NBA 2KXX Games Thread

[Raoul Duke]

This is coming to PS+ next week, so I might join you in here for a bit. Haven't played a basketball game in ages

[Yevrah]

Back on the NBA, I started a game with the Lakers about a week ago. All-Star difficulty with Sim Difficulty on 65, which is a nice balance I feel.

This is the roster:

https://i.postimg.cc/L6GcVM7v/NBA.png (https://postimg.cc/TpqNRBTW)

LeBron is obviously amazing, but Anthony Davis is much better than I ever realised from the handful of times I'd used him before. That was fairly early on from when I picked the game up and now I know how to play it a bit more and use him properly, it's really apparent he has pretty much everything.

The rest of the roster is much of a muchness, with a fair bit of age in there and with the Lakers picks decimated for the next five years and the big two taking up so much of the wage cap it'd actually be quite a decent rebuild once you lose LeBron to retirement. Davis' contract sort of expires at the end of the year as he has a player option for next year and that's it. He usually stays from previous experience in other saves, but we'll see.

25 games in (which I've played around 12 minutes+ of each) and we're top of the West, although not by any sort of convincing margin and none of the teams in it are above 70%. Out West the Bucks are smashing shit up with a 22-2 record so far. We play them for the first time this season in 3 games time so it'll be an interesting barometer of where we are.

https://i.postimg.cc/1XqLkCVD/NBA.jpg (https://postimg.cc/q6pbnGL7)[/url]

Player stats of the starting 5.

https://i.postimg.cc/Dwk2ws22/NBA.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

The Award Races tab hasn't shown up yet, but I suspect James will be in with a strong shout of leading the running for MVP. And talking of James, he's also within 200 points of Kobe's tally now.

[url=https://postimg.cc/F1Zm6WwD]https://i.postimg.cc/RVrFN2d5/NBA.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

He broke it in real life on 25th Jan 2020 and I as I still have 8 games to play in 2019 he should manage it earlier and by the end of the year if he stays free of injury.

[phonics]

Your stats seem far more realistic now so seems like you've got your settings right. You need to blood Kuzma for his rating to go up.

[John]

I remember you raving about the statistical aspect of this in the FIFA thread, Yev. If that's the aspect you're most interested in you'd probably enjoy a baseball game, if anyone is making a decent one these days. They have a million different stats, most of which are fairly new but because they're largely just the result of various mathematic formulas applied to old ones they can be calculated for old players and compared.

[phonics]

They actually just put the new Baseball Management sim out on Gamepass. You can aim starting from any season ever.

[Raoul Duke]

Downside is you have to play Baseball though

[Yevrah]

Yeah, it's got to be something I'm at least vaguely interested in.

[Yevrah]

We win @ the Bucks, 109-87 and are now on a 5 win streak to take us to 21-8 at the top of the West. :cool:

[Raoul Duke]

This is free on PS+ now so got it downloading. Will give it a go over the weekend. Used to love NBA Jam and whatever it was on the Dreamcast :cool:

[7om]

80gb for fuck sake.

[Raoul Duke]

Starting a MyLeague as the Bulls. Holy fuck there are a lot of settings in this.
Yevrah - is there a decent beginner's guide out there? Ideally with recommended sliders etc. if you have no idea what you're doing :cab:

[Yevrah]

Welcome aboard.

I'm a bit pissed now, but happy to give a detailed post tomorrow. One thing I would say, in my experience at least, is that the online community/advice is piss poor compared to FIFA.

[Yevrah]

Oh and I'd suggest doing a run through of a season and off-season while knowing nothing as it'll help put any advice you do see into context.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The NBA 2k community is the pits.

[Raoul Duke]

Cheers. I got The Fear yesterday and sacked it off without even playing a game. I mean, I love a menu but jesus wept there's a lot of shit you can fiddle with in there. I just want to score some slam dunks and play as Michael Jordan!

[wullie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMFq9O3ORkk

Exhilarating to save the day, but quickly realised that there was no timing meter for the shot so it's scripted the drama completely. Bit shafted by that

[Yevrah]

Cheers. I got The Fear yesterday and sacked it off without even playing a game. I mean, I love a menu but jesus wept there's a lot of shit you can fiddle with in there. I just want to score some slam dunks and play as Michael Jordan!

Stick a short season of 14 games on, on Pro and don't change anything else. That'll get you into it.

[7om]

Download sliders, Raoul. Just select the most downloaded one and go with that.

I started a MyLeague with Golden State last night and the gameplay feels nice. An improvement over the recent editions I would say.

[Pepe]

$9 on Steam right now. Might have to give it a try.

[phonics]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMFq9O3ORkk

Exhilarating to save the day, but quickly realised that there was no timing meter for the shot so it's scripted the drama completely. Bit shafted by that

Are you playing MyPlayer Wullie? How is it, I hated how much story stuff 2k19 had before you got into the actual game.

[phonics]

Downloaded 2k20 and MyCareer opens with an advertisement for MyCareer by their social media team that you can’t skip so we’re off to a great start.

[phonics]

Got to the first game and it got stuck in a repeated animation for 7 minutes until I alt+f4'd the game.

Going great so far.

[phonics]

Rebooting and I have to watch the credits again which is just a series of basketball players. No one that actually worked on it.

[phonics]

Got an A- on my first game and then half way through I got a cutscene where some other player got injured. They’ve fundamentally misunderstood why MyCareer was good.

[phonics]

Fair play the acting in said cutscenes that annoy the shit out of me is really, really good.

[Danny]

I downloaded this on PS earlier. Played the game to the point where that lad got injured. Isnt this literally the same story as a few years ago?

[wullie]

Are you playing MyPlayer Wullie? How is it, I hated how much story stuff 2k19 had before you got into the actual game.

It's nowhere near as wacky or dramatic this time thankfully. You fall out with Idris Elba over an injured team-mate and Winston from New Girl shows up as a camp barber but otherwise it's fairly restrained, no pals that you hope will get killed or anything this time out

[wullie]

* Maybe the agent actually, he's actually fine but has that layer of slime that comes with the job.

[phonics]

I can barely understand what the French bloke says.

[John Arne]

I'm sure you already know but you can press and hold A to skip the cut scenes.
Also, you can avoid the whole pre-NBA story by heading straight to the neighbourhood.

[phonics]

Yeah but they fuck with your stats that way.

[7om]

Does anyone else find the neighbourhood laggy? I played a couple of games last night and it was stuttering all the time.

[phonics]

Lol at these extended cut scenes about what Nike means to people is so funny.

[phonics]

lol 2k servers are fucked so I can't play a fucking single player game.

[phonics]

I had no respect for the story they were trying to tell and the characters they created when I started playing and the acting was so good that I made a complete u-turn into enjoying those same characters. Then the game ends by LeBron welcoming you to the league like it’s some weird mafia thing to play basketball.

[phonics]

I had Steam Wallet money from refunding a game and since I only spent 9 quid on it, used it on VC.

Gonna roleplay that my character got on roids after struggling for the first part of the season.

[Danny]

Finishes the base story and got into the league on my career last night.

We might have a new nickname on the player this year but half of this crap was rehashed. I knew a majority of what was coming.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Finishes the base story and got into the league on my career last night.

We might have a new nickname on the player this year but half of this crap was rehashed. I knew a majority of what was coming.

Garbage man for life.

[wullie]

Shake 'n' Bake reporting for duty

[phonics]

This game is almost absolutely unplayable on PC.

You'll remember I noted the MyCareer was unplayable on the pirated version, meaning it has to hit a server check to present you the option of MyCareer. However, this server check happens AT EVERY LOAD SCREEN. So imagine you go into a game, it server checks, plays the 2kTV loading screen, server check, begins shootaround, server check, half time, server check, full time server check, post match interview, server check. This would be fine but THE 2K SERVERS DON'T WORK QUITE ALOT BECAUSE THEIR SERVERS ARE BEING DDOS'D BY CONSTANT SERVER CHECKS so you sit in constant loading screens.


I've never been able to play Game/Team Practice/Game/Team Practice without the servers crashing and having to reboot the game.

[Bob Sacamano]

I tried giving this ago as it's free but the My Career mode is unbearable, I don't give a fuck the story.

Then I gave My League ago and I bowed out when they cut to the 'studio' and then had a half time show with a guy on A BMX.

It's completely unplayable, let me play the game without a million cut scenes.

[Danny]

The story bollocks falls off pretty quicky.

Watching The Last Dance at the same time of playing this was a mistake. The Bulls are tragic. Doesnt help I am crap but christ we are terrible.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

MyTeam is effectively done right now so I've been quickselling what I don't need and then buying packs. The packs in store right now cost 17.5k MT and they guarantee a Galaxy Opal (a 99) but because the market is fucked there are only 4 that will make you some money.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvXQXVd_iFE

I got probably the most expensive one. Easily the best pull I've had all year.

[wullie]

After restarting the career I've finished my first full season with the Pacers, 49-33 record with every game played and no skips, I did skip training a lot though so have missed out on a fair amount of attribute boosts. Scored my 1000th point in the last regular game which seems like it should be loads but I realised that's quite a low-scoring season in basketball. Hardest opponents I've faced directly are John Wall at the Wizards who had me in his pocket each game and Trae Young at the Hawks. Easiest were whoever plays PG for Orlando and Charlotte who I bullied and unexpectedly, Steph Curry who must have been in awe of my cocky stride. Best player overall I've seen is Giannis who is an absolute bulldozer, so starting the Playoffs drawn against the Bucks is a shitter. On the plus side I've got my own Gatorade bottle, all the adidas Superstars I can fit in a suitcase and will be on the cover of NBA 2K21, I assume in place of the Black Mamba special edition cover.

[Pleb]

2k20 was £3.20 on Steam :|

[John Arne]

I'm not surprised. I gave up on career mode as the game literally kept crashing whenever I attempted to go to the neighbourhood (required for training). Bullshit game.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They always discount it down to a few pounds, that's their strategy.

It generates them quite a bit at a time when no one is usually buying the game as a new one is around the corner.

[Shindig]

They've sent us a copy of 2K21 to review. Steam user reviews are currently sitting at 2/10. I'm still waiting for the rest of it to download but had a fiddle in training. I still can't really defend. My general plan is try and put them off shooting for as long as possible. And the right stick tricks still have a tendency to lock you into shooting when all you want to do is juke, switch sides of do a pirouette. Shooting feels off. Seems like your timing has to be perfect, rather than good enough. I'll probably get used to it but it doesn't feel like that'll work in the heat of competition.

I'll probably get used to it but it would be nice for me to actually get on with one of these without having to slam the sliders down. Still looks nice but then that's a given with 2K.

Yeah, those steam reviews are angry but are they angry because they spend all their time in the more predatory modes or are they miffed at the fundamental basketball?

[John Arne]

They've sent us a copy of 2K21 to review. Steam user reviews are currently sitting at 2/10. I'm still waiting for the rest of it to download but had a fiddle in training. I still can't really defend. My general plan is try and put them off shooting for as long as possible. And the right stick tricks still have a tendency to lock you into shooting when all you want to do is juke, switch sides of do a pirouette. Shooting feels off. Seems like your timing has to be perfect, rather than good enough. I'll probably get used to it but it doesn't feel like that'll work in the heat of competition.

I'll probably get used to it but it would be nice for me to actually get on with one of these without having to slam the sliders down. Still looks nice but then that's a given with 2K.

Yeah, those steam reviews are angry but are they angry because they spend all their time in the more predatory modes or are they miffed at the fundamental basketball?

I played a little today and this is the thing that always get me. So frustrating.

[Yevrah]

I have absolutely no idea why they'd set one area of controls to do two things. It's so dumb.

[Shindig]

Still downloading. One of the user reviews asked why they couldn't just reuse some of the 84GBs from last year's install. I know it's meant as a dig on how little changes but ... they should absolutely do that.

Okay, knocked it down to Rookie and the shot meter is still unreliable. I have no faith any three point attempts will hit, regardless of timing. Inside the paint, it's only slightly better.

Took the CPU sliders down to 0. Game doesn't save the sliders. Or your camera changes.

[Shindig]

Apparently there's a patch coming today to sort shooting out. Playing with all the sliders at 0, I still need that patch to get decent points on the board. Even at 0, I've yet to see the AI miss a free throw, for whatever that's worth.

[Yevrah]

Been watching Nepenthez playing it and it's clearly completely broken.

[Shindig]

The 2K staff bloke suggests holding L2 to give the shot a boost. It works on uncontested 3 pointers but not in actual game time. The 'fixes' I've seen on youtube involve badged up MyPlayers which, y'know, doesn't really solve the problem.

[Yevrah]

They've just released a game, for what, £60, where shooting is utterly broken.

Absolute farce.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I bought it today and it's pretty damn fiddly.

I lost my first couple of TTO offline games but that was because I was trying (and failing) to evo up Shaq.

I had a bit of time just practising jumpshots and I think if you can master the system then you'll end up shooting really well. The problem is that a lot of casuals will pick it up, not be bothered to put the time into practising and bin it.

[Shindig]

Nah, the timing's too tight and it differs from player to player. In a sport about momentum, it's asking for trouble.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A players "Green Window" has always differed from player to player.

[Pepe]

I remember being to turn that off at some point.

[wullie]

Can't wait until it's £4 again and they should have all this nicely patched up.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Bought this guy today:

https://2kmtcentral.com/21/players/8220/allan-houston

And in practice mode I hit a high amount of greens with him, in game still finding it tricky.

I still haven't won a game of TTO offline and I lost my first domination game on Hall of Fame in the final minute and a half.

[Pepe]

Allan Houston was my favorite player for the ~3 years I cared about basketball.

Those Knicks - Pacers series. :drool:

[Shindig]

I'm going to switch to the shot stick and see if that helps. That seems more about aim but, shock horror, I keep triggering fancy dribbling when shaping to shoot.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I use the stick on this version I think it's easier.

You have to pull down to shoot on this version, before it was up or down.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just won my first game on MyTeam. A Domination game on HOF difficulty.

My biggest lead was 14 and I lead most of the 4th quarter by double digits but only won by 2 with the AI missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

This game is seriously tough.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIRvbbo9RmA

Finally hit my first 3 pointer in a game. Bill Laimbeer :cool:

Also, the shooting buff does not apply to HOF or higher difficulty which is why I've been having so much trouble. I also won my first TTO offline game (24-21) but it was not easy, the sliders in that mode are insane.

[Shindig]

Started MyPlayer with my 6"9 power forward, "Batman Wonderwoman." I keep reverting back to the shot button so my big lump with squinty eyes needs to go exclusively for dunks. I didn't have subtitles on the first cutscene but I assume they were talking about 'game' and 'hustle' and maybe somebody died.

I'm convinced that hotfix isn't coming so I'm going to turn my lanky twat into an assist machine. Also, I'm taller than my on-screen Dad. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The new patch has made stick shooting offline (HOF or higher) even harder.

The aim window is now no longer in the same place. Apparently the slower you pull the stick down the more left of centre it is, the faster you pull down the more right it is.

Even easier online (as well as offline lower than HOF) now though as you can use a modded controller to create aimbot.

[Shindig]

I can't go back. It's done.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I was just starting (slowly) to get the shot stick too.

I hope they change it back fast.

[Yevrah]

This is special. How in the fuck have they made it worse?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They didn't like that so many online guys (mainly the competitive guys so a really low number of the player-base) were greening so easily.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Tried a game of TTO Offline with stick shooting but no shot meter.

I thought it would be a mess but I hit 4/5 with Trevor Ariza (https://2kmtcentral.com/21/players/8263/trevor-ariza) and it felt quite nice. Layups feel even easier too (flick up instead of down) and 3's were going in.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The game is so much worse post-patch.

It was hard before but I was still enjoying myself. They've made it even harder to score against the AI as they defend so much better and they seem to make so many more shots now.

Games against the AI are just so sweaty now and you have to pay attention to pretty much the whole game whilst making very few mistakes.

[John Arne]

Am I the only one who's never actually been able to defend, anyway? Playing career I just kinda stood infront of the oppo trying to delay him, with the odd steel. However, if they drove, they always beat me, every single time.

[Shindig]

That's how I roll. Reaching in barely leads to anything other than fouls for me. If I want to trigger something, I tend to jump at the net or in the shooter's face.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I thought I was alright last year but I think that's mainly because I was using two monsters at PG (first Giannis then Ben Simmons) and it was pretty damn easy.

So far I've done ok but I'm using my SG or SF as the player I use to defend with so I don't see as much action.

I'm fairly good at stopping my guy not drop threes but a bit crap on the inside as I bite on fake shots too much.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They've finally changed the difficulties of the Domination games in MyTeam.

They were Pro/All-Star/Hall of Fame and they've been downgraded to Rookie/Pro/All-Star.

Really big help as 3's are going in a lot easier and the AI doesn't cheat nearly as much.

[Shindig]

They keep sending us emails telling us the shooting's changed. I'm going to revisit it on my week off and maybe follow the review up.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It hasn't changed since the patch on the 14th or whenever they made it so much worse.

[Shindig]

I reviewed it before the 14th dropped so I'll give it a look.

It's better but not world changing. I'm still relying on power-levelling my stats and going for assists when the game seems to demand I fuck shots up.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I haven't played it yet today but a new patch has come out:

"Increased the size of the shot meter, based on feedback from the community.
Adjusted Single Player Triple Threat and Triple Threat Online difficulties, based on community feedback.
Added a new page to the back of Player Cards that lists the Upgradable Badges for that player."

These are easily the best 3 items in there for me.

AH is still a mess though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They've patched the stick shooting to how it was from day 1 :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They released a patch to fix a skill move and they've ended up breaking a hell of a lot in MyTeam.

Online games right now result in an error code 99% of the time and they've broken the badge search even more.

[wullie]

Is this likely to be one of those where so much effort has gone into the next-gen that they've just farted out whatever for the current gen like with Madden? (Go Sheawks) I was looking to get this along with PS5 just to coo at it but if it's as buggy as all that I might leave it a few years again or until it's £3.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They have two different teams, the better one is working on next gen.

The PS5 version on paper sounds like a different game.

[wullie]

I hope so, the trailer looks great but still seems just a shinier version of what they've got so I'll definitely hold back and see how it's received.

[Ian]

https://kotaku.com/nba-2k-just-keeps-putting-unskippable-ads-in-a-60-vide-1845443416

:cab:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I hope so, the trailer looks great but still seems just a shinier version of what they've got so I'll definitely hold back and see how it's received.

From having read all the courtside reports it seems like a lot is changing.

The current gen is pretty buggy and there is a lot wrong with the gameplay because most people think 2k don't give a shit about it and want a polished next gen game.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It seems that the next gen version is even worse...

[Shindig]

Wouldn't surprise me. I'm struggling to see what the improvements are from the footage I've seen. Managed to recover my US PSN account so nabbed the free upgrade. The free upgrade only accessible with the $99 edition of the PS4 game. :moop:

[wullie]

£4 for the PS4 version or £25 for the PS5 one now, is the new one different and improved enough to lean that way?

[Shindig]

Haven't played it since I reviewed it. It felt fundamentally knackered.

[Yevrah]

It's on Gamepass for free as well. Heard it was rotten, but might give it a download.

[Ian]

Yeah the fact it's already on Game Pass didn't bode well for me.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

£4 for the PS4 version or £25 for the PS5 one now, is the new one different and improved enough to lean that way?

The PS4 version is utterly broken and the PS5 version is slightly broken.

It's not a good outing this year.

[Yevrah]

Downloaded it and Lamelo Ball being at Charlotte makes starting as them an interesting proposition. Whether I'll bother is another matter.

[wullie]

I'll leave it and hopefully they get on a solid footing for the next year's one. 2K having a bit of a mare with their annual updates recently

[Yevrah]

Played a six minute quarter last night and it seemed fine, albeit very similar to 20.

[Yevrah]

The Hornets itch won't go away, so think I'll start tonight. On the downside, I need to sort all the settings out again, which is a colossal ball ache. Quite glad I bored everyone to tears with them in here as I have a record as a result.

[Yevrah]

What's the new stick shooting thing about as well Mahow? Not sure how to use it and it seemed to completely screw lay ups. In 20 I could drive to the basket and hold the stick towards it and it'd score, now it seems to miss a bit.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

What's the new stick shooting thing about as well Mahow? Not sure how to use it and it seemed to completely screw lay ups. In 20 I could drive to the basket and hold the stick towards it and it'd score, now it seems to miss a bit.

Stick shooting was incredible at the start of the game cycle but it meant that people could use modded controllers and thus never miss. They've patched it a couple of times now and it's completely broken. Avoid.

Layups with the stick still work but they work better if you hold the stick directly up.

[Yevrah]

Ta muchly.

Right, spent ages looking through all of the rosters and have decided to go with:



https://i.postimg.cc/XJHb1wHH/Phoenix-Suns-logo-700x394.png (https://postimages.org/)

Apparently the Suns are the oldest franchise without an NBA Championship, 53 years and counting. A quick look through the set up and we're a bit of a mess. A thirty-five year old Chris Paul is our best player, but he's on $41m a year. Only a one year deal but he has a player option to make it two. Not sure I can allow that. Devin Booker is the next best, but while he's good he's slow as shit and I can't allow that at SG either. Other crimes against financial management include a few bang average players on $10m for the mid-long term.

On the plus side, Deandre Ayton looks like my cup of tea and is probably underpaid, which is lovely and the preposterously named Frank Kaminsky the 3rd is seven foot, so a lack of ability will be no barrier to him making the starting five.

Ty-Shon Alexander is our random 2-Way player who will be leaving the franchise immediately. Picks look ok, but we don't have any additional ones and our 1st pick for 2022 has gone walkies.

All-star difficulty, 65 sim difficulty and full season length selected.

To business.

[Yevrah]

Properly back into this again. Did a fair bit of simming while getting the roster right and here's where we are:

Season 1 2020/21

Many changes in the roster to get us some 1st round picks for future drafts and to try and sort the Paul and Booker situation. By the time the trade deadline came around both had gone and De'Aaron Fox and Zach Lavine were in in their place. With all of the chopping and changing it was a decent effort to finish with a 37-45 record and only a couple of wins outside of the playoffs.

Season 2 2021/22

Did some decent trades in the offseason to pick up a few stragglers from that season's youth intake, but that focus meant we had no squad depth should injuries hit. Injuries hit. Fox, Ayton and Lavine were all out for significant periods of time and we slumped to a 25-57 record, the 2nd worst in the NBA. This did however put us in a good place in the lottery.

Season 3 Pre-Season 2022/23

As I said in the post above I didn't think we had out first pick for the 2022 draft, but weirdly we did and we won the lottery from 2nd position. With the 1978 draft class loaded, there was only one man we could take:


https://i.postimg.cc/mkhCNJTk/Bird.png (https://postimages.org/)

Also managed to snap up Lucius Allen, who with perfect speed and stealing is immense.


That left us with this squad going into the regular season:


https://i.postimg.cc/YqSZBpzV/Squad.jpg (https://postimg.cc/V53DjPTB)

Only Ayton remains from the original roster. Minutes are fucked as dealing with injuries when simming games is much easier if you let the AI do them for you.

And at the All-Star break it has started to come together:

https://i.postimg.cc/HsRgSc13/29-05-2021-10-22-04-zbuqfqvn.png (https://postimg.cc/GHFVtp2s)

On the picks front, we have 3 first round picks in 2023, 5 in 24 (the year Jordan will come through) and 3 in 25.

[Yevrah]

We've made the playoffs.

https://i.postimg.cc/KcJ5H76b/30-05-2021-14-42-21-yzgvrwei.png (https://postimg.cc/G9TYBD3g)imagehosting (https://postimages.org/)

And are up first against Ja Morant's Grizzlies.

https://i.postimg.cc/DzPGbnFh/30-05-2021-14-42-35-dntp2zer.png (https://postimg.cc/mchkvxtp)

Elsewhere in the NBA, LeBron has taken over as all-time leading point scorer, breaking the 40,000 point barrier. Still looking for his 5th ring though after Boston won in 21 and Philadelphia in 22.

[phonics]

Literally can’t even get into a game. Got in one and just had my entire team standing still but I could move.

A new low for the series.

[Yevrah]

That sucks.

First appearance with the Suns in the playoffs has come to an end. We beat the Grizzlies fairly comfortably, but then hit a brick wall in the form of James and Davis and the Lakers, losing 4-0 in the conference semi's. Games were all fairly close, but they just had too much to stop them. Our season 1 wheeling and dealing has come good again as we have the 1st, 4th and 11th picks in the draft.

[Yevrah]

Season 4 - 2023/24

After finishing with 49 wins in the regular season we hit the playoffs as 1st seeds in the West and hopes were high. Injuries to Ayton in game 2 and Fox in game 3 saw us dumped out by Houston in Round 1.

https://i.postimg.cc/nhrZtFB0/02-06-2021-23-31-29-furtz0pe.png (https://postimg.cc/Yh5T6wXW)

Ja's Grizzlies taking their first Championship. LeBron finally retired at 39, having hit 41,940 points in his career.

LaVine's contract is up and I don't think we have enough headroom against the hard cap to keep him, BUT, this exciting prospect named Michael Jordan is coming through the draft this season and we have 9 first round picks. The mock draft has our best pick (Thunder) coming out at 3rd, so some wheeler dealing may be needed to get the first pick.

[Yevrah]

The Warriors won the draft and we had their pick, but it was the only one we had with top 3 protection on it. Goddammit.

EDIT: And they can't trade it due to having traded their first pick last year. Balls.

[Yevrah]

Jordan is unobtainable it seems. I can't get the right balance of enough interest from the Warriors together with keeping the trade within the salary cap rules. Grrr.

What I may do is bin this save and start again with the 84-85 Bulls side in place of the actual one. I can then load in draft classes from 85 onwards so I'll get to see 'new' players coming through I haven't used before rather than always ending up with either of KAJ or Larry Bird.

Quite fancy actually playing full matches (at reduced length) rather than dipping in and out of simming them, so toying with the idea of doing a 7 minute quarter 14 or 29 game regular season and maybe a full playoffs. :eyemouth:

[phonics]

Finally got this working.

Made myself a Ja Morant character and it’s the most fun I’ve had in NBA2k since the 8-12 era.

Averaged 30 points a game in college, won the championship and went to Miami Heat. I wanted the Sixers but they were the one team who didn’t want me.

[Yevrah]

Will you stay at Miami for your whole career?

[phonics]

You get a pay bump after negotiating your rookie contract so I'll see who's paying.

[phonics]

https://i.imgur.com/GgnfE3R.png
https://i.imgur.com/0zoPGun.png

lol, not my fault coach.

[phonics]

2K21 punished me for this post by deleting my save. Great game.

[Yevrah]

Have you got a hooky version that's causing these issues?

[phonics]

Nope, ever since they did this anti piracy thing where you have to be online to play MyCareer it's been an absolute mess.

[Yevrah]

Right, back on this. Started a game with the Bulls, but free transferred their entire current squad and replaced it with the 85-86 team. Which, one man aside, is awful. 29 game regular season and full playoffs, with 7 minute quarters on All-Star difficulty.

3 games in and here's the squad. Thought I'd keep it as is for a few games to get a feel for whether there's anything there bar MJ. There isn't

https://i.postimg.cc/RVdJXMF1/Squad.jpg (https://postimg.cc/VdSNNPX5)take me to shell gas station (https://gasstation-nearme.com/shell)

Regular Season 20/21

Chicago Bulls 86 Detroit Pistons 96

Jordan with 46 points wasn't enough to see us to victory. He played 43 minutes too, so was utterly shagged by the end. The Pistons are seemingly one of the worst teams in the NBA, so this could be a tough season.

Phoenix Suns 133 Chicago Bulls 53

Chicago Bulls 58 Sacramento Kings 109

Two absolute humpings leave us 0-3 and confirms new signings are needed. We need a centre desperately.

[Yevrah]

First trade of the season done:

Knicks trade: Mitchell Robinson C / Reggie Bullock SG
Bulls trade: George Gervin SF / 22 1st Round pick (lottery protected)

Nice to get both a decent centre in and protection on the pick we traded. A sort of improvement was seen in the next two games:

Game 4: LA Lakers 105 Chicago Bulls 73
Game 5: Chicago Bulls 73 Washington Wizards 109

Two tricky games and we were in them both until the 3rd quarter. Jordan scored 43 and 47 points, but I need to manually fuck with the rotations now as my coach keeps taking him off at stupid arse times.

The draft is the 1986 version, with both Dennis Rodman and Ron Harper lurking.

[phonics]

Just checked and 2k support have given the support team a week off.

I wouldn’t be that pissed off but a mix of epic coupon and the game being free means I spent 10 quid on a character that no longer exists. Surely that’s illegal?

[Yevrah]

How do a company the size of 2k have no cover for their support team when they go on holiday. :D

[phonics]

Semi related Yev I was listening to a pod where you had to draft a team with one player from each decade. Here’s what I came up with:

My NBA draft:

C - Wilt Chamberlain (70s)

PF - Charles Barkley (80s)

SF - Ron Artest/Meta World Peace (90s)

SG - Vernon Maxwell (00s)

PG - Alan Iverson (10s)

They might not win a ring but holy fuck will they beat the shit out of anyone that messed with them

[7om]

C Nikola Jokic (20s)
PF Dirk Nowitzki (10s)
SF Lebron James (00s)
SG Michael Jordan (90s)
PG Magic Johnson (80s)

:drool:

[phonics]

Too easy like that. Hence why you need the 70s.

[Yevrah]

While looking through the history books I saw that the US team didn't win the 2004 Olympics. How the hell did they not manage that?

[phonics]

While looking through the history books I saw that the US team didn't win the 2004 Olympics. How the hell did they not manage that?

IIRC it was in a period where alot of the top names didn't want to spend their holiday playing in the Olympics because it was just presumed that literally anyone on Team USA would be better than what other teams had to offer.

They took rookie season Lebron, Carmelo and Wade as marketing tools rather than players. They take it a lot more seriously now because the European leagues are pretty legit.

[Yevrah]

Back to Season 1 and I've played three more games tonight.

Game 6: Chicago Bulls 73 Washington Wizards 109

We actually led in this one at half time and then in the third quarter disaster struck, Jordan (already on 47 points) got injured. A strained right elbow will keep him out for 1-2 weeks.

Game 7: Cleveland Cavaliers 91 Chicago Bulls 54
Game 8: Minnesota Timberwolves 107 Chicago Bulls 45

Two games without MJ and two humpings. Time to dip into the free agents to bolster the squad. We're now 0-8.

Some stats per game to demonstrate just how shit we are:

Points: 63.5 (30th)
Points Allowed: 105.8 (2nd - somehow there is a team worse than us)
FGM: 36.2% (30th)
3PM: 10.2% (30th - this one hurts us so much. Paxson, despite The Last Dance suggesting otherwise, is rancid at 3's)
FTM: 83.1% (11th - Our best area by a mile)

We're also 30th for Rebounds, Assists and Steals.

[phonics]

Surely just tank at this point instead of signing free agents.

[Yevrah]

IIRC it was in a period where alot of the top names didn't want to spend their holiday playing in the Olympics because it was just presumed that literally anyone on Team USA would be better than what other teams had to offer.

They took rookie season Lebron, Carmelo and Wade as marketing tools rather than players. They take it a lot more seriously now because the European leagues are pretty legit.

Ah, cheers. Makes more sense then. I couldn't fathom how they struggled to even get out of the group when they'd won every other year since 92.

[Yevrah]

Surely just tank at this point instead of signing free agents.

I would do if I were simming every game, but I've got another 21 to play in the regular season. :sick:

The free agents list is full of absolute bilge at this point anyway. I'm gonna release Varejoa (who's only in the squad because the Bulls 85-86 didn't have 14 players) and bring someone in who can hit 3 pointers. Even if that's all they can do. Varejoa's out for two weeks so I'll have to wait a bit before I do.

[7om]

While looking through the history books I saw that the US team didn't win the 2004 Olympics. How the hell did they not manage that?

Larry Brown happened. The guy is renowned for not playing young players, so preferred the veterans over Carmelo, Lebron, Wade etc.

[phonics]

Got a reply and it's a fucking joke.

I sincerely apologize for the delay in my response, we have had a high volume of tickets these past few days. I will help you out best I can.
I'm sorry to hear that your player went missing. Please make sure you have the latest version downloaded as this could cause this.
Let’s see what I can do to help! We offer a one-time courtesy restoration of your save – but it does mean that if you agree to use it now, we won’t be able to assist you if this happens again.

To start, please try retrieving your save from the Cloud (https://support.2k.com/hc/articles/360051714194-NBA-2K21-Missing-MyCAREER-File) to avoid possibly overwriting your save data in the future. If this happens, we'll be unable to clone the file again.
If that didn't work, I’ll need the following:


Position, archetypes & overall of the missing save:
When was it created/last played (please be as precise as possible):
A clear, unedited video (https://support.2k.com/hc/en-us/articles/215088148) showing me your Gamertag (via the MyTEAM menu), then show me your current MyCAREER save file list. (Please open each save so that we can see the overall of each of your available saves)

You’ll also need to create a new MyCAREER save file for every save that's missing. I'll use this as a placeholder to clone your missing save onto.
Create the new save with these exact specifications:


Position, Handedness and Body Shape: Same as your affected file
Archetypes: Same as your affected file
Has NO attributes upgraded at all
You do not need to worry about the rest of the stats, as they'll be overwritten with your cloned file's stats (Height, Wingspan, Weight, etc.).

Your Badges, Attribute and Items will transfer over. However, this process isn’t able to recover MyCAREER story progress. In addition, you may have lost access to your animations but not to worry, we will provide VC for those.

[Yevrah]

That is an absolute shambles.

Game 9: Chicago Bulls 49 Memphis Grizzlies 101

Our 3rd game without MJ and we were never in this one.

So that takes us to 0-9 and I've played all 28 minutes of every game. Should be demoralising, but I'm actually enjoying it and when our first win does come it's going to be all the sweeter.

Oh and for game 10:


He's back.

[Danny]

I should save it for when you win....

https://i.imgur.com/Kpis8pI.png

[7om]

Yevrah, stream it on your twitch

[Yevrah]

I should save it for when you win....

https://i.imgur.com/Kpis8pI.png

:D

It's 0-10 now. :nono:

Turns out Jordan wasn't fit and was only on the court due to fatigue for half the game.

Game 10: Indiana Pacers 125 Chicago Bulls 54

To business.

[Yevrah]

Yevrah, stream it on your twitch

On now.

https://www.twitch.tv/chemicallocust

[Yevrah]

Varejao released and 2015 All-Star Kyle Korver in.

He is 39, but he apparently can shoot 3's and replaces our 68 rated small forward in the starting 5.

Giannis up next. :eyemouth:

[7om]

There’s no audio, Yevrah

[Yevrah]

I think it's to do with copyrighted music so they just mute it. Sure Phonics suggested similar previously. It's annoying if that is the case.

[Raoul Duke]

Some games have a streaming mode where it'll remove it

[phonics]

If you stream NBA2k through a console it just mutes the game.

[Pepe]

Got a reply and it's a fucking joke.

I sincerely apologize for the delay in my response, we have had a high volume of tickets these past few days. I will help you out best I can.
I'm sorry to hear that your player went missing. Please make sure you have the latest version downloaded as this could cause this.
Let’s see what I can do to help! We offer a one-time courtesy restoration of your save – but it does mean that if you agree to use it now, we won’t be able to assist you if this happens again.

To start, please try retrieving your save from the Cloud (https://support.2k.com/hc/articles/360051714194-NBA-2K21-Missing-MyCAREER-File) to avoid possibly overwriting your save data in the future. If this happens, we'll be unable to clone the file again.
If that didn't work, I’ll need the following:


Position, archetypes & overall of the missing save:
When was it created/last played (please be as precise as possible):
A clear, unedited video (https://support.2k.com/hc/en-us/articles/215088148) showing me your Gamertag (via the MyTEAM menu), then show me your current MyCAREER save file list. (Please open each save so that we can see the overall of each of your available saves)

You’ll also need to create a new MyCAREER save file for every save that's missing. I'll use this as a placeholder to clone your missing save onto.
Create the new save with these exact specifications:


Position, Handedness and Body Shape: Same as your affected file
Archetypes: Same as your affected file
Has NO attributes upgraded at all
You do not need to worry about the rest of the stats, as they'll be overwritten with your cloned file's stats (Height, Wingspan, Weight, etc.).

Your Badges, Attribute and Items will transfer over. However, this process isn’t able to recover MyCAREER story progress. In addition, you may have lost access to your animations but not to worry, we will provide VC for those.


:lol:

[Yevrah]

Some games have a streaming mode where it'll remove it

Cheers Raoul. Also seems you can mute the music and that may well work too.

[Yevrah]

Finished three more games last night.

Game 11: Chicago Bulls 54 Milwaukee Bucks 105

With Jordan still recovering from his injury court time was limited and the Bucks ran out easy winners.

Game 12: Utah Jazz 97 Chicago Bulls 81

This one hurt. With Jordan back to full health he produced a monster display with 53 points, but it just wasn't quite enough. Three points down at half time, we just couldn't do enough to hang in there during the limited moments the great one was off court.

Game 13: Golden State Warriors 100 Chicago Bulls 66

Curry and Thompson ruined us with three pointers, but that's another game that looks like it might be a basketball score.

I need to get rid of Charles Barkley and when the situation allows Mitchell Robinson too. They're both too slow, but in the case of the latter (who I thought was decent last year) it's utterly killing me.

[phonics]

Yev, I’ve had an idea. Would you like to explain your settings/rules you’re doing and I will do the exact same as you but with the other GOAT. We play the same amount of seasons etc and then we’ll have a game. Jordan and your team vs LeBron and my team.

[Yevrah]

Cracking shout that Phonics.

So, what I did was...

Took the current Bulls roster and released them all
Moved all of the Bulls 85-86 squad to the current Bulls roster
Added the shittest/oldest player I could find from free agency to make the squad have enough players to be legit (14)
Moved 14 of the shittest players from free agency into the Bulls 85-86 team. For some reason you have to do this to make the roster valid, even though I had no intention of using the 85-86 team.

Started a MyLeague game with the current Bulls (now populated with the 85-86 team), with the following settings:

Difficulty: All-Star
7 minute quarter lengths for played games
12 minute quarter length for CPU games
Adjust minutes played in played games to match simmed games? YES
Career Ending Injury Frequency down to 0
Left all other settings as is
Regular Season Length: 29 games
Full 7 game series playoffs
Loaded 1986 draft class (will go through the years one by one as I complete each season)
Put 'The Last Dance' on in the background

I want to play all of the games and I've stuck to that so far.

Reason I wanted to keep the old Bulls roster was is that it's a serious challenge. Bar Jordan, the players are all awful and you have so little assets to negotiate trades with, so it should represent a decent mid-long term challenge. EDIT: And replicate some of the pain Jordan went through as the franchise got good.

If you want the same challenge I guess you could do what I did and just put LeBron at the Bulls or do the whole thing with another club, but if you put a young LeBron in any of the current NBA rosters and keep the rest of their current players it may well be too easy as you have so many options to pick up trades with. No-one really wants any of my players.

If any of that makes no sense at all, just shout.

[Yevrah]

Oh and another good thing about the Bulls is that they have $60m ish free on the salary cap, so season 2 free agency should be fun. Well, if anyone will join us.

[Yevrah]

Streaming again. Hope the bloody sound works now.

https://www.twitch.tv/chemicallocust

[phonics]

So I go into Roster and remove everyone? Before going into MyLeague, I've never used this side of the game so apologies for the stupid questions.

[Yevrah]

No probs.

Yeah, if you go into Features > Create Roster > NBA > Official 2KSports Roster, you can edit it from there.

Gimme a shout if you get any issues.

[Yevrah]

It's a bit fiddly and inexplicably you can't do some things you think you'd be able to, like add a rookie MJ to a team. You have to take him from one of the classic teams as I did from the 85-86 one.

[phonics]

Ah so they don’t have a 2003 LeBron. Only a 2006. I’d basically have to create my own etc?

I did find a 2003 team in the user created roster but it’s got all their current stats so it’s pointless.

[Yevrah]

Some more losses:

Game 14: Chicago Bulls 72 New York Knicks 93
Game 15: Denver Nuggets 110 Chicago Bulls 62
Game 16: Chicago Bulls 43 Dallas Mavericks 115

The loss to New Year was bearable, while the losses to the Nuggets and the Mavericks were anything but - the latter being the best team we've faced this season so far. Impossible to score against.

I have been busy in the market though, with the following business done as the trade deadline nears:

Spurs Trade: Keldon Johnson PF & Jakob Poeltl C
Bulls Trade: Charles Oakley PF, Dave Corzine C & 25 2nd Rd Pick

Bulls Trade: Sidney Green PF
Mavericks Trade: Willie Cauley-Stein C

Bulls Waive: John Brown C

Bulls Sign: Isaiah Thomas

Line up is now:

PG Thomas 77
SG Jordan 93
SF Korver 73
PF Johnson 81
C Robinson 82

Better, but still not good enough. Just one win would be lovely. 0-16 now.

[Yevrah]

Ah so they don’t have a 2003 LeBron. Only a 2006. I’d basically have to create my own etc?

I did find a 2003 team in the user created roster but it’s got all their current stats so it’s pointless.

You do, using player DNA. I've never bothered. His 2006 one should suffice.

And yeah, bar a couple of rosters that have both effort and quality control, they're a sea of shite.

[phonics]

I did some googling and there's no cross platform play so the idea is dead anyway.

Shame.

[Yevrah]

If you're on Gamepass it might. Even if it claims there's no crossplay.

[phonics]

It's Epic Store so it's connected to nothing but my roster search for 2003 Cavs revealed that PS4-5/XBOX/PC all have completely seperate user created rosters. My username is Trip_ch if theres a way to add friends within NBA2K not the platform.

[Yevrah]

Definitely no way to do it through Epic.

[phonics]

Still haven't got a reply from 2kSupport....

[Yevrah]

Get the LeBron game going.

Game 17: Chicago Bulls 71 Houston Rockets 106
Game 18: Miami Heat 99 Chicago Bulls 96

3 points away from a win against Miami. 10 points down at one stage we clawed our way back with MJ catching fire (and hitting a season high 59 points). 44 seconds to go we're level and we have the ball. Manage to rim it three times and Miami get it back with 11 seconds to go. They hit a three pointer and with 2 seconds left Jordan gets it, shoots from range and it bounces off the rim again. Gutting, but absolutely loving this. Turning this franchise into winners is going to be so satisfying.

0-18 and 11 games of the regular season left.

While we sit at the foot of the East the top 8 is as follows:

Celtics 16-6
Heat 15-7
Nets 15-8
Raptors 10-9
Hawks 7-9
Bucks 10-13
Knicks 9-12
76ers 9-12

Pistons may sneak in as they have two games in hand and sit on 7 wins currently.

In the West:

Nuggets 16-7
Pelicans 15-6
Mavericks 14-6
Trail Blazers 15-8
Grizzlies 15-9
Lakers 13-8
Clippers 12-8
Spurs 12-8

Jordan won the dunk contest and MVP appears to be between Giannis (31-12-6-2-1) and Doncic (34-8-9-1-0). Stats rounded.

[Yevrah]

0-21 now. With only 8 games left of the regular season it's becoming increasingly likely we won't win one. But, a decent pick in the draft is all but secured either way.

[Yevrah]

Season 1 (of the Bulls 85-86 team in the current NBA) is done and we finished 0-29.

https://i.postimg.cc/Wbyz1LnW/Bulls-S1.png (https://postimg.cc/hf9c2YNT)

Proper slog towards the end and we never got closer to a win than the 3 point defeat by Miami. Doncic won MVP, MJ took it personally.

Into the Playoffs and the Pelicans nailed it.

https://i.postimg.cc/C1wLQFh1/Playoffs-S1.png (https://postimg.cc/wtbptYs8)

On the plus side, we should have a decent draft pick (from the 1986 class) and have a cap room of at least $50m.

[Yevrah]

And this is the roster we end the season with. A sea of shite, with only about 5 players I want to keep.

https://i.postimg.cc/SxryYB7b/Bulls-Squad-S1.png (https://postimg.cc/3kkMPbct)

Need to release the absolute trash and try and pad out the squad with cheap frees who have some trade value for picks. Number 1 priority is a SF who can shoot 3's and isn't 40.

[phonics]

Update on the support, they claimed my unedited video was edited, called me a liar about what VC i had bought and asked me to record another so I'm just boycotting the entire franchise.

[Yevrah]

These companies just do not give a fuck, do they?

[Yevrah]

We got 3rd pick in the draft, I feel robbed.

[phonics]

These companies just do not give a fuck, do they?

There's no pressure on them is the problem. They have a direct transaction record of my credit card buying something from their service and it literally doesn't matter because Politicians are too old to legislate on it so they just do what the money tells them to.

[Yevrah]

Season 2 2021/22 - Chicago Bulls 85/86 team - Summer Business.

Summer business is done.

The Draft - With the 86 draft class loaded we nabbed the following:

Round 1 Pick 3: Dennis Rodman - PF | SF - 24 years old - 77 Rated.

I mean, it had to be done. On a pure stats basis I wouldn't have, but that's 2 of the 3 stars of the 98 bulls team secured. 4 year deal (2+2) on around $9m a year. With A+ potential could be a massive player for us.

Round 2 Pick 1: Wil Hines - SF | SG - 19 years old - 74 Rated

Don't think this chap was a real player (not all of the players in the real draft classes are), but at 19 and with bags of potential it seemed a no brainer from what was left.

Players Released:

Korver (retired), Bullock, Macy, Higgins, Williams, Johnson, Miller and Smith all left. All shit, so no issue there.

Players Signed

Jared Harper PG - 4 year $12m deal
Duncan Robinson SF - 4yr $28m deal
Gabriel Tavares SF - 4yr $23.65m deal
Bobby Portis C - 3yr $44.1m deal
Edmond Simpson SG - 4yr $11.95m deal
Edward Jefferson SG - 4yr $28m deal

Some other players were re-signed and we also traded Poetl to the Grizzlies for their 1st round picks for 22 and 24. Also signed a coach who runs the triangle. :drool:

Current squad and first game update to follow. Can we finally win one?

[Yevrah]

Season 2 squad:

https://i.postimg.cc/6pYYcNNL/Bulls-S2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/DS4rfH08)

Much better than the first season. Fingers crossed for Robinson and Portis with the 3s!

Game 1: Chicago Bulls 92 New York Knicks 97

Unbelievably we spaffed a 21 point lead in this one. The rubber banding in that game was obscene. 48 points for Jordan in the garden.

0-1

EDIT: Robinson's salary per annum is $7m, not $28m. The salaries are all fucked. :moop:

[Yevrah]

Another trade to announce. Mitchell Robinson finally pissed me off too much so off he goes to the Denver Nuggets. In return we get their 1st pick for the 2025 draft and Bol Bol. Only one year left on his contract but if he's anything like last year I finally have another player I know can shoot 3's. Portis is ok, but has a weird throwing animation which makes it much harder. More on him later.

Game 2: Miami Heat 97 Chicago Bulls 74

Never really in this one, so that's 31 defeats and counting to go 0-2 this season.

Game 3: Toronto Raptors 74 Chicago Bulls 106

Fucking finally. Everything clicks, Jordan scores 41 and we hit 10 3 pointers in a game for the first time. Crushing win and the longest losing streak I've had in any game ever is over.

Game 4: Minnesota Timberwolves 67 Chicago Bulls 75

From the sublime to the ridiculous. Should have won by a landslide but missed so many shots in this game. Still, that's two wins in a row and we are up and running. Playoffs is now the aim, even if we sneak in 8th.

My coach is making far too many retarded substitutions as well, so I need to get the paintbrush out and edit the rotations, which is good, but all goes to shit and is a ballache when someone gets injured.

We've got $33m salary cap room which will get decimated when I re-sign Jordan and hopefully Bol too, but if I can time it right and get rid of Portis when I can trade him I should be able to bring a quality point guard in from free agency to make what I reckon could be pushing for a title challenging side.

Upcoming free agents are: Doncic, Curry, Irving, Young and Gilgious-Alexander. I doubt I'll be able to pull off Doncic, but any of the others would be sweet.

2-2 with 25 regular season games to go. :drool:

[7om]

Is Rodman a created player or is he actually in the game?

[Yevrah]

You can load historic draft classes, so I got him through the draft (from loading the 1986 class) in my second season as a 24 year old.

1987 is loaded for season 3 so Pippen is a possibility in that one. :drool:

[Yevrah]

Jordan wins Eastern Conference player of the month for December and is in the early running for MVP. I need to find something for him to take personally.

In the West the Pelicans are ridiculous again with a 6-0 record so far. No idea why they're so good in this game vs. real life.

[Baz]

I’m surprised they have put this in. (Or is it all custom mods?)

It’s awesome though. Can’t believe you lost every game in the first season. :D

[Yevrah]

I do like a challenge Baz and it's far too easy on normal. :D

It's a brilliant feature. They could have implemented it slightly better in some ways, but effectively they have every single draft class for each year going back to the 70s/80s and they have classic and all-time teams for almost every franchise. All in the game out of the box, no mods.

[Raoul Duke]

I might have to get this and give it a bash as it's on Game Pass. Hilarious how much better this mode is than FIFA's equivalent

[Yevrah]

It's staggering. I don't know much more about basketball than a casual interest, but it's got every player I've ever head of and at various stages of their career too.

[Gray Fox]

Does it play well?

I think my FIFA time has come to and end or damn close to it, for this year and I'm going to glaringly avoid looking at my stack of unplayed and look to something else.

[Yevrah]

I like it. The in game presentation makes you feel like you're part of an NBA season too. It's so well done.

[Yevrah]

3 games to update on. After 4 games of the second season we were 2-2 and just outside the playoff spots.

Game 5: Chicago Bulls 83 Golden State Warriors 106

After two straight wins for the first time confidence was high but we were taught a lesson here, with the Warriors shooting from range destroying us.

Game 6: Chicago Bulls 124 LA Clippers 117

We bossed this one for three quarters with Jordan a colossus, and with an 18 point lead going into the 4th it looked like our first win on the road was a formality. We then fell apart as the Clippers knocked in 37 points in one quarter to take it to overtime. The team rallied and Jordan knocked in another 8 points to lead us to victory and give him a Bulls record of 70 points in a regular season game.

Game 7: Chicago Bulls 87 Cleveland Cavaliers 76

In the reverse of the previous game we were rancid in the first half, trailing by 13 points entering the break. A solid 3rd cut the gap to 7 and then Jordan must have taken things personally as he nailed 20 points in the 4th quarter (52 in the game) to seal the win. The last two games have been brilliant for different reasons and we now, finally, have a team that can at least compete.

4-3 after 7 games and with 22 of the regular season left we sit 7th in the East with games in hand on all of the teams above us.

1st Miami 7-3
2nd Atlanta 7-5
3rd Charlotte 7-6
4th Boston 6-5
5th Orlando 5-4
6th Detroit 5-4
7th Chicago 4-3
8th Indiana 5-5

In the West the Pelicans are now 8-0.

Jordan is back leading the MVP race with 42ppg, but is just outside the places for the All-Star game. We have a two week break then 3 games in 4 days. Hosting the Grizzlies, followed by trips to Orlando and Brooklyn. Game on. :drool:

[Gray Fox]

I decided to watch a real game last night to see if I could get into it. Was the Suns v Clippers.

A usual amount of bollocks refereeing towards the end and a surprising amount of diving(apparently they call this Flopping). Seemed fun enough, but the game seems designed to get to the end of the 4th quarter with it being close for DRAMA purposes. Not really sure what I make of it.

[Yevrah]

I've been watching a few and I quite enjoy the two hour highlight packages as it cuts a lot of the shit out.

Back to the Bulls, second season:

Game 8 - Memphis Grizzlies 102 Chicago Bulls 89
Game 9 - Chicago Bulls 102 Orlando Magic 90
Game 10 - Chicago Bulls 89 Brooklyn Nets 123
Game 11 - Chicago Bulls 109 Houston Rockets 97
Game 12 - Los Angeles Lakers 114 Chicago Bulls 82

3 defeats and 2 wins takes us to 6-6 after 12 and 7th in the East. Pelicans now 12-0 in the West. Looking good for the playoffs at this stage. Also traded Bobby Portis to the Lakers to free up cap space to go for an uber point guard in free agency, got some 1 year deal shitehawk in return and their first pick for 2026, which was nice.

Two home games up next against the Hornets (7-7 record) and the almighty Pelicans. Should be interesting.

[phonics]

It's absolutely unbearable to watch live. The mix of timeouts and reviews makes it unbearable.

Just to prove how absurd it's got. The last 90 seconds of Suns v Clippers took 33 minutes.

Trae Young has been an absolute king, keeps going into other peoples arenas and absolutely merking them. He plays the villain so well.

Here's an assist

1408091661947871239

Here he crosses up a defender so badly that he has time to pause, do a dance and then hit the three.

1407883236600991748

I love him.

Trae Young, Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards are all so fun to watch.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The MyTeam community is up in arms today because they've released an invincible (basically 99 in every stat) 7'2" Bol Bol who can play at SF.

https://2kdb.net/player/2k21/bol-bol/9407

Not sure what his jumper is like but the dribble signatures are the best in the game I believe.

[Yevrah]

Been loving Young in the games I’ve seen.

[phonics]

Been loving Young in the games I’ve seen.

Btw I've been doing some research and I'm not sure how good your PC is but if you'd like to pirate any version before NBA2k16 then we could play together but I can't play with you on Xbox sadly.

[Yevrah]

My laptop is wank, sadly. Hopefully NBA2K22 works.

Game 13: Charlotte Hornets 95 Chicago Bulls 107
Game 14: New Orleans Pelicans 100 Chicago Bulls 84
Game 15: Chicago Bulls 107 Atlanta Hawks 69
Game 16: San Antonio Spurs 100 Chicago Bulls 71

2 wins and 2 defeats takes us to 8-8 with 13 games of the regular season left and we sit 7th in the East. We could and perhaps should have beaten the Pelicans, but they march on to a 19-0 record. The win against the Hawks was the best so far and we were in total control, winning by 38 points. :chief:

One game left against Eastern Conference leaders the Boston Celtics (12-7) before the All-Star break. Trade deadline is up so gonna have a speculative look to see if we can do any BUZZER BEATER business.

[Yevrah]

We're in trouble.

Game 17: Chicago Bulls 66 Boston Celtics 116

Game 18: Portland Trail Blazers 106 Chicago Bulls 92

The Celtics absolute annihilated us and while we fought hard against the Blazers, they ran out comfortable winners. For the first time in ages we're outside the playoff spots.

https://i.postimg.cc/gjtF5fMx/26-06-2021-09-24-00-mkqapzru.png (https://postimg.cc/0KSBKH1v)

The the All-Star game came and went with Jordan starring for the East. Up against the Pacers (14-11) and the Thunder (7-17) next. We need to win both.

[7om]

Show us Rodman’s stats, Yev.

[Yevrah]

Ta da!

Driving Layup 65
Standing Dunk 82
Driving Dunk 78
Close Shot 68
Mid-Range Shot 61
Three-Point Shot 48
Free Throw 59
Post Hook 58
Post Fade 46
Post Moves 40
Draw Foul 54
Shot IQ 47
Pass Accuracy 41
Ball Handle 30
Speed With Ball 43
Hands 72
Pass IQ 28
Pass Vision 28
Offensive Consistency 36
Interior Defense 91
Perimeter Defense 77
Steal 55
Block 57
Offensive Rebound 93
Defensive Rebound 79
Lateral Quickness 58
Help Defense IQ 89
Pass Perception 87
Defensive Consistency 87
Speed 64
Acceleration 59
Strength 73
Vertical 82
Stamina 94
Intangibles 74
Hustle 97

He's not actually that good at the moment. Maybe once he develops and gets 99 ish in all defensive stats he will be, but as it stands I'm very tempted to trade him when he hits about 85 overall (80 now), move Bol to PF and bring in a mobile centre.

[Yevrah]

And here's Jordan:

Driving Layup 99
Standing Dunk 76
Driving Dunk 99
Close Shot 96
Mid-Range Shot 83
Three-Point Shot 68
Free Throw 87
Post Hook 42
Post Fade 92
Post Moves 70
Draw Foul 99
Shot IQ 95
Pass Accuracy 85
Ball Handle 92
Speed With Ball 89
Hands 99
Pass IQ 78
Pass Vision 74
Offensive Consistency 99
Interior Defense 63
Perimeter Defense 96
Steal 97
Block 69
Offensive Rebound 54
Defensive Rebound 55
Lateral Quickness 93
Help Defense IQ 96
Pass Perception 92
Defensive Consistency 96
Speed 96
Acceleration 97
Strength 58
Vertical 99
Stamina 99
Intangibles 80
Hustle 89

97 overall at the moment.

[Yevrah]

The regular season of season 2 is coming to a close.

Game 17: Chicago Bulls 66 Boston Celtics 116
Game 18: Portland Trail Blazers 106 Chicago Bulls 92
Game 19: Chicago Bulls 82 Utah Jazz 89
Game 20: Chicago Bulls 97 Oklahoma City Thunder 86
Game 21: Phoenix Suns 122 Chicago Bulls 63
Game 22: Denver Nuggets 125 Chicago Bulls 101

A shitty run against some tough teams sees 1 win in 6 and we drift out to 9-13, with 7 games left:

1st Brooklyn 18-10
2nd Boston 13-10
3rd Philadelphia 13-11
4th Atlanta 14-13
5th Orlando 11-10
6th Charlotte 11-11
7th Toronto 12-13
8th Milwaukee 9-10

9th Miami 9-11
10th Detroit 10-14
11th Chicago 9-13
12th Washington 10-16

However, our next 6 games are against teams with negative records, including one against the Bucks, then we finish at Philadelphia.

vs Kings (11-12)
vs Mavericks (9-14)
vs Pacers (7-15)
vs Pistons (10-14)
vs Wizards (10-16)
vs Bucks (9-10)
vs 76ers (13-11)

I reckon 5 wins against that lot might be enough, particularly if one of those wins is against the Bucks. We'd get minced in the playoffs either way, but if we don't make it it'll represent a disappointing season.

[Yevrah]

Game 23: Sacramento Kings 104 Chicago Bulls 108

Jordan hits eighty-three points. Bulls win. 10-13.

[Baz]

Been loving Young in the games I’ve seen.His hair is the worst though.

[Yevrah]

Season 2 Summary 2021/22

Season over and after the win over the Kings we didn't win another game, finishing 10-19 and well outside the playoffs.

https://i.postimg.cc/VLHbc2c9/Summary.png (https://postimg.cc/7f0L3shb)

On the plus side, Jordan's efforts were recognised:

https://i.postimg.cc/cLw15z1L/Jordan.png (https://postimg.cc/TK2XKCWz)

Onto the playoffs, the Miami Heat became the first team to win a Championship from 8th seed.

https://i.postimg.cc/8kY1kGjC/Playoffs.png (https://postimg.cc/qg8fQ9cf)

Our end of season slump led to us getting 2nd pick in the Lottery and 20th pick (from Memphis). Huge off season coming up.

[Yevrah]

Chicago Bulls Season 3 - 2022/23 Pre-Season

The Draft

With second pick from the 1987 draft class hopes were high of a good pick. The Mavericks were up first and they took Scottie Pippen, leaving the Bulls to take David Robinson. We have the mobile centre we were after, so if we can secure a decent Point Guard in Free Agency, we're set.

Free Agency

With Jordan's contract coming to an end there was a possibility we might lose him, but as a restricted free agent I was allowed to match any offer to keep him. With almost all of the NBA after him a 4 year deal (from someone I forget) was matched and after releasing a couple of players we had $30m free cap space to get a point guard. This went better than I could ever have hoped as we secured....


Trae Young


Tremont Waters was also brought in to give some cover, leaving the roster for our third season looking like so:

https://i.postimg.cc/xTxMPrWw/Bulls-Squad-S1.png (https://postimg.cc/RNtWMYCd)

Finally, I think we have a roster good enough to make the playoffs.

[phonics]

I'm sure it works in the game but this would be an absolutely hilarious team to watch in IRL.

Bol Bol, a man who when trying to find a picture of him the google result gave me 'Best of Bol Bol in NBA scrimmages' and 'Career high performance - 16 points, 10 rebounds', in the paint with Jordan shooting mid-range jumpers and Trae Young shooting threes.

I know you don't cheat in these games but I wouldn't argue against just swapping him for his Dad.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81rjvWJS%2BcL._AC_SX569_.jpg

Terrifying. For reference, here's PRIME Michael Jordan standing next to Charles Barkely.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2018/10/10/PPHX/147620a3-4c23-40ed-af67-f63492b659c1-bark.jpg

[Yevrah]

If I'd started with the 1985 draft class I could have loaded Manute in. Really should have done that and feels a bit lame to go back a few years for the next draft class now. What I've also noticed is for some reason this game doesn't appear to have Reggie Miller in the 1987 draft class.

And it is working splendidly so far, update to follow....

[Yevrah]

Season 3 Chicaco Bulls - Regular Season 2022/23

Game 1: Chicago Bulls 108 Milwaukee Bucks 93

Pts: Jordan 51
Reb: Bol 7
Ast: Young 5
Stl: Young 4
Blk: Robinson 2

A winning start to the regular season. Bol is amazing at Power Forward and Robinson a rock that can move at centre. 1-0.

Game 2: Golden State Warriors 86 Chicago Bulls 101

Pts: Jordan 31
Reb: Robinson 15
Ast: Jordan 6
Stl: Young 2
Blk: Robinson 2

Game 3: Chicago Bulls 138 LA Clippers 101

Pts: Jordan 47
Reb: Robinson 14
Ast: Jordan 16
Stl: Jordan 3
Blk: Robinson 2

A triple double for Robinson with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. With our biggest win so far it's also the first time we've won three in a row. We're purring and have our first big test next against the Suns, with Ayton and Booker both 92 rated.

Game 4: Phoenix Suns 111 Chicago Bulls 116

Pts: Jordan 40
Reb: Bol 15
Ast: Jordan 13
Stl: Jordan 3
Blk: Bol 1

Phoenix started very strongly and we found ourselves 15 points down in the second quarter and still trailing by 6 after the third quarter but an immense performance in the 4th saw us hit 41 points to take the game. 4-0 and we are firing.

https://i.postimg.cc/8zQp9KKp/29-06-2021-10-47-57-yukzwqcr.png (https://postimg.cc/F7pXJZX8)

[Yevrah]

Quick game rattled off before the real action today.

Game 5: Chicago Bulls 120 Orlando Magic 85

Pts: Jordan 55
Reb: Robinson 23
Ast: Bol 10
Stl: Young 3
Blk: Robinson 4

5-0 and we go top of the East. :chief:

[Yevrah]

Four more games of our third season and things are looking very good indeed.

Game 6: Houston Rockets 97 Chicago Bulls 131

Pts: Jordan 25
Reb: Bol 17
Ast: Jordan 7
Stl: Young 1
Blk: Bol 10

A herculean performance from Bol, posting a triple double to seal a very comfortable win. 6-0.

Game 7: Indiana Pacers 99 Chicago Bulls 120

Pts: Jordan 42
Reb: Bol 13
Ast: Young 7
Stl: Young 4
Blk: Bol 3

Another humping and we are a joy to watch at the moment. 7-0 Two tough games up next though, with Donovan Mitchell's Jazz visiting, followed by a trip to the 2021 World Champions, the Pelicans.

Game 8: Utah Jazz 113 Chicago Bulls 115

Pts: Jordan 30
Reb: Bol 10
Ast: Jordan 11
Stl: Jordan 2
Blk: Robinson 3

With a 13 point lead at half time this should have been plain sailing, but the Jazz hit back hard and had the three pointer they rimmed in the last second gone in it would have been our first loss. 8-0

Game 9: Chicago Bulls 136 New Orleans Pelicans 130

Pts: Jordan 61
Reb: Bol 17
Ast: Young 9
Stl: Waters 2
Blk: Bol 3

Really proud of the team in this one. Against an onslaught from the Pelicans we held firm and hit 68% from the field to go 9-0. 20 games left of the regular season and I reckon we need 6 more wins to secure our first trip to the playoffs.

https://i.postimg.cc/KYCs5qFB/30-06-2021-21-15-16-up3su3ps.png (https://postimg.cc/v1LzYv4Z)

My scouts have also finished their report on Don Carson, a (made up) 19 year old coming through the 1989 draft class who looks absolute fucking mustard. If I can nab him (I have 3 first round picks this year) and get away with playing a 6' 4" guy at Small Forward (he's currently a PG) it would complete the team. :drool:

[phonics]

I'd say your top real picks there are should probably be Sean Kemp and/or Vlade Divac to bump up your C/PF and you could move on David Robinsons contract or you could take Tim Hardaway to play backup to Trae Young.

Or just for the lols pick up Cliff Robinson and just try build a lineup of all Robinsons.

Actually just seen your SF is trash, get Glenn Rice.

[Yevrah]

My SF is low rated, but he shoots very well from range. This Carson chap coming through the draft looks like a future MVP.

David Robinson is the best centre I've used in this so far so he's going nowhere.

[Yevrah]

I've hit a problem. This is too easy. We're now 15-0 and I genuinely don't think I'll lose another game. And that's more boring than losing every game in the first season.

I could up the difficulty, but I've also had an idea to sim an 82 game regular season and play the entire full playoffs. Problem is I can't change the regular season length when a game has already started. :moop:

[Yevrah]

New York will be my next destination and they somehow have an even worse roster than last year. :drool:

We'll up the difficulty to Superstar, pull back 3 point difficulty to All-Star level, sim the regular season (on 65 sim difficulty) and play the playoffs in full on 8 minute quarters. :drool:

EDIT: When we make it that is.

[phonics]

If Yev is turning up his difficulty to Superstar and winning, I don't think the contest would go very well.

Yev, are you on that new XboxPro or just an xbox one? If the latter, does it run okay? I found a cheap one I could pick up and already have game pass so I'd be down.

[Yevrah]

Xbox One X I'm on I believe. Whatever the last console in the last gen was. Runs fine too.

[Shindig]

I might load it up on the PS5 just to see how it looks.

[Danny]

Its cheap on PS right now, on the US store atleast and Yev's story tempts me to buy it. Then I remember I know fuck all about basketball and got bored of the other years very quickly.

[Shindig]

2K gave me the Mamba edition to review so I'm covered. I ... think I'm downloading the PS5 version now.

[Yevrah]

It's really hard to get the difficulty level right as they above shows, but I'm getting closer.

[Shindig]

Okay, this plays better now. I do not.

[Yevrah]

What are your settings?

[Shindig]

It'll be all back to whatever the default is. Plus I could only really do the training stuff whilst it was downloading. Had a scrimmage between the Lakers and Bucks with me as the former. I was about 16 points behind but it feels a lot better going for shots nowadays.

I was mainly just doing it to see how it looked.

[Yevrah]

Good enough to keep you in?

[Shindig]

Nope. They're good games but I always tend to look at them as tech demos for new consoles. I can't play it on autopilot like I can PES. I guess I don't really like basketball that much.

[Yevrah]

Knicks game loaded.

Superstar difficulty, but with 3 point difficulty reduced to All-Star. 82 game regular season, which I'll sim (EDIT, on 65 sim difficulty). Playoffs full best of 7 all the way through, which I'll play when we get there (on 8 minute quarters).

Draft class from 1969 loaded for season 1, the KAJ year. My christ this Knicks roster is awful.

[Yevrah]

New York Knicks - Season 1 2020/21 - Summer Business

With the 2020 draft already done (we took Obi Toppin from 8th pick) it was clear some trades were needed to get this roster into shape. First thing needed was a centre and power forward who could either shoot threes, were over 7 foot, or preferably both.

Trade 1

New York Trade:

Taj Gibson - 35 - C - 77 Rated
2022 2nd Round Draft pick

Denver Nuggets Trade:

Bol Bol - 21 - C/PF - 72 Rated

Felt like unfinished business with Bol from the Bulls save, so here he is. Meets both of the criteria above and comes with bags of potential. In Gibson, we also bin off a centre who is only 6' 9". I mean, what the actual fuck?

Trade 2

New York Trade:

Mitchell Robinson - 22 - C - 82 Rated
2022 1st Round Draft Pick

Cleveland Trade:

Jarrett Allen - 22 - C - 84 Rated
2025 1st Round Draft Pick

Robinson is seven foot, but also has the mobility of a tank. What we lose in draft pick we make up for in mobility from Allen. Now, what to do with Julius Randle....?

[Yevrah]

Trade 3:

New York Trade:

Julius Randle - 26 - PF - 89 Rated
Luca Vildoza - 25 - PG - 71 Rated

Oklahoma Trade:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 22 - PG - 87 Rated
Mike Muscala - 29 - C - 77 Rated

Released two G-League wankers as well. So that's the 15 we'll start the season with sorted. Now to sort the minutes.

[Yevrah]

Minutes and roster finalised:

https://i.postimg.cc/MHMbHLcp/Knicks-S1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/zHNRP0Ss)

Went with the CPU's recommended minutes. Will change that if we make the playoffs.

We also have enough cap space to sign someone banging in free agency.

[Yevrah]

New York Knicks - Season 1 2020/21 - Regular Season

All done and we finished with a bad record.

https://i.postimg.cc/fWvQwgcv/05-07-2021-00-09-35-z2l0ixa4.png (https://postimg.cc/G995KKSB)

Which should give us around the 4th draft pick.

[Yevrah]

The Brooklyn Nets won their first Championship. Embid regular season MVP, James Harden Playoff MVP.

[Yevrah]

New York Knicks - Season 2 - 2021/22

https://i.postimg.cc/TYRcjyvx/05-07-2021-00-49-54-pnk42yxu.png (https://postimg.cc/5jRvb2tK)

Lucius Allen and Bingo Smith joined the franchise through the draft and while we still didn't make the playoffs wins were increased to above 40%.

The Brooklyn Nets won the Championship again, with Kyrie Irving getting regular season MVP and James Harden winning his second successive Playoff MVP.

So we head into season 3 still looking for that elusive playoff spot.

[Yevrah]

New York Knicks - Season 3 - 2022/23 - Regular Season

So it's taken three seasons of simming, but we've finally done it! A playoff spot secured as 5th seeds in the East.

https://i.postimg.cc/tgwFJDN2/05-07-2021-11-00-38-0frj5tvz.png (https://postimg.cc/Z9PWD8gd)

Playoff line up below:

https://i.postimg.cc/TY0mgTcy/05-07-2021-11-00-47-25rpikoi.png (https://postimg.cc/crKrNy2Z)

And we face the Raptors in Round One.

https://i.postimg.cc/BQSPqdGJ/05-07-2021-11-42-05-vsfav0b0.png (https://postimg.cc/Btznp76z)

7 game series, which I'll play every minute of on Superstar, over 8 minute quarters. :drool:

Jarrett Allen and RJ Barrett out injured for game one though.

[Pepe]

Bingo. :D

[Yevrah]

Amazingly he was real:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_Smith

[Yevrah]

2023 Playoffs - New York Knicks - Season 3

Round 1 Game 1: New York Knicks 111 Toronto Raptors 127

Pts: Allen 34
Reb: Bol 13
Ast: Smith 4
Stl: Toppin 2
Blk: Toppin 4

Raptors lead the series 1-0

A tough start on the road in the first of two games in Canada saw a second quarter in which we fell apart, shipping 45 points. Bol with a double double and Allen with 34 points off the bench were the star performers


Round 1 Game 2: New York Knicks 133 Toronto Raptors 116

Pts: Gilgeous-Alexander 30
Reb: Bol 11
Ast: Smith 4
Stl: Allen 3
Blk: Bol 6

Series tied at 1-1

Much more like it, with a stonking 40 point quarter in the 4th and double doubles for Bol and Toppin. To the Garden for the next two games.

[Yevrah]

Back at the garden for game 3.

Round 1 Game 3: Toronto Raptors 116 New York Knicks 124

Pts: L. Allen 36
Reb: J. Allen 13
Ast: Smith 5
Stl: Toppin 4
Blk: Bol 3

Knicks lead the series 2-1

Solid win back at home to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Lucius Allen off the bench is phenomenal.

Game 4 will be at 8pm UK time tonight. I'll stream it too. Maybe the sound will work.

[phonics]

Yev's undying love for Bol Bol is the story of this whole thing.

Like Sir Alex Ferguson getting bored of winning in Manchester, turning up at Newcastle to finally get them the title he stole from them all those years ago. Who's he going to bring with him, there's whispers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Prime David Beckham turning out for the Toon, out walks Dennis Irwin.


Amazingly he was real:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_Smith


Enjoyable that he's so old only one of the teams he played for still exists.

[Pepe]

Not his real name though.

[Shindig]

To be fair, Dalglish did that to us with John Barnes and Ian Rush.

[Yevrah]

On Bol Bol, given how young he is when the game starts and that only three seasons in he's already rated 81 for me, I genuinely think it's possible to get him into the 90s. A 7 foot 2 inch power forward who can shoot threes and is 90 rated? Hold me.

[Yevrah]

Live now. Game four tip off at 8.

https://www.twitch.tv/chemicallocust

[Yevrah]

2023 Playoffs - Season 3 - New York Knicks

EC Round 1 Game 4: Toronto Raptors 114 New York Knicks 128

Pts: L. Allen 44
Reb: J. Allen 13
Ast: Smith 4
Stl: Smith 4
Blk: Noel 3

Knicks lead series 3-1

Still at the garden and we ran out fairly comfortable winners, taking every quarter. Back to Canada to clinch it!


EC Round 1 Game 5: New York Knicks 118 Toronto Raptors 124

Pts: L. Allen 38
Reb: J. Allen 12
Ast: L. Allen 4
Stl: L. Allen 4
Blk: J. Allen 4

Knicks lead series 3-2

Great performances from the Allen brothers but it wasn't enough to clinch the series. Back to the garden to do so!

EC Round 1 Game 6: Toronto Raptors 107 New York Knicks 117

Pts: Gilgeous-Alexander 40
Reb: J. Allen 10
Ast: L. Allen 3
Stl: L. Allen 1
Blk: J. Allen 3

Knicks win series 4-2

:jayjay:

[Yevrah]

Conference semai-finul line up:

https://i.postimg.cc/zBXwym8n/05-07-2021-23-33-17-kfvpztbx.png (https://postimg.cc/nsg9WPsz)

[Yevrah]

Tried to have a cheeky game 1 at lunchtime, but there's a sodding 22GB update.

[Gray Fox]

Are they installing a whole new game for that? Yikes.

[Shindig]

https://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/nba-2k21-update-1-12-notes-ps4-and-xbox-one/

I guess the courts being updated are taking the bulk of that?

[Yevrah]

Right, 2023 Eastern Conference Semi-Final Time. New York Knicks (5) vs Atlanta Hawks (1)

https://i.postimg.cc/6q0N3f1y/06-07-2021-15-51-03-t3x10i21.png (https://postimg.cc/5Q6rKLJV)

https://i.postimg.cc/Ssh5Mz98/06-07-2021-15-49-59-4zcop1kf.png (https://postimg.cc/R3gXrhXV)

The thing to notice about that Hawks line up is the absence of Trae Young. He's not injured, just inexplicably 6th man in the roster.


Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 1: New York Knicks 105 Atlanta Hawks 143

Pts: L. Allen 20
Reb: Noel 10
Ast: Smith 3
Stl: Gilgeous-Alexander 2
Blk: Bol 2

Hawks lead series 1-0

We were absolute munched and I need to make some rotation changes to stop that happening again. To the spreadsheet!

Game 2 tip-off at 7.

[Yevrah]

Streaming now, but still sorting rotations out.

https://www.twitch.tv/chemicallocust

[Yevrah]

We'll go into game 2 like so:

https://i.postimg.cc/fWFpNLWx/Game-2-Rotations.jpg (https://postimg.cc/9zdJPc7M)

Doing that also made me realise I have some work to do in the summer.

[Yevrah]

2023 Playoffs - New York Knicks


Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 2: New York 113 Atlanta Hawks 122

Pts: Gilgeous-Alexander 32
Reb: Bol 12
Ast: J. Allen 6
Stl: Gilgeous-Alexander 2
Blk: Bol 6

Hawks lead series 2-0

A much better showing than game 1, but we didn't have enough in the tank to take the win. Back to the garden with a hill to climb.


Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 3: Atlanta Hawks 97 New York Knicks 109

Pts: L. Allen 40
Reb: J. Allen 19
Ast: J. Allen 7
Stl: J Allen 3
Blk: J Allen 2

Hawks lead series 2-1

A magnificent game from the Allen brothers saw us remain unbeaten in the garden during the playoffs. Glimmer of hope.


Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 4: Atlanta Hawks 126 New York Knicks 106

Pts: L. Allen 36
Reb: J. Allen 10
Ast: Barrett 7
Stl: L. Allen 1
Blk: Bol 2

Hawks lead series 3-1

Comprehensively beaten here and now a mountain to climb, starting at the foot in Atlanta.


Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 5: New York Knicks 97 Atlanta Hawks 130

Pts: L. Allen 38
Reb: J. Allen 16
Ast: J. Allen 4
Stl: Gilgeous-Alexander 4
Blk: J. Allen 2

Hawks win series 4-1

A blowout, plain and simple. We were never in this one and it was a game too far.

Still, Atlanta went onto win the Championship, so we lost to the eventual winners.

https://i.postimg.cc/9MNYSxP2/07-07-2021-00-37-18-uk2dc415.png (https://postimg.cc/gX8hLHBt)

Trae Young Playoff MVP.

SGA doesn't want to sign a new deal, so much to do in the summer. It's tempting to bin off all of the fodder and go for one superstar from free agency. Decisions, decisions as we go into season 4. Magic Johnson is coming through the draft but we won't get him.

[Yevrah]

Some pre-draft business done and that's three players who featured in 2022/23 leaving the franchise.

https://i.postimg.cc/HxHP9PYk/Trades.jpg (https://postimg.cc/hJyrSsQk)

We're left with 29th and 30th pick in the 1st round of the 2023 draft.

[Yevrah]

We swapped our 29th pick for the Bulls 1st round pick in 2027 and took 7' 2" 77 Rated Center Bill Donaldson with our 30th pick.

[Yevrah]

New York Knicks Season 4 2023/24 Regular Season

So with business done we went into the regular season with our strongest roster yet, helped by managing to keep SGA, and it showed as we took 3rd seeds in the East.

https://i.postimg.cc/3xsmjCbW/07-07-2021-10-44-52-g5zqg0lo.png (https://postimg.cc/sMJMsSzR)

And will face the 76ers and Joel Embid in Round 1.

https://i.postimg.cc/J0zk7TtY/07-07-2021-10-44-40-oslrq4zh.png (https://postimg.cc/hzNjp1LV)

Need to sort the minutes at lunch for the playoffs, but may be able to get game 1 in then too.

[Yevrah]

Oh and Jordan is coming through this year's draft and we have two picks projected to be in the top 10. :drool:

[Yevrah]

Season 4 Playoffs New York Knicks 2024

Minutes and roster going in:

https://i.postimg.cc/bvXH4xDs/Knicks-S4.jpg (https://postimg.cc/21wZZBxD)

And in Round 1 we have:

https://i.postimg.cc/vmL9jpwN/07-07-2021-18-21-21-cb4zsqwl.png (https://postimg.cc/qtqz6DRs)

https://i.postimg.cc/PrpDhLkZ/07-07-2021-18-21-31-qmzita4r.png (https://postimg.cc/6yKqfpq5)

Really not looking forward to facing Embid and Simmons. :eyemouth:

[7om]

Do you have trade logic enabled? Because those trades are absurdly unbalanced.

[Yevrah]

Trade logic? There’s a trade slider but I just left that as is.