NBA 2K12 rankings unveiled: Durant’s a 92, Westbrook an 88

@ Jimbo Slice
after reading reviews of myplayer mode, i'll DEFINITELY be playing myplayer mode.. maybe even after the roster updates. sounds leaps and bounds better than before

@ DizzDai
eww... no rookies? guess i'll be playing myplayer mode and classics until there's some roster updates.

anonymous :This might be a dumb question, but will this game still come out in a lockout? What if the NBAPA dissolves?

Yeah. It is coming out next week. No rookies.

Interestingly, Russ' perimeter D is graded an A. Is this going off potential?

On a related note, we dont have any good defensive statistics in basketball. Steals may be good, but it doesnt factor in times when people gamble and miss and assignment and this leads to an open 3- this happens a lot with russ. As such, the stat itself may incentivize the wrong kind of behavior and one that actually leads to better D.

In moneyball, (the book), Michael lewis makes a similar point about baseball defensive statistics. Errors only count the times where a fielder gets to the ball and misplays it, but what about the times when they are too slow to get to a ball or they dont even reach a ball that should be in their range? People dont really individually benefit from making a spectacular catch or gunning down a flyball that no ordinary fielder would get to. A better measure, he notes, would be some concept of "range" and looking at how much of the field the fielder covers as a measure of defensive prowess.

Moreover, the lack of defense here penalizes the pitcher. In football, people don't really record "coverage sacks" or take into account completions made because the QB has 10-15 seconds to throw. Those points are put on the pass defense in terms of passing yards or on the corner in terms of yards given up to the receiver, but it should be on the defensive line that has given the qb ample time to make a throw.

Similarly, in basketball, letting someone go by you isnt put on the perimeter defender, but its put on the post man - in terms of fouls he takes, or the points the guy the post man is defending gets from dump offs or rebounds he gets. My point is defensive statistics in basketball are now woefully inadequate- as they are in most sports, and we tend to judge a good defender by intuitive measures of his athleticism and how many points the guy he is guarding scores. The interrelatedness of a basketball team may complicate the ability to isolate a single defender, but i think there has got to be a better way of doing it than is currently done.

open to suggestions/thoughts.

This might be a dumb question, but will this game still come out in a lockout? What if the NBAPA dissolves?

@ diddoff
Yeah, this is spot on. As someone who has been playing these constantly since ESPN 2k4 (we still refer to it as ESPN, pronounce 'es-pen'), rating doesn't always translate to how well they actually play when you're in control. As diddoff pointed out, 2k's method is to assign the individual statistics and generate the overall rating from those. So despite Dirk's low rating, he'll still drain impossible shots one after another for you.

85 is ok for Dirk. You can't give him skill points for skills he doesn't have. He's only great at shooting and has no athleticism.