Tuomas' Live 04 Lakers // Lakers pwn Heat

[Tuomas]

Welcome to my NBA Live 2004 with the Los Angeles Lakers. The reason for choosing the Lakers? The coolest arena and jerseys in my Live plus the Odom-Kobe-Parker trio.

Season settings:
Superstar difficulty
Andrew's sliders with a few tweaks
NLSC Rosters with latest trades, no 2006 rookies, 2005 rookies are the 'rookies'
8 minute quarters
12 minute simulated quarters
28 games
3-3-3-3 playoffs




C - C. Mihm
PF - C. Bosh
SF - L. Odom
SG - K. Bryant
PG - S. Parker
-------------------
# - B. Cook
# - A. McKie
# - V. Wafer
# - L. Walton
# - W. Person
# - S Williams
# - J. Calderon
# - S Vujacic
# - A. Bynum




Current record : 17-5

Next Game :
Los Angeles Lakers - Sacramento Kings : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Los Angeles Clippers : L
Boston Celtics - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Detroit Pistons : W
Seattle Supersonics - Los Angeles Lakers : L
Portland Trailblazers - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Toronto Raptors : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Chicago Bulls : W
New Jersey Nets - Los Angeles Lakers : W
San Antonio Spurs - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Minnesota : W
Memphis Grizzlies - Los Angeles Lakers : L
Denver Nuggets - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Washington Wizards - Los Angeles Lakers : L

All Star Game : East wins

Cleveland Cavaliers - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Indiana Pacers - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Milwaukee Bucks : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Utah Jazz : L
Los Angeles Lakers - New York Knicks : W
Atlanta Hawks - Los Angeles Lakers : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Philadelphia 76ers : W
Los Angeles Lakers - Miami Heat : W

UPCOMING :

Los Angeles Lakers - Phoenix Suns
Orlando Magic - Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers - Houston Rockets
Golden State Warriors - Los Angeles Lakers
New Orleans Hornets - Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers - Dallas Mavericks

[Tuomas]

Chat with Kobe Bryant

The Lakers have now finished training camp and are pumped up for upcoming season. We catched Lakers' main man Kobe Bryant to share some thoughts about things.



Interviewer: What did you concentrate during this training camp?
Kobe Bryant: Mostly defense and stamina. We did a lot of running and conditioning. Last season we had the firepower but needed to lock down on the other team.
I: How do you feel about the team going towards the season opener?
KB: I think we have a very capable squad again. Last year was ok I guess, we made it to the playoffs and almost knocked down Phoenix, but you know me, I ain't satisfied with that.
I: Who is going to break out this year?
KB: Smush Parker, he is going to blow up. He has taken the mentality of running the team and at the same time improved on everything, so this year's going to be big for him.
I: What about you. Looking to break the Chamberlain standard?
KB: Oh no, I don't wan't to think about other things than winning right now. That's the main thing for everybody and it has to be in order of us to be succesful.
I: Ok, thanks for your time.
KB: No problem.



The Lakers open the season visiting the Sacramento Kings. Both teams have lots of weapons offensively, so the winner should be determened my defense. An explosive matchup is in the making, especially if Artest is set to guard Kobe Bryant and vise versa.

[Tuomas]

Stars shine in season opener
Kobe, Odom lead Lakers past Kings in the 4th

Los Angeles Lakers 133-122 Sacramento Kings
( 21-33 , 32-25 , 37-33 , 43-33 )
[Lakers Boxscore][Sacramento Boxscore]
Player Of The Game : Kobe Bryant (LAL) 43PTS, 18/32FG, 3AST
Away Top Performer : Lamar Odom (LAL) 25PTS, 8REB, 4AST
Home Top Performer : Shareef Abdur Rahim (SAC) 30PTS, 3REB, 2AST

1st Half
Lakers couldn't stop Sacramento's strong start. Artest scored 11 in the third but got in foul trouble early. Oddly, those 11 points were the only ones he would score whole nigft. Kobe started off cold as did Odom. Sacramento controlled the tempo with lots of fast break buckets. Bryant and Odom started to heat up in the middle of the second quarter while the whole team buckled up on defense, which carried the Lakers trailing by only five at the half.

2nd Half
A high scoring game was in the making with both teams trading baskets all night long. The last quarter opened strangely, Kwame Brown felt lucky and drained a three pointer. Artest collected his fifth foul early and that limited his contribution. Abdur-Rahim, who had played a great game also picked up his 5th and limited his efforts on both ends when his team needed it the most. Suddenly Sacramento couldn't keep up and Lakers took control. The final exlamation mark was presented in the form of a 360 breakaway dunk from Kobe with less then a minute left in the game.




The GOATS:
G.O.A.T. : Kobe Bryant (LAL) Player Of The Game
Goat : Ron Artest (SAC) 11PTS, 8MINS, 5FOULS

Lakers' next game is an away game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

[---]

Wow, those graphics look awesome! The textures of the jerseys look better than any other live i have seen Big game for Kobe, good luck against the cross town rivals

[Marquis]

Cool. 2004 dynasty by Tuomas

Yeah these photos looks very nice

[Tuomas]

Clippers torch Lakers
Maggette outduels Bryant in LA Showdown

Los Angeles Lakers 87-98 Los Angeles Clippers
( 22-31 , 14-32 , 28-18 , 23-17 )
[Lakers Boxscore][Clippers Boxscore]
Player Of The Game : Sam Cassell (LAC) 14PTS, 17AST, 3REB

1st Half
Corey Maggette and Sam Cassell ripped Lakers' defense apart from the start. Maggette was unstoppable and finished the first quarter with 16 points. Cassell has 8 assists, whenever there was a man open, he would get the rock. The Lakers got off slow with Odom and Bryant both missing easy shots. The Lakers were down by 27 points at the half.

2nd Half
Kobe Bryant took control in the 3rd. He started by blocking Sam Cassell in a 2-1 breakaway, then made consecutive baskets to cut the lead to 17. But that was the last ray of sunlight the Lakers saw, since the Clippers raised the level of play by moving the ball into the paint and suddenly Lakers had no more answers. Clippers took this one, it seems like the torch of LA has finally been handed to the Clippers. Cassell really ripped the defense with his passing and thus earning the player of the game honours. Meanwhile Maggette had a stellar game, scoring from everywhere, including a halfcourt swing to end the 3rd quarter.




Away Top Performer : Kobe Bryant (LAL) 32PTS, 5REB, 4AST
Home Top Performer : Corey Maggette (LAC) 32PTS, 4REB, 1AST

Lakers host the home season opener against the Boston Celtics next, looking to bounce back from this defeat.

[Mark.]

Awesome, I thought 2004 was a pretty cool version of Live. Although I dunno why you play on 8 min quarters, I remember playing on 12 mins for that year and getting realistic scores...

Good luck with this, old school

[Tuomas]

Thanks. I don't know why I get such high scores, maybe it's my playing style

Anyways, this will keep my busy until I get Live 07, which might not be anytime soon. I need to do a dynasty with the latest Live sometime

[hammertime23]

If i reinstall nba live 2004 can you hook me up with your rosters and patches.

[pontiacsilverdome]

Very nice jerseys
Live 2004 it´s a great game

[Tuomas]

If i reinstall nba live 2004 can you hook me up with your rosters and patches.

Yup. All the patches can still be downloaded from nbalive.org though.

[The X]

I loved live 04 and my Nuggets' dynasty....it was great times

[Mark.]

Looking forward to the next update Tuomas Man just looking back at you first few updates and the Graphics are actually pretty nice, some of those pics look pretty realistic.

[Tuomas]

Thanks. I always tweak them a little bit you know

Been pretty busy lately with things. Maybe I can manage to play a game today.

[Jugs]

Live 2004 is my favouritest Live.

[Jing]

wow going old school. That definitely looks better than like Live of now...

[Tuomas]

Lakers cruise to first home win
Great team effort puts game away early

Boston Celtics 82-106 Los Angeles Lakers
( 23-29 , 19-26 , 22-22 , 18-29 )
[Celtics Boxscore][Lakers Boxscore]
Player Of The Game : Chris Mihm (LAL) 13PTS, 5/5FG, 9REB

1st Half
The Lakers started the game with a 11-2 run and never looked back. Meanwhile the Celtics never got their defense or offense going. The home team, fueled by the crowd, scored by running the visitors out of the building. Lakers opened the second quarter making six consecutive field goals and continued to outrun the Celtics, making it 42-55 at the half.

2nd Half
The game changed a bit after halftime and the Celtics started to D up, but the pace of the game didn't change. Everyone from the Lakers got chances to show off and in the end it was an easy one. It was a run and gun game from the Lakers part, while Boston didn't get it going all night. Six Laker players scored double figures.




Away Top Performer : Sebastian Telfair (BOS) 10PTS, 5REB, 10AST
Home Top Performer : Kobe Bryant (LAL) 20PTS, 3REB, 1AST



Home opener extras

Toyota Fastbreak Camera - Kobe Bryant scores on the break after a block by Kwame Brown


Play Of The Game - Kwame Brown hangs in the air to make the adjusted shot



Next game

[Tuomas]

Free agent signings

Phoenix Suns sign Robert Traylor for 1 year
Raptors sign Latrell Sprewell for 1 year
Cavaliers sign Howard Eisley for 1 year




Lakers looking to trade?

The Lakers are looking to trade away some of it's bench, at least that's what is circulating around the organization. Some valid sources say that one of the reasons for this is Kobe Bryant openly complaining about the organization's lack of activity during the player signings and offseason. Time will reveal whether there will be minor or major roster changes. Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton and some of the youngsters might be shown the door. The season is young so they haven't had time to show whether they belong to this organization or not.

[23 LeBron]

nice to see someone playing 2004... gl with this...

[H Rock]

Oohh, nice.

[Tuomas]

Brown, Bryant lead Lakers to victory
Pistons 6/28 from long range

Los Angeles Lakers 95-88 Detroit Pistons
( 22-26 , 22-16 , 18-21 , 33-25 )
[Lakers Boxscore][Pistons Boxscore]
Player Of The Game : Kwame Brown (LAL) 24PTS, 7REB, 2BLK

1st Half
A tense game was in the making as Lakers faced their first real challenge by taking on the Ben Wallace-less Pistons in Detroit. Inspired by the home crowd, Detroit set the tone of the game. Defense was the name of the game here and Detroit managed to keep Bryant quiet. Aaron McKie fouled a what was to be a three point play to end the first quarter. The Lakers came alive in the second, especially Kwame Brown, who had 12 points in the quarter. The Lakers managed to squeeze a two point lead at the half, leading 44-42.

2nd Half
Neither of the teams could break away. At the end of the third the Pistons finished a 9-0 run to come on top at the start of the last quarter. Lakers got back in the game and it was obvious that this game would be resolved at the final minutes and it was. Lakers were up by three with 40 seconds left, when Chauncey Billups got a free pass to the basket but Smush Parker managed to get the charge and Lakers got the ball. Bryant delivered with a jumper and Detroit was forced to foul. Parker made the free throws and the Lakers were victorious.




Away Top Performer : Smush Parker (LAL) 18PTS, 3REB, 2STL, game sealing freethrows
Home Top Performer : Chauncey Billups (DET) 19PTS, 2REB, 11AST


Next game

[Jing]

man i dunno this seriously looks better than 07... go Lakers.. i suppose

[Donatello]

I just found this. Great work, I hope you continue. I'll be reading.

Makes me wish I could find my 2004 discs.

[dada]

I came into this thread blindly and was like "Is this really Live?" I actually never played Live 04 and seeing this makes me wanna go out and get it. Of course it seems heavily patched but that can always be worked on. Nice presentation and all, the game looks excellent.

[eisfeld]

Awesome dynasty Tuomas. I especially like the presentation, and the pics look really great. I wonder how you tweaked them

Anyway, keep up with this, definately following.