i didn't mean to come across just as NBA LIVE SUCKS!!, like some ignorant peeps would. i'm just saying, from playing both of them, ESPN is much more realistic, and i haven't even touched the sliders yet. i'm also playing it for ps2, so don't know about the patching issues sorry. im 6-6 in my franchise so far and iverson and snow are both out, iverson has missed 5 games already with a badly bruised hip, and snow has a sprained wrist, which both happened in game. another cool part about espn is you don't pull off a million freestyle moves in a row, but when you hit them with a great crossover, its really worth it.
and NO, to whoever said you have to play 12 minute quarters, i play 9, and try hard every possession on offense and defense, and come out with super realistic scores and stats. im the 6ers and it's hard for me to score over 100, without iverson, my past 3 games have been in the 80's, and i've won because my defense is so good. and 9 minute quarters do not get boring, cuz i don't have to milk the clock JUST to get realistic scores, the AI actually does this by working in thru the post and around the offense lookin for a good shot. and so far this franchise season i've found out that players can have great games and then get cold all of a sudden: like i scored 25 with glenn robinson against the rockets, then against the pacers he missed his first 5 shots. also other players stepped up for me too with iverson out, john salmons against the pacers scored 15 and had 7 boards, but i can't just score with the same person every game. even iverson has his off games that force me to work the ball inside more. if you have any questions i'd be happy to answer them.