NBA 2K12 First Impressions

No rookies?  No problem.  NBA 2K12. will give basketball gamers all that they

 need during the duration of the NBA lockout.

No Kyrie. No Derrick Williams. Nobody will be taught how to Jimmer for the better part of two months since the release of the game. The lockout has left a number of NBA fans depressed, and maybe even drove a larger number away from watching the pro game. However, if you are a basketball junkie like myself, then NBA 2K12 will give you more than you need to stay entertained before the 2011-12 NBA season begins (whenever that may be). 

For the better part of an hour I navigated the menus, in absolute awe of a video game of all things. The 1964-65 Lakers vs the 1964-65 Celtics consumed the majority of my attention on October 4th. The black and white display, announcers' voices sounding 1960-ish, and no three point line were all among the amazing features that had my jaw dropped. Bill Russell, like he did in his playing days, changed the game like no one else. John Havlicek, with the ability to score from anywhere on the floor, bailed me out on numerous occasions. However, if the game came down to the closing minutes, Jerry West or high flying Elgin Baylor would stick a dagger in my heart with a spectacular play that they seemed to come up with on every single possession in the game's final quarter or overtime. Nonetheless, the NBA's Greatest Mode is extremely authentic, and even the casual basketball fan will be able to appreciate its accurate representation of the game in the "good ol' days."

The pregame pump up video is insane. Not only does the music coincidentally seem to fit whatever kind of game that you're playing, but one song even has a special effect when it is played during the pregame promo. If the song "Awesome" comes on, the word AWESOME will even pop up during the promo. After the short clip, the starting lineups look even more realistic than ever before. The back court players come up on the screen, dribbling the ball or even twirling it around their head while it displays their stats and percentages. The same happens with the three front court players. Like last year, the pregame rituals (such as Dwayne Wade's chin-ups on the rim, LeBron's Powder Toss, Tim Duncan's caressing the ball, etc.) all remain on one of the top selling franchises in sports video games. 

I have not seen it for myself, but from what I've heard, shots at the buzzer are reviewed on this year's game. It has been told to me that the referees go to the monitor after the shot, and even review the play in slow motion, so that one can tell much easier whether or not the shot was released on time. While the celebrations for winning shots are still a bit generic, the atmosphere in the arena definitely gets magnified by 100 when the game is close in the final seconds. Another thing that had me constantly viewing to the replay was the animated first row of the crowd. If the ball is heading towards the people who paid Donald Trump like money for their floor seats, they sometimes actually flinch to get out of the way. Other times, it seems like they also gravitate towards the ball. Some fan will be going home with a lucky souvenir. 

A thing that went remarkably unnoticed during Miami's 2006 Title run was the "White Out" by Heat fans. When you look around the crowd and see nothing but white, you know that the crowd is behind their team, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Now, when you play with certain teams on NBA 2K12, the local faithful will wear their battle colors. Whether it may be the blue for Oklahoma City, all red for the Windy City, or green in Beantown, you definitely know where you're playing during the postseason.

Now, unfortunately, come some of the negatives.  Despite 2K's servers being a major issue the last few years, they still have not been fixed.  On the game's release day, when I first played online, once I finally did find an opponent poor connection wouldn't even allow us to play.  Also, there were a few instances when the game froze after a defensive three second violation.  But, even with these few flaws found in this game, it without a doubt deserves the 9.5 rating that it received from IGN.com.

If you appreciate throwback basketball at its finest, do not hesitate to purchase the latest installment of 2K Basketball.  If you're a graphics person, then you may want to take a trip to your local Wal-Mart and pick up this game.  The faces look unbelievably real.  All in all, the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot.  Those who say "With no rookies, it's just like play NBA 2K11 all over again" couldn't be further from the truth.  In my opinion, this is the biggest leap that i've ever seen a sports game make over the span of just one year.

Front Page Funnies

"LeBron's cell phone only vibrares because he doesn't have any rings." "Why didn't LeBron James go to college? Because he didn't want to show up for the finals." "I asked LeBron can I borrow a dollar and he gave me 75 cents. I asked where the other 25 cents were and he said 'Sorry, I don't have a fourth quarter.'" In the eyes of the general population, LeBron James is the enemy. To the outside world, he may come off as an underachieving and overrated "superstar". Can you blame people for feelings this way, though? I mean, here's a guy who has all of the physical abilities any man could ever wish for. A 6'8" Small Forward who can get to the basket like Jordan, run like a gazelle, has a crossover like Iverson, can pass like Magic, and has the defensive prowess of a Dennis Rodman. So, why is this two-time MVP award winner so often criticized? Part of the blame is deserved, but a decent amount of it is unnecessary as well.




 LeBron James' fourth quarter stats are comical. Plain and simple. My three pound chihuahua has more of a killer instinct that "King James". If you're the MVP, you have to be exactly that, valuable to your team. I understand that Derrick Rose was the Most Valuable Player this year, but LeBron by no means had an off year. For goodness sakes, the guy averaged 26.7 points and 7 assists, along with having the highest PER (Player Efficiency Rating) in the NBA. If you put up numbers like that, you can't suddenly vanish in the fourth quarter. You have to be the player that everyone looks to, and has faith in to make the big time shots. If it wasn't for LeBron, however, Miami doesn't go to the finals. They don't completely dominate the top seeded Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. While "The Decision" and the Three Kings of Miami Parade may have been a bit much, LeBron is also one of the most poised players in the league, along with being one of the more mature. Before this year, can you ever remember LeBron James having an outburst during a press conference? Has he ever swore on camera? Even this year, he never said anything that was out of line. Even if you watch his interviews during his high school days at SVSM, he was always very professional. I personally Believe that type of attitude is admirable and demands respect. It sets an example for how high school athletes are supposed to act. In 2009, when the Cavaliers visited the Lakers, Cleveland dominated from start to finish. So, when the Los Angeles fans starting cursing and throwing foam fingers onto the Staples Center floor, LeBron didn't egg them on or respond. He was the consumate professional, gathered his team, and settled the players' moods down. Whoever says LeBron isn't a leader is fooling themselves. The intensity he brings and example that he sets pushes other players to levels they may not have ever known they were capable of reaching. I think LeBron frustrates the media because he won't give in, if anything. Maybe that's why they try to put a spin on everything he says and magnify it by three thousand. Although his fourth quater struggles are evident, his value to a team is unmatched, and he doesn't deserve this "overrated" tag because he is the best player in the world, bottomline.

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The Season That Was

This year had to be, by far, the most anticipated NBA season in the last 20 years.  With superstars moving teams, rookies taking center stage, and the balance of power shifting throughout the league, it's no surprise that this season inspired imaginations and sparked even the casual fan's interest.

As a kid, it's what you dream about.  On national television, just seconds away from having your name immortalized, and securing a spot in basketball folklore.  Then, the clock hits zero.  The game is over, there will be no comeback, your team has just made history.  For a player, all of the hard work flashes before your eyes.  Getting up before the crack of dawn to run wind sprints, in the weight room trying to gain an competitive over your adversary, and the late nights in the gym fine tuning your all around game.  For basketball junkies like myself, the remaining seconds may be a time for a brief celebration, but also sorrow.  You greive because there will be no more basketball until late October.  You spend the next day wondering what to do, watching the same highlights of mid-season baseball games over and over.  An early end to 2011 finals inparticular may even throw a bit more salt in the wound.  This is largely due to the fact that this was one of the greatest seasons of all-time, in my opinion.  History unfolded before our very eyes, as we saw Kevin Love record 31 points and 31 rebounds against the Knicks.  We watched in awe as Blake Griffin made Clipper Basketball must see television.  So no matter how you may remember this past pro basketball season, one thing is for sure:  night in and night out, we were entertained to the highest level.

                                                                          The Blake Show

In the final game of the 2009 NBA Preseason, Blake Griffin was injured and forced to sit out the entire 2009-10 NBA season.  After using the first overall pick on Blake, the Clipper franchise ran across another black cat.  This was the guy that was supposed to bring them to the promiseland, and now he's hurt?  A frustrated Blake Griffin could only look on as his team stumbled to a 29-53 record, which led to the firing of head coach Mike Dunleavy.  Even with all of this, fans rejoiced with the signing of former Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro, as well as the return of the former Oklahoma Sooner standout.  I think you all know what happened from there.  He started jumping over players from the Knicks, fighting the Lamar Odoms of the world, and jumping over cars.  He stole the show so much that you almost forgot the Clippers only won 32 games, easily missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season.  But, anybody that watched them knows they will be a force to be reckoned with if they stay healthy.  If Blake can have half the season he did this year, L.A. may have another team participating in the NBA Playoffs.  Which makes you wonder, will Jack Nicholson show up?

Derrick Rose wins MVP

Derrick Rose lacks the basic fundamentals of team basketball and will never be a winner.  He'll never be an MVP because he has no value, he's just a selfish punk from the inner city.  Where's the passing skills?  Doesn't a point guard have to be able to pass the ball for his team to win?  The critics were silenced even easier than LeBron was when his team lost to Dallas in six games (but we'll get to that a bit later).  How is a guy with no concept of team basketball going to average seven assists, all the while netting 27.7 points per night, while facing constant double teams?  After they accquired Boozer, I told people to watch out for them, but nobody listened.  Especially after the starting power forward was sidelined with an injury before the season could even tip off yet.  Even with all that, Derrick Rose kept his team competing for the top spot all year long.  Although the top seeded Bulls lost to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, there is a lot of promise in the point guard, who, just recently in the 2008 national championship game couldn't make clutch free throws as Memphis lost to a Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush led Kansas Jayhawk team.  With the explosiveness, speed, quickness, and now a developed jump shot, look for Derrick Rose to have his name in the MVP conversation once again come next spring.

LeBron James makes the decision to join the Miami Heat.

Love him or hate him, this man is must see television.  His presence, swagger, and overall talent alone make it close to impossible to turn off TNT when the Heat are playing.  However, has there ever been a more hated figure in sports?  One year ago sure, LeBron James had "haters", but I don't think anyone could have speculated that it would come to this.  Making an hour long choice to decide where you're going to play basketball, not to mention dragging your hometown that has been so loyal to you through the mud is, quite frankly, disrespectful.  If you want to make your decision in private go ahead, sure people will resent you, that's life.  But the way he went about it, I think rubbed a lot of people, most notably natives of Cleveland the wrong way.  But Lebron just wanted to win, and unfortunately for him and his Miami Heat teammtes, they weren't able to get more than an Eastern Conference Championship trophy and becoming the laughing stock of America.  However, look for James and Miami to bounce back next year.  They are much too talented to be a middle of the pack team.  They'll be in this position again.  As for LeBron's hour television special, I think that it helped draw more fans to the NBA, which is always good for us basketball fanatics. 

Yes, I know Dallas won the championship, but I think that deserves to be in a class of its own.  I am extremely excited for the ecstatic Maverick fans, and would like to extend a congratulatory hand to them, after all the hard times their franchise has endured.  As for other exciting moments, here are some that didn't quite make my top three:

Kevin Love scores 31 points & grabs 31 rebounds vs. Knicks

Carmelo Anthony traded to Knicks

Pacers score franchise record 54 points in win vs. Nuggets

Phil Jackson retires

Deron Williams traded to Nets