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FIBA Americas Tournament: The BIG Day!

The last seven games mean nothing anymore for four teams looking to squeeze through to the semifinals. On Thursday, August 30, it all comes down to one match for Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay.

The United States and Argentina have already secured their spots in the semifinals and will play a rather meaningless game for first seed in the next round. The United States is expected to beat Argentina in the same manner that they’ve handled everybody else. Argentina, however, won’t mind one bit. As long as they can win their semifinal game they’ll secure a spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The top two finishers in the FIBA Americas Tournament automatically qualify; positions 3, 4, and 5 will have another chance to qualify next year.

On Thursday, Brazil will be playing against Uruguay in a “must-win” game. If Brazil loses, they’ll likely open up the door for Canada to finish third. This would mean that they, after losing to the Americans next round (assumed), would have to try to qualify again next year.

The match doesn’t mean all that much for Uruguay, except that they’ll have the chance to play spoilers on this eventful day. Uruguay is pretty much out of the running based on points for versus points against. They would have to beat Brazil by an impossible amount in order to end up on the winning side of a possible tie-breaker.

If Brazil wins, they are guaranteed third position and a likely game against Argentina. However, if Uruguay is successful in ruining the day for Barbosa and company, then Canada and Puerto Rico both have a chance at third instead.

Canada needs to beat the favored Puerto Ricans in order to finish with 11 points, which would be one more than Brazil (if they lose). Puerto Rico, however, won’t be giving them an easy time. If they beat Canada, they are guaranteed a spot in the semifinals. If they beat Canada and Brazil loses in the earlier game, then they will likely secure third (assuming they win by enough to cover their current four point deficit to Brazil in the “points for/points against” category).

If this sounds confusing then it’s because it is. Here are the possible scenarios:

Brazil > Uruguay and Canada > Puerto Rico = Brazil 3rd, Canada 4th

Brazil > Uruguay and Puerto Rico > Canada = Brazil 3rd, Puerto Rico 4th

Uruguay > Brazil and Canada > Puerto Rico = Canada 3rd, Brazil 4th

Uruguay > Brazil and Puerto Rico > Canada = Puerto Rico 3rd, Brazil 4th (unless both games are within 2 points)

It’ll be really interesting to see how it all works out. I’m expecting Brazil to come out firing to lock up that third spot. If they don’t, however, it would add to the excitement between Canada and Puerto Rico. Either way, they will be great games with a lot of intensity. This is when it’s all on the line – this is when every play matters.

My Prediction: Brazil wins and Canada wins.

My Hope: Canada wins and Brazil wins.

What do you think is going to happen? Who are you cheering for?

EA Sports NBA LIVE 08: Five Changes That I Hope to See

I’ve been playing the EA Sports NBA Live series for over ten years now; my first game being NBA Live 97 with Mitch Richmond on the cover. I remember spending hours fuming about Michael Jordan being listed as “Roster Guard”; I remember the year the PC version would display a cheerleader picture when exiting saying: “are you sure you want to exit the game” (I would say “no” and try it again until I saw the T-Wolves hottie); and I also remember the thousands of glitches along the way. However, I have remained true to the Live series, never once trying my hand at NBA 2Kwhatever. I’ve heard great things about that game, but I’m simply too loyal (or stubborn) to EA Sports to switch.

Nonetheless, I do expect improvement from year to year and, for the most part, EA Sports has provided this. There have been a couple times when I’ve wondered if all they did was change the rosters. Sometimes it seemed that way, but there would end up being slight adjustments that would keep me coming back for more, year after year.

I am getting older though. I think the older you get the more money seems to matter. At least at 22, it seems to matter quite a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind spending money; but I don’t like spending money on something that holds no value. The March Madness series, for example, holds no value.

Throughout the year I’ve kept note of things that I wanted to see change before buying NBA Live 08. If there weren’t significant changes, then I wouldn’t buy the product. It’s got to the point where the other option (NBA 2K) is cheaper while also gathering great reviews. If EA Sports wants me to stay loyal, they’ll need to step it up with NBA Live 2008. Gilbert Arenas on the cover is a nice touch, but I still want more.

Here are the five main things that I hope to see changed, as well as the early indications on what EA Sports has done to solve them:

1. Artificial Intelligence

The AI was pretty good in a number of ways, but there were also major errors in the programming. When Rafer Alston takes 18 shots for the computer, you know there’s a problem – especially when Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady both finish the game with less than 12 shots combined.

The AI in NBA Live 07 tends to favor the point guards, taking a number of threes as well as making contested layups over shot-blocking big men. Sure, they can be blocked quite easily a number of times, but they should be blocked nearly every time if you’re squared up waiting for them.

So what has EA Sports done about this? According to the producer’s blog:

“The first thing to consider is that we want our AI on both the team level and the individual player level to be realistic…Basketball games have always had issues with the point guard being too dominant in the offense and taking too many shots due to the fact that they are typically the primary ball handler. We have taken a unique approach to solving this issue in LIVE 08 with the implementation of what we are calling the ‘featured scorer.’

This logic is based on real player skills and tendencies: a player like Steve Nash is an excellent passer and known for passing first whereas Allen Iverson is a great scorer and known for being a shoot first player. Both players have prominent roles within their team’s offensive philosophy but in very different ways. As a result we assign a larger percentage of the offensive shot attempts to a player like Iverson vs. a player like Nash. You’re probably wondering what happens when you have multiple players on a team who are capable of being featured scorers which is the case for a team such as the San Antonio Spurs. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan are all capable of shouldering the load offensively. In this case each player is assigned a percentage of possessions where the offense is run through them. When the AI is evaluating the goal of a given possession they take this into consideration and run their offense accordingly.”

If they meet their goals, I don’t see why this should be much of a continued problem. It has never been a big deal; it just has made it feel more like an arcade than it needs to be. I’m looking forward to this improvement, mostly because I’m sick and tired of being owned by scrubs like Bobby Sura and Damon Stoudamire.

2. Glitches

Once in a blue moon, a computer-controlled player will be dribbling the ball in one spot and run out the entire shot clock. This has helped me get back into a few games here and there, but overall it is a nuisance. If they are aiming to be a realistic simulation, then they need to fix these kinds of issues. This isn’t an AI problem, it’s a glitch.

Another common glitch is the phantom steal. A pass is seemingly deflected, causing the ball to change direction and go out of bounds. However, while the path of the ball changed, it wasn’t “actually” deflected. The attempt causes the ball to move as though it was, but the other team gets the ball since there was no physical (metaphysical?) contact.

A few other problems I have noticed are: unrealistic dunks through the backboard, too much defensive rebounding (Earl Boykins over Dwight Howard), easy double-team steals on the inbounds, and excessive blocking with big men.

The game-play has supposedly been improved on quite a bit. I guess we’ll find out soon whether or not they addressed these specific issues.

3. No “Create-A-Team”

I, personally, enjoy creating teams of my own. I like making characters and putting them together to form a team like we would do in pick-up ball. NBA Live hasn’t had this option for quite a while. This year is no different. However, one cool addition to the game is the “Quick Pick Play.” This feature allows you to create your dream-team for single-game matches. If you only want to pick your starting five, then it has a built in “auto-fill” feature as well. Sounds like a great addition and one that I would have never thought of, but I’m still waiting for the “Create-A-Team” option to be introduced.

4. Lack of Variety

Every year I am impressed by the large selection of new phrases that the commentators use, the added dunks, and the variety of celebrations that are introduced. It’s too bad that I’m only impressed for the first week: the sayings soon grow old, the dunks seem limited, and the celebrations don’t seem all that unique anymore.

I don’t really expect this to change. Besides, what are they supposed to do? It’s crazy to think that they should have four facts about each player in the game. It would be nice, but it’s crazy nonetheless.

EA Sports has, however, added 15-20 new celebrations, a new “Signature Go To Moves” feature, and new commentating (as always). The celebrations and commentating are expected, but I am genuinely interested to see how the go-to-moves feature works out. Here’s what they say about it:

“The important thing to know about them is that they don’t require a special button presses or controller move to make happen- they are just shots that happen under the right contextual circumstances for certain players. For example, if you get Kevin Garnett in the post and shoot a fadeaway jumper you will get KG’s fadeaway and not a generic one. This is really the evolution of the signature jump shots that we did last year, but this year you get full on signature moves instead of just jump shots.”

The signature jump shots were awesome last year, so this new go-to-move should be a lot of fun!

5. International Teams

One of my favorite features about the FIFA and NHL series’ is the International competition modes. I really enjoy playing the tournament mode. It’s not really a big thing; it’s just a nice alternative. Well, in FIFA it’s a big thing, in NHL it’s just an alternative. However, for some reason NBA Live has never incorporated this type of option. It probably has to do with contractual agreements with FIBA. Whatever the case…it has finally been taken care of.

This year the game has eight international teams and the option of playing with them in either “Play Now” mode or the new “FIBA World Championship” mode. I’m really looking forward to this new addition, my only disappointment is that it’s only eight teams. The teams include: Argentina, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United States. Those are all great teams, but what about Serbia & Montenegro, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Canada, Lithuania, Australia, Russia, New Zealand, Turkey, Angola, and numerous others? I can’t wait to play international mode, but if you’re going to add it then you should commit to adding the whole package. Find out more information about the deal with FIBA.

Wish List

I know it’s not going to happen anytime soon. To be honest, I don’t expect it to ever happen. However, if NBA Live ever introduced a “Superstar Mode” like Madden has, it would be awesome. This mode allows you to begin your career as a specific rookie (or created one). You go through each season playing the role of that player: negotiating contracts, having interviews, etc. Unlike Madden, I would want to still be able to control all the players on the court. If they ever implemented this, I would be absolutely thrilled.

What are some of the things that you’re hoping for in this year’s game? What are some of your favorite things about NBA Live? How about least favorite things? How does it compare to the NBA 2K series in your mind?

Rumor: Yi Jianlian Signs with the Bucks

It’s now unofficially official.

Supposedly, Yi Jianlian signed a contract in Hong Kong today to play for the Bucks. If this is true, then it is great news for both the Bucks and Jianlian. There simply wasn’t another option that would benefit either side more than this. The Bucks get the player they want and Yi gets an opportunity to repair his tattered image.

If the Bucks traded him, it sure wouldn’t be easy for Yi to repair the damage he has done. He would surely be booed at numerous arenas. Let’s hope he escapes the wrath of his the Bucks fans early on in the season. I’m guessing he’ll get a few jeers, but Milwaukee will be working it’s butt off to try and market him in a positive way.

Update: It has been CONFIRMED

Charlie Rose Interviews Steve Nash

Charlie Rose recently conducted an interview with two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash.

There are a lot of great questions, which Nash consistently answers in a very articulate manner. This is a must-watch interview, especially since it’s the offseason. 

Here’s a quick excerpt regarding the referee scandal:
Charlie Rose: The betting scandal. Totally surprised?

Steve Nash: Nothing anymore totally surprises me, but I am surprised. A shame, but the game is so much bigger than one guy who had a hard time in life.

CR: But were there people who played the game who actually thought that he was making calls that just didn’t [make sense]?

SN: I think guys probably had a problem with him…but I don’t think any guy would look and say: “I knew he was up to something.”

CR: And you think Basketball can survive this?

SN: Basketball will survive this, basketball has been around a long time.

There are many other topics covered…so please, check out the interview for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.