a few suggestions

[&1]

Make it almost impossible for guys like Derek Fisher to swat Kenyon Martin's shot into the stands.

In addition to traditional Decade All-Stars, why not add in an Olympic Team roster for an Olympic year with Team USA jerseys both classic (Dream Team 1992) and new? Better yet, maybe add-in a 2000's Superstars team with guys like Garnett, Duncan, Kobe, T-Mac, Kidd and pit them against the likes of the all-time greats.

Bring back the custom teams feature. I miss the flexibility of being able to create your own team and play in exhibition mode with your friends. It seems to be a popular feature, so please consider it this time around guys.

I like the idea of putting the game on DVD. DVD ROMs are getting cheap enough for the average consumer now (way cheaper than an new video card) and most everyone has one by now. Best of all, more space on the disc = more features you can pack in with the game.

[Metsis]

There is way enough space on a cd to implement every single thing that has been wished for on this forum. Well maybe not all, but close. The thing that takes a huge chunk of space is the glitz and glamour. The graphics, the sounds, the music, the color commentary... Without these, well we could still live in a world of diskettes.

Create team is nice to fool around with...

Blocking, hey I'm with you. A six footer blocking a 6'9" super athletes shot, well let's just say that it does not happen. Remember Muggsy Bogues? He only had one block on his entire career, although it was against a seven footer (Ewing) still it was once in a ten year career, or something like that.

And those rookies that come in and average 5 steals/blocks, well there are certainly alot of Wilt Chamberlains out there, right? The same goes for scoring. The max average should be around 35... Unless a complete basketball god came out of the draft. I think T-Mac is almost as good as it gets, and he's barely averaging more then 30 a game. And he's a small forward playing guard... Then comes a six footer who scores over 40 a game. And the fact that a rookies are totally accustomed to the game, right! (okay there was Gasol last season) But it takes atleast a dozen games to really get things going in the NBA. So a guy that scores over 20 points in his first game is quite a surprise in real life, but a common news in Live. And this could be a good factor for all the players, which could kick in when they change a team. All the teams play the game little differently and it takes time for any veteran to get into the new style of game. Some ofcourse get accustomed more quickly then others and it gets easier the more a player changes teams. I would think that Malone and Stockton would have quite difficult time adjusting to a new team, they've been playing with each other for over 10 years.
Well, I should stop ranting now... Tell me if you want to hear more

[Andrew]

Blocking, hey I'm with you. A six footer blocking a 6'9" super athletes shot, well let's just say that it does not happen. Remember Muggsy Bogues? He only had one block on his entire career, although it was against a seven footer (Ewing) still it was once in a ten year career, or something like that.

For the sake of clarification, it was 39 career blocks for Muggsy. Still 39 occasions in which another NBA player was somewhat humiliated.

[BIG GREEN]

wow..lol. I'd love to see the highlights of those.

[Colin]

I remember in the 99 (I think) conference finals (I think,) it was the pacers vs. the knicks, and either Childs or Ward blocked Rick (Rik?) Smits. And I've got clips of Spud's 360 dunk in the dunk contest. It's amazing.

[Andrew]

I guess the April 18th 1989 Charlotte/New Jersey game would be a valued commodity - that's when Muggsy recorded his career high 2 blocks.

[Metsis]

Well, as I was saying a 6 footer blocking a center or forward is a rarity, and not common issue as it is with Live 2003. Anyone can block anyone and the whole Bogues stuff, was to show that sometimes the size really does matter!

I had a seven foot center who really dominated in the offensive end and when I played he got 4-6 rebounds per game. Well just because his rebounding skills were quite horrid got around one rebound per game! A seven footer getting only one rebound well, I don't think that a man like him could really ever exist. 4-6 rebounds for a 30 minute playing starter is quite low in my opinion. And he was an excellent defender, but just a poor rebounder. Attacked the hoop like Shaq.

All I'm saying is that a small guy should always be quite fast and a big guy should always be a mediocre rebounder at worst. And there should be multiple playing styles for each position. Raef LaFrentz plays center but because of his jumper he plays quite long way from the hoop and thus does not get so many rebounds. My example guy was all about tearing down the rim.

One more thing is that there is a connection between the stats, or atleast there should be. For example the speed/quickness thing are basically the same thing, but still there are people with speed 80 and quickness 60 in the game. Have you ever seen this kind of a player??? I haven't.

In Live 2003 the rookies were tweaked into the right direction, but the difference in total draft picks was too horrid. From a natural born super-star to a guy who gets beat by teenagers in a street hustle. Basically all the first round picks should be as good as the average people on the bench on any team. Yes, there are huge dissappointments and some players that really break out in NBA, but this is not a factor in Live!

All this text is for REALISM! Realistic players make for a more realistic games! And remember that the draft includes the top crop of rookie wannabes, not everyone who wants to get to the NBA...

Realistic player rant over.