My Lakers franchise with Shaq, Kobe, Gary & Karl

[Bill Russell]

Yeah! I'm the first to do it! Heh,

I played the first game today, as I couldn't run the Cavs/Grizzlies game on my other franchise...

To sign Payton and Malone, I released Tracy Murray, Bob Horry and Brian Shaw.

My team is something like:

O'Neal
Malone
George
Kobe
Payton

Fox
Fisher
Walker
Rush
Pargo
Madsen
Medvdenko

First game, against the Spurs... Lost, 113-104... The Spurs are a fucking hard team to beat, so well-balanced. Duncan was POG with 24 points, 14 boards, 3 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal. I didn't care to check their other players' stats.

For my team:

Shaq: 18 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 4 steals
Malone: 15 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, 1 blocks, 1 steal
George: 11 points, 10 boards, 0 assist, 1 block, 2 steals
Kobe: 27 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Payton: 20 points, 3 boards, 9 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks

Fisher (best player off the bench): 10 points, 2 assists, 2-7 3 pt.

0-1 now, later,

[Bill Russell]

Well, another update for you guys...

Oh... I guess I'll wait till someone replies... 23 views and never a single reply? Dang...

[Drex]

Well, i hope you lose to the Spurs in the West Finals. Lol.
Now seriously, it's gonna be hard to play with 4 superstars in one team.

[Andrew]

Is it actually fun to play with 4 superstars? I usually find it boring to play with more than 1 or 2 all-star calibre players. A Big Three combination is about as far as I can go before I find the roster unappealing.

[Bill Russell]

Well guys, that's the main purpose of my decision: to learn to play with those superstars on the team... Of course I gotta to make some adjustments, as you can see on my stats posted previously, but I think it's gonna be fun.

I think I will play another game tomorrow...

[Andrew]

Was it a conscious decision to make Kobe and GP the go-to guys, or does your style of play just result in your guards being the top scorers?

[Bill Russell]

No, I tried to get Kobe and Karl Malone be the go-to guys, cos I wanted to get Tim Duncan in foul trouble early... didn't happen, though Malone scored like 12 of his 15 points on the 1st half. Kobe was the most consistent scorer. Shaq & Payton scored mostly on the 4th quarter, Payton alone had 8 of his points on the 4th quarter. George scored all his points by being on the receiving end of some pass, or getting offensive boards and dunking, etc.

[Power And Proud]

I think that there is really gonna be four superstars on one team, people won't find it so unappealing coz it's actually happening in real life.

[Andrew]

I only find it unappealing because it doesn't really suit my style of play. I also prefer the challenge of having just one or two star players.

[Boyk]

Yer i agree Andrew
my main style is to base the team on one franchise player, give him a solid 2nd scorer and the rest role players.
and also to have a fairly deep bench

[Bill Russell]

Well, I played my 2nd game... Against the LA Clippers, won in a game-winning shot by Karl Malone, from the baseline.

For my team, those were the stats:

Shaq: 30 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Malone: 24 points, 9 boards, 3 steals
George: 6 points, 5 boards, 3 assists (yeah, game 1 was a fluke indeed)
Kobe: 27 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Payton: 8 points, 3 boards, 7 assists, 3/12 shooting

Not much else from the others... I remember Fox hit a three and had 4 boards, Walker had 6 boards, Rush had 7 points, not much else.

For the Clippers, Maggette was their main player, with 30 points, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Andre Miller had 22 points and 15 assists, plus 4 boards (dominated Payton), and Brand had 17 points, 9 boards and 2 blocks.

I'm sitting 1-1 now.

[Andrew]

Did you go to Shaq this time or was he just in the right place at the right time?

[Bill Russell]

I just exploited the matchups... Sean Rooks vs. Shaq... So I went to Shaq... He had like 16 points in the first quarter, then sit almost the entire 2nd quarter after picking 2 quicks fouls... That's the reason he had just 5 boards,

[Bill Russell]

And the views just keep piling up... Well, I de facto played another game tonight... But the puter crashed in the 2nd quarter... So... Wait on another day, guys.

[jwin]

enjoy your first season with the lakers. i started a new franchise with the sixers and simmed the first season to get some bench help from the draft, and at the end of that season the lakers beat the nets 4-1 in the finals and payton and malone promptly retired. you might get payton for a few more years, but malone will most likely retire.

[Bill Russell]

enjoy your first season with the lakers. i started a new franchise with the sixers and simmed the first season to get some bench help from the draft, and at the end of that season the lakers beat the nets 4-1 in the finals and payton and malone promptly retired. you might get payton for a few more years, but malone will most likely retire.

We will see... I know they are bound to retire... Well, let's wait till I play more games... I can trade players... You know how the Live engine works... I could trade Fox and Fisher for Stackhouse and Kwame Brown... heh.

I played another game tonight, versus the Jail Trazers, won, 112-105.

Kobe was POG with 31 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. This guy's clutch for sure.

Shaq had a good game too, with 22 points, 12 points and 1 block. Payton had 17 points and 5 assists plus 1 board and 1 steal, and Malone had 14 points, 9 boards and 1 steal. Amongst my bench players, Fox and Rush had 8 points each, and Walker had 5 boards. George, the other starting player besides the Big Four, had 5 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, plus 2 steals.

For the Blazers, Derek Anderson was superb, with 31 points, 2 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Damon Stoudamire had 22 points and 12 assists, and Rasheed Wallace had 15 points, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks, and Bonzi Wells had 14 points, 5 boards, 4 assists.

I'm 2-1 now, more updates comin' soon.

[Bill Russell]

Finally played another game, perhaps the most entertaining since starting this franchise...

This time I faced the Golden State Warriors... Won, 100-96.

Gary Payton played VERY well and was POG, with 27 points, 4 boards, 9 assists and 2 steals. He even made a buzzer beater before the halftime commercials, .

Shaq played well too, 24 points, 10 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal... It's so difficult to block with him... He's not that agile. However, he shot 12/13.

Kobe had 18 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 blocks... He and Jason Richardson got into early foul trouble.

Karl Malone, another solid game, as he's my 4th option on offense... He posted 16 points and 7 boards, plus 3 steals and 2 assists.

About my other players, well, don't remember that much about them... Even Devean George, the other starter, had like 2 points, 4 boards and 4 assists. Rick Fox had 4 points and some clutch plays... Samaki Walker had 6 points and 5 boards, like 3 of them on offense... The other players, like Rush, Fisher and Medvedenko, contributed a bit too. Jannero Pargo and Mark "Cheerleader" Madsen are seldom used... I set my CPU substituion to automatic... it bores me to death to pause the game to substitute.

For the Warriors, Jamison had 23 points, 2 boards (!) and 1 assist... At times he seemed dominant on O... getting whatever he wanted. Gilbert Arenas had 15 points, 3 boards, 12 assists and a really nice battle versus Payton; Jason Richardson had 13 points, 3 boards and 2 assists, nice, being in foul trouble; Erick Dampier had 8 points and 6 boards and 2 blocks... And Troy Murphy had 14 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks... Mostly on the 1st quarter... Then he cooled down.

I wanted so much to get this fuckin' win... This was my 4th game, and I was 2-1... so if I lost, I'd be on .500 territory again... Hopefully I managed to steal the win.

[Bill Russell]

Played another game tonight, versus Dallas, got crushed, 135-107. It was one of those games where they can hit every single shot even if I double and triple team the shooter... Heck, no excuses here, the AI of the CPU is simply... annoying.

Steve Nash was POG with 31 points, 10 assists, 2 boards and only 1 turnover. Nick Van Exel had 24 and 6 assists off the bench, Mike Finley had 20, 4 boards and 3 assists, Nowtizky (spl) had 12 points, but 9 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks... Raef LaFrentz had 16 points, 8 boards and 4 boards... Everybody played well there, they hit 71% of their field goals.

For my team, Kobe was again the best player. He had 28 points, 4 boards and 9 assists, plus 1 steal and 1 block. Shaq had 24 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, Payton had 17 points, 6 assists, 1 board and 1 steal, and Karl Malone had his worst game as a Laker, posting 8 points on 3-14 shooting, 8 boards and 3 assists. Devean George was a surprise though, with 20 points, 6 boards and 3 assists, mostly on garbage time.

I'm 3-2 now.

[Bill Russell]

Well, after that huge blowout on the previous game I decided to give it a try again... Faced the Milwaukee Bucks, and lost 109-85 (or something like that)...

This fucking game just keeps frustrating me!!!!!!!!

I dare you guys to start a season with the Lakers 2003-2004... Man... what a fuckin' game!!!!!! Of course the CPU knows the Lakers' starting lineup is kick-ass... The Lakers are rated #1 in the game... But nothing works!!! I was just thinking about this... I played 6 games till tonight... In none of those games I had the lead after the 1st quarter... and after the 2nd quarter... and after the 3rd quarter...! All my 3 wins came after those huge 4th surges! That's strange... With my Cavs franchise, I had leads after halftime, etc... Every fuckin' time I start playin' a game, come some point in the 1st quarter when nothing falls... Like today, with 3 mins remaining... Desmond Mason stole the ball, passed it to Cassell, run to the other end of the court... I know he would run, so I switched to Kobe and run, too... Guess what... He dunked on Kobe... More things happening during the course of the game: Kukoc dunking two-handed reverse on Karl Malone... Redd doin' a layup without Kobe even jumping or raising his arms... Redd (who substituted for Cassell, on foul trouble), getting his shot off whenever and wherever he could against Payton, one of the game's best defenders... It's like, the CPU tries too hard to get the game on some pace... That is, the Lakers won't simply do their thing (like I suppose they will, at times, this future season)... I tried every fucking set play... And no one of them gets Shaq to stay near the lane... All of the fuckin' plays, Shaq stays near the foul line... WTF is this, my dear Lord???? Also, on defense, when I try too hard with Payton, Kobe or Malone, they just keep getting the fuckin' whistle blowing... Yeah... Fouls, fouls, fouls... What a fuckin' game!!!! Bear with me guys, the roster I use (NLSC, tweaked, DK things) isn't that bad... after all, I used it for my Cavs franchise and it worked wonderfully... But it just doesn't happen in the Lakers franchise... The CPU cheats incredibly much!!! I dare you guys to try this on your house!!! Like, I try to do things the right way... dumping the ball to Shaq (if I can, and that's a big if, cos in my game he loves to be a guard)... After the ball is in Shaq's hand, here comes the double team... What the hell... Shaq can dump the fuckin' ball to whoever he wants... whoever gets the ball and shoots... no, no, no... Kobe is shooting like 23% on 3's... Payton, something like that... when I dump to Malone, he's either fouled or blocked... (see the previous posts and check, like Nowitzky's blocks, per example... all against Malone)... If I dump the ball to either Kobe or Payton, or if Shaq decides to face the double team and go all the way, voila! Fouled... Then I'm fucked up.... I know free throw shooting in superstar is terrible, but come on... on my Cavs franchise I could hit at least 50%... Now I'm shooting 32% with the Lakers... Shaq is like 4 for 32 from the line... Horrible, simply horrible AI. On defense, the worst part: Shaq can't block a fuckin' thing!!!!!! Everybody shoots over him, dunks over, do uncostested (spl, WTF!!!!) layups over him... Kobe doesn't even react to some plays... Payton, too... Malone, well, all he does is foul guys... See, I can't control 5 players on defense... I can't change and change and keep fuckin' changin' players every time a pass is made... WHAT A PHUCKIN' GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this last game, here were the stats:

Lakers:

Shaq: 18 points, 12 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 block
Malone: 18 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
George: 16 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 0 steal, 0 block
Kobe: 18 points, 4 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Payton: 14 points, 1 board, 8 assists, 1 steal, 0 block

Milwaukee:

Redd: 30 points, 2 boards, 10 assists (11/13 FT... WTF!!!!)
D. Mason: 31 points, 1 board, 1 assist, 4 steals (like, 13/15 FG)
Thomas: 14 points, 5 boards, 4 blocks

I'm 3-3 now... Doubt I'll ever play this phucking franchise...

[elwudl]

It's not only the game...of course the game causes high FG % for your opponent when you play for example superstar level.
But also their offensive awareness rating is very responsible for that. I'm about creating my own roster...and well... I gave the best playerz like 30-38 on offense, and every player has a minimum of 50 on defense. That works pretty good...

I remember DK's roster having high offensive awareness. Am I right?

[elwudl]

Straight I finished a game with the "new" Lakers with Gary and Karl against the "new" Nuggets with Melo with such ratings like explained before. And well...normally I am able to compete with every team...even on superstar. But now! What the $%#* was this! I was not able to hold the lead for more than one minute in the last quarter. And I played at home. I was not able to stop Melo with KOBE...
Malone couldn't score...nearly every shot dropped out. Payton was not able to drive to the net. Lorinza Harrington stopped him with strong defense (defensive-rating 75, normally I can shoot those playaz in the face and score). O'Neal was outplayed by Nene...maybe he had a bad game...but every third minute Nene dunked on Shaq...why? why? why? Kobe only scored with dunks, too...EA somehow must have made a cheat or something for games between good and bad teams, or when you have much superstars on your team...

[Ruff Ryder]

what was the score or was it too embarrassing to share. I don't usually play on superstar because what i hear there is too much bs. Its hard enough to win with a mediocre team(for me) on All-Star.

[elwudl]

Look up...I played before that match with the Cavs (with LeBron and Ollie) against the Nuggets and won like 105-95 on 9 min quarter Superstar...
Then I lose with the Lakers against the Nuggets 89-97!!!

This is not normal...

[Bill Russell]

Told you so!!! I dare you guys to try this!!!

[elwudl]

My god...this game is partially so ridiculous. Remember: I wasn't able to win with the Lakers against the Nuggets. Now I played with the Suns against the Nuggets. I won with the Suns 98-88. This is so awful...

My stats are quite okay, Marion topscorer with 25 pts and 10 reb, Amare 16 pts 17 reb, Starbury 23 pts 10 ast.
The Lakers stats are also okay. Kobe 25 pts 7 reb, Shaq 16 (7-16 FGs) pts 11 reb, Payton 8 pts 8 ast because of having foule trouble. And now comes something that bothers me: Derek Fisher coming of the bench scoring 25 pts shooting 9-18 FG with a Primacy rating of 58 and Karl Malone only grabbing 8 reb while scoring 2 pts with 1-3 FGs with a Primacy rating of 74!? (You must know I adjusted the ratings)
Why can it be that Derek Fisher takes 18 while Karl only takes 3 shots? Where's the sense?

But what me bothers way more is that I had not many problems defeting the Lakers in that game, I played Superstar 9 min...this is so laughly...

Somehow good teams get a disadvantage...