Poe

Good interview. It sounds like the organization didn't treat him with honesty. It also shows some lack of flexibility on Iveron's part. Him saying things like "I used to run down the court six, seven times in a row and not even see [the ball]. You know, I wouldn't even touch the ball. And that was the frustrating part." or "You never heard of anybody before that in my whole career ever saying anything about Allen Iverson coming off the bench. ... Now it's in everybody's mind. Now people are thinking, 'Oh yeah, he should come off the bench.'", and a 'me against the world' attitude with "Man, people have been waiting for me to fall off my whole career.", and about his style not being team-oriented "But that's the only way I know how to play. What, [you're] just going to take [away] something God gave to me? God gave me this ability to play this way." still makes me skeptical of him. He does make a great point here, though: "When I was in Denver, and I was third in the league in scoring, that's because it was just me and Melo carrying the offensive burden. Nene was hurt. [There] wasn't no Nene. There was no Chris Anderson. And in all my years in Philadelphia, you know we didn't have [another] big-time scorer. So when you look at my stats, and you see the numbers are going down, recognize that I'm playing with better personnel. Just like this year, we have Rudy [Gay], and we have O.J. [Mayo]. And we have Zach [Randolph]. So knowing that, how in the [expletive] am I going to get 25 shots a night? But people don't look at it that way, Scoop. They don't look at it that way." But seeing Iverson's perspective now, I can see that it wasn't completely the addition of AI as it was the poor decisions of the organization that created the downfall for the Pistons last year. Hopefully, for his sake, he can back up what he says and help carry the Grizzlies to the playoffs, although I'm still unsure about how well this team will gel on the court together.

What did they have to complain about? That they can't dunk 40 times a game, do constant random dribble moves and expect to get by their man, throw lead passes to big men in traffic, do dribble moves with big men, constantly run in circles after inbound passes without getting their players tired, and shoot threes in peoples faces and still expect them to go in? 2k9 was sort of like the warm up to this game. You'll see a lot of the things that were in 2k9, but you'll also see and feel a lot of changes and adjustments to the game. Most of them positive, imo. Some controls are slightly different, like for instance on xbox 360 it's now the left trigger to do dribble moves instead of the right trigger like before (which was sprint, so before you were sprinting and doing dribble moves at the same time). Posting up is automatic now, and post moves so far have been a bit awkward for me, even though almost every post move I try seems to go in with players like Gasol, but still that's the only issue I'm personally having. I'm sure if I mess around in the tutorial enough in the full game I'll start to get the hang of them. In the demo, if you don't like the sideline camera angle, it'll probably ruin some of the feel for the game. I just use the demo to try to look for positives and faults of the game. Positives include much smoother jumpshots. Another one is how each team felt different to play with. It wasn't just the different players, I could really feel the different style and pace of each team. Try switching between the magic and lakers and you'll see what I mean. Also, each player seems to play onball defense a bit differently. Try switching playing on ball from derek, to kobe, to ron. You definately get a different feel between each player. One thing I noticed is when using Kobe Bryant on offense, it was noticeably harder to get around Pietrus than Carter. I think the thing I like most about this game is the new stamina meter they have that prevents players from sprinting and running at full speed their entire time on the court. It's much more realistic this way, since you can actually get a feel for the fatigue of the players, plus people won't be able to have their fingers glued to the right trigger the entire game. The artificial intelligence is also much improved in this game. If you play an impatient game of running after steals and whatnot, you're probably gunna wind up leaving you're opponent with wide open jumpers and layups. On offense, it's also a bit better to work the ball around with different players than try to do everything with one guy. Everything in this game just has a much more realistic feel to it than before. Scoring is somewhat realistic (just about every time I play I get around 8-14 points in the 4 minute quarter), the AI seems to play in a more realistic fashion, the ball fumbles in peoples hands at about the right time, and more things that I just can't think of at the moment. Shots do seem to go in more often than they should, though, but that probably has a lot to do with the difficulty set by the demo (probably on Easy in an Easy-Medium-Hard setting). The only issue and downside I find personally is the game is still too offensive oriented for a game that focuses on simulation rather than the arcade dunkathon that is NBA Live. I know there isn't play calling and you can't adjust your settings in the menu yet (like player matchups) until the full game, but other than just controlling individual players, there is still a lack of defensive strategy to the game. You pretty much have to rely on the other 4 AI controlled players to know what to do, or to constantly switch between guys to try to bring them to a better position or else leave the opposing players moving without the ball or getting screens left wide-open. So, to answer your question briefly, I would think that most people who enjoyed 2K over Live last year will probably do the same this year, especially if you are looking for a gameplay more realistic to what you see when watching a real life basketball game. If you are looking for more of an arcade style of play, however, then Live is for you. Edit: Wow, I had no idea I wrote so much.. sorry about that

Sweet mix. Full of sick dunks, and-ones, and athletic plays. He's a bit one dimensional, though. He seems to really favor his right and hardly ever uses his left. Other than a quick first-step, driving, dunking, and hang-time, his only other scoring tricks are his spin pivot and step-back jumpers, at least from what I see in this mix. His athleticism and overall game gives him a lot of potential, though. He'll probably start off the season fairly slow, and start to get a better grasp for the NBA game as the season goes on and he continues to develop.

Yep.

With the line up they have now, I just don't see it. They only have 2 players from their previous championship lineup. They lost possibly their best offensive player and clutch player in Hedo and a growing defender and playmaker (and quite possibly a future all star) in Lee, only to be replaced by an aging star player and a bench caliber PF, and Pietrus isn't a worthy starter either. These dots the magic are seeing here are completely invisible to me. 4th seed at most for the Magic next year, and out in the 2nd round is their ceiling for playoff success. Their goal is championship and no less? Yeah...right. I doubt they'll still be saying that by mid season.

At least try the 2k10 demo. There is no way the realism of this game doesn't impress you the least bit, especially comparing to 05-06 games.

It amazes me how some players would even think to use twitter during a game. I would think they would take their games more seriously than that.

Same here.

Agreed. Personally, Drive is my favorite. There was one angle in 2k8 i think was called Line. That was the best ever for me. Nobody else liked it though, haha, and they didn't even bother adding it in 2k9.

I think the Suns do have a chance at surprising people this year, yet with Steve Nash and Grant Hill aging, there are also chances they'll fall out of the playoffs again, especially if there is another injury. Looking back to their old winning ways, Marion > J-Rich, and Raja > Hill. Both were better defenders and Marion was better for the Suns offense cause J-Rich is better for creating his own shot. They also had versatile players like Boris Diaw and Barbosa coming off the bench. They still have Barbosa, but now they are missing depth in the big man spot, which could be even more important than having depth at the guard position. Just look at the Warriors last year with Ellis, Crawford, Maggette, Azubuike, and Belinelli, yet not too much success there. If Robin and Taylor wind up replicating their brothers talents at all, then yeah, the Suns would definitely become an elite team again, as long as their core players (Nash, J-Rich, Stoudemire) remain healthy.

The ratings are actually somewhat weighted. The weighing seems to revolve a lot around the awareness ratings from what I can tell. Playing the draft combine, I noticed that raising my awareness ratings raises your overall rating much faster than if I were to use my skill points on things like shooting ability. In 2k9, I noticed that stamina and durability ratings weren't counted for the overall at all. Whether a player had a 50 or a 99 in stamina doesn't affect the player's rating, so obviously there is at least some weighing to the ratings. About the defense, in the past I think 2k has mostly been just a pretty bad judge on what a good defender is. Players like Iverson with a high spg will get the lockdown defender icon, when in reality the reason behind their ability to steal is based a lot around their tendency to gamble on passes, rather than good off-ball positioning (and other things like quick hands in 1-on-1 situations), which often results in them getting burned, as you know. Good 1 on 1 defenders like Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen, and Raja Bell still get rewarded, yet a lot of the defensive ratings in the past 2k games seemed suspect, though, I'll agree on that. Even if the overall rating system is flawed, it shouldn't matter so much as long as the gameplay makes up for it. I don't care how the ratings should be weighted as long as the players play reasonably like themselves.

^ That's not as ballsy of a comment as it looks. The chances of it happening aren't that bad at all. They won 46 last year.

I wonder if this is an excuse to redirect things. With all the media and attention, instead of taking the blame, it's easier to point at something else "oh, it was my drinking problem", and create a story behind it to make it seem more legit. Also, having the incident caused by something else and having the courage to go to rehab would sustain his popularity, instead of remaining known as a total prick for the rest of his career. Either way, I don't really care. Whether he leaves the music world or not doesn't make much of a difference to me. By the way, how did he get on that stage in the first place?

Yea, I missed it, too. Looking at the stats, it seemed like a really exciting game. High scoring like the NBA, plus OT. I'll definitely try to catch game 2.

I edited my original post, this time adding all teams. I think it's safe to adjust my prediction before the start of the preseason. One change was moving down the Warriors and moving the Hornets up. I think the Warriors have the right tools to get to the playoffs, but just not the right system, and I think CP3 will be able to carry his team to at least the 8th seed, although I think Nash is still the best offensive PG in the game who also has a good chance at bringing his team to the playoffs. The only reason I don't think the Suns will make it is because I think Nash his team performed much better under D'Antoni's offense. I still think the Heat will wind up becoming a top 3 team in the East by the end of the season. I moved the Magic up over the Bulls because, despite the bad changes (IMO) they made during the offseason, I still think that Van Gundy's system will find its way to work out, but I still doubt it will be quite as good as before in their championship run. I also moved the Celtics down and the Cavs up. The absence of KG in the beginning and the chances of him being a step slower may hurt the Celtics a bit during the first half of the season. LeBron is good enough to make almost any team in the NBA become one of the top teams, and with the weapons he has now, I think they are going to have a fantastic season, even if Delonte doesn't play.

I'd be sad, drop my fanship, jump off a cliff, then move on.

The potential ratings affect how good they are likely to be after each simulated year. After 5 simulated years in association mode, Durant is likely to be rated a 95, while Rondo would remain 90 or below. The overall ratings are just an indication of all the player's abilities combined. Believe me, Rondo will still have just as much of a one dimensional scoring skill set as before, while Dirk will still remain as the first scoring option on almost any team in the league, even if his overall rating isn't the highest. In a simulated season that this guy was showing, Rondo averaged 14 points, 5 boards, 11 assists, and 2.5 steals. I'm not sure what Dirk averaged, but I'm willing to bet he averaged something along the lines of 25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. Even though comparing their overall ratings may seem iffy, they still appear to perform about the same as real life. Actually using these players will be no different. Comparing the two, Dirk will be 10x easier to score with, while Rondo will be more skilled with handling the ball and making difficult passes. Defensively Dirk's overall is going to be somewhat average, while Rondo will be one of the better perimeter defenders in the game. Although Rondo's rebounding rating will probably be higher, Dirk's height will probably allow him to grab more boards. Basically, even if the ratings may seem off to you, they are still going to perform somewhat like their real life counterparts. About Rondo's triple double, fine. If you have to be that literal, he was .2 assists and .3 rebounds away from one. Better?

I've said from the beginning that Toronto can manage 50 wins. It looks like the GM agrees. Let's see it happen.

It wouldn't work. In 2k9 in association mode I noticed that potential ratings and age are counted in a pretty major margin when attempting a trade. The amount of impact a player is projected to have in the future is taken into account in this game. My guess is that Durant's potential ratings in 2k10 far outdoes Rondo's. I think they would have to add in an aged star (Allen, Pierce, Garnet), or two for the trade to work... minus the salary.

That's only less than roughly 5%. If that. And skeptics don't believe something unless they have a reason to know it's true. The reason is evidence and logic.

It's not a lie when the parents actually believe in it themselves, since a lie has to be intentional. I do believe that parents should either teach their kids the ideas of all religions or none at all. Young children are pretty much programmed to believe everything that their parents tell them, and too many parents impose their religion on their child before he or she is even old enough to have any skeptical thinking towards what they are told. I think it should be illegal to officially name a child to be a part of a religion until he reaches a certain age, like somewhere between 16-18, when the kid is old enough to think for himself, when he or she is old enough to examine the ideas written in old books and the lifestyle involved before deciding for themselves whether they are the truth or not. It disgusts me to see people naming their child a religious child before it is even born yet.

2K10 KILLS Live in every aspect. The only problem I see, though, is that it is actually a bit too easy to score, especially in the post. I wonder what the difficulty rating in this demo is. Other than that, regarding all the intricate details and adjustments to the gameplay, graphics, animations, and even the AI... it's just flat out excellent in so many ways. I am pumped to get this game.

I found this on realgm, and he was more elaborate there. LINK What he says makes sense. Look at how Courtney Lee got banged up in the Finals by whoever he was guarding. Any big 2-guard will take advantage immediately if they decide to play Monta and Curry together, neither of whom are over 6'3'' or 180 lbs.

Like I take pictures of every... or any post I quote, lmao. The fact that you edited your post AFTER mine then proceeding to quote me is enough proof, but what's the big deal anyway?

It's hard to wipe your trails when the time of your post edit is clearly 30 mins after my post was made.