Andrew
February 4, 2025
NBA, NBA Live 2005, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #566 of the NLSC Podcast!
The basketball world was shocked by the announcement that the Dallas Mavericks had traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. Naturally, we have a few thoughts on the deal, and what it means for both teams moving forward! Criminally underrated players from yesteryear are also on our minds as of late, so this week, we join the community in naming some of the ballers who deserve to be talked about more often. Finally, we recap an excellent co-op session with the PC version of NBA Live 2005, in which we took on the Philadelphia 76ers with the Orlando Magic. We also compare it to NBA Live 06, and other games in the NBA Live series.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:44:52 — 72.4MB)
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To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
January 28, 2025
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #565 of the NLSC Podcast!
How many hours per week are we currently spending on the virtual hardwood, and which modes are keeping us hooked? This week, we join the community in crunching the numbers, and sharing our preferred ways to play. Needless to say, we also make a point of encouraging everyone to stick to the activities and style of play that is the most fun for them! We also poll our fellow basketball gamers and hardcore hoop heads on their picks for the era in NBA history that was the deepest in terms of talent, as well as which one boasted the biggest array of stars. While it may sound contradictory, they aren’t necessarily one and the same in everyone’s eyes!
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:09:20 — 48.0MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
January 21, 2025
Basketball Video Games, NBA 2K25, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #564 of the NLSC Podcast!
Which NBA players are the best of the best when it comes to dunking, shooting, shot blocking, stealing the ball, and going one-on-one, both in real life and on the virtual hardwood? This week, we join the community in sharing our picks in each of those categories. We also recap a fun session using a work-in-progress Kobe Era roster for NBA 2K25 PC, in which we took on the Seattle Supersonics with the Golden State Warriors. Naturally, we also reflect on those squads, and the massive trade that took place between them in 2003! Finally, we discuss some of the aspects of basketball that video games still struggle to implement correctly, or accurately portray.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:06:04 — 45.7MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
January 14, 2025
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #563 of the NLSC Podcast!
With rumours that both EA Sports and Visual Concepts are considering bringing back their respective college basketball video games, which series would we personally prefer to see return? Our answer may surprise you…or then again, perhaps not! We also join the community in naming the players from NBA history and today that we most wish we could play like. It’s probably not a huge spoiler to mention that among others, we wanna be like Mike! Finally, we wrap up with a recap of a fun co-op session of NBA Live 2004 in which we took on the Houston Rockets with the Phoenix Suns, and reflect on it being a transitional year for both of those teams, as well as the NBA Live series.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 56:17 — 39.0MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
January 7, 2025
Basketball Video Games, NBA 2K25, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #562 of the NLSC Podcast!
Now that 2025 is underway and NBA 2K25 has been out for a few months, what are our ultimate thoughts on this year’s game? This week, we join the community in giving NBA 2K25 a final score, and running down the various pros and cons across the board following ample time on the sticks. We also reflect on the unwritten house rules that we employ to make our multiplayer basketball gaming sessions fair and enjoyable, and ideally civil with minimal fights! Finally, we react to a bewildering story about a former top draft pick being utterly clueless when it comes to basketball history. Of course, given the player in question, we’re not entirely surprised!
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:19:31 — 55.0MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
December 31, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA 2K15, NBA Live 95, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #561 of the NLSC Podcast!
With the 2024 holiday season drawing to a close and a new year almost upon us, this week we’re joining the community in sharing the basketball and basketball gaming gifts that we gave and received for Christmas, as well as listing some of our resolutions for both real hoops and the virtual hardwood in 2025. We also recap a couple of co-op games with the PC versions of two titles released some twenty years apart: NBA Live 95 and NBA 2K15. In addition to reflecting on two very different but nevertheless enjoyable sessions, we discuss how great of a sim game NBA Live 95 was for its time, and the ruthless AI that makes NBA 2K15 suitably challenging.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 55:24 — 38.4MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
December 24, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #560 of the NLSC Podcast!
Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings, basketball fans and gamers! It’s that time of the year again and we’re definitely in the holiday spirit, so this week we’re joining the community in asking Santa for three gifts that would grant some of our fondest wishes related to basketball and basketball gaming. Some of them might take a Christmas miracle to make happen, but if nothing else, it seems that quite a few of us are on the same page with our wishlists! We also join our listeners in reflecting upon some of our all-time favourite gifts related to real hoops and the virtual hardwood alike, as well as some other Christmas memories.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:01:49 — 42.8MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
December 17, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #559 of the NLSC Podcast!
There have been scores of basketball video games released over the years, but which one has been the best sim? This week, we join the community in nominating some of the top candidates for titles that have achieved the most realism on the virtual hardwood. We also reflect once again on what it actually means to be sim, from playcalling and performance to mechanics and motion systems. Following up on last week’s show, we also discuss even more madness with three-pointers in the NBA, as teams continue to brick treys at an alarming and historical rate, driving away hardcore hoop heads who are desperate for a better product.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:06:41 — 46.1MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
December 10, 2024
NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #558 of the NLSC Podcast!
The state of the NBA is once again on our minds, and so we pose the question: are three-pointers actively ruining the league and making it far less fun to watch? As much as we enjoy long-range sharpshooters doing their thing and a timely trey that makes the net explode, we also believe that the chucking is really getting out of hand and affecting the overall quality of play. It’s clear that we’re not alone in feeling this way, and to that end, this week we join the community in discussing potential ideas of how to best combat the three-point problem that is afflicting the NBA, and for that matter, modern basketball in general.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 54:01 — 37.5MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
December 3, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA 2K17, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #557 of the NLSC Podcast!
What does “sim” really entail when it comes to basketball video games? There are definitely some myths and misunderstandings, which we’re certainly eager to clear up! This includes how realism affects the virtual hardwood, and how recent games have performed in their approach to the sim style. Talking real hoops leads into us joining the community in recalling the go-to moves that we like to use when we play basketball, whether it’s in an organised league or pick-up. We also recap a co-op session of NBA 2K17 featuring the Ultimate Classic Teams Roster and a couple of quintessential video game teams, and provide a PSA regarding NBA 2K23 and its impending server shutdown.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:00:18 — 41.8MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
November 26, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NBA Live 18, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #556 of the NLSC Podcast!
What are some of the worst basketball and basketball video game takes that we’ve encountered over the years? This week, we join our fellow gamers and hoop heads in recalling an assortment of truly terrible opinions that definitely made us scoff! We also played a couple of co-op games of NBA Live 18 using Parsec and the Xbox App. As we discuss, these sessions not only reminded us of the promising potential that NBA Live 18 had, but also saw us gain some satisfying revenge following a tough defeat. On that note, we also join the community in reflecting on the most devastating losses that we’ve endured on the virtual hardwood.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:28:06 — 60.9MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
November 19, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #555 of the NLSC Podcast!
Player Lock is arguably one of the most underrated gameplay features outside of its use in career and online team play modes, but picking a suitable role is paramount whichever mode you’re playing. To that end, this week we join the community in choosing the players that we’d most prefer to lock on, from a shortlist of notable names from the 2000s and today. We also reflect on the excitement of making a new video game purchase – especially when physical media is involved – and share some more advice for capturing highlights on the virtual hardwood, whether you’re playing on PC or console.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 41:25 — 28.8MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
November 12, 2024
Basketball Video Games, NBA, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #554 of the NLSC Podcast!
What is it that keeps us hooked on the virtual hardwood? This week, we join the community in sharing the reasons why we play basketball video games, ranging from a love of the sport, to bonding experiences with family and friends, to joyful fantasy and escapism. Following on from last week, we and our listeners pick three stars from the 2000s to bring into the modern NBA in their prime. In response to the end of online support for NBA Live 18, we note how the offline version of The One succeeds where MyCAREER fails nowadays. We also share an interesting tidbit about Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, and answer a question about bad basketball video games in another edition of Andrew Asks.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:09:28 — 48.1MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
November 5, 2024
NBA, NBA 2K13, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #553 of the NLSC Podcast!
This week’s show is all about the past, present, and future…and some combinations thereof! First of all, we tip things off with a recap of a fun co-op session of NBA 2K13 PC, in which we used a 1996 roster to take on the Hawks with Shaq and Penny’s Magic. Needless to say, it not only reminded us of how well NBA 2K13 holds up, but just how special the 1996 season was. Next, we join the community in naming three all-time greats that we’d want to bring into today’s NBA, and why they’re our picks. Finally, we and the community choose from a list of hypothetical features that we’d like to see added in NBA 2K26.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 58:39 — 40.6MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!
Andrew
October 29, 2024
NBA, NBA 2K25, NLSC Podcast
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #552 of the NLSC Podcast!
As the 2025 season gets underway, how do we feel about the current state of the NBA? This week, we join the community in sharing our opinions of the league these days, from three-point barrages and lacklustre defense to zero-tolerance technical fouls and the pace of the game. While many of us are on the same page, there are definitely some differing views! In a similar vein, a comment from Charles Barkley prompts us to revisit the topic of load management; a practice that seems both myopically counterproductive and decisively anti-fan. We also discuss some other recent issues, including WNBA blunders, unwelcome advertising, pushy pop-ups, so-called gurus, and a truly terrible Dwyane Wade statue.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:18:18 — 54.1MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!