NBA 2k9: Part Deux

Kyle, you ballin'?

I just started up an OKC franchise after getting tired of experimenting with various ways to get the Spurs younger. Like the OKC challenge because, quite frankly, they suck out loud at the beginning. (57 Overall, hah.)

Step One was to ship off my 2010 1st round draft pick for.... Andrew Bogut. This was done after a blazing 0-2 start, so we'll see if there are to be any results.

(Wilcox is kinda lighting it up, though. We came within a hair of beating the Rockets.)

Yeah, I pop it in every few days. I'm at the point where the next difficulty is frustrating as hell (missing open 8 foot jumpers with Kobe), but the current level is way too easy.

Ionno about the Bogut trade. He's not my style of player I guess. You can probably work on his post game though, and the computer creates really crappy prospects. (more on that in my 'chise... I editted the first round to make them not suck).

I find OKC (when I rename and remove them) to be pretty decent to actually play. Or at last fits my style. Green and (dear god.... the PG... can't remember his name) fit what I like to do really well. I use Green at PF primarily, let him drive and take open jumpers. The PG (still can't remember name) gets to the hoop really easily and creates shots for his guys. Durant is the hardest guy for me to use, but after a while I get used to his game. Normally use my wings to drive to the basket, which isn't Durant's greatest strength. He has a NASTY post game though.

I decided to make a Knicks franchise. Simmed the first season (somehow made the playoffs?!?! Lost in 2nd round), but also traded away a lot of guys for draft picks. Ended up editing some prospects pre-draft (customize prospects option) to resemble actual NBA draft prospects. So I got James Harden (decent SG) and Hasheem Thabeet (7'3 center) with two of my lottery picks. Somehow snagged Brandon Jennings (PG who was #1 college recruit in the nation) and Stephen Curry (combo-guard who can make any shot). That is going to be sick in a couple years. And I dumped salary for 2010.

Current rotation:
Brandon Jennings (not doing so hot first 2 games, truthfully).
James Harden (25ppg?)
Wilson Chandler (I worked on him all year and during camps, and made him into a mini-star. 6'8 with A athleticism and A- jump shooting. Not worth much on the boards, but that's why I got...)
David Lee, PF (Re-signed to a 5 year deal. Midrange game is alright and he can make shots all day.
Hasheem Thabeet (7'3 with okay athleticism... I just use him to block shots and get boards)
6th: Chris Duhon (trying to move him... I got a glut of guards)
RP: Stephen Curry, fills in at both guard spots and makes a ton of shots.
RP: Quentin Richardson... meh. He does the job well enough, cept the computer keeps putting him at PF despite being 6'6... It's a good thing I use my PF more for midrange game than post.

My original goal was to make a team with a ton of defense. I got the C, and I'm not bad at SG, SF, and PF... but really nothing special, and Jennings plays awful defense. But I score at a killer clip.

Yeah, sounds like our games run drastically different (One of the things I like about the game -- You can be effective without one bug exploit cheese strategy).

Bogut was a value trade -- He's not particularly dominant, but he's solid. I've been mainly working on his defensive skills, so he'll probably never BE dominant at any one thing. Well-rounded 7 footer that isn't a liability, and since so many of the prospects don't pan out (I haven't played enough consecutive seasons to see how much the talent drops off over the years to determine how realistic the rookie pool actually is. It does seem to drop off sharp and fast, with only a small handful of decent players available most years).

As far as making use of Durant's strengths... Heh, I dropped down 51 points with him last night. Interesting lineup at the start of Season Two. (Most of season one had Marco Belinelli starting, and he's looking to be a better 6.)

PG: Westbrook. (Interesting player. Solid perimeter defense, and when he gets a wild hair can rack up points pretty quick. Can usually throw down teens with him, and still hover around ten assists.)

SG: Ben Gordon. (Had some cash available, made a splash in free agency landing Gordan and Hermann. With Durant, Gordan, Hermann, and Belinelli... you'd have to go full retard to leave anyone alone on the perimeter.)

SF: Kevin Durant. (25-30ppg without really focusing on him. Monster skillset for the type of game I play, which is probably more along the line of Spurs-ball. Slow things down, force attention on the bigs down low, then rain down hell and destruction from outside when given an inch.)

PF: Nick Collison. (Kinda the weak link. Would've liked to have kept Wilcox, but his price/production ratio and lack of defense just wasn't happening for me.)

C: Andrew Bogut. (Good for a double-double on any given day. Not as dominant as he probably should be, just solid.)

6th: Marco Belinelli. (Poor man's Manu.)

Walter Hermann. (If I remember correctly, I have him listed as basically another 6th man. My prospects only take up a couple minutes/game, so I had game time to spare... the dude seems capable of dropping a jumper from damn near anywhere on the court.)

Watson renegotiated his contract (I hadn't seen any player DO that before, kinda cool) for about half his former salary, so I kept him around at 3 million. Doesn't see the court too often, as Westbrook, Gordon, and Belinelli can all run the offense.

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Meanwhile, I'm considering trying out a Blazers franchise, instead. Random curiosity (It's on the short list of cities we're interested in living, and I don't know jack about the team) at play.

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Update: Ended up resigning Wilcox from free agency, heh. Collison just doesn't cut it as a starter -- Though Wilcox is only marginally better, he IS a hell of an inside shooter. Watson went away. The down side is that I now have FIVE power forwards. Time to shove someone on the block. (Wilcox, Bonner, Tate, Wilcox, Collison... Tate's my 1st rounder, a mere 70 rating, but a 95 potential. Maybe sucking up a couple years with Wilcox will have him groomed.)

Just dropped a painful one to the Suns. 0-2. 2009 is not off to a pretty start, but we did dominate Phoenix for 3 quarters. Maybe if we just didn't have to play the 4th.

Dang. I have a hard time getting ANYONE to get 51 points. Usually I start getting double-teamed at 30ish...

I watch way more college ball than pro ball, so I really run either the dribble-drive (Memphis stlye) where it's about penetration and hitting guys for open jumpers against help, or a fastbreak/pick n roll heavy offense. I shift for personnel somewhat, but I'd probably struggle somewhat with your offense. What happened to Jeff Green(e?) in your franchise? He's not really a post guy, but at PF he can give you some elements if you develop his rebounding.

I have a strange desire to make an NFL/NBA team. NFL players who might be okay at Basketball.

SG/SF would by Vince Young, since he is tall and fast and can pass a bit. C is Jared Gaither (Baltimore) because he's 6'9/6'10 in shoes (haha) and a good athlete... Figure PG is the easiest position to fill, maybe Adrian Peterson for size and toughness and driving ability? Tons of WRs/RBs work here. Finding a PF is a toughie though, football doesn't have that many tall players... Probably a DE or three who are tall enough to be small PFs. I might make this team later tonight if I get bored.

Yeah, it was a personal record. Durant went 4 for 5 from three point range, tacked on seven or eight points at the line, and just consistently made shots. Lot of dump 'n pop looks, so there really wasn't a lot of opportunity to double team him.

Damn, I'd forgotten what I did with Green. I was offered a trade from the Spurs for Matt Bonner and the '09 first. I had them add on a '10 2nd to the deal, and they went for it. I was trying to accumulate draft picks early on in the franchise, and worked at cashing them in about midseason to get as early as I could.

DJ White and K.Weaver were traded for Belinelli. By the time I was done shuffling players and picks around, I had two lottery picks. Bad luck made OKC's #4, and we had the Bobcats' pick at #12.

Beginning '09 Roster:

PG: Westbrook, M. James, A. Paulista (R)
SG: B. Gordon, M. Belinelli, F. Higgins (R) (I'm not sure what to do with Gordon... He might be trade bait. Not turning out to be as productive in our offense as I'd anticipated, and I'd like a solid PF... I have a handful of mediocre ones.)
SF: K. Durant, W. Hermann
PF: N. Collison, M. Bonner, M. Taft (R), K. Logan, C. Wilcox
C: A. Bogut, A. Varejao

Wilcox keeps turning back up on the roster, heh. I've traded him once, and waived him once. Found him unemployed in the free agent pool when I was looking for an upgrade over Collison. 3.8 million versus the 6.75 he'd originally wanted. Expectations drop off when nobody'll sign you.

Dennis Roland of the Bengals is 6'9"ish. How about Dan McGwire? Bring him out of retirement to suck at another sport!

Have you tried messing with different styles of teams?

I recently made a 76ers franchise a defense-and-run team. It was actually quite effective... pulling a trade of Thaddeus Young, #4 pick in the draft (SG who was pretty good, 87 overall at time of trade) and Samuel Dalembert for Carmelo Anthony helped. Might have thrown in a first round pick there as well for the next year.

Mo Williams (Andre Miller trade... Mo is tough for me to get open, but he's MONEY from outside) A- perimeter
Andre Iguodala, AKA demon on the fast break. A- perimeter
Carmelo Anthony (I think a B on perimeter)
Maurice Speights (A post defense after 2 years of work)
Joakim Noah (he was pissed at the Bulls, got him cheap after I traded Dalembert... good defense, don't remember the grade though)
William Green (stuck with him as 6th man so far... he can do PG and SG for me)

After that, a pile of crap. Reggie Evans can't even rebound well for me.

Not a deep team at all. But the starters are great. I traded Brand for a first I used to get the guy I traded to Denver for 'Melo.

I'm trying to decide what kind of team to start. I'm thinking a jump-shooting team, just because it's not my normal style, even though I take a ton of midrange jumpers.

I've experiemented around a bit, but always come back to playing a fairly similar style of offense. I've been getting pretty adept with the quick pick 'n roll, and I'm tempted to fire up a franchise (Probably with OKC, there's just SO much building to be done there -- Makes it more fun. Maybe the Bobcats? One of those suck teams, anyway) and try to build around a good P 'n R combo. Find a big with a sharp mid-range jumper, focus on the pick 'n pop.

Man, if it weren't for hating the NBA, I might actually try this game out. Although I could never write about it as well as you guys do.

Bobcats are scarily effective, IMO.

Their PG (Augustin/Felton) are short but both are decent. Wallace is tough to stop because he's so athletic in the game, you can make him your #1 option and be fine. Can't shoot the 3, though. If your roster has the Diaw/Bell for JRich trade, it's a little harder IMO because JRich is good in the game too, but Diaw has some value. Okafor is pretty good too, if you're good in the post he provides some positive things. I like him at PF more, though.

FPD - I know what you mean. Only reason I have it is because a friend bought it for me. I refuse to pay money to the NBA. But a friend figured I'd want it since we played '08 all the time. I REALLY wish I could put in the Sonics though... create-a-team sucks. I did create a Sonics franchise, though, but can't change the uniforms ... at least I never have to hear about OKC.

I keep coming back to Spurs franchises. The homer in me disallows a great deal of time spent with other teams, heh. Trying to do things a little bit different, though.

The problem with playing Spurs franchise: Your hands are a bit tied with Tim Duncan. Considering his salary cap number and his no trade clause, you're more or less forced to build the first few seasons around him.

For the moment, I started out the season by trading SG Michael Finley and the '09 2nd round pick for SF Joe Alexander of the Bucks. Started training him to be Bowen's heir apparent (Though at the start, I have been woefully unsuccessful trying to improve his outside shot). Maybe I'll focus on his shot blocking skills, instead.

Alexander is a great sleeper - awesome at attacking from the wing or corner. 'Course, raw as sushi, but ton of potential and fairly effective in a limited role offensively from the get go.

*sigh* I wish I could make Sonics uniforms. The created-team uniforms are just so UGLY.

Snohomie":3pucrzfz said:

Alexander is a great sleeper - awesome at attacking from the wing or corner. 'Course, raw as sushi, but ton of potential and fairly effective in a limited role offensively from the get go.

*sigh* I wish I could make Sonics uniforms. The created-team uniforms are just so UGLY.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I liked his combination of Super-Athletic Speed and potential. Might take a couple of years, but that's perfectly fine -- Playing behind the aging Bowen is the ideal spot for him, and I think he's got 4 years on contract.

Snohomie":mtngvdqd said:

*sigh* I wish I could make Sonics uniforms. The created-team uniforms are just so UGLY.

Click to expand...

According to this message board thread, the PS2 version still has the Sonics until you update it.

I forget, but I'm sure you guys are on PS3 or Xbox. Right? Everything I can find on those two platforms indicates that they were updated in the final version rather than with an update d-load.

Just FYI.

Darn. It'd be worth ditching the updates if I meant I got the Supes.

PS3 here.

Oh well. I'm hoping they expand the create-a-team to even something like they have with Madden. Get to customize uniforms a lot more,

The 2009 Spurs

Went 51-31 in the 2008 season, ousted by Houston in the second round of the playoffs. Houston went on to lose to the Heat in 5. Har. Not too bad of a season, considering that we had Ginobli at about 75% for six weeks with a broken finger.

Few minor trades here and there, but for the most part I kept the core of the team and just started slowly building up some youth underneath. Picked up a SF P.Bryan with the 25th pick of the draft... and he was surprisingly good. Usually anyone outside of the top ten is iffy at best. This guy comes into the beginning of the season with a 78 rating.

Some names:

Tony Parker, PG (Trying to train him to at least resemble a 3-point threat. It's the only hole in his game, and teams adjust to him far too easily since he can't hurt you outside.)

Travis Diener, PG (Free agent pickup, filled a huge hole since I traded away Vaughn. Probably be getting quite a few minutes)

Manu Ginobli, SG (One of the best in the biz if you can keep him healthy. You usually can't keep him healthy.)

Joe Alexander, SF (Won the starting job over Bowen over the preseason. Sitting at around an 81 presently. The guy actually changes the Spurs game at times, and has single-handedly mounted comeback runs in the limited time he's had -- Interesting to see what he can do as a starter. Absolute beast on the fast break. 99 Vertical, 96 Dunking. Worked on his already-good speed, and his already-good defense. Possibly the biggest steal of a trade I've ever made with 2k9.)

Perry Bryan, SF (25th pick overall. 78 rating with a D- potential. He won't be a star, but he could start for some teams. Solid defensive player, decent shot. Kinda the standard 'Spurs SF' type player.)

Bruce Bowen, SF (Pretty big drop-off. 2009 is probably Bowen's last season.)

Tim Duncan, PF (Timmy is still Timmy.)

Fabricio Oberto, F/C (Another guy suffering a drop-off. He even lost the starting nod to Frank Thomas, which resulted in a huge morale drop. At the moment, he's rated 66 overall and -really- pissed off. Buh-bye, Oberto.)

Frank Thomas, C (Meh. Certainly not 'The Answer' at Center, and he's getting up there in years. Going to have to address the center position, soon.)

Oleksiy Pecherov, PF (Traded Jaque Vaughn for him last season, thinking, "Meh". The guy has developed quickly, has a solid jumper, and still has potential. If he keeps it up, he could start making an argument for starting while moving Timmy to Center.)

Is it just me or are the Rockets unbelievably tough to beat in that game? Then again, that may be because I've been known to double down and roam with the point guard so that maybe why Luther Head once dropped 54 on me.

Doing a franchise with the Blazers now, early in season 1, Greg Oden is a god, 10 games in and he's cracked 40 three times. Too bad they can't play defense or rebound. Lamarcus Aldredge is an absolute joke on the defensive end but he's excellent when I get him the ball at the free throw line and let him create. The last three or four games I've had great success basically running the triangle offense with the Blazers, the two nimble big men(Oden is nimble at least in the game), work well on the high post.

My bench is lacking in scorers and I need to take some of the pressure off Oden before he wears down later in the season.