The Jazz on NBA 2K9 — Three Days In

Posted by Bryan Hickman on October 10, 2008

‘Boozer vs. Pierce – in 2k9 Time’

While the Jazz’s quest for a championship begins in earnest at the end of this month, my quest for a championship began this past Tuesday when, much to the chagrin of my wife and anyone who wants to talk to me during the evening, NBA 2K9 was released for Xbox 360.  This marks my sixth consecutive season as owner, general manager, coach, and player of my own video-game version of the Jazz.  Honestly, it’s pretty much the only reason I even own an X-box…okay, BioShock was pretty cool too.

Unlike other NBA 2K fans I know, I play the “The Association” aspect of game controlling the Jazz exclusively, doing my very best to keep the team intact.  I even start to feel guilty if I don’t give the players I like in real life enough minutes in the game.  Of course, this approach was rough during the pre-DWill/Boozer/Memo days because it was pretty hard to win with that team, even though Kirilenko’s 2K alter-ego was freakishly good back then.  However, the past few years, it’s been possible to win without having to engineer an awkward, unrealistic miracle trade in the preseason.  Needless to say, it’s made the game a lot more fun.

So, now that I’m three days into playing the latest version of the game, I figured that I throw out my initial thoughts on the 2K9 Jazz.  This, of course, is not a commentary/review of the game itself, just a discussion of how the Jazz seem to fare in the Xbox world.

Here we go:

– C.J. Miles is a beast on this game!  I know his actual ratings on the game don’t reflect it, but the kid simply will not miss on ANY wide-open three pointers.  Is this a good omen for the upcoming season?  We can only hope.  I’ve actually moved C.J. into my starting lineup, bringing AK of the bench (kinda like Jerry did Wednesday night against the Lakers).  No complaints from AK thus far.

– The game’s new pick-and-pop feature is outstanding, particularly if you run it with DWill and Memo.  In the last game I played yesterday, I had to stop running it out of fear that I was boring the virtual fans with my lack of creativity.

– Boozer does not miss in the lane.  Period.  Post him up, run the pick-and-roll, heck, give him the ball in the backcourt and have him dribble into the lane — if you put him in position to get the shot anywhere near the rim (i.e., you don’t go in soft against people like Duncan or KG), it’s going in.  Boozer also plays pretty good defense on the game, even blocks a few shots.  Another good omen?

– DWill’s amazing on the game, just like in last year’s edition.  You just give it to him if you desperately need to make a play.  Of course, that’s not an omen or anything, that’s just real life.

Anyway, I’ll likely chime in with 2K9-related thoughts here and there in the future.  It is, for me, the season within the season.

NOTE: Those of you wanting to challenge me to play online should first talk to my wife, who, for one reason or another, won’t let me get Xbox Live.  I don’t understand it myself.  She said something about me being 30 years old and not wanting to find me up at 4:30AM shouting into a headset at a 9-year-old kid somewhere in Asia, but I was playing the game at the time, so I don’t remember the details.

9 Comments

Clint on October 10, 2008 said:

I prefer NBA Live myself, I am waiting for the OK from my wife to buy a 37″ HD TV, and NBA Live 09 for my PS3.. I love dynasty modes, where you manage all aspects of the team and what not.

Like you, I only own my PS3 so I can dominate with the Jazz. My best record, with a few tweaks in my line-up was 81-1, .. well maybe there were more than a few tweaks.. but whatevs.

Jared Conger on October 10, 2008 said:

in other words you guys are CHEATING!!!
you can’t just go in and edit your players attributes and call it fair, nor should you go in and dupe the computer into some poor trades!
playing with the roster given is how to do it…
but i guess it wouldn’t be a video game without the tweaks now would it?

Mr. Bytheway on October 10, 2008 said:

sorry, the only basketball video game i can handle is NBA JAM. i’d love to see a deron-booz combo in that, though. they might even be able to handle the larry johnson/alonzo mourning combo.

Ted on October 11, 2008 said:

i cant find Miles anywhere.
and i play with Jazz most of the time, and boooooz always gets blocked. but im a still huge fan of Jazz so , i wont stop playin wit them even tho i lose all the time!

Linda McFarland on October 11, 2008 said:

And I worry about spending too much time on line with my email!!

Justin Wilson on October 11, 2008 said:

Kyle Korver Rocks!!!!

JayD on October 11, 2008 said:

Wow , that sounds like it could be fun . I used to play NBA Jam on my step sons Super Netendo , that was fun , but he always killed me when I played with him . I hope to have a game machine soon , I just not sure what I will get .
But I probably wont play it anywhere near what you fellow fans may play it , on the account that I am really to busy to spend that much time on one . But I would like to try playing the Jazz in one of those games . Which game machine has the best in the Jazz ball ? Any takes ?

Linda McFarland on October 12, 2008 said:

Do you mean they have actually made a new game since Donkey Kong??

Jeremiah Jensen on March 02, 2009 said:

10 and 1 in Feb, and 8 game win streak. I think now that everybody is together and off the injured list. The Jazz are making a statement. Go UTAH!!!!!

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