Art Vandelay

Knicks @ Nets / Heat @ Bulls TNT double-header tonight on BT Sport 1!

Oh, and how 'bout them Trailblazers?!

How about those two epic games last night? Blazers edging the Pacers in a back-and-forth thriller to remain at the top of the Western conference and then New Orleans beating the Bulls by only 3 points in a TRIPLE overtime battle! If you missed either game, do yourself a favour and check them out. Dare I say, Blazers/Pacers is a potential finals matchup right now? Who'd have thought that pre-season?

NBA Tonight (5pm on ESPN) today and then Heat/Pistons later tonight on BT Sport :-)

Anyone staying up for the Knicks/Nets & Heat/Bulls games on Thursday?

Here are more upcoming games:

Denver @ Boston (Friday 6/12, 12:30 - BT Sport)

Pacers @ Spurs (Saturday 7/12, 1:30am - BT Sport)

Celtics @ Knicks (Sunday 8/12, 5pm - BT Sport)

Heat @ Pacers (Tuesday 10/12, 12am - BT Sport)

Bulls @ Knicks (Wednesday 11/12, 1am - BT Sport)

Dallas @ Golden State (Wednesday 11/12, 3.30am - BT Sport)

Clippers @ Nets (Thursday 12/12, 1am - BT Sport)

Rockets @ Portland (Thursday 12/12, 3.30am - BT Sport)

Lakers @ OKC (Friday 13/12, 1am - BT Sport)

Rockets @ Warriors (Friday 13/12, 3.30am - BT Sport)

Indeed great game to catch. Caught whole of first and last quarter. Switched. Ago and forth inbetween I'm a celeb ad breaks (what others in the house wanted on) the bt coverage was great. The repeated adverts could be cut out a little less though! Must have seen the 4 football games in a week advert 11 times durin the fourth quarter. Heres to next weekend too! So glad they are showing the Sunday prime time games! If only there was more really. Oh and Christmas days gonna be superb!

Well there's loads on during the week remember. Heat/Pistons on Tuesday and Knicks/Nets & Heat/Bulls double-header on Thursday.

NBA Tonight is on ESPN UK every day too.

What an absolute THRILLER of a game that was. I don't think BT or the NBA could have asked for a better start to the deal!

The Clippers could have bagged the W there, but CP3's shot was way off in that 4th quarter. Too many rebounds given up too. It was a case of one too many silly little mistakes. What a game though, watching Chris Paul run the floor with DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin is something to behold.

The Lebron mode isn't in the next-gen version. You get the cinematic story/career mode instead - well worth it.

Thanks man.

 

Looking at the LeBron mode on the PS3 version on youtube it was more of a dictate his future mode, rather than relive like the Jordan mode I loved so much in 2k11, so is no big loss.

If you can grab the game on PS4, do so. It's incredible. Really, it may be the best sports game I've ever played.

Fair enough, I am surprised he is that bumbling, I swear he used to manage a UK Basketball team in the 90's.

 

I am thinking of getting a PS4 in a few weeks, is the LeBron mode any good does anyone know in 2K14, I loved the Jordan mode in 2K11.

The Lebron mode isn't in the next-gen version. You get the cinematic story/career mode instead - well worth it.

Great coverage on BT Sport so far. Direct US coverage too, no crappy UK studio.

Yeah it will be the American feed. Kevin Cadle was absolutely dreadful, clearly knew little to nothing about the sport and the 'pundits' were even worse.

 

Westbrook's game winner was incredible, I finished installing 2K14 on my PS4 in the early hours of the morning and ended up watching the game live. 2 great results in a row now for the Thunder. Minnesota seem to have fallen off a bit in the past 2 weeks after a bright start.

T-Wolves are still a team not to be taken lightly. I wouldn't be shocked to see them make the playoffs, even if the have been lacking a bit.

The whole New York situation is just awful. I was super-hyped about the battle of the boroughs prior to the season and now I'm just glad that on Thursday, ONE of the NY teams are at least guaranteed a win! I really hope both turn it around, it'd be a disaster for them not to make the playoffs.

I'm also praying to the basketball gods for a Warriors/Thunder playoff series. It has to happen.

What are your thoughts on 2K14? I'm absolutely loving it so far. Got my PS4 hooked up to the 5.1 surround sound via HDMI and the crowds, atmosphere etc is insane. Played as the Clips against the Bulls at Staples center earlier and won it 79-76 in OT. Derrick Rose hit a 3 to tie the game at the end of the 4th and the crowd were going MENTAL in OT, especially anytime the Bulls shot a free throw.

Will need to get a game online soon!

Anyone know if the NBA coverage is gonna be with the American commentators and in there studio rather then coming back and listening to guys in English studio.

Pretty sure it's direct US feed

Russell. Freaking. Westbrook.

Schedule for the week ahead looks like this so far:

Sun 2pm: NBA Tonight (ESPN)

Sun 8pm: NBA Action (BT SPORT 2)

Sun 8:30pm: Indiana Pacers vs. LA Clippers (BT SPORT 2)

Mon 5pm: NBA Inside Stuff (BT SPORT 2)

Tue 5pm: NBA Tonight (ESPN)

Tue 12am: Detroit Pistons vs. Miami Heat (BT SPORT 1)

Thurs 5pm: NBA Action (BT SPORT 2)

Thurs 12am: New York Knicks vs. Brooklyn Nets / Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls TNT double header (BT SPORT 1)

Looking good! That double header is going to be fantastic. NBA Tonight seems to be on most days too. This is easily the best TV deal we've had in the UK for NBA. For those wondering, there's no league pass blackouts in the uk either.

HUGE NEWS! BT SPORT & NBA AGREE TO MULTI-YEAR MEGA DEAL!

- 7 live games per week

- All Sunday primetime games (6 / 8.30pm UK time double headers)

- All Star Weekend

- Playoffs

- Finals

- NBA Tonight, pre-game countdown shows and loads of weekly NBA magazine shows.

Starts this Sunday with Pacers vs. Clippers at 8.30pm on BT Sport 2!

INFO: http://sport.bt.com/watchnow/programmes/bt...S11363853884297

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

In terms of the league being of a high standard, it's been a disastrous start to the season for league officials and David Stern's last few months. A lot of poor teams are picking up wins early and the two New York teams are rotting. I still expect a lot of that to change. What is hurting the league more is top players going down with injuries. I'm an advocate for a shorter season, well lighter schedule with 50 odd games spread from Nov-Apr being more than enough. It's killing some of the players out there. You only have to look to see that two of the top 5 point guards in the league are both out injured. (Rose and Rondo) as well as Kobe and Westbrook is easing his way back. It seems some of the franchises are starting to understand it, they're giving stars the rest they need. From a spectators point of view it's no-win.

 

Anyway, most people Stateside are going with the Pacers or Spurs at this stage. It's still too early to tell but my prediction of the Bulls winning the East has gone right out of the window. I doubt he'll ever be the same again this time. Such a shame. People are probably sleeping on the Thunder too, a lot of people got them down as 3rd or 4th seed. I think they'll top the West.

How much time do you reckon the NY teams have to turn it around? I can see Melo signing with the Lakers to play with Kobe next year. It'd suck to see him leave New York, but I really do think he's LA-bound, no matter what he says.

Oh and from last night - Paul George's SICK windmill dunk:

A thing of beauty.

Kobe signs a cool $48.5 million deal to stay with the Lakers for another two years, probably until retirement: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/nov/...-deal-la-lakers

It's also confirmed that Derrick Rose will be out for the rest of the season.

Brooklyn Nets fall to a grim 3-10 after losing to the Pistons. Knicks will join them if they lose to the Blazers tonight...

Bumping this again. Derrick Rose, Andre Igoudala and Mark Gasol all injured last night. Not looking good for Rose, MRI today to confirm but many fearing a torn ACL. If that's the case, you have to question if he'll be the same again.

After me laughing, the Knicks actually put up a great fight against the Pacers, even leading at the half. The game was close until the end of regulation and it actually looked like NY had the game in the bag, until Paul George was fouled and awarded 3 free throws. Really bad move by Shumpert to foul at the end of Q4 but it was still a bad call that resulted in OT and cost the Knicks the W. Thoughts?: https://t.co/U0Uig9rLDF

The Mavs beat the Rockets in another super-close game, which felt like a playoff atmosphere. 123-120, jokes now going around Twitter that Dwight is being beaten by every team that he rejected during the summer.

Memphis comes up big against the Warriors in a typical grit-and-grind win that you'd expect from the Grizz. Warriors looked good, even without Curry, but just came up short.

Finally, Brooklyn lose to the Bobcats. Oh dear...what the hell is happening in New York?

Pacers/Knicks tonight.

Predictions?

........

Watch the video comparison of Live 14 vs 2K14. Oh dear: http://www.gamespot.com/videos/nba-live-14...-/2300-6416239/

NBA Live 14 review

 

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/11/19/nba-live-14-review

 

Considering IGN are usually over generous, and gave average games a 7.5, they must have really hated this. 2k14 got a good review though.

I read that. Folk who have received the game early have been live streaming it via their PS4's and from watching a few streams, it didn't look good at all. No wonder they didn't show any real gameplay prior to release.

Roll on next Friday and 2K14 next gen! Anyone else getting it?

Oh, and Bulls/Clippers this Sunday night at 8.30pm UK time!

Real breakout performance from Blake Griffin last night; time to hit the panic button in Brooklyn too?

 

 

Without being smug, I knew this would happen in Brooklyn. I even called it on the eve of the new season. I just couldn't see those pieces fitting together. Paul Pierce should have been allowed to finish his career as a Celtic. I'm surprised KG didn't retire after he didn't get reunited with Doc Rivers too. Deron Williams is the most overrated star in the league, he hasn't been worth his salary since he became a Net. He shows flashes of the brilliance he had in Utah, but meh, there's too many individuals in there. You've Joe Johnson lost in the shuffle there too, he's a former all-star, he doesn't do much in Brooklyn and then they expect him to to take the final shot every game when he's not a regular part of the offense? Crazy. You can't pin the blame on J Kidd either, it's the owners that have assembled this roster. The good news is that we're still so early in this season. In recent years we've seen the Knicks and Celtics both have horrible first half of seasons and then after the All-Star break they've turned it on and made the play-offs. They've got some valuable pieces too. If their going to run the organisation around D-Will, I'd probably trade Joe Johnson and see if you can get a decent starter and a bench player in return, or even a draft pick. Problem is, Brooklyn want to win NOW.

Agreed. For me, Joe Johnson is the best thing about the team right now and has been since last season when they moved to the Barclays Center. When they announced that KG, Pierce etc were heading to Brooklyn, I wondered how well it would work out, considering the age of the ex-Celtics. I do wonder if the team will pick up nearer the playoffs though, as KG, Pierce are known for being late starters in NBA seasons, as you said. It's not looking good for either NY team right now but hopefully things pick up. I was hanging my head the other day watching the Knicks woeful performance against Atlanta. Just terrible. Calls for Woodson to be fired from the crowd too, never a good sign! Latest rumours are that they're trying to shop Amar'e, Felton and Shumpert to Boston in exchange for Rondo. Thoughts on that?

Real breakout performance from Blake Griffin last night; time to hit the panic button in Brooklyn too?

Yeah I'm a member of OS so I've been following all the news and videos. I was so hyped for Live 14, but I had my reservations about it. It's such a shame they've essentially wasted the ESPN license. If this flops well and truly, they should do the right thing and let 2K have the ESPN license. I'd imagine they'll quit putting out basketball games this year. They put a no review embargo on Live 14 until it's launch, so it was obvious something was up. I think the worst part is that there is no reason whatsoever why that garbage couldn't have been released on PS3/360.

 

Next gen 2K looks like probably the best launch title, it looks incredible. The half time interviews look ridiculous (in a good way) too! Can't wait to start a new MyCareer and give MyGM a whirl too.

I'd actually rather see 2K use the TNT license. If you look at their presentation, commentators etc, it pretty much IS TNT, just without the actual logo or name. It would be cool to see TNT, ESPN, NBA TV and some local networks all in the game so that it's just like a real life season. Surely next year, they've got to have the actual commentators in the game too for a pre/post game discussion in the studio or something?

My bad, it's on at 11 I think. Hardwood classics on now, Jordan scores 55 points against Phoenix in 1993. Awesome stuff!

I dunno if you've seen this, but someone uploaded the intro for nba 2k14 next gen.

And here's the intro to the story mode (skip to 4:12)

Speaking of games, it appears that there was a reason EA was hiding Live 14 gameplay. Looks like some people have gotten their hands on the game early and have been live streaming gameplay. I had the game pre-ordered and was hoping for something really good. This; however, just looks really BAD. Really REALLY bad compared to 2K14:

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/nba-...ay-footage.html

Oh dear!

Yeah I did. It's not been a great few days for the Thunder. Still think we'll win the West though, Ibaka should never have been ejected the other night.

 

Can you do catch up on NBA TV on Apple TV? I can watch previous content on my iPad or Laptop but can't seem to find a feature on Apple TV.... The reason I ask is because I'm re-watching all of the Hardwood Classics, watching Jordan drop 54 on the Knicks last night in the 93 Eastern Conference Finals was a thing of beauty, I fell asleep in the first quarter of the next episode though!

Don't think you can do it via Apple TV, sadly. I think it's website mode only for now.

BTW, 'The Starters' is on in 20 mins at 10pm on NBA TV. Great show, always good fun.