Thursday, December 6, 2012

NBA 2K13 Roster Analysis 12/5/12


NBA 2K13 (finally) released another roster after two and a half weeks (and I thought I was slow).

I've combed through the roster and posted the comprehensive details (and my thoughts) for your viewing pleasure.

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PLAYER EDITS
After two and a half weeks off, many fans were hoping for lots of rating changes.  Last roster we got 16 player edits, and there was a larger time gap for this roster.  Unfortunately, only 14 players received rating edits in this roster, an average of 0.67 players edited by 2K Sports per day.  This is a disappointing development, as there are still many players who need rating edits.  Even worse, there are FOUR PLAYERS who had already received rating edits in prior rosters!  If you're hoping for 2K to get around to adjusting your favorite role players this season, it's a pipe dream.

Now that the doom and gloom is out of the way....

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Jrue Holiday
87 Overall (+4)
88 Inside (+9)
86 Close (-2)
84 3pt (+1)
80 FT (+2)
89 Layup (+7)
68 Traffic (+14)
89 Security (+4)
90 Pass (+7)
76 Steal (-2)
92 Hands (+6)
84 OBD (+4)
88 OffAwr (+6)
86 DefAwr (+3)
98 Stamina (+2)
Sig Add: Dimer

2013
Inside: 40-65 (61.5%)
Close: 38-89 (42.6%)
Mid: 29-71 (40.8%)
3pt: 20-55 (36.4%)
AST%: 44.0 (3rd in league)
STL%: 1.9

2012
Inside: 137-253 (54.2%)
Close: 125-330 (37.8%)
Mid: 87-210 (41.4%)
3pt: 85-220 (38.6%)
AST%: 21.6
STL%: 2.5

While Holiday is scoring more efficiently at the rim, 88 Inside is a stretch.
Close shooting has improved, but rating reduced because it shouldn't have been that high to begin with based on 2012 performance.
3pt went up a point even though his percentage has gone down a point.
Don't have a problem with big bumps to Pass rating or Offensive Awareness as Holiday's assist rate is 3rd in league behind Rondo and Greivis Vasquez. Holiday is actually 0.1% ahead of Chris Paul at the moment.
I would not have bothered changing his steal rate as his 2.3% career rate is certainly within reach and samples are still small for steals/blocks.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
2K should drop Holiday's 47 DefReb as he hasn't been a decent rebounder since his sophomore season.
Holiday has 4 dunks on the year, had 22 last season, and only has 40 dunk rating.  He is one of the few PGs I wouldn't mind dunking on me, unlike Nate Robinson, Mario Chalmers, Kyrie Irving, etc.

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Evan Turner
78 Overall (NC)
75 Med (-4)
60 OffReb (+8)
78 DefReb (+10)

2013

Inside: 26-50 (52.0%)
Close: 40-80 (50.0%)
Mid: 19-64 (29.7%)
3pt: 13-30 (43.3%)
FT: 50-62 (80.6%)
ORB%: 2.6
DRB%: 20.9

2012

Inside: 110-177 (62.1%)
Close: 131-332 (39.4%)
Mid: 67-180 (37.2%)
3pt: 11-55 (20.0%)
FT: 73-108 (67.6%)
ORB%: 1.7
DRB%: 22.8

The only shot rating Turner had changed was his mid-range shot, despite significant improvements from Close and especially 3pt.  Turner only has 64 3pt rating and should clearly be mid-70s.  Turner came into this season with 25 career threes made, and will have doubled that by the end of the month.
Turner's defensive rebounding badly needed improvement, but his offensive rebounding likewise needed to go down and instead went up!  Turner's ORB rating is overrated by 20-25 points now!

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Not a rating change but Turner is a point forward and isn't a listed as a "Play Initiator".  Consequently. he won't ever bring the ball up or run plays.
Aside from the shot/rebound corrections, Turner doesn't deserve 91 Potential anymore as it's looking clear he'll never be a superstar.

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Byron Mullens
69 Overall (+7)
74 3pt (+24)
78 FT (-4)
53 SOD (+19)
36 Pass (+8)
63 Block (+7)
68 Steal (+14)
66 Hands (+8)
75 OffReb (+3)
68 DefReb (+3)
68 OffPost (+5)
70 OffAwr (+6)
54 DefAwr (+5)
50 Consistency (+10)
77 Stamina (+4)
79 Durability (+6)
72 Potential (+2)

2013
Inside: 25-40 (62.5%)
Close: 19-45 (42.2%)
Mid: 9-36 (25.0%)
3pt: 24-84 (28.6%)
AST%: 6.3
BLK%: 2.0
STL%: 1.6
ORB%: 5.4
DRB%: 23.1

2012
Inside: 117-181 (64.6%)
Close: 33-100 (33.0%)
Mid: 89-259 (34.4%)
3pt: 12-51 (23.5%)
AST%: 7.5
BLK%: 2.6
STL%: 0.8
ORB%: 7.3
DRB%: 18.8

Mullens ratings are a mess.
3pt rating was improved so that he can actually hit the shot (he attempts 5 per game) so this is was a sizable portion of his offense missing.  However in adding the 3pt shot, he has abandoned long twos... yet inexplicably still has an 87 Medium rating that he never deserved in the first place.
Block rating went up despite a decline in rate.  Mullens has 2.4 BLK% in his career (2100 minutes) and his rating was fine in the mid-50s.
Mullens has doubled his steal rate from last year, but it's still early. At 1.0 STL% for his career, it's probably going to go back down.  Apparently 2K decided Mullens & Jrue Holiday's steal ratings should only be separated by 8 points, and that this wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
Mullens is posting the worst offensive rebound rate of his career, so of course 2K would raise his rating there.  Would have been nice to see a decrease there with a larger increase to his defensive rebound rating.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
2K really needs to drop Mullens medium shot which is obviously way off (to all but the 2K ratings team it would seem).
Decrease blocks/steals/ORBs, while increase DRBs if rates hold steady.
Improve On-Ball Defense, Ball Handling, Ball Security, Speed, and Quickness, as these are all way too low for an athletic stretch four.

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Monta Ellis
85 Overall (-1)
53 OffPost (-12)

2013
Inside: 52-85 (61.2%)
Close: 27-69 (39.1%)
Mid: 23-73 (31.5%)
3pt: 12-57 (21.1%)

2012
Inside: 166-263 (63.1%)
Close: 105-263 (39.9%)
Mid: 117-313 (37.4%)
3pt: 62-201 (30.8%)

Synergy Post Data
2013 MIL: 2.3% (0.88 PPP) - 8 poss
2012 MIL: 2.6% (1.00 PPP) - 11 poss
2012: GSW: 7.7% (1.07 PPP) - 69 poss (PPP ranked 6th in NBA)

Sometimes I just cannot get over the sheer laziness of 2K Sports.  Monta absolutely CAN post up, he just doesn't in Scott Skiles' system.  You know what else Monta Ellis doesn't do in Skiles' system?  Hit jumpers.  It's flat out embarrassing that 2K went in and made a single rating change to Monta without touching a single one of his shot ratings.  Ellis has been BRUTAL outside of 15 feet and maintains 91 Medium shot and 76 3pt ratings.  Monta's medium shot rating was already ridiculously high (along with his 90 Close rating) and ignoring it is simply insulting.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
There isn't a soul in Milwaukee who thinks Monta Ellis is the Bucks' best player, much less all-star caliber (5th among SGs, 23rd overall in 2K's roster).  A severe drop in his shot ratings is paramount.

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Richard Hamilton
73 Overall (-1)
63 Vertical (-9)

At this risk of sounding like a broken record, sometimes I just cannot get over the sheer laziness of 2K Sports.  I want to know what lame brain complained to 2K about Rip's VERTICAL, of all ratings.  He's old.  Fine.  Nobody will dispute that.  Surely there are other ratings that could also have been changed?

Does 34 year old Rip deserve 94 Stamina?  He hasn't played 30+ minutes per game as a starter in four years.

Does Rip deserve 78 FT rating when he is a career 85% shooter and last season's career low 78% came in a ridiculously small 38 shot sample?  He is hitting 93% this year in a likewise small sample.  These are obvious, small adjustments that could have been made in addition to a vertical rating that isn't even all that important.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Aside from a large decrease to stamina, I would hold off on any further adjustments until Rip returns from injury.  He missed over half of last season and has only played about 1100 minutes for the Bulls.  Last year his shot was affected by the injuries and it remains to be seen if that will be the case this year.

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Dwyane Wade
91 Overall (-2)
83 Close (-9)
79 Mid (-2)
66 3pt (-2)
76 FT (-3)
84 Dunk (-4)
62 Block (-8)
97 Hands (-2)
70 Consistency (-5)
93 Quickness (-2)
90 Vertical (-3)

2013
Inside: 51-69 (73.9%)
Close: 27-79 (34.1%)
Mid: 21-49 (42.9%)
3pt: 2-10 (20.0%)
BLK%: 1.7

2012
Inside: 300-441 (68.0%)
Close: 198-460 (43.0%)
Mid: 90-272 (33.1%)
3pt: 25-90 (27.8%)
BLK%: 3.1 (highest ever for a SG)

Wade's close range game has not been there this season. In my opinion his floaters will start to fall once he gets in better shape (or adjusts to his declining athleticism).  An 83 is fine since it's in-between his production from last season.
Wade has been shooting the ball better from mid-range, and the drop to his rating there would be dubious IF it weren't overrated to begin with.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Wade's declining athleticism hasn't just affected his scoring, but all areas of his game.  Assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks have all gone down as well.  If Wade is going to play a smaller offensively as he gets older, he'll need to step his production in these categories again for the Heat to have a shot at winning another championship.

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J.R. Smith
Overall 79 (+4)
82 Inside (+4)
76 Close (-5)
80 Med (-1)
87 3pt (+6)
85 FT (+11)
81 SOD (+2)
68 Hands (+7)
73 OBD (+5)
53 DefReb (+3)
76 OffAwr (+3)
64 DefAwr (+3)
60 Consistency (+15)
95 Stamina (+2)
52 Strength (+6)
76 Durability (+13)
83 Potential (+4)

2013
Inside: 14-27 (51.9%)
Close: 18-58 (31.0%)
Med: 26-58 (44.8%)
3pt: 21-46 (45.7%)

2012
Inside: 44-73 (60.3%)
Close: 27-71 (38.0%)
Med: 46-116 (39.7%)
3pt: 72-221 (32.6%)

I am not a fan of these J.R. Smith changes.  All you have to do is look at the balance of where his shots are coming from.
Smith has not been finishing at the rim, so an upgraded Inside shot was not needed.
Decrease to Smith's Close shot is completely justified, as his conversion rate has been poor.
Decrease to Smith's Medium shot is NOT justified as he's been shooting the ball better, and is also taking more shots from mid-range than ever before (as I write this, he just hit a contested mid-range game winner).
Smith didn't need such a large increase to his 3pt rating as it was overrated to begin with.  Smith is not taking nearly as many threes this season, and this shift will only lead online players to continue to use him in a manner not consistent with his performance.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Smith has long held a ridiculously high dunk rating that he simply doesn't deserve.  Smith has an 87 dunk rating, but only has 4 dunks on the year.  Compare this to Dwyane Wade who has 17 dunks and just saw his rating dropped to 84.

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Carmelo Anthony
90 Overall (+1)
91 Inside (+2)
87 Med (+3)
86 3pt (+7)
84 Traffic (+2)
85 SOD (+3)
96 OffAwr (+2)
96 Stamina (+2)

2013
Inside: 54-102 (52.9%)
Close: 27-67 (34.1%)
Mid: 29-63 (46.0%)
3pt: 37-85 (43.5%)
AST%: 11.2 (career low)

2012
Inside: 203-336 (60.4%)
Close: 107-303 (35.3%)
Mid: 111-289 (38.4%)
3pt: 72-221 (32.6%)
AST%: 21.0 (career high)

2013 Dunks
Durant: 25 in 754 minutes (1.59 per 48)
LeBron: 18 in 602 minutes (1.43 per 48)
Melo: 6 in 568 minutes (0.50 per 48)

2012 Dunks
Durant: 127 in 3383 minutes (1.80 per 48)
LeBron: 134 in 3309 minutes (1.94 per 48)
Melo: 31 in 2080 minutes (0.71 per 48)

Melo's Inside shot going up is ABSURD considering how poorly he is shooting it at the rim.  Melo has NEVER been a good finisher at the rim, and this is what has always separated him from elite players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant.  They throw down consistently and Melo cannot.  Take away the dunking though, and they are still more proficient at finishing acrobatic drives than Melo is.  Melo is hitting under 50% of his layups this year, and that advocates an INCREASE to his Inside shot rating?

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
In addition to being a poor finisher at the rim, Melo has long been overrated from Close range as well, and absolutely not worthy of the 87 Close rating he holds.  Melo has been at his best from 16 feet and out this season, and has struggled mightily inside of that.
After posting a career high 21.0 AST% last season under coach Mike D'Antoni, Melo is posting a career low 11.2 AST% under Mike Woodson.  What makes this especially disturbing is that Melo leads the league in Usage, and has a vastly lower assist rate than all other usage leaders (only DeMarcus Cousins is close, and his 13.2 AST% is still better than Melo's... not a good sign when you're a bigger ball-hog than DMC).
Finally, 72 Defensive Awareness for Melo is laughable.  Always has been, always will be.

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Kobe Bryant
94 Overall (+1)
89 Inside (+5)
88 Med (+4)
82 3pt (+6)

2013
Inside: 49-73 (67.1%)
Close: 56-121 (46.2%)
Mid: 30-64 (46.9%)
3pt: 34-90 (37.8%)

2012
Inside: 162-239 (67.8%)
Close: 245-582 (42.0%)
Mid: 145-469 (41.6%)
3pt: 104-437 (30.0%)

Kobe's shots at the rim aren't going in any more frequently, but you'd better believe he deserves an Inside shot boost if Carmelo Anthony is going to have an even higher rating than that (91 to Kobe's 89) when you compare their bodies of work (58.6% for Melo to Kobe's 67.6% when you combine this year and last).
Kobe has been shooting the ball much better this season outside of 16 feet.  Kobe's 3pt game was horrendous last season (2nd worst 3pt% of his career) but is having much more success this season (2nd best 3pt% of his career).

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Kobe still has elite defensive ratings, but hasn't been a plus defender in years.  A lot of this lately is due to how much energy he expends on the offensive end, but also because the Lakers have had Metta World Peace to cover the top perimeter assignment every night.
Kobe's dunk rating is also a bit high, as like Melo he only has 6 on the year (not to harp on this again, but Kobe is another player who is much better finishing at the rim with acrobatic layups than Melo).

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Pau Gasol
84 Overall (-3)
84 Close (-8)
81 Med (-3)
62 3pt (+4)
84 OffReb (-7)
81 DefReb (-7)
83 DefPost (-2)
87 OffAwr (-2)
76 DefAwr (-2)

2013
Inside: 30-47 (63.8%)
Close: 23-77 (29.8%)
Med: 29-69 (42.0%)
3pt: 2-7 (28.6%)
ORB%: 8.1
DRB%: 19.6

2012
Inside: 206-300 (68.7%)
Close: 197-468 (42.0%)
Med: 109-259 (42.1%)
3pt: 9-33 (27.3%)
ORB%: 8.8
DRB%: 21.8

While Gasol has been attempting more jumpers per game playing next to Dwight Howard, his efficiency close to the basket has simply not been there, and that is what's more concerning for Gasol, who is easily having the worst season of his career.
Gasol's rebounding predictably saw a slight decrease playing next to Howard, but the reason for such a large drop in his rebound ratings is that they were overrated to begin with.  Aside from scoring, the rest of Gasol's production has held steady.
A two point decrease to Gasol's Offensive and Defensive Awareness and his Post Defense just exhibits how little 2K knows about the players and how they are merely chasing a specific overall rating when they make adjustments.  Gasol is a fantastic defensive player and his defensive awareness should easily be higher than a 76, as his struggles have been limited to the offensive end!  Consequently, 87 offensive awareness seems very high for a player who is deferring to much, and one who has notably struggled on the offensive end this season.  I don't think anyone would complain if they saw Gasol get -10 OffAwr and +10 DefAwr.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
It's curious to me how Dwyane Wade's Consistency dropped to 70 yet Gasol's Consistency held steady at 75.
Gasol's 70 Hustle rating seems a bit high for a player whose primary criticism is not playing hard every night (not to mention lumbering 7 footers don't exactly dive on the floor very much).

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Deron Williams
89 Overall (-1)
88 Inside (+4)
81 Med (-3)
73 3pt (-8)
90 OffAwr (-4)

2013
Inside: 26-38 (68.4%)
Close: 19-52 (36.5%)
Med: 19-51 (37.3%)
3pt: 27-91 (29.7%)

2012
Inside: 108-190 (56.8%)
Close: 83-214 (38.7%)
Med: 85-215 (39.5%)
3pt: 115-342 (33.6%)

Deron's Inside shot rating going up feels wrong due to the small sample size and the fact that it was already overrated based on last season's performance.
Not really a big fan of taking Deron's 3pt rating that low since it's only a matter of time before the shots start going down (a drop halfway to 77 would have been preferable).
I have a big problem with dropping Offensive Awareness for a player averaging 16 points and 9 assists, who would be averaging closer to 20 if he weren't shooting the ball so poorly.  For those keeping score at home, Antawn Jamison has been a bum for years and he still has 90 Offensive Awareness. 

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
82 Defensive Awareness?  Really?

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Jeremy Lin
76 Overall (-2)
81 Inside (-5)
80 Close (-7)
72 Med (-6)
70 3pt (-5)
81 OffAwr (-3)
60 Consistency (-5)

2013
Inside: 39-66 (59.1%)
Close: 10-41 (24.3%)
Med: 8-26 (30.8%)
3pt: 11-43 (25.6%)

2012
Inside: 64-123 (52.0%)
Close: 57-128 (44.5%)
Med: 26-57 (45.6%)
3pt: 24-75 (32.0%)

It's been a tale of two seasons for Lin, as his last season's impressive close range game has seemingly evaporated.  He came into the season hurting, and there's no way he can be this bad all season when you look at last season's production.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Lin has about 1800 minutes of NBA experience under his belt, so keep watching those shooting percentages to see how they balance out.  The rest of his production has primarily held steady.

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Serge Ibaka
84 Overall (+3)
83 Close (+11)
85 Med (+2)
80 FT (+14)
60 Hook (+3)
66 OffPost (+8)
70 OffAwr (+10)
84 Stamina (+4)

2013
Inside: 49-63 (77.8%)
Close: 28-48 (58.3%)
Med: 36-72 (50.0%)
3pt: 3-12 (25.0%)

2012
Inside: 188-265 (70.9%)
Close: 75-179 (41.8%)
Med: 81-198 (40.9%)
3pt: 2-7 (28.6%)

The improvements to Ibaka's offensive ratings are clearly justified by looking at the vast improvement of his jump shot.
Improving Ibaka's hookshot is an uninformed move as a quick visit to Synergy reveals Ibaka does most of his damage on faceup/fadeaway jumpers.

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Improving Ibaka's 3pt rating is a must.  He is now 5-18 in his career (6-22 including playoffs) and obviously deserves more than a 25 rating.
Ibaka without 99 block rating (he's had 96 for two years) is simply wrong.
I am not a fan of Ibaka's 92 Defensive Awareness because he gets absolutely killed by stretch fours.

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Damian Lillard
82 Overall (+5)
82 Med (+8)
83 3pt (+8)
84 FT (-4)
93 Layup (+2)
76 SOD (+2)
86 Pass (+4)
80 Steal (+8)
85 Hands (+6)
70 OBD (+2)
86 OffAwr (+4)
62 DefAwr (+7)
70 Consistency (+5)
99 Stamina (+4)
94 Speed (+2)
97 Quickness (+2)
78 Hustle (+5)

2013
Inside: 34-69 (49.3%)
Close: 15-46 (32.6%)
Med: 24-46 (52.2%)
3pt: 44-113 (38.9%)
AST%: 29.7
STL%: 1.9

Lillard has been money from distance, but things get hazy inside of 15 feet.  He is not finishing shots at the rim and ANOTHER increase to his layup rating to make it elite seems dubious.  Lillard is only hitting 47% of his layups and actually seems to be better at dunking the ball (5 already).

Lillard received another increase to his pass rating, which was totally excessive.
The increase to Lillard's steal rating makes no sense since we started off with Jrue Holiday having the same steal rate and getting his rating dropped to 76 (despite a much stronger career history).

FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS
Lillard isn't as good of a defensive rebounder as his rating suggests.  Beyond what was discussed above, that's the only nitpick I really have.

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POSITION CHANGES
2K made a large number of position changes, most of which were derived from 82games lineup data.  There are still some inaccuracies, and still a few players who need their rating changed,

Byron Mullens PF/C (from C)
Bismack Biyombo C (from PF/C)
Larry Sanders C/PF (from PF/C) - Udoh should have been changed to C instead.
Daniel Gibson SG/PG (from PG/SG)
Leandro Barbosa PG/SG (from SG)
Josh Selby SG/PG (from PG) - Wroten should have been changed to SG/SF instead.
Shane Battier PF/SF (from SF/PF)
Rashard Lewis PF/SF (from SF/PF)
Chris Bosh C/PF (from PF/C)
Udonis Haslem C/PF (from PF/C)
Austin Rivers SG/PG (from PG/SG)
Anthony Randolph PF/C (from C/PF)
Jason Smith C/PF (from PF/C)
E'Twaun Moore PG/SG (from SG/PG)
Dominique Jones PG/SG (from SG/PG)
Vince Carter SG/SF (from SF/SG) - Dumb change. Has played VAST MAJORITY of his mins at SF.
Brandan Wright C/PF (from PF)
Jerry Stackhouse SF/SG (from SG/SF)
Andre Iguodala SG/SF (from SF/SG)
Gerald Green SF/SG (from SG/SF)
Gary Neal PG/SG (from SG/PG) - Should have left this alone as Neal starting at SG right now.
Jared Dudley SG/SF (from SF/SG)
Luke Babbitt PF/SF (from SF)
J.J. Hickson C/PF (from PF/C)
Nene PF/C (from C/PF)
Chris Singleton PF/SF (from SF/PF)
Jan Vesley PF/C (from SF/PF)
Kevin Seraphin C/PF (from PF/C)

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MISSING PLAYERS

2K added seven more players to the roster, cutting what was once a 30 player deficit to 13.  At the current rate, they just might have everyone in before the end of the calendar year.

Cory Higgins
66 Overall (SG) - Bobcats
The worst player in the NBA has better ratings than Bobcats' current starting SG Jeff Taylor.  Higgins ranks 66th among SG and 306th Overall, for what it's worth.

Brian Roberts
60 Overall (PG) - Hornets
Roberts has played extremely well backing up Grevis Vasquez in New Orleans, and has BADLY outplayed fellow rookie Austin Rivers.  With Lance Thomas still missing, the injured Anthony Davis is still on the Hornets active roster.

Robert Sacre
60 Overall (C) - Lakers
Sacre has played only 8 games so far, but should get additional burn now that Pau Gasol is sidelined.  Now 2K needs to add Darius Johnson-Odom so Gasol, Steve Nash, and Steve Blake all fit on the injured reserve.

Viacheslav Kravtsov
56 Overall (C) - Pistons
No, I can't pronounce his name either.  Given that he has a 3-year guaranteed deal, we have plenty of time to learn.

Greg Smith
56 Overall (C/PF) - Rockets
Smith dropped 21/9 on the Lakers in only 24 minutes, after posting a season high 13 points in only 16 minutes  the game prior.  He can play.

Nando De Colo
62 Overall (PG/SG) - Spurs
NDC had 15/6/5 during that infamous Spurs/Heat game.  He probably won't play much until Ginobili retires (or inevitably gets hurt for an extended period).

Victor Claver
62 Overall (SF/PF) - Trail Blazers
Claver has barely played this season, but given that his primary competition for backup minutes  is Sasha Pavlovic, that will change deeper into the year (especially as the Blazers fall out of playoff contention).

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UPDATED MISSING PLAYER LIST
Maalik Waayns (PG) - 76ers
Kevin Jones (PF) - Cavaliers
Terrel Harris (SG) - Heat
Lance Thomas (PF/SF) - Hornets
Kevin Murphy (SG) - Jazz
James White (SF/SG) - Knicks
Darius Johnson-Odom (SG) - Lakers
Julyan Stone (PG/SG) - Nuggets
Ben Hansbrough (PG/SG) - Pacers
Scott Machado (PG) - Rockets
Diante Garrett (SG) - Suns
Luke Zeller (C/PF) - Suns
Kent Bazemore (SG/SF) - Warriors
TOTAL: 13

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PLAYERS ON THE WRONG TEAMS
It sucks that this still needs it's own section.

Matt Carroll - Hornets
Carroll was waived by the Hornets on 11/20.  His removal would have lead to Eric Gordon's inclusion on the active roster.  If they were so worried about that, the proper course of action should have been ADD LANCE THOMAS TO THE GAME. 

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INCORRECT LINEUPS
In 2K's 11-17-12 roster they had ten teams with incorrect lineups lineups.  Instead of getting better, they've gotten worse, as THIRTEEN teams now have incorect lineups.  Incredulously, three of those teams still have the same lineup they did 18 days ago.

76ers
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Jason Richardson
SF: Evan Turner
PF: Thaddeus Young
C: Kwame Brown

Lavoy Allen has been starting over Kwame.

Bucks
PG: Brandon Jennings
SG: Monta Ellis
SF: Tobias Harris
PF: Ersan Ilyasova
C: Samuel Dalembert

Harris lost his starting job to Marquis Daniels.  Starting PF has been a bit of a revolving door due to Ilyasova's poor play this season.  Rookie John Henson had been drawing starts, but it would appear Larry Sanders is the new starter after some insane lines off the bench.  Epke Udoh also appears to have replaced Samuel Dalembert.  Beno Udrih got hurt and is still on the active roster, while Luc Richard Mbah a Moute got healthy and is still reserved.

Bulls
PG: Kirk Hinrich
SG: Richard Hamilton
SF: Luol Deng
PF: Carlos Boozer
C: Joakim Noah

Hamilton just got hurt and will miss 2-4 weeks.  Marco Belinelli has been starting in his place.

Celtics
PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Courtney Lee
SF: Paul Pierce
PF: Brandon Bass
C: Kevin Garnett

As I pointed out November 17th, Jason Terry is the starting SG, not Courtney Lee.

Hawks
PG: Jeff Teague
SG: Kyle Korver
SF: Josh Smith
PF: Al Horford
C: Zaza Pachulia

While the Hawks have utilized this lineup, it is not their primary lineup: Teague-Stevenson-Korver-Smith-Horford.

Hornets
PG: Grevis Vasquez
SG: Austin Rivers
SF: Al-Farouq Aminu
PF: Ryan Anderson
C: Robin Lopez

Rivers lost his starting job due to some truly atrocious play.  Roger Mason has been starting instead.

Kings
PG: Isaiah Thomas
SG: Tyreke Evans
SF: James Johnson
PF: Jason Thompson
C: DeMarcus Cousins

As I pointed out November 17th, Isaiah Thomas and James Johnson were replaced in the starting lineup by Aaron Brooks and John Salmons.  Salmons is once again not even on the active roster.  Terrible.

Lakers
PG: Darius Morris
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Metta World Peace
PF: Pau Gasol
C: Dwight Howard

Morris was recently supplanted by Chris Duhon in the starting lineup.  Gasol is out indefinitely with knee tendinitis (and/or blown confidence), and Antawn Jamison will start at PF until Gasol returns.

Magic
PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: J.J. Redick
SF: Arron Afflalo
PF: Glen Davis
C: Nikola Vucevic

Maurice Harkless has been starting at SF for weeks now.  Redick has been the team's 6th man all season, starting a grand total of four games (to Hark's 8).

Mavericks
PG: Darren Collison
SG: O.J. Mayo
SF: Jae Crowder
PF: Shawn Marion
C: Chris Kaman

The Mavericks signed Derek Fisher with the intention of making him their starting PG.  It makes no sense to add Fisher to the team with that knowledge in hand and then have him coming off the bench.

Raptors
PG: Kyle Lowry
SG: Demar DeRozan
SF: Linas Kleiza
PF: Andrea Bargnani
C: Jonas Valanciunas

As with the Mavericks, the Raptors signed Mickael  Pietrus with the intention of starting him.  He played 40 minutes tonight against the Kings.

Spurs
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Danny Green
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF: Boris Diaw
C: Tim Duncan

As I pointed out November 17th, Kawhi Leonard hasn't played in weeks due to injury, Gary Neal has been starting in his place at SG, with Green sliding over to SF, and DeJuan Blair replaced Boris Diaw in the starting lineup.

Suns
PG: Goran Dragic
SG: Jared Dudley
SF: Michael Beasley
PF: Luis Scola
C: Marcin Gortat

Dudley and Scola were replaced in the starting lineup by Shannon Brown and Markieff Morris over a week ago.

SUMMARY
While 2K got some things right in this update, they got far more wrong despite taking twice as long to put it out there.  It remains to be seen how they rebound from this, but one would hope swiftly and definitively.  Unfortunately, we all know after 12 years of this that it won't happen.

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