For some die-hard basketball fans, choosing between NBA Live and NBA 2K this year was like going to a used-car lot and trying to decide if you wanted a refurbished Pinto or a beat-up Camry.

On the one hand, there is the familiar 2K engine, which has problems that have been compounded over the years because its owners have spent all their money adding frivolous features like a sleek spoiler, custom wheels and a lavish paint job, all while refusing to take the car in for the necessary maintenance on the parts that really matter: the engine, the brakes and the transmission, etc.

In the lot across the street sits an ugly looking Ford Pinto, with a rusting exterior, a broken passenger-side door handle and a non-functional air-conditioning unit. But since it just had its engine and transmission replaced, the Pinto runs well, and unlike the souped-up Camry, it will not leave you kicking it in its chrome-plated tires as it is lying dead on the side of the road with a pile of smoke rising from its engine -- though it may still explode if hit in the wrong spot.

Such is the state of this year’s basketball games: One is in dire need of an interior makeover (2K), while the other (Live) might be all right to use in a pinch but still needs a lot of exterior work before it is ready to become an "every day" type of car.

So, here are the key areas that the Live developers need to work on in the offseason if they want their game to earn a spot in the starting five of the 2010 lineup of sports games.

Passing and Dribbling

Like 2K, a lot of Live’s offensive problems come from not having a firm grasp of two of the sport’s fundamental techniques: passing and dribbling.

Both games’ passing systems can be described as slow, floaty and cumbersome, but what really makes Live’s system the worse of the two systems is the fact that it allows players to make ridiculous, full-court "baseball passes." The baseball pass is frequently exploited in online play because players are able to collect a defensive rebound under the goal, then immediately launch the ball 90 feet up the court right into the hands of a streaking guard.

On the other hand, dribbling is something that, honestly, has not been accurately captured in any basketball game to date. Instead of feeling quick, responsive and natural, both basketball franchises have struggled to find a dribbling system that gives the ball handler a wealth of moves while also avoiding the loss-of-control factor that comes into play every time an animation for a "special move" is triggered.

Play Calling and Floor Spacing

To Live’s credit, its play calling system is leagues better than the mess that is included in NBA 2K9 because it gives the user multiple options during each step of the play and does not immediately break the play off if the ball handler moves an inch or two away from the magic spot.

Live's pick-and-roll plays, a staple of the NBA game, are also a step ahead of 2K's, as Live gives users complete control over when they want the picker to release, and whether they want the picker to roll to the basket or pop outside for a jump shot.

Live falls behind 2K, however, in the player-spacing department during offensive sets. While it is awesome to see Live’s players spot up in their "hot spots" on the offensive end of the court, it is mind boggling how often the perimeter players will spot up right on the 3-point line instead of setting up in their proper position a half-step behind it.

Corrections to these types of simple fundamentals could easily vault Live past 2K in 2010 because Live, despite its limitations, easily has the better offensive style.



What's wrong with this clip? NBA 2K9's not alone, traveling exploits exist in NBA Live, too. Here, Stephen Jackson uses an exploit in the pump-fake animation to inch his way closer to the basket -- despite the fact that he moves his left pivot foot.

Defending on the Ball

The helplessness one feels on the defensive end of the court in NBA Live 09 is not all that dissimilar from what happens in NBA 2K9.

But while 2K's problems stem from major clipping, sliding and traveling issues, Live’s defensive problems are much simpler: The analog stick is simply not sufficient enough when trying to stay in front of an offensive player.

The only way players can get into a defensive stance in NBA Live is to press the analog stick towards their man, which places the defender right up on top of the ball handler.

As any basketball player would know, this is essentially an invitation for the offensive player to blow right by the defender. And in Live, that is exactly what happens all game long.

Essentially, the only way to keep a ball handler from blowing by your defender in NBA Live is to try to take a charge, and obviously, that is not an acceptable solution to a major defensive issue.

On-ball defense is a problem that must be fixed in '10 if Live wants to avoid frustrating its users on the defensive end of the court.



What's wrong with this clip? Three Grizzlies defenders stand around and stare into space as Russell Westbrook slides and clips his way through them, teleports a pass through the defensive crowd, then completes the assist to Nenad Krstic for a ridiculous reverse layup.

Rebounding and Rim Physics

Quite frankly, with the way the ball interacts with the rims in NBA Live 09, one has to wonder if the ball being used is a metal pinball rather than a basketball.

The crazy bounces, spins and rolls that occur once the ball hits the rim only makes it that much harder for players to rebound, which is Live’s other major issue on defense.

Live’s box-outs never seem to trigger with any sort of consistency. On the rare occasion that they do, it is still not a guaranteed rebound given how wildly the ball will bounce around on missed shots, and how often the ball becomes mysteriously untouchable for defensive players.



What's wrong with this clip? Hakim Warrick forces a missed shot from Jeff Green, only to have Warrick, O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay miss the rebound as it rolls to floor, gets sucked into Jeff Green's tractor beam and results in an unwarranted trip to the free-throw line for Green and his magic suction hands.

Sliding and Clipping

While it is nice that EA has put some basic defensive sliding animations into its game, defenders too often get locked into sliding around the court when they should be turning around and sprinting.

What Live needs is a button (maybe one of the triggers) that the user can hold down to stay in a sliding, defensive stance, then release when the user needs to stand up and move freely.

Point is, trying to automate these things for the user does not work in NBA Live 09 and tends to make defense consistently frustrating.

Lastly, clipping, while not as big of an issue as it is in NBA 2K9, still exists to some degree in NBA Live 09. Moving forward, clipping needs to be cut out of the game as much as possible to keep users from getting annoyed when they do everything right on the defensive end only to see the ball go right through their players’ hands/bodies and into the net for an easy basket.




What's wrong with this clip? Mike Conley shows how illogical the game's on-ball defense system is as he gets sucked out of bounds and out of position by Russell Westbrook's baseline drive. Marc Gasol seems to recover and make a clean block on the play -- only to have the ball clip right through his hand.

With both NBA games needing to put in some serious work this summer before they can earn a start in many gamers’ starting lineups next fall, a lot of hoops fans have been left wondering where they should go for their basketball fix during March Madness.

The solution just might be the genre’s cagey veteran, College Hoops 2K8. Thanks to the efforts of the Operation Sports community, two sets of tournament-ready rosters are now online, just waiting to be downloaded and enjoyed.

And though it may be a few years behind the '09 basketball games in terms of animations and player models, College Hoops 2K8 is the only basketball game out there right now that actually leaves many users feeling like they are only fighting their opponents on the court, not the game’s brain-dead A.I., ridiculous animations or unresponsive controls.