets 7/14
Chris Paul 98 (99)
David West 89 ()
Tyson Chandler 84 (85)
Peja Stojakovic 80 (80)
James Posey 79 (84)
Mike James 74 (74)
Sean Marks 67 (66)
Ryan Bowen 66 (N/A)

Jazz 7/15
Deron Williams 95 (94)
Carlos Boozer 92 (90)
Andrei Kirilenko 83 (80)

Mehmet Okur 80 (80)
Paul Millsap 80 (77)
Ronnie Price 78 (75)

Brevin Knight 78 (77)

Kings 3/15
Kevin Martin 86 (86)
Francisco Garcia 79 (75)
Beno Udrih 78 (76)


Knicks 16/16
Zach Randolph 84 (83)
Jamal Crawford 82 (80)
David Lee 81 (80)

Stephon Marbury 80 (80)
Nate Robinson 79 (78)
Chris Duhon 78 (78)
Quentin Richardson 75 (72)
Wilson Chandler 75 (71)
Danilo Gallinari 75 (76)

Eddy Curry 74 (74)
Anthony Roberson 72 (N/A)
Jared Jeffries 70 (66)
Malik Rose 70 (69)
Mardy Collins 70 (68)
Jerome James 66 (60)


Lakers 6/14
Kobe Bryant 101 (101)
Pau Gasol 90 (91)
Andrew Bynum 86 (86)
Lamar Odom 85 (85)
Derek Fisher 79 (78)
Sasha Vujacic 79 (80)


Magic 8/15
Dwight Howard 92 (93)
Hedo Turkoglu 85 (85)
Jameer Nelson 82 (80)
Rashard Lewis 79 (84) (Position Switch)
Anthony Johnson 75 (75)
Jeremy Richardson 71 (70)
Tony Battie 71 (66)
Marcin Gortat 66 (N/A)

Mavericks 5/14
Dirk Nowitzki 92 (91)
Jason Kidd 91 (92)
Erick Dampier 78 (76)
DeSagana Diop 76 (73)
JJ Barea 72 (72)

Nets 4/15
Devin Harris 85 (83)
Brook Lopez 76 (74)
Keyon Dooling 75 (75)
Josh Boone 73 (71)

Nuggets 10/14
Carmelo Anthony 94 (94)
Allen Iverson 93 (94)
J.R. Smith 80 (80)
Kenyon Martin 79 (76)
Nene 77 (78)
Linas Kleiza 76 (76)
Dahntay Jones 74 (72)
Chris Andersen 72 (68)
Renaldo Balkman 68 (65)
Steven Hunter 68 (72)

Pacers 8/15
T.J. Ford 86 (84)
Danny Granger 84 (85)
Mike Dunleavy 83 (80)
Jamaal Tinsley 81 (82)
Jarrett Jack 78 (75)
Travis Diener 75 (74)
Roy Hibbert 74 (72)
Jeff Foster 74 (70)

Pistons 5/15
Chauncey Billups 90 (90)
Rasheed Wallace 86 (85)
Antonio McDyess 81 (78)
Rodney Stuckey 78 (78)
Kwame Brown 72 (69)

Raptors 5/13
Jose Calderon 87 (87)
Jermaine O'Neal 86 (84)
Jamario Moon 76 (72)
Willie Solomon 74 (74)
Roko Ukic 73 (74)

Rockets 5/15
Tracy McGrady 94 (91)
Yao Ming 92 (94)
Rafer Alston 81 (81)
Brent Barry 78 (79)

Spurs 7/15
Tim Duncan 98 (97)
Manu Ginobili 92 (91)
Tony Parker 89 (88)

Kurt Thomas 80 (80)
Bruce Bowen 77 (78)
Ian Mahinmi 72 (N/A)
Jacque Vaughn 71 (69)

Suns 7/13
Steve Nash 94 (95)
Amare Stoudemire 92 (94)
Shaquille O'Neal 83 (84)
Leandro Barbosa 83 (86)

Robin Lopez 74 (75)
Goran Dragic 72 (74)

Sean Singletary 72 (72)

Thunder 12/15
Kevin Durant 83 (83)
Joe Smith 79 (74)
Earl Watson 78 (75)
Chris Wilcox 76 (74)
Nick Collison 76 (74)
Russell Westbrook 76 (77)
Damien Wilkins 76 (74)
Jeff Green 74 (74)
Johan Petro 73 (69)
Desmond Mason 72 (72)
Mouhammed Sene 68 (66)
Robert Swift 67 (66)

T'Wolves 1/15
Al Jefferson 89 (91)

Warriors 5/15
Monta Ellis 83 (87)
Andris Biedrins 81 (81)
Ronny Turiaf 78 (72)
Marcus Williams 74 (73)
C.J. Watson 72 (73)

Wizards 3/15
Gilbert Arenas 92 (95)
Caron Butler 91 (91)
Dominic McGuire 67 (67)

Free Agents
Alonzo Mourning 82 (82)
Darius Miles 74 (73)
Salim Stoudamire 73 (70)
D.J. Strawberry 72 (69)
JerMareo Davidson 71 (71)
Coby Karl 71 (71)
Luke Jackson 70 (67)
Dwayne Jones 70 (72)
Jackie Butler 70 (69)
Ronald Dupree 69 (68)
Keith McLeod 69 (67)
Patrick Ewing 67 (N/A)
Jamal Sampson 67 (62)

International
Scott Padgett 71 (75)

Retired
Corliss Williamson 71 (72)
Eric Piatkowski 68 (73)

Thursday, October 30, 2008

NBA RECAP 10/30/08

Rather than breaking down each game and then covering players after, it would be more organized to list my thoughts on each player as they are listed.


CAVALIERS 96, BOBCATS 76

GAME NOTES
The Cats shot 34% from the field against the stifling Cavs defense. They were winless in the preseason and didn't change much with the games counting. As good a coach as Larry Brown might (or might not) be, this could be another year like the one he had in NY. J.J. Hickson, D.J. Augustin, and Alexis Ajinca made their NBA debuts, while Adam Morrison made his return from a torn ACL.

STUDS
LeBron James (CLE)
22/9/9 is a typical James line. He'd have had a triple double had it not been a blowout.

Ben Wallace (CLE)
Big Ben had a field day against his former coach, and one has to think Cleveland would listen if Charlotte expressed interest in the former DPOY. He recorded 10 boards and 5 blocks in only 24 minutes of action.

Daniel Gibson (CLE)
Led the Cavs in scoring with 25 on 10-14 shooting (4-6 3PT). He only had 2 assists in 30 minutes, so he is a PG in name only, as Mo-Will, West, or LeBron are running the show with Gibson out there.

Jason Richardson (CHA)
J-Rich was the lone offensive bright spot for Charlotte. He scored 24 pts on 8-18 FG and notably, only 2-4 3PT. With Larry Brown around J-Rich isn't going to attempt anything close to the threes he did last year (which is probably a good thing).


DUDS
Raymond Felton (CHA)
Felton had 5 pts (1-10 FG) and 5 ast in 33 mins. His backup DJ Augustin had 12 pts, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers in his NBA debut. DJA won't have a shot at the starting job unless he cleans up his A/T ratio, but if that happens, add Felton to the trade block.

Sean May (CHA)
May had three of his six shots blocked, an indicator of just how out of shape he is right now. He finished with 2 points (0-6 FG) and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. He's the starter by default, which is difficult to comprehend given the depth at the position in the league. If there were ever a team that needed Ike Diogu, Shelden Williams, Stromile Swift, Chris Wilcox, or even Malik Rose, it's Charlotte.

Emeka Okafor (CHA)
Okafor had his shot blocked more frequently than any player in the league last year. When he was told about this, he was surprised and shrugged it off as a fluke. He was 2-6 tonight and two of those shots were blocked. Really, Emeka?

He did finish with 7 points and 12 boards, but from the looks of it with only 6 shots in 35 minutes it doesn't look like he'll be a featured offensive player under Larry Brown.


ROCKETS 112, MAVERICKS 102

GAME NOTES
Rockets big three lives up to the name; Rick Carlisle's Dallas' coaching debut ends with a loss.

STUDS
Yao Ming (HOU)
30-13-3 and shot 11-15 from the field against Dampier/Bass/Diop (also chipping in 8-8 FT). Were you expecting him to be tired from the Olympics?

Ron Artest (HOU)
Artest scored 29 points on 10-22 FG (3-4 3PT) and pulled down 7 rebounds. If T-Mac continues to struggle with injuries, Artest could replace him as the team's #2 scorer, and it wouldn't be a stretch to see Mac shipped out of town this offseason.

Aaron Brooks (HOU)
14 pts, 3 rebs, and 5 asts off the bench, and notably played over Alston down the stretch in the 4th quarter.

Dirk Nowitzki (DAL)
Expect a return to 26+ ppg and a high FG% for Nowitzki now that he has Avery Johnson off his back and he is playing with Jason Kidd in a Princeton styled offense (read: not a Devin Harris Isolation themed offense). Dirk had 36 points tonight on 10-22 shooting and a perfect 14-14 from the line.

Josh Howard (DAL)
Struggled when Kidd came to town but a summer of restructuring the offensive schemes seems to have paid off as Howard finished with 28-11-4 against Ron Artest.

DUDS
Rafer Alston (HOU)
Rafer had only 3 points (1-6 FG) and 5 assists in 28 minutes as he was outplayed by his backup. Players with off-court problems typically have short leashes so he'll need to pick it up to maintain his job.

SWAHHH!?
Carl Landry (HOU) - 8 pts (3-3 FG), 5 fouls, 8 minutes.

HORNETS 108, SUNS 95

GAME NOTES
Paul continues his dominance of Steve Nash. Suns shot 54% from the field and only scored 95 points, as they were killed by 24 turnovers.

STUDS
Chris Paul (NOH)
CP3 continues to play at an MVP level, in case you had doubts about last season. His line read 20-8-10 and he helped force Nash into 7 turnovers.

Morris Peterson (NOH)
21 points in 29 minutes is a good way to make a case for your job. 7-10 from the field and 3-4 from three, he led the Hornets in +/- with +17.

Amare Stoudemire (PHX)
21 and 12 for the new half-court Suns (Amare normally would have grabbed only 8 boards under such cirumstances last year). Failed to block a shot though.

DUDS
Leandro Barbosa (PHX)
With 2 points (1-6 FG, 0-5 3PT), 0 ast, and 3 TOs off bench, you can bet he misses Mike D'Antoni already.

SWAHH!?
Steve Nash (PHX)
Yes he had 24 points (9-16 FG) and dished 9 assists, but 7 turnovers helped bury the team (they had 24 turnovers to the Hornets 10).

Hilton Armstrong (NOH)
Started in place of Tyson Chandler, had 3 pts, 3 rebs, 3 blks, 4 fouls in 19 mins.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

NBA RECAP 10/29/08

RAPTORS 95, SIXERS 84

STUDS
Bosh (TOR) 27 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast
O'Neal (TOR) 17 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast
Dalembert (PHI) 9 pts, 17 rebs (28 mins)

DUDS
Bargnani (TOR) 0 pts (0-4 FG), 5 rebs, 2 blks.
The Sixers Offense (29-84 FG, .345 FG%; 5-20 3PT, .250 3PT%)

Toronto's frontline was too much for Philly even with Barg's no-show. With the Phillies World Series victory tonight, I doubt their fans noticed. (Side note: Had Tampa Bay been able to take it to game 7, it would have been the 2nd WS played in November).

I have serious questions about the Sixers as they aren't much improved if they don't have pre-injury Elton Brand. They still have poor floor spacing yet are expecting to operate more in the the half court, which doesn't exactly play to the team's strengths of guys like Miller, Iguodala, Young, or Lou-Will.

HAWKS 99, MAGIC 85

STUDS
Johnson (ATL) 25 pts (11-20 FG), 7 reb
Pachulia (ATL) 8 pts, 8 rebs (6 offensive), 5 fouls (12 mins)
Evans (ATL) 8 pts, 8 rebs (41 mins)
Howard (ORL) 22 pts (8-15 FG, 6-13 FT), 15 rebs (7 offensive), 5 stls, 5 blks
Pietrus (ORL) 20 pts


DUDS
Turkoglu (ORL) 13 pts (5-17 FG), 8 reb, 2 stl
Lewis (ORL) 11 pts, 5 rebs, 6 fouls (29 mins)
Nelson (ORL) 8 pts, 2 ast
Redick (ORL) 0 pts (0-4 FG, 0-3 3PT)

HOLY HELL DWIGHT HOWARD. If only you could learn how to shoot. Cuz until you do, (or develop a Shaq-esque post game) your team will never make the next step.

Pietrus had a good game but I have to think it was due to the struggles of Turk and Lewis. It seems like they could have used a floor general tonight as Nelson/Johnson combined for 5 of the team's 10 assists.

Redick was 0-4 which means he contributed absolutely nothing (well, except his usual poor defense.

Mo Evans got a shoutout because I'm assuming his defense against his former team in those 41 mins was invaluable. He was filling in for the suspended Marvin Williams. Despite his inclusion in the starting lineup, the Hawks' bench still dominated Orlando's 27-11.

NETS 95, WIZARDS 85

STUDS
Carter (NJN) 21 pts, 6 ast
Yi (NJN) 17 pts (7-11 FG, 2-2 3PT), 6 rebs, 2 ast, 2 blks
Hayes (NJN) 14 pts (6-9 FG, 2-3 3PT) 5 reb, 3 stl

DUDS
Jamison (WAS) 14 pts (6-18 FG, 1-11 3PT), 3 reb

Carter quietly led the team to victory. There were questions about whether or not he'd be up to the task due to his slacker M.O.

Yi had a great game as Sean Williams rode the bench all game. It would be great if those threes are more consistent this year. He completely outplayed Antawn Jamison tonight, as AJ seemed content to jack up threes tonight.

Hayes outplayed Simmons but it might have been due to his return to Washington. If he can keep it up he might get the starting job however.

KNICKS 120, HEAT 115

STUDS
Crawford (NYK) 29 pts (9-19 FG, 4-10 3PT, 7-10 FT), 4 reb, 4 ast
Chandler (NYK) 17 pts (8-15 FG), 9 rebs (4 offensive)
Randolph (NYK) 20 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 TO (30 mins)
Lee (NYK) 16 pts (6-9 FG, 4-5 FT), 11 reb (4 offensive), 5 ast, 1 stl
Richardson (NYK) 16 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast (5-9 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-4 FT)
Robinson (NYK) 13 pts, 3 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl
Wade (MIA) 26 pts (9-23 FG, 0-3 3PT, 8-9 FT), 7 rebs, 9 ast
Haslem (MIA) 23 pts (10-14 FG), 10 rebs (6 offensive)
Chalmers (MIA) 17 pts (7-13 FG, 2-4 3PT), 7 reb, 8 ast
Cook (MIA) 13 pts, 5 reb (20 mins)

DUDS
Beasley (MIA) 9 pts (4-14 FG, 1-5 3PT, 0-0 FT), 4 rebs, 0 ast, 3 TO
Marbury/Curry (NYK) DNP-CD
Gallinari (NYK) 0 pts (0-2 FG) (3 mins)

The Knicks offense was picture perfect while Miami just forced up shot after shot until the 4th quarter.... notably after they took "Beastley" out.

It was a close game as Zach Randolph floated on the perimeter, seemingly competing with Michael Beasley on who could hoist the most long-range jumpers to disrupt their team's offense. D'Antoni called time out and started force feeding Randolph in the post, whre Udonis Haslem was no match. This also allowed the Knicks to spread the floor some as Randolph wasn't his blackhole self, he made passes on seemingly every possession he didn't score or draw a foul.

Chandler was the absolute star of this game, living up to his Marion comparisons all night long showing his superior athleticism on hustle plays, putbacks, cuts to the basket, better handle than I realized, solid passing, and a respectable jumper.

Lee looks like the second coming of Boris Diaw in this offense. He crashes the boards with a vengence, cuts to the basket, and makes seamless passes to cutters out of the post. He even orchestrated the break THREE TIMES tonight. Chandler might have stood out because he was an unknown quantity coming in, but Lee was even more effective even before you take his help defense into account. It honestly wouldn't surprise me a bit if the 16/11/5 Lee had tonight ended up being his season average.

Gallinari looked inredibly timid which was understandable given that he hadn't played in months. It probably doesn't say much for Shaun Livingston's comeback that DG was guarding him and he couldn't exploit it. It seems D'Antoni will give him some run to try and get him up to speed, but it shouldn't be anything more than spot minutes until he drastically improves.

Speaking of spot minutes, who would've thought Gallinari would play more than Marbury after the preseason he had? It's tough to complain given how well everyone played tonight though. He won't get a chance until someone else screws up. Curry on the other hand, is as unusable as Jerome James at this point.

On the Heat side, Wade pounded the ball inside all game, and it seemed like everytime he got to the rim David Lee was there to force him to adjust his layup which led to some misses that kept him from having a 30-35 pt game. The doubling of Wade allowed Haslem to turn those misses into easy buckets after he crashed the boards. Still, Wade forced the action too much tonight and took some ill-advised shots. He didn't make much of an impact on the defensive end either, fouling Crawford on TWO three point attempts and eventually fouling out.

There was some question whether Mario Chalmers would get the start at PG over Chris Quinn. Chalmers posted a monster line and solidified his spot. Banks and Livingston got off the bench. Quinn never did. Think that question is answered.

The other Miami rookie however, Michael Beasley, played terribly and fell in love with the three point shot despite the Knicks complete lack of post defense. One has to hope that he'll figure it out as he goes along, but for the #2 overall pick there are now legit questions about his basketball IQ. Has there ever been a hog PF that shot 5 threes in his first ever NBA game? Not even Z-Bo was that bad in Portland. Beasley posted the worst +/- rating on the team (-14) and the Heat were able to make a comeback in the 4th with him riding the bench like Ronald Weasley in crunch time of a Harry Potter movie.

And regarding +/-, Daequan Cook was tops on the team, as he couldn't miss in the 4th quarter. I'm left wondering why Miami really felt the need to throw all that money and years at James Jones (who is out for 3 months).

BUCKS 98, OKC BLUNDER 87

STUDS
Redd (MIL) 20 pts
Jefferson (MIL) 20 pts (5-10 FG, 8-9 FT), 8 rebs
Villanueva (MIL) 20 pts (8-17 FG), 12 rebs, 5 TO, 6 Fouls
Wilcox (OKC) 15 pts (6-9 FG), 7 rebs (27 mins)

DUDS
Durant 12 pts (5-14 FG)
Green 7 pts (2-7 FG), 5 TO

RJ had a game we can expect more of from him. Nice to see him grab some boards as he was one of the worst rebounding SFs in the league last year.

Villanueva rebounded from last night's no-show though there was still a lot to dislike about his game, with 5 TOs and fouling out.

The Bucks had three players score 20 pts and they aren't going to lose often when they do that. But then, they also aren't going to face the worst team in the league every night.

Durant had a so-so game and they will need more just to compete with lottery bound teams like Milwaukee.

Wilcox reacted to his bench role well, he is a near lock to be traded before the deadline.

Westbrook had a decent game with 13/4/4. Beasley had 9/4/0 in 6 more mins tonight.


PISTONS 100, PACERS 94

STUDS
Prince (DET) 19 pts (8-15 FG)
Granger (IND) 33 pts (10-16 FG, 2-4 3PT, 11-12 FT), 5 reb, 2 stl, 3 blk

DUDS
Jack (IND) 9 pts (3-9 FG), 2 ast, 4 fouls, 26 mins

Granger was today's top scorer but it wasn't enough against the depth of Detroit. Mike Dunleavy sat this one out as Marquis Daniels started in his place.

Side Note: Stuckey played 16 mins after summer promises he'd get 30 mins, something I've called unrealistic since day one.

WOLVES 98, KINGS 96

STUDS
Jefferson (MIN) 21 pts, 10 reb, 2 blk
Love (MIN) 12 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk
Salmons (SAC) 24 pts, 5 rebs, 8 ast
Thompson (SAC) 18 pts (7-11 FG, 4-4 FT), 10 rebs
Hawes (SAC) 12 pts, 14 rebs, 6 blks

DUDS
Telfair (MIN) DNP-Suspended (Kevin Ollie played 16 mins in his absence. Seriously.)
Mlller (SAC) DNP-Suspended

Kings obviously didn't miss Brad Miller tonight. Had Martin shot better they walk away with a win.

SUNS 103, SPURS 98

STUDS
Stoudemire (PHX) 22 pts (8-11 FG), 8 rebs
Barbosa (PHX) 18 pts (26 mins)
O'Neal (PHX) 15 pts (5-10 FG, 5-8 FT), 13 reb, 2 blk
Nash (PHX) 13 pts, 13 ast
Duncan (SAS) 32 pts (13-21 FG, 6-10 FT), 6 reb, 3 ast
Parker (SAS) 32 pts, (13-24 FG, 6-8 FT) 5 reb, 5 ast

DUDS
Rest of Spurs (14-35 FG, .400 FG%)


Spurs are going to have trouble contending if health gets in their way. Manu is out and now Oberto is out which is a big hit to their depth.

Good to know Steve Nash still can't stop Tony Parker though.

ROCKETS 82, RIZZLIES 71

STUDS

Yao (HOU) 21 pts, 10 reb
Artest (HOU) 26 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl
Scola (HOU) 12 pts, 13 reb
Gasol (MEM) 12 pts, 12 reb, 2 blk
Arthur (MEM) 11 pts, 15 reb (27 mins)

DUDS
Mayo (MEM) 10 pts (5-20 FG, 0-7 3PT), 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl
Milicic (MEM) 2 pts, 2 reb (17 mins)

Again, compare Arthur to what #2 pick Beasley did tonight. At least Beasley wasn't the absolute worst rookie of the night, that goes to Mr. Mayo tonight.

Houston's big three were solid, if not spectactular against one of the NBA's doormats.

98 JAZZ, 94 NUGGETS

STUDS
Boozer (UTA) 25 pts (11-18 FG, 3-4 FT), 14 reb
Kirilenko (UTA) 16 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk (35 mins off bench)
Martin (DEN) 18 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk

DUDS
Nene (DEN) 11 pts, 4 reb, 4 TO, 6 fouls (26 mins)
Kleiza (DEN) 4 pts (1-8 FG, 0-4 3PT)

Kleiza filled the suspended Melo's spot in the lineup, but didn't fill his shoes.

Nene/Martin/Kleiza combined for 33 pts and 13 rebs. Boozer/Okur/Kirilenko combined for 54 pts and 30 rebs which should sum up how overmatched they were without Marcus Camby.

Speaking of Camby, his new team didn't fare much better.

LAKERS 117, CLIPPERS 79

STUDS
Bryant (LAL) 16 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast (30 mins)
Farmar (LAL) 15 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast (26 mins)
Fisher (LAL) 15 pts, 4 ast (21 mins)
Gasol (LAL) 13 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast
Bynum (LAL) 12 pts, 9 reb, 3 blk
Ariza (LAL) 11 pts (4-7 FG, 2-3 3PT)
Mihm (LAL) 10 pts (9 mins)
Thornton (LAC) 16 pts (7-15 FG)

DUDS
Kaman (LAC) 8 pts (3-9 FG), 5 reb, 4 TO, 5 fouls (30 mins)
Rest of the Clippers offense (23-63, .365 minus Thornton)

Seven Lakers scored in double figures. They shot 41-80 from the field and loggged 28 assists. They're for real.

As far as I'm concerned the big story here is Trevor Ariza hit two more threes which makes him 4-5 through the season's first two games. He had hit 9 total over his first 4 seasons. His career high is 5 threes in a season.

HORNETS 108, WARRIORS 103

STUDS
West (NOH) 24 pts (9-17 FG, 3-4 FT), 7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk
Paul (NOH) 21 pts (9-17 FG, 3-4 FT), 5 reb, 13 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk
Chandler (NOH) 13 pts (5-9 FG), 16 reb, 3 blk
Maggette (GSW) 27 pts (8-11 FG 2-4 3PT, 9-10 FT), 8 rebs
Jackson (GSW) 26 pts (9-24 FG, 5-12 3PT, 3-4 FT), 3 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl (48 mins!)
Azubuike 17 pts, 3 stl, 1 blk
Biedrins (GSW) 14 pts (5-8 FG, 4-10 FT), 12 rebs 6 fouls (29 mins)
Turiaf (GSW) 0 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 4 blk

DUDS
Everyone riding Golden State's pine.

I managed to catch glimpses of this well fought game while dozing off (I completely forgot that NBA League Pass is free at the beginning of the season!).

The Warriors minus Monta aren't going down without a fight. Maggette was very efficient and while Jackson won't be able to play every minute of every game with the success he had, he could come close on most nights.

What disenheartening is Biedrins is still a foul machine that can't shoot FTs. He would be good for 35 minutes if he didn't make so many poor fouls, which would be great for a guy who typically averages a double double in less than 30.

I've been touting Turiaf for awhile now as a great glue guy and he didn't disappoint tonight, contributing in other ways besides scoring. With Biedrins fouling propensity he's going to need to step up from time to time.

The Warriors went with a 7 man rotation, and one of those players (DeMarcus Nelson) only played 13 minutes. Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, Marco Belinelli, and Marcus Williams did not get off the bench. Nellie loves riding his starters but he's not gonna be able to do it for 82 games. Also, it probably says a lot about what Nellie thinks of Belly and Willy if C.J. Watson can tear his elbow and still get 30 seconds off the bench over them.

NBA RECAP 10/28/08

This will be a daily column of mine, which I will use to highlight the top performers of the day (in real life), noting players that could see a rise/decrease in ratings/tendencies.

CELTICS 90, CAVALIERS 85

STUDS
Pierce (BOS): 27 pts (10-19 FG)
James (CLE): 22 pts (9-21 FG, 0-4 3PT, 4-8 FT), 7 reb, 6 ast, 2 stls (36 mins)
Varejao (CLE): 9 pts, 9 reb (4 offensive), 3 stl (26 mins)

DUDS
R. Allen (BOS): 8 pts (2-9 FG), 4 TO (41 mins)
Hickson (CLE): DNP-CD

Ray Allen had another poor game against Cleveland, big suprise there. Fortunately for the Celtics, Cleveland hasn't figured out how to contain Paul Pierce yet. KG had a mediocre game which was the case against Boston last year, but you need to shut down all three to beat Boston.

The funny thing about LeBron's line is I actually consider it a disappointment. That sums up how scary good he is.

Varejao logged more minutes than Big Ben which could become a trend, especially if he continues to outperform him on both ends.

Hickson was late on opening night and lost his rotation spot to Lorenzen Wright. Should only be temporary (god-willing) and hopefully he won't have anymore hiccups on a team fighting for a playoff spot that is desperate for frontcourt offense. Leon Powe scored 13 pts in 23 mins, which is what Wallace/Varejao/Wright combined for in 55 mins.

BULLS 108, BUCKS 95

STUDS
Deng (CHI): 21 pts (8-13 FG)
Hinrich (CHI): 15 pts (5-10 FG, 2-4 3PT), 7 ast (26 mins)
Gordon (CHI): 18 pts (6-12 FG, 3-6 3PT) (26 mins)
Rose (CHI): 11 pts, 9 ast, 3 stl (32 mins)
Thomas (CHI): 15 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk (41 mins!)
Redd (MIL): 30 pts (10-19 FG, 4-8 3PT)

DUDS
Villanueva (MIL): 4 pts (1-5 FG), 3 fouls (9 mins)
Sessions (MIL): INACTIVE

I'm not gonna get too excited about the Bulls stats as the Bucks were the absolute worst defensive team in the league last season, and with their opponents shooting .485 in the preseason, they have hardly fixed this problem. Not only did the Bulls shoot over 50% from the field, but they also took a whopping 44 free throws!Redd/Ridnour is the absolute worst defensive backcourt in the league, and Bogut/Villanueva spent the majority of this game in foul trouble, which is bad news bears no matter how much of a defensive taskmaster your coach is. They've fired through a million coaches this decade because the team couldn't defend, and there comes a point where you have to put blame on the guys who take the court.

Still, it was nice to see Rose and Ty Thomas do well and they will have a close eye kept on them as the season progresses. That both Hinrich and Gordon both had good games off the bench is equally promising. Nocioni's minutes and production were hit hard by the game Tyrus had, and it remains to be seen if that's a trend.

I was surprised to see Sessions inactive, wasn't sure if he was nursing an injury or not (he didn't have the best preseason, but still...) I can understand Skiles sticking with Lue early in the year as Sessions isn't the most experienced guard in the world, but he certainly has the most upside of any PG in Milwuakee, and I'd certainly give him backup PG minutes over Charlie Bell. Maybe it was just a matchup thing since the Bulls have bigger/stronger guards. We'll see. Or maybe they were trying to avoid getting drawn into a stat padded blowout loss against the Bulls. There'll be plenty of time for that in April.

LAKERS 96, BLAZERS 76

STUDS
Bryant (LAL): 23 pts (9-17 FG), 11 rebs, 5 ast
Radmanovic (LAL): 8 pts (3-4 FG, 2-3 3PT), 5 rebs, 4 stls!
Ariza (LAL): 11 pts (4-7 FG, 2-2 3PT), 2 blks
Outlaw (POR): 18 pts (8-15 FG)
Fernandez (POR): 15 pts (5-10 FG, 3-5 3PT), 4 ast, 2 stl

DUDS
Oden (POR): 0 pts (0-4 FG), 5 rebs, 1 blk, 2 fouls (13 mins)
Frye (POR): 0 pts (0-7 FG), 4 fouls (17 mins)

The Blazers looked incredibly overmatched against the Lakers supreme depth and talent, as they struggled to create shots all game long. I've been saying for awhile now that the Blazers are a borderline playoff team and will not be challenging for a top seed in the west. They are just too young and lack the star power right now. Three years from now look out, but they still have a lot of growing to do.

That they aren't exactly a beacon of health doesn't help either. Oden left this one with an ankle injury and you have to wonder if he's gonna head straight to the lockerroom after any minor injury throughout the season. The Lakers are obviously a tough challenge, but it looks like the Blazers are gonna treat him with kid gloves throughout the year, and why shouldn't they, this year doesn't mean anything, it's the next ten that do.

On the positive note for Portland, Rudy Fernandez had a good game and he should contend for sixth man honors if he keeps putting up lines like that.

Oden/Thrilla/Aldridge/Frye were a combined 6-27 from the field (and 0-5 from the line). This is what happens when weak post offense meets strong post defense. They might be able to get by without Oden against some teams, but not against the team favored to win the championship this year.

The Lakers shut down the middle on defense as Portland hit only 19-60 from 2pt range and only attempted 14 free throws (compared to 24 threes).

I was most impressed with Trevor Ariza. I remember in NY this guy was bricking 15 footers off the side of the backboard. He was 2-2 on threes today which is a testament to how hard he's worked on his shot and he deserves a ton of credit. I could be cliche and say he has a chance to be a Bowen/Posey type contributor but the truth is he can be even more since he can actually take the ball to the basket and finish strong, as well as crash the boards.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Banned again at 2K Sports

You have been banned for the following reason:
Flaming the Real 2K insider will not be allowed... you ignored my PM... this is Ron btw.

Date the ban will be lifted: November 17th, 2008, 05:00 PM



Ron seems to be confused. Telling the truth about a shit service =/= flaming.

What's funny is I've restricted all talk about the 2K Insider to this blog. So not only am I banned for telling the truth, I am banned for things I did not even say on the forum.

LOL

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Hottest Starters!

Living Rosters - You'll never be late on a trade again. Constant updates from the NBA 2K Insider guaranteee you're playing with the most current roster and the hottest starters.

Rather than scoff over the use of the word "Constant" or guarantees over the most current roster minus 40 players we're too lazy to add, I figured I'd focus on the latter portion of this advertisement.

Let's look at the latest update brought to you by the 2K Insider.


SIXERS: Miller, Iguodala, Young, Brand, Dalembert
ACTUAL: Miller, Iguodala, Young, Brand, Dalembert

That's one.

BLAZERS: Bayless, Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge, Oden
ACTUAL: Blake, Roy, Batum, Aldridge, Oden

Blake has started every preseason game he's played and was the starter last year. Bayless has started 3 times in 7 games, and one of those starts was at SG. Batum is going to start in Webster's absence as they want Fernandez, Outlaw, etc to retain their consistent bench roles.

BOBCATS: Felton, Richardson, Morrison, Wallace, Okafor
ACTUAL: Felton, Richardson, Wallace, May, Okafor

Adam Morrison starting? You've got to be ****ing me. He didn't even start before he tore his ACL. He has yet to start this preseason. Sean May has started every game this preseason. In case you were wondering, Morrison has 30 rotation minutes set, and May 0.

BUCKS: Ridnour, Redd, Jefferson, Villanueva, Bogut
ACTUAL: Ridnour, Redd, Jefferson, Villanueva, Bogut

That's two.

BULLS: Rose, Hinrich, Deng, Thomas, Gooden
ACTUAL: Rose, Hinrich, Deng, Thomas, Gooden

I'm a little surprised they have this one. That's three.

Michael Ruffin wasn't added, so injured Larry Hughes is still on the active roster.

CAVALIERS: Williams, Szczerbiak, James, Wallace, Ilgauskas
ACTUAL: Williams, West/Pavlovic, James, Wallace, Ilgauskas

The Cavs SG spot is still up for grabs, but it's been made pretty clear that Wally ain't in the running. Pavlovic has started 4 of 5 games while West has started twice but has impressed in each.

Dwayne Jones is still on the team for who knows what reason.

CELTICS: Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins
ACTUAL: Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins

Not exactly a toughie.

CLIPPERS: B. Davis, R. Davis, Thornton, Camby, Kaman
ACTUAL: B. Davis, Mobley, Thornton, Camby, Kaman

Baron/Camby have been hurt this preseason but should be back for the regular season. Hart started in place of Baron and Skinner/Paul Davis in place of Camby. Ricky however has been healthy and has come off the bench behind tenured starter Mobley, something that won't change in the regular season..

GRIZZLIES: Conley, Mayo, Gay, Warrick, Milicic
ACTUAL: Conley, Mayo, Gay, Gasol, Milicic

I have to think common sense will prevail and Warrick will eventually start over one of these stiffs, however as it stands Darko/Gasol have started every game this preseason.

HAWKS: Bibby, Johnson, Williams, Smith, Horford
ACTUAL: Bibby, Johnson, Williams, Smith, Horford

Another easy one. That' five. Good to see Jeremy Richardson is on the Hawks even though he made Orlando yesterday.

HEAT: Quinn, Wade, Marion, Haslem, Blount
ACTUAL: Chalmers, Wade, Marion, Beasley, Haslem

Haslem is expected to start at C over Blount to get Beasley in the lineup. Chalmers is expected to start to get Quinn out of the lineup.

Can anyone tell me why the unsigned Zo is still on this team? Oh right, because they're too lazy to add the player who actually fills his roster spot.

HORNETS: Paul, Peterson, Stojakovic, West, Chandler
ACTUAL: Paul, Peterson, Stojakovic, West, Chandler

I'm half surprised they don't have the 84 overall Posey starting over Peterson (75) or Peja (80).

JAZZ: Williams, Brewer, Kirilenko, Boozer, Okur
ACTUAL: Williams, Brewer, Miles, Boozer, Okur

Miles has started every game over Kirilenko this preseason (AK47's one start came at PF with Booze out). Kirilenko is the 6th man this year.

KINGS: Udrih, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Miller
ACTUAL: Udrih, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Miller

This is one to keep an eye on. Hawes has outplayed Miller in the preseason and the job will be his to start the season thanks to Miller's drug suspension. He may keep it throughout the year.

KNICKS: Duhon, Crawford, Richardson, Lee, Randolph
ACTUAL: Duhon, Crawford, Richardson, Lee, Randolph

Marbury is the sixth man on this team. Why the hell is he still inactive over Jerome James who hasn't even played this preseason (or the previous season)? Gallinari has yet to play this preseason yet he has 20 rotation minutes to Wilson Chandler's zero.

LAKERS: Fisher, Bryant, Radmanovic, Gasol, Bynum
ACTUAL: Fisher, Bryant, Radmanovic, Gasol, Bynum

That's 9.

MAGIC: Nelson, Bogans, Turkoglu, Lewis, Howard
ACTUAL: Nelson, Pietrus, Turkoglu, Lewis, Howard

Pietrus has started every game over Bogans.

MAVERICKS: Kidd, Terry, Howard, Nowitzki, Dampier
ACTUAL: Kidd, Wright, Howard, Nowitzki, Dampier

Wright has started 6 of 8 games this preseason. Terry started 1 of 7. He is the primary backup at both guard spots, very necessary for PG since the only thing behind Kidd otherwise is JJ Barea.

NETS: Harris, Carter, Yi, Williams, Lopez
ACTUAL: Harris, Carter, Simmons, Yi, Lopez

I still have no idea where 2k gets the idea Yi is a SF. Simmons started every game there this preseason and the job was his the moment he was acquired.

NUGGETS: Carter, Iverson, Anthony, Martin, Nene
ACTUAL: Carter, Iverson, Anthony, Martin, Nene

That's 10.

PACERS: Ford, Dunleavy, Granger, Murphy, Nesterovic
ACTUAL: Ford, Dunleavy, Granger, Murphy, Nesterovic

Any starts Dunleavy misses with his balky knee will go to Marquis Daniels.

PISTONS: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, McDyess, Wallace
ACTUAL: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Johnson, Wallace

Seriously? Amir Johnson was announced as the starting PF two weeks ago. Amir started every game this preseason. McDyess? 1 of 8.

RAPTORS: Calderon, Parker, Moon, Bosh, O'Neal
ACTUAL: Calderon, Parker, Moon, Bosh, O'Neal

I'm half surprised Moon survived between updates.

ROCKETS: Alston, McGrady, Artest, Scola, Yao
ACTUAL: Alston, McGrady, Artest, Scola, Yao

It is literally a crapshoot who starts if McGrady isn't ready to go, my guess is they go with Head.

SPURS: Parker, Finley, Bowen, Duncan, Oberto
ACTUAL: Parker, Finley, Bowen, Duncan, Thomas

Oberto started 2 of 5 games, Thomas 3 of 4. They will most likely alternate depending on the matchup.

SUNS: Nash, Bell, Hill, Stoudemire, O'Neal
ACTUAL: Nash, Bell, Barnes, Stoudemire, O'Neal

It's not like we heard all summer Hill was going to have a bench role.

THUNDER: Westbrook, Durant, Green, Wilcox, Petro
ACTUAL: Watson, Durant, Green, Wilcox, Petro


Interesting note: Thunder.com is 5 games behind on it's preseason stats. I think we just identified the 2K Insider!


WOLVES: Foye, Miller, Brewer, Love, Jefferson
ACTUAL: Foye, Miller, Brewer, Gomes, Jefferson

Love started 1 of 8 games this preseason. By comparison, Mark Madsen started 5 of 8 games.

Note to Insider - Kevin Ollie made the team, not David Harrison.

WARRIORS: Watson, Jackson, Maggette, Harrington, Biedrins
ACTUAL: Nelson, Jackson, Maggette, Harrington, Biedrins

Watson started all of one game this preseason before getting injured. Nelson has started three. But I guess it's tough to make a player you didn't even add to the rosters a starter.

Word is Stephen Jackson could start at PG with Azubuike at SG but I'll believe it when I see it (Azubuike has yet to start this preseason).

WIZARDS: Daniels, Stevenson, Butler, Jamison, Thomas
ACTUAL: Daniels, Stevenson, Butler, Jamison, Thomas

That makes 14 of 30 teams with accurate starting lineups. You know what, I'm a good sport, I'll give him the Spurs so he's got 15.

Living Rosters - You'll be late on a couple trades here and there. Bi-monthly updates from the NBA 2K Insider guaranteee you're playing with the most current roster minus any players we are too lazy to add, and the hottest starters for only half the team's in the NBA.

Somehow, I don't think this would sell many games if it were on the back of the box.

REAL 2K INSIDER Version 2.0 to drop on NBA Opening Night!

With the new roster out I am going to apply all my changes to that since it has all the updated 3pt ratings (rather than going through my roster and changing each players 3pt rating one by one). I don't have much time to edit this weekend, but I'm going to do everything I can to get 2.0 up in time for NBA Opening Night on Wednesday.

Note: I held off on releasing 1.6 when I caught wind of 2K finally releasing a roster update. It is now effectively canceled as I will be focusing solely on version 2.0.

NBA 2K9 Roster 10/20/08 (aka 2K Insider's hard work)

The roster was finally released after weeks of clamoring for it. Here are the changes the 2K Insider made.

NO MORE JOKE THREE POINT RATINGS
I'm LMAO right now, the Insider's 3pt changes in the default roster were so hated that they have seemingly reverted back to the previous scale. From my pre-2k9 research I realized that most players were getting a +2 or +3 boost to their 3pt rating even if they didn't edit the rest of their ratings. Why they did this, I have no idea, but it backfired hardcore and they seem to have abandoned it.

THE RETURN OF GABE PRUITT
After I and many others criticized 2k's decision to remove Pruitt and others from the default roster, the Insider was forced to bring them back. Not only is Pruitt back, but so is Eric Snow (should be on Cleveland taking up cap space as he's still on the roster), Jason Williams, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

AUSTIN CROSHERE ISN'T REALLY LARRY LEGEND?
Well, at least I know who one of my readers is. Croshere took a 10 point hit in mid-range shooting. Mickael Gelbale remains an 88. Just wanted to remind you that Kobe Bryant is an 87.

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE = BETTER SHOT BLOCKER THAN THRILLA GORILLA PRZYBILLA

Aldridge: 81 block (from 68)
Przybilla: 79 block
Oden: 86 block

If you recall my note on Al Horford where the Insider raised his block rating for no discernable reason in his previous roster "update", the Insider did the same thing to Aldridge here. He has a higher block rating than Joel Przybilla, and if you're a Blazers fan, you know that is just plain stupid.


WHAT THE 2K INSIDER DID NOT CHANGE

Everything else.

I'm dead ass. This joke update was two weeks in the making and did not include a single missing player. The only thing they did was fix all the ****ing mistakes they made between 2k8 and now (deleting players instead of releasing to FA pool, and the 3pt ratings). There were literally only two players who had a non-3pt attribute changed, and only one of them actually deserved it. Everything else is exactly the same save for a shoddy job on player movement. Dwayne Jones for example, is still on the Cavs, meanwhile the guy was cut by Orlando two days ago. I expect this **** out of a third grader making rosters, not a supposedly paid professional.

These are EXACTLY the same suck ass online roster updates that 2K has been giving since it's inception, except they are hyping the **** out of them solely for the purpose of competing with NBA Live, which actually has a "Living Roster".

There are 168 hours in a week, 336 in two.
Hours 2K spent on this the last two weeks: 6

Don't stand for 2K pulling the wool over your eyes. Boycott this garbage and download another roster from 2k Share, be it mine, OS Outsiders, Vyaras, WHOEVER. There are numerous people out there who put out more time of their own will and yet 2K continually refuses to take advantage of it's willing supporters. It is shameful that they are using this as a selling point for the game. Once again, I will use the back of my box as a reference.

Living Rosters - You'll never be late on a trade again. Constant updates from the NBA 2K Insider guaranteee you're playing with the most current roster and the hottest starters.

Sorry, I don't see it. And it's not because I'm a cynical prick.

EDIT: Caught wind of another Insider edit.

Samuel Dalembert: 73 post off (from 68)

Amazing.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

3pt Rating Nonsense, Part I

I'm collecting 3pt data because I'm wicked cool, not because I have a player edit addiction. Since 2k is not rating based solely on percentage, we need to figure out their new standards/criteria in order to rate players accurately now.

3PM36 = Threes made per 36 mins, as per basketball-reference.com
3PA36 = Threes attempted per 36 as you probably guessed
3PT% = If you don't know, you're probably lost.
Rate = 2k9 default rating (NOT MY RATING)
JmpAst = % of 2pt + 3pt jumpers that were assisted, as per 82games.com.
3ptAst% = % of 3pt jumpers that were assisted. Not available for all players (hence the need for JmpAst)

Blogger.com by the way is the joy of my life and does not allow for the data to be presented in any other way than mush. Persevere.

EXAMPLE #1
Player 3PM36 3PA36 3PT% Rate JmpAst% 3ptAst%
R. Allen 2.5 6.2 .398 94 70% 80%
S. Stoudamire 2.6 7.6 .341 91 73% 82%
M. Bibby 2.3 6.1 .369 89 65% 92%
E. House 2.8 7.2 .393 87 76% 90%

Ray Allen of course, has a high rating. Why not, hey, the guy is a good shooter and 2k fans cried en masse when Ray didn't have a 90 3pt rating last year. Few people picked the Celtics online last year, meanwhile when Ray had 90+ 3pt rating the Sonics were one of the most popular online picks even though their front court consisted of Nick Collison, Danny Fortson, and your pick of garbage centers.

But should he really that high? 5 pts from the max is a lot for a guy who only hit 40% of his threes. That's not such a huge accomplishment anymore. And he did this with KG and Pierce drawing quite a bit of attention, one would have hoped that no longer being the #1 guy would have raised his percentages substantially... they did not.

Eddie House put up a similar 3pt%, and hit slightly more threes per minute. That he was assisted 10% more on his threes, does that really warrant a 6 point difference given their comparative similarities?

Mike Bibby does not compare favorably to Eddie House, as he shot a lower percentage, made fewer threes, and was even assisted on more threes. Yet he has a higher 3pt rating than House.

Salim Stoudamire, I don't think we need to talk about really. His percentage compared to House's speaks for itself. He is only a career .366 3pt shooter and his career high is .380 so there is obviously no way he should have a higher 3pt rating than House. If anything Salim is still trying to prove he can cut it in the league as a House type of player. And it should be fairly clear Salim does not deserve to be within 3 pts of Allen.

So the question becomes: Which of these players is overrated? Or is House underrated? To answer, we need more data. Tomorrow I'll post a followup with some more data, I just want to collect a wee bit more for discussion purposes.

Thoughts?

Monday, October 20, 2008

A solution to the 3pt issue

I've been tinkering with the Hawks for the last few hours.

Here's the results of a season I ran (No injuries, progrssive fatigue, or any other association factor).

Hawks 3pt (Real Life 07-08 adjusted per 82 gms in parenthasize)
J. Johnson: 169-434, .389 (169-444, .381)
M. Bibby: 152-376, .404 (171-464, .369)
M. Evans: 94-231, .411 (96-243, .396)
J. Smith: 26-119, .218 (25-99, .253)
F. Murray: 24-90, .266 (39-123, .317)
A. Law: 15-41, .365 (10-49, .206)
M. Williams: 11-31, .354 (1-10, .100) - I boosted his 3pt shooting bc he's worked on it over the summer. He's 4-9 in 4 preseason gms.

Totals 491-1322, .371 (511-1432, .356)

I have it to the point where they actually shot less than real life. The only reason the percentage was higher is Law and Williams overachieved compared to their low ratings (65 and 63 respectively).

I got this with some vigorous player tendency adjusting as well as some slight adjustments to some 3pt ratings. Not sure if the team sliders I adjusted earlier had any impact, I was working on those first to unsatisfactory results before sitting down and meticulously analzying the tendencies of the entire team.

Unfortunately it's so time consuming I probably wouldn't be able to complete every team like that (in addition to having every player edited) for another two months.


Edit:
For comparison's sake, I downloaded the critically acclaimed OS Outsiders 1.0 roster and ran the same sim. Here are the results.

Hawks 3pt (Real Life 07-08 adjusted per 82 gms in parenthasize)
J. Johnson: 178-461, .386 (169-444, .381)
M. Bibby: 119-354, .336 (171-464, .369)
M. Evans: 81-213, .380 (96-243, .396)
J. Smith: 33-97, .340 (25-99, .253)
F. Murray: 31-69, .449 (39-123, .317)
M. Williams: 28-74, .378 (1-10, .100)
A. Law: 16-60, .266 (10-49, .206)
Totals 486-1328, .365 (511-1432, .356)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

REAL 2K INSIDER ver 1.5

PLAYER EDITS

Blazers
Nicolas Batum 70 (70)

Cavaliers
Ben Wallace 77 (76)
Ronald Dupree 69 (68)
Lorenzen Wright 67 (68)
Eric Snow 65 (N/A)

Celtics
Leon Powe 79 (76)
Tony Allen 77 (76)
Darius Miles 74 (73)
Bill Walker 72 (72)
Brian Scalabrine 67 (64)

Hornets
Mike James 74 (74)

Jazz
Carlos Boozer 92 (90)
Mehmet Okur 80 (80)
Paul Millsap 80 (77)

Kings
Beno Udrih 78 (76)

Pacers
Danny Granger 84 (85)
Mike Dunleavy 83 (80)

Raptors
Willie Solomon 74 (74)
Roko Ukic 73 (74)

Spurs
Tim Duncan 98 (97)
Manu Ginobili 92 (91)
Kurt Thomas 80 (80)
Bruce Bowen 77 (78)

Suns
Leandro Barbosa 83 (86)

100% COMPLETED
76ers
Bulls
Cavaliers
Celtics
Hawks
Knicks

Thursday, October 16, 2008

2K Insider: The Mystery!


User profile is hidden.


OOOOOOOOOH SCARYYYY!


goillini413 wrote
on Oct 15 2008 12:15 PM
Are you going to give us any insight as to what your rating changes might be??? I don't think 2k is paying you to predict who will win the championship two weeks before tipoff... I thought your job was to make these rosters as realistic as possible. Some advice for your next entry: Lead some discussion about individual players, see what they should be rated and adjust as needed. Dare I say it but Rashidi is owning you right now.


Goillini raises a great point. Anybody could write a substanceless article on who the top teams are this year. We already know the Rockets are good, if you've played online 50% of your gmaes are against the Rockets... And dropping my name like that is equivlanet to stat padding your blowout victory you Ricky Davis showboating bastard. Play fair.

2K Insider wrote
on Oct 15 2008 12:21 PM
No doubt player ratings will be the main topic of discussion once the season starts. I don't think pre-season is enough to warrant signficant changes to the shipped ratings.


Translation: These ratings are not fundamentally flawed. You guys are obviously smoking something you got from the stranger on the corner with the orange colored blog.

daveeboy33 wrote
on Oct 16 2008 07:01 AM
What about the raptors??? Why have they consistently been rated garbage in 2K games???? can you please explain this to me... They are an offensive firepower...there defense does leave a lot to be desired but they were one of the best overall scoring teams were they not?


All valid points. To add to that - why don't they have a center?

2K Insider wrote
on Oct 16 2008 09:16 AM
I did mention the Raptors...look again. ;)


Translation: I'm a smug mother ****er. Let me quote the rating analysis in my article: "The dark horse in the East are the Raptors, with the addition of Jermaine O'Neal and Jose Calderon running point full-time." Did you like how I avoided your question WINK? ;) ;) ;)

2K Insider wrote
on Oct 16 2008 09:20 AM
The server issues are being addressed and have been since launch. We are fully aware that they are a problem and hope to fix them soon. That said, let's keep the discussion limited to player ratings and my blog comments.


Translation: If you thought I was going to take initiative, you've got another thing coming. Let's keep the discussion limited to player ratings even though this is my third post and I haven't mentioned a peep about them.

daveeboy33 wrote
on Oct 16 2008 09:22 AM
So instead of saying they might be the dark horse...lets get those ratings up a bit...they are definitely top 5 teams in the east...although your the expert so I will listen to what you have to say:) 2K insider...do you agree or not agree with the ratings the Raptors have currently in 2K9?


Drum roll.

2K Insider wrote
on Oct 16 2008 09:38 AM
I think the Toronto player ratings are fair and translate to gameplay. In fact, in a recent office tournament, I chose them as my squad and made it to the finals.


1. It took you 16 minutes to generate that detailed response.

2. It is nearly universally accepted that Jamario Moon is screwed up. He doesn't even meet your rating scheme by any standard. He is as bad as Joey Graham for chrissake.

3. You're a goddamn liar, because according to 2K Forum Admin Ron (then again, not the most reliable source of info), you've been going to NBA training camps across the country. You've been in the office for all of one day. This is essentially implying that rather than get to work on the ratings, the first thing you had to do upon your arrival was play your co-workers in a video game tournament. Guess how many people would have rather you got blown out in the first round so you could get to work already?

daveeboy33 wrote
on Oct 16 2008 09:46 AM
Fair enough. I rest my case. Man you got a good job:)


Yeah, I guess I'm jealous that I don't have office tournaments my first day back on the job.

2K Insider wrote
on Oct 16 2008 09:53 AM
I think the Toronto player ratings are fair and translate to gameplay. In fact, in a recent office tournament, I chose them as my squad and made it to the finals.


It took ANOTHER 15 minutes to make a DOUBLE POST? Seriously?

RyanP wrote
on Oct 16 2008 10:00 AM
Is adding faces and portraits for new players added to the roster possible with your updates or are all new players going to be caps? Also a quick note, Cheikh Samb, Will Bynum, and Alec Acker need to be added to the Pistons. They all have guaranteed contracts I do believe.


Great question Ryan. So far the selling point of the Living Rosters has been adding animations mid-season, so you'd think adding a player's face would be reasonable too, right?

2K Insider wrote
on Oct 16 2008 10:04 AM
Unfortunately, all new players to the roster will have generic heads. I hear you on the Pistons.


So much for that one. At least he acknowledged three of them are missing. Should we take bets on how many he adds?

Also if added players are getting generic faces, what exactly is there that seperates what the 2K Insider is doing from what dedicated users are doing on 2K Share?


That is the entirety of his communication with the public thus far. Three unique replies in one hour.

Number of replies that dealt with player ratings: Zero.

I've set the bar very low for this guy, and even then he is still disappointing me. He is doing exactly the bare minimum job I expected.

Yeah Rashidi, you're a hater, you're jealous, leave this guy alone he hasn't had a chance yet, blah blah blah. I'm just calling it like I'm seeing it. It would not surprise me one bit if George W. Bush were the 2K Insider. We keep getting told that this guy is ultra-qualified, he knows the NBA, he knows video game ratings... I think I speak for the NBA VG community when I say: WHEN IS HE GOING TO SHOW IT?

Newsworthy NBA 2k9 stuff

1. Due to a change in employment, I will likely have less editing time available. Good for me, bad for you.

2. Because I will be especially busy tomorrow, I opted not to set a 1500 DL count for the next roster (version 1.5). This time I will probably wait until 1800-2000 due to the lack of time that would give me between revisions. Next update will probably be some time Saturday.

3. Number Two made his debut here. I guess I'll need more cookie cutter analysis if I can ever hope to keep up.

4. One of the things on my to do list is to get a checklist going for who I've edited so users can easily check the file progress, and compare to the hired goon whose trying to put me out of business.

5. Not really newsworthy but I still suck at HTML and could use all the help I can get spiffying up the blog. It's a one-man operation right now which always has it's pros and cons. We're dealing with some of the cons right now but who said Roster Editing didn't have bumps?

REAL 2K INSIDER ver 1.4

ROSTERS
Eddie Jones agreed to mutual buyout with Indiana.
Donell Taylor cut by Bobcats


PLAYER EDITS

Blazers
Brandon Roy 89 (88)

Celtics
Kevin Garnett 99 (99)
Ray Allen 86 (89)
Gabe Pruitt 72 (73) - Rashidi giveth what the Insider taketh away
Bill Walker 72 (70)

Clippers
Brian Skinner 73 (69)
Paul Davis 66 (63)
DeAndre Jordan 64 (64)

Grizzlies
Michael Conley 77 (77)
Kyle Lowry 77 (71)
Javaris Crittenton 73 (68)

Hawks
Al Horford 82 (84) - The 2K Insider raised Horford to an 84 in his only update so far. I don't undertand it at all though. The only thing he did was raise his block to a 79 from 65. The thing is all the other players' block ratings are done to scale and Horford was exactly where he should have been at 65. Shot blocking was not one of his specialties coming into the league. Bogut is tops on the Bucks with 75, Hilton Armstrong is tops on the Hornets with 73, so you know they aren't giving it out like they used to. So why did he break the trend with Horford of all people? Who knows.
Maurice Evans 77 (72)
Flip Murray 77 (74)
Zaza Pachulia 73 (71)
Thomas Gardner 69 (67)
Mario West 67 (67)
Solomon Jones 66 (66)

Heat
Mark Blount 75 (71)

Jazz
Brevin Knight 79 (77)

Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki 92 (91)

Pacers
Austin Croshere 72 (73) - In FA pool due to non-guarantee contract and full roster.

There are probably a couple I'm leaving out.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Team Ratings

Here are my current team ratings (Please avoid complaining when they are not a finished product).

The teams are ranked by "TTO" and not Overall. "TTR" is something I came up with as an alternative to Overall rating, as team overall ratings are very fickle and some teams have boosters to make the team appear better than the actual sum of it's parts (2K9 example: Boston Celtics. 2k8's inflatee was the Spurs. Must be a ring thing).

Playoff teams in bold.

EAST
Celtics 80 Offense, 94 Defense, 92 Overall (87.0)
Magic 77 Offense, 81 Defense, 78 Overall (79.0)
76ers 66 Offense, 85 Defense, 68 Overall (75.5)
Pistons 64 Offense, 83 Defense, 81 Overall (73.5)
Hawks 73 Offense, 74 Defense, 73 Overall (73.5)
Raptors 78 Offense, 66 Defense, 77 Overall (72.0)
Cavaliers 59 Offense, 83 Defense, 80 Overall (71.0)
Bobcats 67 Offense, 75 Defense, 71 Overall (71.0)

Bulls 61 Offense, 76 Defense, 74 Overall (69.0)
Bucks 74 Offense, 64 Defense, 68 Overall (69.0)
Heat 64 Offense, 75 Defense, 67 Overall (68.0)
Pacers 67 Offense, 61 Defense, 66 Overall (64.0)
Knicks 68 Offense, 60 Defense, 64 Overall (64.0)
Wizards 68 Offense, 59 Defense, 67 Overall (63.5)
Nets 55 Offense, 66 Defense, 60 Overall (60.5)

WEST
Lakers 85 Offense, 88 Defense, 88 Overall (86.5)
Suns 95 Offense, 77 Defense, 87 Overall (86.0)
Rockets 81 Offense, 86 Defense, 85 Overall (83.5)
Hornets 78 Offense, 81 Defense, 80 Overall (79.5)
Spurs 65 Offense, 92 Defense, 84 Overall (78.5)
Jazz 78 Offense, 77 Defense, 77 Overall (77.5)
Mavericks 74 Offense, 76 Defense, 74 Overall (75.0)
Blazers 69 Offense, 76 Defense, 70 Overall (72.5)

Nuggets 75 Offense, 69 Defense, 74 Overall (72.0)
Clippers 65 Offense, 78 Defense, 77 Overall (71.5)
T’Wolves 77 Offense, 61 Defense, 63 Overall (69.0)
Warriors 65 Offense, 63 Defense, 64 Overall (64.0)
Grizzlies 59 Offense, 64 Defense, 61 Overall (61.5)
Kings 64 Offense, 58 Defense, 61 Overall (61.0)
Thunder 55 Offense, 55 Defense, 55 Overall (55.0)

Once again there will be two non-playoff west teams that could make it if they played in the east.

Once Seattle has a team again the New Orleans Hornets will hopefully move out east where they belong where CP3 can give us some Conference parity.

Top 10 Offense
95 Suns
85 Lakers
81 Rockets
80 Celtics
78 Jazz
78 Hornets
78 Raptors
77 Magic
77 T'Wolves
75 Nuggets

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. 2k's team ratings never make sense as they always seem to grade on a curve and include the Legends teams into said curve. What happens is the Suns are 10 pts better offensively than the 2nd best team, which is absurd. There are only three 80+ offense teams, yet there are 8 teams with 80+ defense. Hell, there's a 75 offense team in the top 10, and on a 50-99 scale that's what we SHOULD be considering only average.

Top 10 Defense
94 Celtics
92 Spurs
88 Lakers
86 Rockets
85 76ers
83 Pistons
83 Cavaliers
81 Hornets
78 Clippers
77 Jazz

Top 10 TTO
87.0 Celtics
86.5 Lakers
84.0 Suns
83.5 Rockets
79.5 Hornets
79.0 Magic
78.5 Spurs
77.5 Jazz
75.5 76ers
75.0 Mavericks

I just vomited in my mouth

Austin Croshere - 95 med

The best mid-range shooter since Larry Bird? Is that why he has a non-guaranteed contract with the team he spent nearly his entire career?

OMG

I did it again

Mickael Gelabale - 88 med


Shoot yourselves 2k

Monday, October 13, 2008

REAL 2K INSIDER ver 1.3

ROSTERS/ROTATIONS

DOWNLOADED DNA (Created Players)
All my downloads were CAPS by Vyaras.
Eddie Gill (NJN)
Anthony Roberson (NYK)
Sonny Weems (DEN)
Anthony Morrow (GSW)
Stephen Graham (IND)
Alex Acker (DET)
Thomas Gardner (ATL)
Patrick Ewing Jr. (NYK)
Anthony Tolliver (SAS)
Mike Harris (HOU)
Darnell Jackson (CLE)
Chris Richard (MIN)
Othello Hunter (ATL)
Cheikh Samb (DET)

PLAYER CONTRACTS
Every player I edited had their contract reviewed. Most of the Bulls were accurate.

I should note that some of the contracts in Vyaras' CAPS weren't adjusted by him and were given large contracts by the AI. Roberson for example was making 8 million over 3 years instead of about 2 yrs 1.5m.

PLAYER EDITS (old overall rating in parenthasize)

Bulls
Luol Deng 84 (84)
Ben Gordon 84 (82)
Kirk Hinrich 84 (85)
Andres Nocioni 82 (80)
Derrick Rose 80 (81)
Larry Hughes 79 (79)
Drew Gooden 78 (76)
Tyrus Thomas 77 (73)
Thabo Sefolosha 75 (73)
Michael Ruffin 67 (67)
Cedric Simmons 66 (66)

Cavaliers
Darnell Jackson 67 (67)

Celtics
Glen Davis 72 (66)
Patrick O'Bryant 72 (64)

Hawks
Othello Hunter 67 (68)

Lakers
Sasha Vujacic 79 (80)

Knicks
Zach Randolph 84 (83)
Anthony Roberson 73 (70)

Pistons
Antonio McDyess 81 (78)
Arron Afflalo 72 (70)

Raptors
Jamario Moon 76 (72)

I got about as much done as I expected to between the updates, it's just a day late. As you might have guessed, verion 1.4 will be released when 1.3 hits 1300 downloads.

Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams, Etc





I just got home at 11AM EST and the DL count was about 1320. Again, I apologize for this swift, gratuitious kick to your nuts. I have most of the afternoon to work on it so I'm on it.

Then again, what the hell am I apologizing for, 2K Sports took three years to release the demo for the game.

Scratch that, I'm not trying to be like 2k. I'm the people's champion... at least until I turn heel and go corporate.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Imposed Vacation

My lovely girlfriend asked me to assemble her new bed and dresser. I haven't been home since yesterday and won't be until sometime on Monday. I have no idea what the download count of my file currently is as I don't have any access to XBox Live over here. There is a chance that it could hit 1200 before I even get a chance to edit anything!

I apologize in advance if I'm not able to keep my word regarding it's release. It likely wont be the last time my personal life gets in the way of editing, but since this is mostly volunteer work, it's gonna happen here and there.

The reason I give myself a timer is if I don't have a deadline I'll be more inclined to take my time. Besides, I'd like to give the fans an active role in my updates rather than leaving them wondering when changes are going to happen. In short, I would prefer to take a more active role in the process than my 2K Sports employed counterpart.

(If anyone could tell me what the DL count is right now, that would be great).

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Simulated Game test

Ran a CPU vs CPU game

Clippers vs Sixers
10 min qtrs
superstar difficulty
default sliders
default coach profiles
my current ratings

Sixers
72 pts
30-64 FG (46%)
1-6 3pt (16%)
11-17 FT (64%)
21 ast
17 to
9 fouls
19 rebs (4 off)
8 steal
9 block
50 PIP
8 Bench
4 2nd Chance
6 Fastbreak

Scoring%
PIP 50/72 = 69%
MID 8/72 = 11%
3PT 3/72 = 4%
FT 11/72 = 15%

Clippers
100 pts
42-71 FG (59%)
3-10 3pt (30%)
13-15 FT (86%)
25 ast
12 to
11 fouls
20 rebs (5 off)
13 steal
18 block
58 PIP (58% of pts scored)
22 Bench
10 2nd Chance
6 Fastbreak

Scoring Breakdown
PIP 58/100 = 58%
MID 20/100 = 20%
3PT 9/100 = 9%
FT: 13/100 = 13%

Clippers missed
Sixers missed 34 FG which led to 19 rebounds (15 LAC, 4 PHI)
Clippers missed 29 FG which led to 20 rebounds (15 PHI, 5 LAC)

Sixers also missed 6 FTs and I don't know how many of them led to rebounds, but I think it's clear all the shot blocks are affecting the rebound totals. The Clippers had 2 more rebounds than they did blocks which is unacceptable. They are obviously have some great shot blockers, but the truth is it seems like any shot that doesn't get blocked is going in, which makes rebounding even tougher to come by. There could also stand to be more fouls in the game. 18 shot blocks to 11 fouls is likewise completely ridiculous.

SIXERS BOX P/R/A, S/B, FG%, 3PT%, FT%, min/40
Brand 20/4/4, 2/4, 9-19 FG, 2-3 FT, 29/40
Young 19/4/1, 0/0, 8-12 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-4 FT, 26/40
Iguodala 16/1/4, 1/0, 6-8 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4-4 FT, 31/40
Miller 5/1/10, 2/0, 1-2 FG, 3-4 FT, 29/40 (5 turnovers)
Dalembert 4/7/0, 1/4, 2-5 FG, 31/40
Green 2/0/1, 0/0, 1-4 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-2 FT, 21/40
Williams 0/0/1, 1/0, 0-5 FG, 0-2 3PT, 17/40
Evans 2/1/0, 1/1, 1-7 FG, 0-1 3PT, 13/40
Rush and Speights: 2 pts each, 4 mins each

PGs combined for 1-7 shooting and 7 turnovers
Evans was obviously man handled, don't ask me how he got 7 shots in 13 mins with only a single offensive board. I guess he's the main reason for all the blocks.

+/- Stat
Best: Young (-7), Brand (-8)
Worst: Green (-23), Dalembert (-21), Evans (-21)

CLIPPERS BOX
B. Davis 19/0/11, 2/0, 6-15 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-6 FT, 37/40
Camby 16/4/1, 0/6, 8-12 FG, 29/40
Kaman 15/8/4, 2/5, 7-8 FG, 1-2 FT, 29/40
Thornton 14/3/3, 3/0, 6-10 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, 36/40
Mobley 14/1/1, 3/1, 6-11 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-3 FT, 37/40
Skinner 10/4/1, 0/5, 4-6 FG, 12/40
R. Davis 8/0/1, 1/0, 3-4 FG, 2-2 3PT, 12/40
Gordon/Thomas/Hart 4 mins each, 4 pts for Gordon

+/- Stat
Best: Thornton (+24), B. Davis (+23), Mobley (+23)
Worst: R. Davis (+12), Skinner (+13)

As you can guess, the Clippers flat out dominated this game. Brian Skinner had the game of his life, though players who feel big men are too dominant on offense will chalk it up to that (Skinner's 5 blocks weren't cheap though, he blocked Miller twice, Brand, Dalembert, and Evans).

Both teams had their share of transition points. However the Sixers lack shooters to spread the floor which plays right into the Clippers hands on defense. This is a game where Rush and Marshall probably would have seen more use, but the CPU isn't smart enough to recognize that. Maybe this was a poor matchup to choose for experimentation. We'll find out the next time I test out the Sixers. Who do you guys think their next opponent should be?

REAL 2K INSIDER ver 1.2

I woke up and the download count was at 1250. I promised the rosters at 1100. Sorry I'm late.

ROSTERS/ROTATIONS
Shawne Williams traded from Indiana to Dallas for two second rounders. James Augustine has the only non-guaranteed contract so he's cut. There are rumblings about Eddie Jones being bought out due to his injury, and while I think that's going to happen, I don't really see Augustin sticking with the team anyway.

On the draft pick note, 2K really needs to add a feature where you have the option of starting association with the real draft pick allocations, or the option to keep it balanced (all teams with a first/second per year). That would add much more depth to association as some teams have multiple draft picks to deal away in certain years. Hopefully that'll make it in next year.

Justin Williams was a Warriors training camp cut. Don Nelson is tough to read but he claims to have no problems opening with four PGs (not including the injured Ellis). Dan Dickau and DeMarcus Nelson are the camp invites. If both were taken it would be at the expense of Anthony Morrow who I've been reluctant to add thus far.

DOWNLOADED DNA (Created Players)
This time I downloaded from Vyaras, another very reputable member of the sports gaming community. I didn't get much of a chance to check them out, because I want to run another association test before release.
Sun Yue
Bobby Brown
Louis Amundson
Will Bynum
Nathan Jawai
Ian Mahinmi


ACCESSORY EDITS
None this time, not a priority at the moment with the major association issues.

PLAYER CONTRACTS
Okay, I started going through some of these contracts and it's pretty clear that 2K is using the wrong source. I don't want to name their source because I generally like them. But for the most part there are some inconsistencies although with most players it's only a couple thousand dollars. I have been fixing the player roles/options/trade clauses also. Again, I'm going to hold off announcing who I fixed until I see if the "competition" is actually gonna correct anything in their next update.

In the real world, Jeff Foster signed a two year extension for a currently undisclosed amount. I'm gonna wait for a dollar value to come before I decide exactly what to do.

PLAYER EDITS (old rating in parenthasize)
Dwyane Wade 97 (97)
Carmelo Anthony 94 (94)
Allen Iverson 93 (94) - Hasn't been elite defensive player in years
Dwight Howard 92 (93) - His post abilites are wayyyy overrated
Amare Stoudemire 92 (94) - See above
Joe Johnson 89 (89)
Kevin Martin 86 (86)
Rudy Gay 85 (85)
Hedo Turkoglu 85 (85)
LaMarcus Aldridge 84 (84)
Andrew Bogut 83 (79) - 68 PostDef, 67 DefAwr, 73 OffAwr at default. Uh, no.
Alonzo Mourning 82 (82)
J.R. Smith 80 (80)
Kenyon Martin 79 (76)
Francisco Garcia 79 (75) - And I had to make him a SF. Do they watch the games?
Nene 77 (78)
Reggie Evans 74 (73)
Dahntay Jones 74 (72)
Chris Andersen 72 (68) - Birdman had a 60 block rating.
Corliss Williamson 71 (72) - Retired in real life though. Last year, in fact.
Jackie Butler 70 (69) - Dunno why he doesn't have a job but David Harrison does.

In addition I also applied tendency edits to all the Sixers which seems to have their association stats a bit more realistic (refer to the blog posts below for the research and data).

Simulation Stats, Part IV (Can it be cured?)

I updated the Sixers tendencies to make them a bit more similar to what I had last year. I had been going with 2k's updated tendencies as I figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt since they changed everyone's close/med/3pt/drive tendencies. So I switched in mine, which I spent part of the summer working on.

I also turned off team chemistry, progressive fatigue, player roles, etc. These are ambitious features but I'm led to believe they are a partial cause of the sim stat problem. So between my ratings, tendencies, and turning off team chemistry, here's what the Sixers put up in association.

Andre Iguodala
18.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.1 bpg (37.9 mpg)
.421 FG%, .320 3pt%

Elton Brand
16.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.8 bpg (29.7 mpg)
.540 FG%, .000 3pt%

Andre Miller
14.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.5 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.0 bpg (32.5 mpg)
.487 FG%, .214 3pt%

Willie Green
12.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.0 bpg (23.2 mpg)
.455 FG%, .361 3pt%

Louis Williams
12.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.0 bpg (23.8 mpg)
.447 FG%, .289 3pt%

Thaddeus Young
10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.0 bpg (27.4 mpg)
.500 FG%, .322 3pt%

Samuel Dalembert
6.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.4 spg, 1.8 bpg (30.1 mpg)
.493 FG%, .000 3pt%

Kareem Rush
4.1 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.0 bpg (8.0 mpg)
.433 FG%, .382 3pt%

Marreese Speights
4.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.3 bpg (8.1 mpg)
.510 FG%, .000 3pt%

Reggie Evans
1.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.4 bpg, 0.0 spg, 0.0 bpg (15.3 mpg)
.425 FG%, .000 3pt%

Donyell Marshall
1.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.0 apg, 0.0 spg, 0.0 bpg (2.4 mpg)
.392 FG%, .366 3pt%

Theo Ratliff
0.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.0 apg, 0.0 spg, 0.3 bpg (2.6 mpg)
.382 FG%, .000 3pt%

THREES MADE
Iguodala 108
Green 78
Williams 57
Rush 49
Marshall 11
Young 10
Miller 9
Brand 0

If these stats are any indication, there is very much a solution to the problem. TURN OFF TEAM CHEMISTRY

EDIT: I made a few tweaks, raised Brand's shot tendency a couple points and got him more minutes in the rotation. He averaged 17.8 ppg and 7.6 rpg, which should suffice for the moment.

I also fixed all the teams contracts, it's surprising how many 2k got wrong.

Philadelphia 76ers
Last Season: 40-42
Average Age: 26
Team Salary: 68.30M
Cap Room: -9.62M

Rankings
Overall 68
Offense 66
Defense 85
Real Ovr 75.5

Sixers Basic Ratings

As previously mentioned, the Sixers are the only team I've 100% completed thus far. I figure it can't hurt to rank each player by their basic ratings to see if they bass the laugh test (and see how valid Basic Ratings are). So here goes....

OVERALL
92 Brand (PF/C)
87 Iguodala (SG/SF)
85 Miller (PG)
81 Dalembert (C)
78 Williams (PG/SG)
77 Green (SG)
76 Young (SF/PF)
76 Speights (C/PF)
74 Rush (SG/SF)
73 Ratliff (C)
73 Evans (PF/C)
72 Ivey (PG/SG)
72 Marshall (PF)
70 Smith (C/PF)

INSIDE SCORING
Brand (A)
Speights (B-)
Young (B-)
Miller (C+)
Iguodala (C+)
Dalembert (C)
Green (C)
Smith (C-)
Evans (D+)
Williams (D+)
Marshall (D)
Ratliff (D)
Ivey (D-)

OUTSIDE SCORING
Rush (B+)
Iguodala (B)
Marshall (B-)
Williams (B-)
Green (B-)
Ivey (C+)
Young (C)
Brand (C)
Miller (C-)
Smith (C-)
Speights (D-)
Dalembert (F)
Evans (F)

PERIMETER DEFENSE
Iguodala (A-)
Miller (B+)
Ivey (B)
Young (B)
Williams (B)
Green (C+)
Rush (C-)
Brand (C-)
Evans (D+)
Dalembert (D+)
Marshall (D)
Speights (D)
Ratliff (D-)
Smith (D-)

POST DEFENSE
Brand (A-)
Ratliff (B+)
Dalembert (B+)
Speights (C+)
Evans (C+)
Marshall (C-)
Iguodala (C-)
Smith (C-)
Young (D)
Miller (D)
Green (D-)
Rush (D-)
Ivey (F)
Williams (F)

BALL HANDLING
Miller (A-)
Williams (B+)
Iguodala (B+)
Green (B-)
Ivey (B-)
Rush (C+)
Young (C+)
Brand (C+)
Speights (D)
Marshall (D)
Smith (D-)
Evans (D-)
Dalembert (F)
Ratliff (F)

REBOUNDING
Evans (A)
Dalembert (A)
Brand (B)
Speights (B)
Young (B-)
Smith (B-)
Ratliff (B-)
Marshall (B-)
Iguodala (C-)
Miller (D)
Williams (D)
Green (D-)
Ivey (D-)
Rush (D-)

BASKETBALL I.Q.
Brand (A-)
Miller (A-)
Iguodala (A-)
Williams (B-)
Green (B-)
Ivey (B-)
Dalembert (C)
Young (C)
Ratliff (C-)
Marshall (C-)
Evans (C-)
Speights (D+)
Smith (D)

ATHLETICISM
Iguodala (A)
Williams (A-)
Young (A-)
Miller (B-)
Ivey (B-)
Brand (C+)
Rush (C+)
Green (C+)
Evans (C)
Smith (C)
Speights (C-)
Dalembert (D+)
Ratliff (D-)
Marshall (F)

I noticed a few things I disagreed with, but mostly agreed with everything (for obvious reasons). I'm more interested in what you all think though. Anything stand out?

Friday, October 10, 2008

Simulated stats, Part III

Okay, I made some rating changes to the top 10 scorers from the previous association, with the exception of Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Durant. Let's see if anything changed.

Top 10 PPG (Previous test in parenthasize)
K. Durant 30.4 (26.0)
K. Bryant 29.2 (27.1)
L. James 28.0 (29.4)
M. Redd 25.4 (n/a)
A. Iverson 25.2 (27.6)
R. Gay 25.1 (26.8)
D. Nowitzki 25.0 (25.2)
C. Anthony 24.4 (25.6)
J. Crawford 24.2 (n/a)
J. Johnson 23.7 (27.4)

I actually just discovered something very discouraging. Martin, Wade, and McGrady are absent, but not because their scoring dropped, but because they "didn't qualify". However each player STARTED 82 games so I fail to see how that could be.

That would explain CP3 being absent from assist/steal leaderboards, because players don't even suffer injuries in association now. The most they ever miss is a month, and most of them are injuries that they play through anyway. Other than season ending injuries, I have seen ONE injury where the player missed more than 35 days.

97 players started all 82 games. That's completely unacceptable. I don't think that many even play 82 games in real life, that's over three per team.

Basketball-Reference games leaders

BBRef pretty much confirms that. Only 44 players in the NBA played all 82 games. It's funny that 2k keeps making all these adjustments to it's player roles and team chemistry, you're never going to have a variance in PT and roles if players are never getting hurt, which is how bench players get big minutes in the first place. It would have been great if they actually figured that out, I dunno, three years ago... instead, it's a key issue in the company's most ambitious title, and one that could have easily been corrected had they listened to any of the experts in the gaming community.

EDIT: Okay, I raised the Injury Severity slider from 50 to 75 and ran another sim.

I avoided going to league leaders and checked each invididual team, here are the 20 ppg scorers.

L. James 28.2 ppg (82g)
D. Wade 28.0 ppg (82g)
K. Bryant 27.9 ppg (82g)
K. Durant 27.5 ppg (82g)
D. Nowitzki 26.2 ppg (82g)
K. Martin 26.2 ppg (76g)
T. McGrady 25.1 ppg (72g)
J. Johnson 24.9 ppg (82g)
A. Iverson 24.7 ppg (82g)
B. Davis 23.8 ppg (82g)
M. Ginobili 23.8 ppg (82g)
M. Redd 23.6 ppg (82g)
S. Jackson 23.5 ppg (82g)
C. Paul 23.2 ppg (82g)
D. Williams 23.2 ppg (82g)
C. Anthony 23.1 ppg (82g)
J. Crawford 23.1 ppg (82g)
R. Gay 22.2 ppg (82g)
V. Carter 21.5 ppg (75g)
C. Billups 21.5 ppg (82g)
R. Allen 21.1 ppg (76g)
J. Richardson 20.9 ppg (82g)
P. Pierce 20.7 ppg (76g)
A. Iguodala 20.4 ppg (82g)
C. Maggette 20.4 ppg (82g)
C. Bosh 20.2 ppg (82g)

Only 26 players scored 20 ppg, down from 31.

I turned the injury slider all the way up to 99 (for User and CPU mind you). "Only" 85 players started 82 games this time, which I guess constitutes "improvement". This time 33 players averaged 20 ppg though.

The only thing I can think of is lowering the durability ratings for the entire league, since it is obvious that the slider has little to no effect in an association, and likely only influences games you play.

EDIT II: I lowered the durability ratings for all the 20 ppg scorers to 50 and ran another simulation.

Here were the injuries that knocked players out

Kevin Garnett: 17 days (seperated shoulder)
Vince Carter: 35 days (broken hand)
Gilbert Arenas: 33 days (broken toe)
Jamal Crawford: 22 days (strained achilles)

Everyone else played 82 games.

The game is officially broken. All we can do is pester 2K Sports about a patch that will fix this. We need significant injuries. What's the point of "progressive fatigue" if it never takes it's toll?