How is your season going ?

[hova-]

Inspired by a thread like this on another forum I just thought some of you would like to share their thoughts on their or others' seasons.
This is also good for those who do not really have the time to present an Association story but want to talk about their experiences.

So I started an Association with the Chicago Bulls. Since I am not a real good player I ended the first season with a 25-57 record and missed the Playoffs clearly.

Trades I did during the season:

Gave away G Demetris Nichols for G Sasha Vujacic (initiated by myself)
Gave away G Thabo Sefolosha for C Hilton Armstrong (initiated by myself)
Gave away F Joe Smith for G DeShawn Stevenson (initiated by WAS)

I could not hit anything with Sefolosha and Hilton Armstrong has huge potential for a big man. Joe Smith was okay, but I thought DeShawn could give me a nice boost from the bench. Sasha Vujacic has a shot I can really use efficiently, he finished the season with over 10 ppg.
But I really struggled, had no scorer over 16 ppg, not even Luol Deng.

In the off season I resigned with Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Sasha Vujacic. I did not resign C Gray and G Chris Duhon.
Duhon was okay but I thought about getting a Top 5 PG in the Draft.

But unfortunately I ended up with only the 5th pick (was 2nd in the lottery) and there was no good PG left. But I picked a SF that really caught my eye while working out with him.

SF Leon Pope, 6-7 tall, 220 lbs.

He has his ups in Midrange shooting (~80) and strength (~80) and speed (~80) but struggles under the basket and doesnt have the best ball handling. I knocked down shot after shot with him and his NBA comparison was LBJ So I took him.
In the second round I chose PG Armando Perez, a small Carlos Tevez look-a-like with his ups in speed, jumping and stealing (~70). He has an akward release and cant shoot.

Since I have been over the cap with 20M $ I decided to only sign two veterans from the Free Agent pool. G Derek Anderson, who only wanted 400K and can shoot and drive well. And PG Rick Brunson, an old, not really skilled PG who wont see minutes unless we have injury probs, but he cant shoot the 3 and is quite fast.

I trained Hilton Armstrong, Tyrus Thomas and Luol Deng and they improved. But I lost the first two games of the 2nd season although I had a really good roster. So I decided to trade away F Andres Nocioni since his moral was at 60 and he is an "expressive" guy who kills my chemistry. So I put him on the trading block and I got some nice offers. The Twolves offered F Antawn Jamison (who they signed before) and I took my chance.

Now I have this roster:

PG Kirk Hinrich
SG Ben Gordon
SF Luol Deng
PF Antawn Jamison
C Ben Wallace

6 G Deshawn Stevenson
7 F Tyrus Thomas
8 F Joakim Noah
9 G Sasha Vujacic
10 C Hilton Armstrong
11 F Leon Pope
12 G Derek Anderson

- G Armando Perez
- G Rick Brunson
- F Adrian Griffin

Ben Gordon was injured the first three games, but since I have a very stacked team I think that is no excuse. My chemistry is only at 13 % and I hope I can turn around things soon or I really have to doubt my 2k8 skills.

[buzzy]

Nice thread.
Looks good so far, I like that you got Jamison.

I have a question a bit off topic.
You said you're not playing that good, so what difficultie are you playing on?

Since I'm new to 2k8, only have it a few days, I'm not too good either. I can blow out teams with 20 at Pro, but on All-Star I can only keep the score close till the half, then my opponent runs away.

Before starting an Association, I set my target to win against average teams on All-Star.

[Patr1ck]

buzzy, run plays and use the offball controls for get open, set screen, and post up. It sounds familiar because on pro you can sort of wing it and still win. On All Star, if you keep trying to play one on one or get predictable, you won't be able to hang around in the second half.

There are some guides at operationsports.com's forum but you have to be a member to view them. Maybe I'll make a thread and quote their content.

I have a nice little fake pic and roll that can get a shooter open for 3. Basically, I call pic and roll selecting a good shooter to set the screen. I use the pic and as soon as he starts to roll, I press my left analog towards the backcourt or 3 point line and pass it to him. He will take a quick step backwards to catch the pass and usually be open for a slight moment where you can knock down the 3. You can do the same with a 3 point shooter who is the ballhandler. Call a pic and roll and use the pic. The defender will usually switch for a moment, but then he will back up and get back to his man where you are wide open.

Just study your players skills and tendencies. I created a player but wasn't using him correctly, so I was shooting under 40% fgs. Once I started taking shots that are more toward his tendencies, my percentage increased.

Back on topic. Being a Live player, it took me time to get used to the game, so I started my Association on Pro. Of course I went all the way and won the championship with the Clippers but I basically learned and tweaked along the way. I had some very tough games in the playoffs. I ended up making several trades picking up players like Nenad Krstic, Grant Hill, and Eddie Jones. I traded away guys like Brevin Knight, Ruben Patterson, Aaron Williams, Paul Davis, and Quentin Ross. The one guy I regret giving up was Brevin Knight because I was getting around 2 steals a game with him off the bench.

After my first season, my owner was actually mad at me because I wasn't making him the money he would like. The messages say I was on the verge of being fired just after winning the nba championship. Just great.

In the second season, I had to re-sign my player. After doing that, I couldn't sign Elton Brand. I've sucked it up and so has Al Thornton, who is second in the MIP awards rankings. Brand signed with Dallas of all places. I started off my second season on the losing end while my squad and I adjusted to the new team. A little through the season, I also found Derek Anderson, a former Clipper, on the FA list. Surprised to see him asking for a minimum contract, I snatched him up. I also decided to get a 3rd point guard since my rotation was pretty screwy without one. I picked up Jacque Vaughn. I also have three rookies, one of them a 6'11 PF named Nathan Neal who has a nice noticeable afro. I like to get garbage buckets with him because he doesn't have great offensive skills.

Lineup-

PG-Me
SG-Cuttino Mobley
SF-Corey Maggette
PF-Al Thornton
C-Chris Kaman

6 PG Shaun Livingston
7 PF Tim Thomas
8 SG Derek Anderson
9 C Nenad Krstic
10 PF Nathan Neal
11 PG Jacque Vaugh
12 C Robert Swift

- SF Anders Johansson
- SG Mathew Little

I'm not trying to dominate. I just want to learn the game enough to hang on Hall of Fame difficulty without having to abuse the sliders. I'll probably turn it up to Hall of Fame during the playoffs so it becomes a completely different game. I'm going to try and get Al Thornton that MIP award.

[hova-]

I am only playing on Pro .. so I think I just plain suck ^^ But Im havin so much fun so I cannot really complain.

Seems like I am just about to turn things around. I won against the Suns with 5 points thanks to my good defense and a really balanced performance.
Hinrich had 22/9 and Deng, Jamison and Stevenson were lighting it up for 15+ each. Amare dominated but I think we did a good job to double team him and rotate fast to contest shots.

Next game we won against the Jazz (with Scott Skiles ^^ I fired him and Sloan retired). We were down by 21 in the 2nd quarter! But a really nice comeback during the 3rd led us back. Jamison had 29 points and hit the game winning shot with 0.1 left 99-97 Deng struggled a bit and Kirk did not really have a chance against Deron on the offensive end. I took only 4 shots with him but he had 8 assists. What is really funny is that DeShawn Stevenson and Antawn Jamison seem to come along very very well .. maybe the old Washington days ? Seems like when Jamison gets doubled and I kick it out to Shawn he hits every shot which he usually does not even if hes open. And the other way around.

So I am 2-3 in the season now.

[Heiks]

A while ago I started my second Association, first on being with the Warriors, but got into simulating games and was bored quickly. Then I picked the Blazers and it's been very interesting.

I already had some experience with the game, playing on All-Star, started the season really good, 5-1. Then I decided to get rid of Miles' and LaFrenz's big contracts, because I couldn't use them at all and they didn't crack my rotation. So I shuck things up.

First of all, sent Miles and some scrub, maybe 2nd round pick to Philly for Thaddeus Young and Shavlik Randolph. I don't know how they accepted it, felt like a steal for me.

Played some games, chemistry went down with the trade, so I decided to pull something off for LaFrentz. My first option was Kwame's expiring salary, but Memphis wanted a bit too much for him. Then Theo Ratliff, that would have been a nice return, but didn't want to give up much of my bench for him aswell. So I landed on this:

LaFrenz and Randolph for Nesterovic's 1+1 player option. There might be other players involved, because the salaries didn't match straight up. Actually, as I come to think of it was a three-way trade, because I got Othella Harrington from Charlotte to match the rest of the salary.

Overall, I'm now satisfied with the roster, as I can probably work some cap space for the summer, working towards Rasho's dissatisfaction. I'm kinda conserned about the PG spot, we've got three pretty much equal PG-s and I'd actually prefer Roy at the spot, but right now I want to get chemistry up and maybe get that last Playoff spot. Right now I'm 9-12 and 3 GB (58 game season)

Another thing is that I have IMO too many roleplayers, but I don't want to cut them down because of morale and they're actually all about the same overall. I'd like to go two PG-s for a Starter/Sixth Man SG and move Roy to PG, but then again, I dont want to mix up the whole roster too much in such a short period.

Here's the lineup:

Starting
C - Oden (C)
PF - Aldridge (PF/C)
SF - Outlaw (SF/PF)
SG - Roy (SG/PG)
PG - Jack (PG)

Bench
6th - Webster (SF)
RP - Frye (PF)
RP - Jones (SG/SF)
RP - Rodriguez (PG)
RP - Przybilla (C)
RP - Blake (PG)
RP - Nesterovic (C/PF) (Keeping him satisfied right now. Going to chance his role to bench warmer later in the season to get him opt out.)

Reserves
PR - Young (SF/SG)
BW - Harrington (PF)

(Sergio Rodriguez is injured right now, so Young is in and has some minutes to show his stuff. He's actually been very efficient in 10+ minutes.)

Stats wise, Roy leading the team with 20ppg 4.5apg 1.5spg, Rest of the starting lineup and Webster averaging about 10ppg each. Oden leads rebounding at 8rpg, Outlaw second with 7rpg, Aldridge about 5-6rpg although I would like to see more from Oden and Aldridge.

[hova-]

I see your problem, I had the same. When your start playing with Chicago you also have too many role players and accordingly no real star on the team.

Now I am still on a high stacked level with my roster, but my bench players (except Tyrus Thomas, hes gotten way better than last season, shoulda earn a starting spot) are satisfied now since they are "real" role players.

I think Jamison and Deng are my stars .. Hinrich is more the guy to set them up.

Jamison again had a huge game against the Kings with 30/7. We won in OT with 106-98 So now we are at 4-2

PS: I think you should use Thaddeus Young more than only puttin him on the reserves. Make him happy and he will surely develope. The kid got skills !

[Heiks]

Yeah, I'm fond of him as well and he has been productive, had 10 and 13 points for me in his two first games as a Blazer. But right now he's been okay with his role as a prospect, so I've kinda used that to keep others happy and have given him a decent amount of minutes when someone's hurt bad or out with an injury. I'll try to develop him into a monster like Iguodala.

Speaking of witch, I'm on a 3-game loosing streak, fortunately, the next game is against the Sixers, who are a bit weaker opponent, at least rating-wise, maybe I can get back on track now.

[deihatein]

If i am playing my association with the Hornets(or Suns got tired of Hornets but might play them some other time) i always get pissed off because i can get a 8 point lead in the first quarter then bad luck happens to me i would miss every shot get fouled eventually then cant get a defensive board. I dont like playing PRO diffulty because it's too easy but All-Star is a bit hard but still managed to get some wins. Hopefully i can turn the season around because my owner is not happy with me and my record is a bit stupid.(Hornets 9-7 and my Suns 1-1)

Any player movements you can advance to my Suns team? Cause right now i think i am having problems(I have an outdated roster and i have to update it my self cause i am playing in the PS2 version)

C Shaq
PF Amare (i want his primary position to be PF but i cant edit it i dont know why)
SF Grant Hill
SG Raja Belll
PG Nash

Bench

Boykins (got him in free agents)
Barbosa
Diaw
Skinner
Piatwoski (spelling?)
Alando tucker

[Jeffx]

After the trading deadline, I started a new Knicks Association. I simmed more than half Year 1, made the playoffs, and defeated the Warriors in a thrilling seven-game series. Here's what my roster looks like for Year 2:

Starters;

C - Curry(a beast in the paint)
PF - Zach(leading scorer)
SF - Q-Rich
SG - Crawford(2nd leading scorer)
PG - Marbury

Bench;
PF/C - Lee
PG - Nate(gets pushed around but can hit the 'J' if left open)
SF/PF/C - Jeffries
SG/SF - Chandler(a dunking machine!)
SF - Balkman
C - Morris
PF - Tyler Hansbrough(rookie)

Reserves;
SG/PG - J.R. Giddens(rookie)
PF/C - Rose
C - James

Good thing about the Knicks is they have cats who play multiple positions. Jeffries & Balkman are my unsung heroes. Their defense on Rip Hamilton, LeBron, Monta Ellis & Stephen Jackson were invaluable on NY's playoff run.

Because of NY's screwed up cap, I can't sign any FAs. But I expect the rookies to step right in and contribute, especially Hansbrough. I was shocked to see him at #28. No way was I passing him up.

[rockets>u]

I play with the heat

i traded Marion and my 1st round pick for Lamarcus and Jones mainly because i cannot stand the way marion shoots, it annoyed the hell out of my, my next trade was Wade for Kaman+1st+Livingston+Brevin knight

got james white and brent barry from FA

i am on 34-20 and i had Kaman and Lamarcus in the ASG

Lamarcus is leading MIP with 25/12/2/2, Kaman is avg 16/15

Chemistry at 87%

Lineup

Knight
Livingston
Wright
Lamarcus
Kaman

Barry
Banks
Davis
Haslem
Mourning

i don't use some of my players like Williams and Jones because they frustrate me so i keep them in the reserves


currently on 4 game losing streak after losing at the buzzer 4 times in a row, and all 4 times it was their PF who i left open because i thought they won't hit the 20 footer and they keep making it

i got a bunch of expiring contracts so i will pick up a star PG in FA since there are like 10 rated 80+ for the FA next season and draft a rookie who is pretty much As for everything except with a F in potential but i don't mind since i want to win the championship now

[hova-]

Dropped 5 in a row en route to a 3-9 record, but last game Kirk Hinrich hit the buzzerbeatin game winnin three --> 97-98 against the Raptors. After a long time Jamison again came up big. And Hinrich is in my opinion my most important player right now. Also a very good game by Rookie Armando Perez who is a really good perimeter defender and can score on the run.

I hope I can turn things around and go over .500 soon.

[buzzy]

Buzzer beaters are so damn satisfying. I recently played a game me being the Hawks against the Spurs. I was down 5 with 35 seconds left. Joe Johnson hit a clutch three pointer and the Spurs couldn't score in their next possesion so I had the ball with 6 seconds left.
I isolated with Joe and made the gametying buzzer beater shot to send it into overtime.

In OT the Spurs had the last possesion to tie it. They passed the ball around, and I deflected it, Duncans defender tried to get the loose ball, but it somehow landed to Duncan who got a wide open shot to tie it for another extra time. In the 2nd OT I was able to pull out the win. That was a great game, best I've played so far in 2k8.

Back to topic. I learned to get along with 2k8, studied the plays and the off-ball control. I'm able to win on All-Star, and keep the score close on Superstar. I will soon start an Associaten with the Hawks and I will post it in the Video Games Stories section.

[Patr1ck]

Buzzer beaters are great. I love the replay at the end of a quarter or game. I haven't hit a game winning buzzer beater yet, because I would always mess up trying to get the last shot off, so most of the time I shoot before the clock hits zero. It's still satisfying to send a game to overtime with a 3.

I don't know what happened, but I changed the difficulty to hall of fame mode, and I am still beating top tier teams. I don't know if there is something wrong with my sliders or tendencies, but one thing I notice is that teams don't use their go to guy enough. Dallas didn't use Dirk enough, Spurs didn't use Duncan, etc. The only thing that makes them compete is those outrageous backdoor passes which isn't very fun. When I guard those cuts well, I seem to dominate.

Any suggestions on making it more difficult? I don't have an all-superstar team.

[buzzy]

I noticed that too. They never use them, I played the Raptors yesterday, Chris Bosh had like 15 points while Bargnani and Parker had around 30.

I hate those backdoor passes, the ball comes with like 2 mph, everybody staring at it and seeing how the receiver finishing a layup in the paint.
That brings me to a point, the PGs of the team I play against has always around 15-20 assists.
The CPU loves to catch and shoot and most of the time the pass comes from the Point Guard. Or he makes a backdoor passes like mentioned above. Anyone experiencing that too?

btw, pdub, wanna practice your buzzer beaters? -> situation mode

[Klayface]

I started an Association with the Warriors a couple of weeks ago. Two weeks into the season the Bucks offered me Andrew Bogut for Matt Barnes, I agreed to the trade.

A week before the deadline I decided to trade away Bogut since his moral was so low. I ended up trading Bogut and my first round pick to Minnesota for Jaric and their first pick in the upcoming draft.

Ended the season #2 in the West, but lost to San Antonio in the second round. Kind of a shitty way to end a season, but B.D. won MVP and Al Harrington won 6th man. And Minnnys pick turned out to be the 2nd in the draft.

[Chino]

I'm currently playing with the New York Knicks and I was able to changed New York to an elite team. I did many trades and I come up with this lineup:

C- David Lee (89)- I was able to develop him and after 4 years, he became great player.

PF- LaMarcus Aldridge (92) Portland offered me Aldridge just to get a low rated rookie. I was able to develop him for 3 years.

SF- Loul Deng (94)- I signed him in off-season

SG- Monta Ellis (95)-Signed him for a cheap contract

PG- Kirk Hinrich (90)- Got him by trading Zach Randolph

Bench:
PG- Devin Harris (90) Got him by trading Andrew Bogut

PF/C- Joakim Noah (90) Signed him in off-season

SG- Ray Allen (88) Signed him in off-season

PF/C- Dennis Weaver (84) Drafted him and after four years became a star from the bench

SF- Wilson Chandler (83) Just became a star without developing him and his dunking rating is 99.

SF/SG- Renaldo Balkman (81) Just became a great player from the bench without developing him

SF/SG- J. Martinez (74) Got him by trading Marcus Camby

IR:
SG- Howard Stevenson (73) Drafted
C- A. Spencer (68) Drafted

My team chemistry is currently on 100%
My Team Offense is 96, Team Defense is 100 and the Overall rating is 98

I'm on my 2012 season and my record as for now is 3-0.

[Jeffx]

SF- Wilson Chandler (83) Just became a star without developing him and his dunking rating is 99.

Chandler has some sick dunks, doesn't he? Here's my Knick roster for Year 3(36-22 regular season, won the division, 3rd in the East):

Starters:
PG - Tyrese Rice(rookie)
SG - Jamal Crawford
SF - Quentin Richardson
PF - Zach Randolph
C - Eddy Curry

Bench:
C - Randolph Morris
PF/SF/C - Jared Jeffries
PF - Tyler Hansbrough
SF/SG - Renaldo Balkman
SG/SF - Wilson Chandler
PG - Greg Paulus(rookie)
SG/PG - J.R. Giddens

Reserves:
C - Jerome James

Wasn't able to keep Marbury, Nate or Lee. Marbury was my best clutch player, and Nate is deadly from three. I'm hoping my young PGs will develop into something. Hansbrough's done a great job taking over for Lee.

[Klayface]

Forgot to mention, I traded Ellis in the first season to Philly for AI.

Currently in the 2nd season, with a 5-0 record (biggest winning streak last year was 2 lol) with the last win coming with a Al Harrington buzzer beating 3 vs LA.

[Heiks]

I've put my season on hold, haven't played it for a while. I remember, I was fighting to get above .500 when I last wrote about it here, but soon after that I was heading towards lottery. I still like the team and all, I just couldn't pull it off in the final minutes of the closer games.

I haven't had the time to play my 48-minute games, so I've played online and offline to get those last achievements. I'm a bit cold online as well, but I guess that's because I tend to choose a random team all the time and not knowing all of their weaknesses and strengths. And not being able to stop Kobe all the time.

[Heiks]

So I picked up my Blazers' Association again, improved to 13-21, which is 4th worst record in the League. BTW, the Lakers are the worst at 11-22 with Pau on the roster. Go figure. I'm also stone-cold from three, shooting 8-of-40 in the last three games and shooting league-worst .308 for the season although I have 3-4 good 3pt-shooters rating-wise.

If that doesn't sound bad enough, then hear this: I just lost Roy for 40 weeks with a torn ACL. He's been averaging 20-5-5 and his absence will probably be catastrophic, although I was able to win without him against the lowly rated Kings. The good thing is that Thad Young is going to get a lot of playing time from now on. I hope he'll develop into a monster.

Anyway, I guess I've got a top pick sealed. Gotta start scouting higher. There's a top 5 McGrady-like Greek SG coming up. Christos Diamantpoulous is going to be the next big name in the League.

Although I feel like I should dump the format I've been using and play 29-game seasons with 5-8 minute quarters. But I can't, I'm stat-freak, I need to see those real-life-NBA-like numbers. :S

EDIT: Oden just got injured while simulating between games. Hurt bad for two weeks.

ANOTHER EDIT: Actually now I've won three in a row without them. I guess I ball-hogged and took ill-advised shots with Roy, I'm really moving the ball more on offense and getting better looks for guys. Another thing is that I started to use "hands up" instead of jumping for a block when contesting a shot. It has worked marvelous so far: more misses, better recovery on defense, less shooting fouls from far out.

[Jeffx]

NEW YORK KNICKS, Year 4(2010-11)

Starters:
PG - Tyrese Rice(80)
SG - Jamal Crawford(85)
SF - Wilson Chandler(81)
PF - Zach Randolph(93)
C - Eddy Curry(90)

Bench:
C - Randolph Morris(78)
PF - Tyler Hansbrough(80)
PF/SF/C - Jared Jeffries(78)
SF/SG - Renaldo Balkman(76)
PG - Greg Paulus(80)
SF - Bill Walker(75 - rookie/K-State)
SG - Rodney Carney(73)

Reserves:
SG - J.R.Giddens(70)
PF-C - Roberto Batistuta(69 - rookie/Spain)

I'm slowly rebuilding the Knicks, and I finally got way under the cap. Still have problems on defense, but this squad has a 92 offensive rating. I'm really liking my bench. Paulus, rookie Bill Walker and free agent Rodney Carney give me serious offensive firepower. Morris & Hansbrough score inside, and Jeffries and Balkman are the defensive stoppers.

[deihatein]

I have made a new Orlando Association, simulate the 2007-08 season and they managed to finish 1st in the league (and with Boston with the 8th seed ) and managed to go far as ECF but got eliminated by Pistons.

My main goal on this association is to have a bad record and get a lottery pick. Too bad it doesn't go that way but i managed to get a PF in the 27 pick that has a rating of 73 and then i made blockbuster move in the off-season, here are some of them.

Signed Monta Ellis on Free Agency
Have a 3-team trade with 76ers and Lakers and the moves are:

Traded Redick and Louis Williams to 76ers for Kyle Korver and Chris Dupin a rookie
Traded Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling to Lakers for Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar

So i have this roster

PG Farmar
SG Ellis
SF Lewis
PF Buruk (my 73 rating rookie)
C D.Howard

My Bench

Bynum
Battie
Turkoglu
Dupin(rookie)
Ariza
Bogans
Korver

I think my roster is kinda stacked right now but i kinda like it. I think it may go deep in the playoffs. BTW anybody know how to change a player position on the Association?

[Dan's Brain]

You ripped the crap out of the Lakers. You should start Bynum and Howard together.

As for changing position, you can just go into the roster screen, click on the player you want, a few options will pop up (Trade, Release, Trading Block, Edit and possibly others - i'm tired). Choose edit from there, and edit the player the usual way.

[shadowgrin]

Put Bynum at 5 and Dwight at 4. Use Ellis at the 1. Just choose between Ariza, Bogans, or Korver for the 2 spot.

[Chino]

Too bad it doesn't go that way but i managed to get a PF in the 27 pick that has a rating of 73

Same here, I got like the 30th pick then I drafted a forward which has a rating of 80. Then after 2 years he became a superstar.