Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Center Ratings. Because great comedy always comes in twos.

Thanks to the folks at Sports Gamer, we've got a double whammy of hilarity.


I'll spend a little more time on this one to change it up.


Sometimes, great irony happens by accident. I'm spending this this one talking about the Lopez twins, Robin and Brook. Robin is rated higher even though brother Brook was projected to go as high as 3rd in the draft before falling to 10th. Robin was a lower first round pick that was a reach for the Suns at 15.

Robin is actually tied with guys like Eddy Curry and Rasho Nesterovic for 20th highest rated center in the league. These are guys who have spent most of their careers as starters.

Robin is also higher rated than Joel Pryzbilla, Nazr Mohammed, Mark Blount, and Anderson Varejao. Robin prays every night before he goes to sleep that he will one day be as good as Varejao.

What else do we know about comedy? Tragedy isn't far behind! The Collins twins Jason and Jarron are the worst rated centers in the league after Jerome James, who played all of 2 minutes last year. Isn't there a rule that says one twin has to actually have talent? Horace Grant and Harvey Grant? Ethan Shaw and Jerry Shaw? Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen? The Kool-Aid man and Zach Randolph?


Monday, September 29, 2008

ROTFLMAO power forward ratings.

The PF ratings were just posted on Sports Gamer.
http://www.sportsgamer.com/content/2252/nba-2k9-power-forward-ratings

Okay, just glancing at them, here are my thoughts.


Al Jefferson > Chris Bosh

LOL

Al Jefferson > Carlos Boozer

OMG

Al Jefferson = Dirk Nowitzki

WTF

Malik Allen > Chris Wilcox/Nick Collison/Joe Smith/etc/etc/etc

LMAO/ROFL/haha/etc/etc/etc

Marreese Speights = Antonio McDyess

GAD****INGZOOKS

Reggie Evans = Malik Rose

You should just kill yourself for that one Insider.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Rodney Stuckey edit


Since Numero Dos seems hellbent on editing Stuckey the first chance he gets (two weeks from now), I figured I'd beat him to the punch.

As always, comments, questions, concerns, etc are welcome. Suggestions for who my next published edit should be are appreciated too. I've finished 74 players and only shown you two so far.

Side note: There is surprisingly little YouTube footage on a guy who seems to be pretty popular. Even footage of those "legendary" games against Orlando where he filled in for Billups, most of the highlights are of Rip Hamilton, the true hero and savior.

Oh yeah. If Johan Santana doesn't win the Cy Young over Brandon Webb, the award is a bigger joke than I originally thought. I'm pretty sure I say that every year though... (liek I kno, not a baseball blog. yet.)


Rodney Stuckey
Overall 78 (up from 74)
Close 80 (down from 86)
Med 74
3pt 59
FT 81
Layup 93
Dunk 83
Handle 92
Pass 80
PostOff 60
PostDef 64
Block 53
Steal 83 (up from 80)
RebOff 67 (down from 68)
RebDef 68
Speed 90
Stam 90
Dur 80
DefAwr 74 (up from 61)
OffAwr 78 (up from 74)
Potential 71
Strength 72
Vertical 80
Off Dribble 80
In Traffic 77
Quickness 93
Hustle 82
Hands 86
Ball Defense 75 (up from 73)
Standing Dunk 65 (down from 75)

Friday, September 26, 2008

Stephon Marbury - my first published 2k9 edit

Using the formulas of the 2k Insider, here are the changes I've made to everyone's favorite headcase from the 2k9 defaults. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome.

Let me know who you'd like to see in the future too!

Stephon Marbury
Overall 80
Close 81
Med 78
3pt 83
FT 77 (up from 72)
Layup 91
Dunk 58 (down from 66)
Handle 96
Pass 80 (up from 78)
PostOff 55 (up from 51)
PostDef 59 (down from 64)
Block 52 (up from 51)
Steal 65
RebOff 61
RebDef 56
Speed 92
Stam 95
Dur 85 (down from 95)
DefAwr 74 (down from 78)
OffAwr 83 (up from 80)
Potential 85 (down from 90)
Strength 78
Vertical 80
Off Dribble 81
In Traffic 81
Quickness 93
Hustle 66 (down from 73)
Hands 94
Ball Defense 76
Standing Dunk 50

No defense for no Knicks defense

I was browsing 2K Sports.com and came across a post that caught my eye - one questioning the low ratings of New York Knick players especially on the defensive end.

Personally, I live in New York and watch most Knick games.

Larry Brown couldn't get this group to play defense. It's not Isiah's the coach's fault, it's the players. Of course, it IS the fault of Isiah the GM, who brought together all these players who were known as much for their scoring prowess as their defensive ineptitudes.

Here are Isiah's key moves throughout his regime.

Trade McDyess, Charlie Ward, (20 million worth of expiring contracts) for Marbury and Penny's huge deals.

If you thought Howard Eisley making 21 million over three years was bad, just look at Penny making 36 million over the same period! The sad thing is the Knicks weren't so busy rushing McDyess back from his injury, they'd have had EXACTLY what they needed rather than dumping him for a mercurial PG with a huge contract (Marbury is the #2 highest paid player in the league, yet is only a 2 time all-star. Once upon a time Allan Houston was lambasted for this, though it should be noted that once upon a time Allan Houston led the Knicks to more than 33 wins.

Don't get me started on Charlie Ward btw. I find it incredibly ironic that Chris Duhon, the player they are bringing in to replace Marbury, is exactly the same type of player that Marbury replaced. Pass first PGs who play defense are much better than selfish scorers who don't know how to get their teammates involved.

Trade Keith Van Horn and Michael Doleac for Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed.
TT was considered an upgrade over KVH. He ended up far from it and actually managed to be worse on defense. Mohammed was an upgrade over Doleac but played some terrible defense for Lenny Wilkins.

Sign/Trade Jamal Crawford for Dikembe Mutombo etc.
Who needs centers that can rebound and play defense when we can bring in ANOTHER scoring guard and lock him up long term too? If there's anything that spells cohesion, it's two players that need the ball in their hands to be effective.

Trade Nazr Mohammed for Malik Rose and 30th pick
Let's trade our only legit center for... the highest paid backup in the league. Why bother re-negotiating Nazr's expiring contract when we can have an aging Malik? Surely an undersized PF with a limited offensive game can be expected to age well! After all, aren't we the same team who saw what a great signing Clarence Weatherspoon was or how even how great Larry Johnson was after he turned 30? (I love LJ. But it was his superior perimeter game that kept him in the league after his back went bad.)

The ONLY silver lining in this trade was this draft pick became David Lee, who should have been drafted much earlier than 30th. But as I'm going to show you - this bit the Knicks in the rear down the line.

Trade Kurt Thomas for Quentin Richardson and 21st pick (Nate Robinson)
Let's see, we already traded all our centers. Now let's trade our only PF masquerading as a center. And he's our only good defensive player to boot! I guess in that case we should ask for ANOTHER undersized scoring guard to make up for it. (Did we also mention that Q-Rich was essentially 4 inch shorter Tim Thomas? Did the Suns miss a beat when they replaced Q with TT later the following year?).

Btw, did you notice how the Knicks got Nate 21st here? AHEAD of Mr. Lee? They could have kept Mohammed and STILL gotten Lee. They would have had a decent center and wouldn't have had to resort to....

Knicks sign Jerome James for 5 years and 30 million
James was coming off a season in which he averaged more fouls than rebounds. The Knicks threw a 5 year deal at him. I can't make this stuff up. They were actually going to enter the season with him as their starting center, although Isiah did have his eye on a certain Chicago situation....

Knicks trade Tim Thomas expriing contract, Mike Sweetney, two unprotected first round draft picks, and two second round picks for Eddy Curry
Mr. Curry was never going to be confused with a defensive or rebounding force. He was ANOTHER offensive player added to the mix. The sad thing is Mike Sweetney actually compared well statistically to Curry, yet the Knicks decided to throw away multple draft picks over this. Those picks ended up being LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah. Ask Knick fans who they'd rather have. All would take Aldridge alone, and Noah would just be icing on the cake.

And the funny thing is, had the Knicks not traded NAZR MOHAMMED of all people, they might not have thrown away their future. Then again, Isiah probably would have just screwed everything up another way.

Knicks trade Trevor Ariza, and Penny Hardaway's expiring deal for Steve Francis.
Because Marbury, Crawford, and Nate just weren't enough. Ariza gave the Knicks a defensive player, and Isiah decided that was just one too many. Plus, he had his eye on...

Knicks trade Antonio Davis expiring deal for Jalen Rose and 20th pick (Renaldo Balkman).
AD was playing defense. STOP THE MADNESS WE NEED ANOTHER SCORER.

Rose was a milestone as he was actually the first big contract the Knicks bought out rather than trading for another problem. And Balkman was drafted over Rajon Rondo when the odds were that he was gonna go UNDRAFTED.

Knicks sign Jared Jeffries for 5 years and 30 million.
Because if drafting Balkman wasn't bad enough, let's just sign the exact same player in free agency! JJ holds the honor of being the worst offensive forward I have ever seen, despite having some decent tools at his disposal. Isiah signed him because he went to Indiana. Seriously, I can't think of another good reason why he got FIVE YEARS. Imagine if there were no cap on player years like there is in baseball? The Knicks would have like five A-Rod contracts.

Knicks trade Steve Francis and Channing Frye for Zach Randolph
Randolph wore out his welcome in a year, and most Knick fans would rather have Frye. They should have just bought out Francis like the Blazers immediately did. Randolph has no trade value and the Knicks are stuck with ANOTHER player that doesn't defend and coincidentally ANOTHER player that doesn't mesh well with an existing player on the team (Marbury/Crawford, meet your bigger, fatter selves).

I have doubts Isiah could even lead a team to a championship in NBA 2K Association mode. There may be a few moves I missed here and there but these are by far and large the most laugahable and it should be obvious how it turned the Knicks into an irrevocably bad defensive team.

Their grand solution?
Hire an irrevocably poor defensive coach and hope for the best. :)

LeBron James - A 2K Sports Career Progression

LeBron James - the King. The scoring champ. The future of the NBA. And one of the most controversial player ever rated by 2K Sports.
Tonight I'm going to look at the progression of LBJ's NBA 2K ratings from his rookie year to the top where he resides in NBA 2K9.

ESPN NBA Basketball (aka NBA 2K4)

Before I begin, let me just say WOW. Popping in an old sports games is always a bit surreal to me. I spend most of my time playing sports games and the funny thing is spending 1000 hours on NBA 2k7 or NBA 2k8 makes you completely forget things like the menus, music, even game intros.... I got hyped watching the 2k4 intro, it was hot and there haven't been any intros since they lost the ESPN license. Even the menu music is getting to me, it sure beats the hell out of 2k8's... ahem... moving on.

LeBron James
Position: PG
Overall 78
Close 87
Mid 73
3pt 70
FT 80
Layup 80
Dunk 85
Handle 80
Pass 80
PostOff 70
PostDef 70
Block 55
Steal 65
RebOff 70
RebDef 70
Speed 80
Stam 96
Dur 80
DefAwr 70
OffAwr 80

The funny thing is their first crack at LeBron is the only one that accurately depicts his mid-range, post game, and defense. And actually, he bears a striking resemblance to 2k9's Derrick Rose, though that's neither here nor there.

Actually, hold on, I gotta stop for a second. There's just too much nostalgia.

Cleveland
84 Ricky Davis (SG
78 LeBron James (PG)
75 Dajuan Wagner (SG)
74 Darius Miles (SF)
74 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C)
71 Carlos Boozer (PF)

68 Ira Newble (SF)
68 Jason Kapono (SF)
67 Chris Mihm (C)
67 J.R. Bremer (PG)
59 Kevin Ollie (PG)
56 DeSagana Diop (C)
53 Michael Stewart (C)
51 Bruno Sundov (C)

Yeah, this was a long time ago. Toni Kukoc = Bucks best. Nick Van Exel = Warriors best. The Knicks WITHOUT Marbury. The Rockets BEFORE Yao became Mr. 14-16. B-Diddy and Monster Mash. PIPPEN. REGGIE TIME. Other than stacked Kings/Lakers teams (and a Jazz team featuring 70 overall Mark Jackson as their 4th best player), there was balance galore in the NBA.

Ok, so as we all know, LeBron was a high schooler not expected to light up the league out of the gate. He was airballing threes! Then the season starts and LeBron is tearing dudes up. Fortunately we were at an age where players could be updated during the season. If I recall, LeBron was updated about 3 times during the year, pretty much every update they had a LeBron revision. I don't have the ratings for each, but here are his final ratings for the year by 2k sports.

LeBron end of rookie year
Position: SF (He was also a SG in the 2nd update)
Overall 87 (+9)
Close 94 (+7)
Med 83 (+10)
3pt 72 (+2)
FT 76 (-4)
Layup 90 (+10)
Dunk 95 (+10)
Handle 85 (+5)
Pass 85 (+5)
PostOff 70
PostDef 70
Block 55
Steal 80 (+15)
RebOff 72 (+2)
RebDef 80 (+10)
Speed 85 (+5)
Stam 96
Dur 80
DefAwr 75 (+5)
OffAwr 85 (+5)

A 9 point overall jump in one season. Absolutely incredible. I don't think there's ever been another player to get that big a jump in mid-season by 2k. (Even if Raja Bell, a 59 overall for years deserved it... did I mention he's the 7th best small forward on the 2k4 Mavericks? Too many tangents. Must shut off game that built my legend.)

So we move forward to

ESPN NBA 2K5

I've got the default ratings so I don't have to pop in the game. LeBron was updated only once in this edition. Here are his default ratings.

LeBron James 2k5 default
Overall 88
Close 94
Med 83
3pt 70
FT 76
Layup 90
Dunk 95
Handle 85
Pass 85
PostOff 70
PostDef 70
Block 55
Steal 80
RebOff 72
RebDef 80
Speed 85
Stam 95
Dur 90
DefAwr 75
OffAwr 90

Pretty much the same player other than the OA boost since 2k4.

Now let's look at the mid-season LeBron.

LeBron James
Overall 97 (+9)
Close 97 (+3)
Med 91 (+8)
3pt 79 (+9)
FT 76
Layup 95 (+5)
Dunk 95
Handle 90 (+5)
Pass 90 (+5)
PostOff 75 (+5)
PostDef 75 (+5)
Block 70 (+15)
Steal 90 (+10)
RebOff 80 (+8)
RebDef 80
Speed 85
Stam 95
Dur 90
DefAwr 85 (+10)
OffAwr 95 (+5)
ClutchOffense 99

ANOTHER +9 increase in overall. Two in one season. Raja Bell was still a 59 overall. Oh wait no they changed his position to SG which boosted him to a 61. Even though he was a SIXTH MAN at this point of his career.

They also gave him a Kobe-esque clutch rating even though he was terrible in crunch time at this stage of his career.

I won't lie. I was FURIOUS. LeBron James, the world's worst mid-range shooter and a terrible defensive player at age 19. Not even Jesus was this good as a teenager.

(For those wondering what my changes were the minute they did this)
Overall 90 (down from 97)
Med 79 (down from 91)
Handle 85 (down from 90)
Pass 85 (down from 90)
Block 65 (down from 70)
RebOff 65 (down from 80)
RebDef 75 (down from 80)
DefAwr 70 (down from 85)

So we move along to NBA 2K6 now.

LeBron James
Overall 97
Close 99
Med 91
3pt 80
FT 75
Layup 95
Dunk 95
Handle 90
Pass 81
PostOff 85
PostDef 80

Block 65
Steal 90
RebOff 58
RebDef 80
Speed 90
Stam 99
Dur 90
DefAwr 80
OffAwr 95

So somebody finally realized LeBron was not Magic Johnson at passing the ball, nor was he an elite defensive talent. That's good. But then someone got this crazy idea that he had a post game comparable to Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson, or even Anthony Mason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKy08Gunb08

Count the post moves. I dare you.

LeBron James NBA 2K6 mid-season update
Overall 95
Close 99
Med 91
3pt 80
FT 74
Layup 99
Dunk 99

Handle 90
Pass 81
PostOff 85
PostDef 80
Block 65
Steal 83
RebOff 58
RebDef 80
Speed 90
Stam 99
Dur 95
DefAwr 80
OffAwr 95

2k actually lowered LeBron (probably by accident), though they did increase his layup/dunk to 99 where they still reside today (and will for the next decade).

Still, things weren't as bad as they were in the past. For the first time, LeBron didn't get better after release. He actually regressed a bit. One could only hope this would carry over into...

NBA 2K7

LeBron James
Overall 98
Close 99
Med 91
3pt 79
FT 74
Layup 99
Dunk 99
Handle 95
Pass 77
PostOff 84
PostDef 79
Block 70
Steal 80
RebOff 63
RebDef 79
Speed 91
Stam 99
Dur 99
DefAwr 79
OffAwr 98

Finally, the first game that operated in more than multiples of 5! But oh man, increased handles now??? This guy is becoming more broken by the day. At least they lowered his post/defawr ratings by a point each.

2k7 marked the first time LeBron was not edited mid-season. Apparently they nailed him. That 91 mid-range was simply PERFECT for a player who hit .347 of his shots from that range. We've only been hearing complaints about this one for THREE YEARS now. Ahh, better luck next year.

Aww crap. LeBron made the Finals. Brace yourselves for 107 overall next year.

NBA 2K8

ATTRIBUTES
Overall 97
Close 99
Med 91
3pt 77
FT 70
Layup 99
Dunk 99
Handle 95
Pass 72
PostOff 84
PostDef 79
Block 68
Steal 78
RebOff 65
RebDef 76
Speed 91
Stam 99
Dur 99
DefAwr 79
OffAwr 99
Potential 99
Strength 86
Vertical 97
OffDribble 92
InTraffic 99
Quickness 92
Hustle 80
Hands 98
BallDefense 81
Standing Dunk 75

Wait a second... he went down? Maybe they were just too tired from adding all those new attributes.

Once again Lebron didn't have a mid-season update. I guess they think they just got this guy perfect now.

Finally, we return to the present. Err, future. Whatever.

NBA 2K9

I took the liberty of comparing this year's ratings directly to 2k8's.

LeBron James
Overall 101 – 97 (+4)
Close 96 – 99 (-3)
Med 85 – 91 (-6)
3pt 82 - 77 (+5)
FT 71 – 70 (+1)
Off Dribble 89 – 92 (-3)
In Traffic 97 – 99 (-2)
Layup 99 - 99 (0)
Dunk 99 - 99 (0)
Handle 96 - 95 (+1)
Pass 89 - 72 (+17)
Hands 99 – 98 (+1)
PostOff 89 – 84 (+5)
PostDef 83 – 79 (+4)

Ball Defense 81 – 81 (0)
Block 63 – 68 (-5)
Steal 86 – 78 (+8)
Hustle 80 – 80 (0)
RebOff 76 – 65 (+11)
RebDef 84 – 76 (+8)

Speed 91 – 91 (0)
Quickness 92 – 92 (0)
Strength 90 – 86 (+4)
Vertical 97 – 97 (0)
DefAwr 82 – 79 (+3)
OffAwr 99 – 99 (0)

They finally lowered LeBron's mid-range game!!!!!! Oh wait. They lowered EVERYONE'S mid-range game. (Kobe is now +2 on Bron Bron in MR after spending the last 3 years only +1. I can't make this stuff up).

LeBron James - The best post up small forward of all-time that never posts up in real life. HES JUST THAT DAMN GOOD.

The future

Where will LeBron go from here? Well that seems to be in the hands of my good friend Robert Wagner (the 2K Insider. Get it? It's 4AM just say yes.)

Now I know what you're all thinking: what does the Real 2K Insider have to say about LeBron James rating for 2k9? Well, you're just gonna have to download my roster file via 2K Share to find out :) I'll give you a hint though - he won't be 110 overall.

NBA 2K9 Ratings @ Sports Gamer

I've used Sports Gamer to get a head start on my roster editing for NBA 2K9. Check them out and take a look at this year's ratings while you're at it!

2K Share CAP Nominations

Since you guys took the time to follow the link, I'd like to give you something more to do than just wonder how my roster is progressing when the game won't be out for another two weeks.

I am acccepting nominations for who the first player I create and upload to 2K Share will be. Voting will be held next week up until the release of the game on October 7th.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Welcome!

Hey everybody! Welcome to the blog of that lovable NBA 2K roster editor Rashidi! I have been editing players for the NBA 2K series ever since the feature was allowed in 2k3. I am entering my seventh season of editing which should be even more comprehensive than in the past.

Last year's Player Edit Guide can be found here:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/file/939852/52393

Thanks to 2K Sports, who came up with the 2K Share feature, my roster work will now be downloadable via XBox Live (and soon to be whatever they call that PS3 network). Gone are the days of tedious manual updates - you can get my updates and the click of a button. Ahh, technology.

It should be dually noted that 2K Sports also brought the concept of "Living Rosters" to NBA 2K9. They will be updating their rosters on a (hopefully) more than per 2 month basis now as this project will be overseen by the "2K Insider" (Or as I prefer to call him, number two).


The "other" 2K Insider.

Playful jesting aside, this is going to be a very exciting year for me. I've never been tested like this before and I'm looking forward to the challenge. And that only means good things for fans of NBA 2K!