Tag Archives: Josh Smith

For anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, Dee has uploaded the highlights from our Parsec session of NBA 2K8 to the NLSC YouTube channel. In this co-op game, we assumed control of the Class of 2004 squad and took on the Class of 2005, essentially staging our own version of the Rookie Challenge from the 2005 All-Star Weekend.

As we discussed in our recap in Episode #521 of the NLSC Podcast, unfortunately a power outage ended the game prematurely as the fourth quarter was drawing to a close. We were in the lead at the time – so I for one am going to call it a victory for us – but it was certainly shaping up to be a dramatic conclusion. As you can see from the highlights however, it was an exciting game up until that point with Ben Gordon lighting it up from range, Josh Smith skying for some thunderous finishes on alley-oops, and cover player Chris Paul giving us everything we could handle on defense. See for yourself!

NBA 2K8 is a game that I still need to cover for Wayback Wednesday, so stay tuned for that retrospective and further highlights! As always, we encourage you to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel if you haven’t already, as well as hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five players that have been difficult to rate over the years.

Since they became visible attributes, Overall Ratings have been the subject of much contention and debate. They aren’t nearly as important to realistic performance as individual ratings and other tendency data, yet they’re not completely irrelevant either. If a player’s Overall Rating seems too high or too low, it’s usually an indication that some (or many) of their individual ratings are off. Also, because they’re factored into rotation logic and trade value in franchise modes, it’s important that a player’s Overall Rating generally reflects their ranking amongst their peers.

It’s why in official and unofficial rosters alike, it’s necessary to pay some attention to Overall Ratings. Attributes such as “Intangibles” – found in certain NBA 2K titles – have been helpful in artificially adjusting Overall Ratings. Otherwise, it’s usually a matter of fudging a few ratings here or there so that the Overall Rating feels more accurate, without compromising realism in player skill and performance. Even so, there are some players that have been historically difficult to rate, especially without the aid of an Intangibles attribute. Looking back, these players are among the most likely to end up being overrated or underrated, at least according to their Overall.

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at yet more NBA players who became familiar faces in strange places, and those stints in video games.

Just when you thought I was done talking about familiar faces in strange places, here is part four in an ongoing series of Wayback Wednesday articles! Not all of these players are Hall of Famers or even perennial All-Stars, but they are nevertheless significant and recognisable, thereby qualifying as familiar faces. They’re also players that we grew accustomed to seeing play for one or two teams in particular, so the strange places they ended up in do make for a jarring sight, both in real life and on the virtual hardwood.

Once again, I’m looking at these familiar faces in strange places through the lens of basketball video games, in part because that’s obviously what we cover here at the NLSC, but also because it emphasises how games like NBA Live and NBA 2K in particular act as time capsules and interactive almanacs. From past champions and the glory days of the game’s brightest stars, to the forgotten and overlooked stints I’m recalling here, those memories come flooding back upon firing up old favourites. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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