Even video games are having a hard time ranking Lebron's greatness

[Hack Wilson - real]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/even-video-games-t-properly-rank-just-great-175051083.html



t’s an offseason dilemma, but a dilemma nevertheless. LeBron James has been the best player in the NBA for years, but over the last two seasons he’s somehow taken his all-around brilliance to another, fearsome, level. The NBA can counter James’ ridiculous basketball outlay with the same sort of tactics it has used for years on stars of various shapes and sizes. It can counter with team ball, withering depth, double or triple teams, or the “make him beat you by himself”-ethos.

To varying degrees – like, taking the Miami Heat deep into a playoff series – it can work.

In a video game? Not as much. The games are getting smarter and smarter, but the sorts of hedges and off ball help that well-researched NBA coaches can adapt with on the fly just aren’t as prevalent in the star and shooting-crazed world of video games. Then there is the human element, which can never account for, say, Ray Allen (a top-ranked free throw shooter, in real and virtual terms) missing freebies down the stretch of a close playoff game.

What’s a programmer to do, though, when James keeps getting better and better after years of being ranked 98 or 99 out of 100 as a video game participant? A cool hundred? Writing at Sports Illustrated, Ben Sin discusses the unique frustration:

In the history of NBA video games, elite superstars have always been rated in the high 90s, with legends like Jordan and Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson at 99, the max. James has been rated between 95 to 99 for the past seven years. As early as the fall of 2006, he was given a 98 rating in NBA 2K7. A 98! In 2006, when he had no jump shot or post game! (He had a 97 in NBA Live 2007.) In 2011, when James’ lack of a post game and mental toughness led to a meltdown in the NBA Finals, he was already maxed out at 99 in that year’s edition of 2K.

That’s a “99” handed to a player that was taken down by those real world things we discussed above – the Dallas Mavericks thinking on the fly and initiating a zone defense that confused even the 99’ers. Though the Heat have been taken deep into playoff series by less top-heavy teams in the years since, James has smartly utilized those reps to figure out his own way to win on the fly.

Against the Pacers, Celtics and Thunder in 2012 James started slow before building up steam long enough to carry the Heat to an eventual win. Things were just as frightening for Heat fans at times against the Pacers and San Antonio Spurs in 2013, but James eventually prevailed by using smarts and those other-worldly gifts to make a winner out of Miami. He’s growing. It’s scary.

This isn’t to say that the makers of NBA 2K were utilizing hyperbole in years past when they gave James such a lofty ranking. He was that good. He’s been the best player in the league for years, and his crunch time stats (especially in the all-around department, including assists and efficient shooting) rivaled or bettered the sort of players he was compared with as the best in the game. The problem was that James’ teammates were lacking (as we saw in playoff losses in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) or that James was left bewildered and clueless by better teams with smarter attacks (2010 and 2011).

James still appears to have those moments at times, but by the time a Game 6 or 7 rolls around he’s found his comfort zone. And now these video game makers have to account for that growth, somehow.

[Sccit]

ITS PART OF THE NBA HYPE MACHINE.......THEY OVERRATE LEBRON LIKE A MUFUCKA ON 2K....SAME RATING AS JORDAN, ARE U KIDDING ME? LMAO. IT'S A MOCKERY, U CAN MAKE LITERALLY EVERY SHOT WITH LEBRON IN THAT GAME. HE SHOULD BE A 95, 96 TOPS. THEY HAVE CLYDE DREXLER IN HIS PRIME AT 92, AND LARRY BIRD IN HIS PRIME AT 96. LEBRON WITH A 99 IS PROOF OF HOW OVERRATED HE IS.

[O.G A.Geesta'z]

i miss 2k7 i would make damn near every 3 with Artest because i had his shot down perfect
it got to the point my boys wouldnt let me pick Artest and Shaq on the same squad in street

[Hack Wilson - real]

i miss 2k7 i would make damn near every 3 with Artest because i had his shot down perfect
it got to the point my boys wouldnt let me pick Artest and Shaq on the same squad in street

i can't miss 3's on NBA jam with Stockton or Isiah

but those guys can't rebound or dunk for shit

[Sccit]

THE STREET GAMES IN 2K13 ARE WAY TOO EASY. U CAN MAKE LITERALLY ANY THREE WITH ANY PLAYER WHO CAN SHOOT THREES. IT'S ALMOST UNPLAYABLE.

[Chamillitary Click]

Kobe's obviously the best player in the world.

[Hack Wilson - real]

Kobe's obviously the best player in the world.

Kobayashi?