And now, we continue the list of basketball video game goodness:

NBA Live/NBA2K - Also along the lines of the previous grievance, a similar one may be filed for this game series. In the more accurate simulation basketball games, you strived for realistic results and competition whenever you squared off. It was an unwritten rule that if someone wants to play with the 70 overall Milwaukee Bucks that you’re not gonna punish them with a 96 overall Detroit Pistons team. However, people sometimes disobey this rule, even taking it further. You’ll want to take the Charlotte Bobcats for a joyride and try to fight for a victory, so you expect your opponent to pick a squad that will actually make it an interesting game, but instead at the last second they pull out the 90’s West All-Stars on you and the point of the game is lost. Jackass.

NBA Live/NBA2K - There are a number of strategies that get abused in these games, despite the attempt to have these titles be as “realistic” as possible.

Let’s face it - no team starts intentionally fouling with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Not even in the old Hack-a-Shaq days was it this bad. Stop making me earn it from the stripe - you’re only delaying the inevitable.

It is impossible to sprint down the court to catch someone on a fastbreak, hold the “draw charge” button, and have an offensive foul called. This is kind of like the old “Randy Ratio” in Minnesota where Culpepper HAD to throw the ball to Moss a certain number of times. Ditto in these kinds of games - you keep using the draw charge button, you will get some calls - no matter if it should’ve gone the other way and been a blocking call.

And finally, I realize that attempting to block a shot on a desperation half court shot is pretty dick, but that won’t stop me from doing it. You never know…

NBA Inside Drive - This had to be some sort of glitch in the code. No offense to Mr. Wally Szcerbiak, but there is no way he is this good. Everytime Wally drove and threw up a fadeaway falling towards the baseline, it was money in the bank. No joke. But hey maybe this is just something I’m not aware of. For all we know as a kid, Little Wally could’ve had one leg longer than the other and a slight vertigo problem that caused him to drift towards the baseline and fall down.

NCAA March Madness - Two words. IAN BOYLAN. Who is this fine chap you may ask? Oh he’s only the greatest player in Cal State Northridge history. Unfortunately, this distinction only earns you a trip to the Euro leagues to fight for a roster spot. Somehow, Boylan, a basketball intelligent with a slightly above average jumper but otherwise mediocre skills, was totally unstoppable in this game. I have not seen such domination in a videogame since the old Tecmo Bowl games where you could run back to your own goal line with Jerry Rice and run it 100 yards for a touchdown everytime. In the March Madness videogame (but only on Normal difficulty), Boylan would go off for 65 points against the lieks of Duke and UConn, using a slew of crossovers to create seperation to nail 3 after 3. Too bad he wasn’t this dominant in real life. CSUN could’ve at least qualified for the tourney for a change.

Feel free to comment and tell me about your stories… once I have some more rounded up, I shall post them for the world to see.

I would like to think of myself as somewhat of a basketball video game connoisseur, having played pretty much every game from the days of NBA Jam and NBA Live 97 (yes the one with Mitch Richmond on the cover!) to today’s next-gen NBA2K series on the Xbox 360. With so much play time invested in playing these titles and honing your skills, some heated competition ensues. Now of course, despite all the technological advancements, video games aren’t an identical replication of actual NBA games, but they try to get pretty damn close. With this in mind, we know its possible to find certain glitches, exploit certain tactics, and just plain play dirty. Now I’m not saying I don’t play dirty myself - you do whatcha gotta do to win - but here is the initial installment of my favorite video game basketball tactics/maneuvers/moments from various titles throughout the years…

NBA Jam - To my best recollection, Bill Laimbeer was never in this game. So why the hell is it necessary to constantly hold down turbo and throw ‘bows and push people when you didn’t have the ball? Pure nonsense… a Flagarant 2 should’ve been called everytime I tried to drive on the opposition. Be a man and try to lock me down on D by stripping me or blocking my shot… no need for the fisticuffs - there were plenty of other things to make this game great.

NBA Jam - One of those little things that made it great had to be the “halftime show” they put together. Sure, on the next-gen consoles we may have fancy halftime shows with hot cybermodels jiggling their desirable parts, but NBA Jam’s halftime show was pure brilliance. All it consisted of were two small low-resolution highlight clips featuring two players synonymous with 90’s hoops. The first clip was a standard Scottie Pippen highlight. The second, however, was pure gold. A bespectacled Horace Grant drives the lane for a bucket, proceeds to charge at the camera, and executes an emphatic celebratory arm pump. You knew damn well it was halftime when you saw that arm pump. It was on.

NBA Jam - My final NBA Jam reflection is a grievance about team/player selections. There were essentially two ways to play this game - bombing away from 3-point land or jamming on every possesion. You picked your gameplan and chose a team with a suitable player to carry this out. However, there was always some dick who would play with the Orlando Magic and just rain 3’s on you with Scott Skiles and slam it down your throat with Nick Anderson. OUT OF COMMON DECENCY YOU ONLY PLAY ONE STRATEGY - C’MON NOW. There was also the matter of inputting codes and unlocking the likes of Adrock and Mike D, the Phoenix Suns Gorilla, and the Clintons (yes the presidential ones, not the Parliament Funkadelic one). Every secret player had maxed out attributes, so it really wasn’t much of a contest if someone pulled this on you.

Many more to come… stay tuned!

The Western Conference trade circus perpetuates some more, as it was now the Dallas Mavericks frantically vying for aging superstar “help” in the aftermath of the still vastly superior Pau Gasol Laker trade.

First it was Phoenix who threw their future away by dealing defensive stalwart and certified Windex man (dude knows how to clean glass) Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal. And now, the Mavs are trying to follow suit to make themselves look relevant and important with the Jason Kidd trade.

As big as the deal was (it involved Kidd and Malik Allen going from New Jersey to Dallas for two 1st round picks, Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, and the now-infamous Devean George), it was unlikely to help Dallas. They were to trade away key members of their depth for one superstar point guard who it can be argued isn’t even better than Harris.

And then it would seem like they would be rescued. Devean George, playing for the same team he played for last year on a one-year contract, enacted his Bird rights to block this deal. Brilliant.

Even though the trade had countless critics from its inception, all was thrown out the window when this happened. It’s as if coming so far only to start back at square one leaves a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. Despite the fact that Dallas was likely worse off with Kidd, they are now potentially even worse off with the botched trade. Hell if you were one of the Mavs involved in this deal, wouldn’t you be bitter that they were shipping you off to fend for yourself in freaking Jersey?

Of course, leave it to the Laker connection to make it all possible.

Ex-Laker George is the one who stifled this trade, further putting Los Angeles in the driver’s seat in the West. And although he is not actively involved in the Gasol deal, you have to believe that ex-Grizzlies general manager slash NBA logo slash Laker legend Jerry West had a hand in that deal.

The Laker connection was not to be one-upped by the off-season wheelings and dealings between ex-Celtic figures involved in bringing Kevin Garnett to Beantown. If anything, perhaps these dealings all served to set up a nostalgic Laker-Celtic finals, where the victor will prove whose organizational pull meant the most.