Thursday, October 21, 2010

Darius Songaila & the 2K Insider

I discovered some rating changes to Darius Songaila while making my Sixers edits.

65 Overall (+3) - This is where I had it.
80 Close (-9) - This is where I had it.

81 FT (-11) - His season%; I have him at 85, his career% (3 years prior: 89, 92, 85).
67 LPS (+13) - I had 64.
49 OffReb (-5) - This is where I had it.
56 DefReb (+9) - This is where I had it.

65 OffPost (+8) - I had 67. Basically a switch of my LPS/OffPost, no biggie.
63 DefPost (+8) - I still have 55
57 DefAwr (+17) - I had 55.
74 Stamina (+4) - I have 77.
68 Hustle (+4) - I still have 64.

Now, before I begin... NO, I AM NOT ACCUSING 2K OF COPYING ME. It is actually the other way around.

You see, last season I cracked 2K's rating scales. It's only natural for their updated ratings to reflect my own since we are both using the same source material and scale.

However, this essentially proves what I have been saying for quite some time - that 2K applies this scale SELECTIVELY.


ORB% & OffReb
12.0% Tyson Chandler (71) - Career 12.8%
11.4% Pau Gasol (95) - Career 8.8%
6.3% Troy Murphy (63)
4.8% Darius Songaila (49)
3.1% Dirk Nowitzki (52)

DRB% & DefReb
28.5% Troy Murphy (89) - Lead league in 2009 w/ 32.0%
22.7% Pau Gasol (88)
21.0% Tyson Chandler (70)
20.1% Dirk Nowitzki (86)
14.7% Darius Songaila (56)

These values are all over the place! Gasol and Dirk have mega-inflated ratings (due to their name, rather than their game), while Tyson Chandler (who is a rebound/defense role player) totally gets the shaft here.

And yet as Darius Songaila shows us... 2K Sports knows EXACTLY what to rate these players. They merely CHOOSE not to.

Of course, I'm sure you'd like harder evidence than my Songaila numbers being identical (hey, maybe they DID steal them, or maybe it's just a coincidence!). Fine. Let's go right to the tippy top. COVER BOY.

Michael Jordan ORB% & DRB%
1986: 53 & 42
1990: 51 & 60
1991: 51 & 60
1992: 48 & 55
1995: 46 & 62
1996: 54 & 57
1997: 45 & 51
1998: 48 & 48

Jordan's rebound ratings are one of his few ratings that actually fluctuate from year to year. That's because they went straight off his statistical output.

Michael Jordan OffReb & DefReb
1986: 5.6 & 10.7
1990: 5.3 & 15.6
1991: 4.6 & 14.3
1992: 3.5 & 15.3
1995: 4.4 & 16.2
1996: 5.6 & 14.9
1997: 4.2 & 13.2
1998: 4.7 & 12.5

Not the easiest to read, so let's dumb it down

ORB%
5.6 = 54 (1996)
5.6 = 53 (1986)
5.3 = 51 (1990)
4.8 = 49 (Darius Songaila)
4.7 = 48 (1998)
4.6 = 51 (1991)
4.4 = 46 (1995)
4.2 = 45 (1997)
3.5 = 48 (1992)

With the exception of two seasons, these are all following a scale. I threw in Mr. Songaila for good measure - he fits like a glove.

DRB%
16.2 = 62 (1995)
15.6 = 60 (1990)
15.3 = 55 (1992)
14.9 = 57 (1996)
14.7 = 56 (Darius Songaila)
14.3 = 60 (1991)
13.2 = 51 (1997)
12.5 = 48 (1998)
10.7 = 42 (1986)

As with offensive rebounding, there are two seasons where Jordan isn't following scale, one of which he is actually underrated (1992), and the other being 1991 again. As with before, Songaila fits like a glove. 2K Sports knows EXACTLY what they are doing regarding rebound ratings.

Personally, I think if the scale is good enough for MICHAEL JORDAN, then it should be good enough for Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol (not to mention every other player in the NBA).

Maybe that's just me. It's certainly not 2K.

9 comments:

Shelb said...

Excellent. I hope this shuts the haters up who say YOU rate players based on bias, when it's really 2K who rated based on name value and favoritism.

You're the last one I'd say uses favoritism when it comes to ratings especially with all we've seen when it comes to how much research you put into statistics and actually performance of players.

Connor said...

Wow man you are amazing. I never thought someone would ever be so deep and explorative (is that a word) into the roster data as you are. I'm definitely following. I heard about you from OS; it's too bad you aren't there anymore. Can't wait until your roster comes out; I'm ready to start my association.

Rashidi said...

Btw, congratulations are in order to Darius Songaila. This is the first time in 4 years that 2K Sports has bothered to edit him.

Lunatic Wolf said...

4 years? That is pretty sad on 2k's part.

Anonymous said...

Your one detail freak Rashidi and I thank you :).

Anonymous said...

i liked the "they use the players NAME not the GAME" comment.

it is so true, i guess it's b'c casuals like vince carter so they buy the game they want to play as him, except 2011 season is irrelevant they want to be able to fly high. 2k sports accomodates that.

whatever a player is generally thought of 2k will inflate their ratings to insureee that you get to do these things easier online.

yet matches online are @superstar.
maybe if they rated the players right they wouldnt have to jack up the difficulty to even things out.

Benicio10 said...

the attention to detail is why we come back here. this blog is part of my daily reading. i love this stuff... can't wait for the ps3 rosters. hopefully they won't continue to lag behind the xbox ones.

Kaanyr Vhok said...

It makes some sense to stretch Dirk's offensive rebounds because of where he plays on the court. The defensive rebound rating doesn't jive and neither does his scale in comparison to Jordan.

Personally I believe players that play on the perimeter should have a different scale.

Anonymous said...

Hey man, I'm going get 2k11 tonight, and ever since I found u out, I base my sliders off of yours and it saves me so much time, do u have an email where I can contact u directly. My email is cantrelle.jobie@gmail.com, appreciate your work man