As a big fan of the NBA 2K series, I’ve watched it transform into nothing short of a masterpiece. During this generation it has easily been the top hoops title when it comes to playability, accuracy and depth (some argue it's the best sports title around), but there are some issues that need fixing. And when you play a certain game a ton, you tend to notice a lot of things you would like to see improved -- not because the game is bad but because you expect the world out of a title you already love to play. So in my next column, I'll to focus on the top 20 issues in the NBA 2K series.

Here, though, I want to focus on some of the things that didn’t make that list. Since these are still vital and necessary issues that need to be addressed, I figured I would touch on them, even if only briefly.

1. Better Boxing Out on Free Throws – Am I the only one that thinks that the shooter’s team gets way too many rebounds off of missed free throws? (After reading posts on several websites and polling countless 2K players, apparently not.) Let’s see the frequency of offensive rebounds in situations like these be lowered significantly. Loose ball fouls anyone?

2. Fewer Dunks - While looking at previous versions of the game and playing 2K9, it’s pretty obvious that this aspect has already improved a great deal. Still, there are too many dunks in the half court -- especially because attempting a dunk is rewarded with a foul too frequently. Dunks in many instances require a player to gather himself, and many times this makes a layup more practical, which also gives the help defense a chance to recover. Maybe we could see more blocks and hard fouls when a player takes the time to gather for a dunk rather than a quick layup. In addition to that, I would also like to see the shot stick plus the aggressive modifier result more in a “strong” move to the basket, rather than always a dunk attempt.

3. Use Traveling and Loose Balls To Limit Dribble Moves – I’m not talking about when you’re at the top of the key with Dwyane Wade and you’re about to break down a defender -- that would be bad and unnecessary. What I’m talking about is when your best buddy takes Yao Ming and tries to do the UTEP two-step Tim Hardaway made famous. That type of thing just can't happen -- automatic travel. What about when Shaq tries to go behind the back leading the fast break?

No way (except maybe in the All-Star game).

Although these aren’t overly effective moves to do with big men, it shatters the “immersion” aspect of the game, and it tends to serve as an ever-sobering reminder that we’re playing a videogame.

4. “Trailing” Steal Attempts – While I love these animations, I hate this game mechanic. Why? Because while the CPU won’t abuse any advantage it can, human players will. What’s strange is that you can’t do this to a CPU-controlled player without being whistled regularly for a foul. But when battling against another user, gamers hit the steal button from behind a ball handler to impede fast breaks and other breakaway attempts at will. Solution? Easy, let’s see this called as a reaching foul nine times out of 10 like it probably would be in the NBA.

5. Online Profile – In much the same way that I would like to see other “offline” settings taken online, things like rotations and coach settings are paramount as well. There’s nothing more frustrating than going online and realizing that the rotation you are comfortable with has been changed to one you have no experience with whatsoever. At the very least we should have a section that allows us to save an online roster and rotation that matches what we’re used to offline.

6. Online Lobbies – Sadly, the new online interface without lobbies might have been just as unpopular as the removal of the 2K Cam (and we know how that worked out). The current system simply makes me wait too long to find an opponent. Lobby systems in online gaming just seem to be the best way to go for now.

7. Pick and Roll – While the dominance of the pick and roll has been toned down immensely, it’s still a little too unbalanced at times. One element that might help? The deflected pass out of bounds. Quite frankly, we don’t see this aspect enough. And this mechanic would not increase the turnover amount ridiculously, yet it would still force an offense to operate late in the shot clock as a penalty. If this -- and the occasional loose ball foul from illegal picks are added -- it could help further balance the pick and roll.

8. Player Interview – Whatever happened to this cool cut scene at the end of games? I have to admit that seeing the player of the game being interviewed added some serious depth, and it was one of those nice “finishing touches” that I enjoyed seeing.

9. Offensive Rebounding – While I will touch on CPU offensive rebounding later on, this is another issue entirely. Simply put, there are just too many offensive rebounds. Watching replays has shown me that players are too passive at times, do not actively block out at other times, and are sometimes simply clueless when trying to locate the ball. This, coupled with the fact that loose ball fouls are nonexistent, and opposing players go “over the back” at will without penalty, makes offensive rebounding excessive. This would seem to be an easy fix, and it would go a long way towards making 2K the true basketball sim that I know it can be.

10. End of Quarter/Half/Game Buzzer Beaters – While Kevin Harlan certainly gets excited by buzzer beaters, what about everyone else? What about getting mobbed by teammates and the crowds exploding in celebration? While buzzer beaters are not celebrated like game-winning shots, let’s see our player jog excitedly off the court to a round of teammate high fives. What about the mandatory three sets of replays from every angle? Hitting a buzzer beater to win a game in my season the other night showed me that there’s still a little bit of work to do in this regard.

11. Fatigue – Dynamic fatigue has been a necessary feature for some time. And although a tremendous amount of work has been done in this regard, there are still certain behaviors during gameplay that should have more tangible fatigue consequences -- but don’t. Take, for instance, the constant double-teaming that unscrupulous players used to ruin gameplay two years ago. Couldn’t this have been rectified by a system where players who did this tactic fatigued at three times the normal rate, thus these users had to constantly sub bench players in for key minutes or risk playing with fatigued and ineffective players? What about a full-court press all game? I think Rick Pitino’s quick NBA pit stop all but proved the ineffectiveness of this tactic. Few, if any teams are in the condition to press for 48 minutes. Let’s not forget defensive assignments either.

There’s a popular adage that sums it up: “You don’t get tired playing offense.” I would like to see a more fatigue drain when I assign players to play “tight" D, use the lockdown mechanic and harass offensive players. These are just a few of the benefits that a more dynamic fatigue system would allow.

12. Post Play – It’s really not a surprise that the ability to back players down in the post was toned down. The game shipped “out of the box” with a post game that was probably a little too dominating, and so it was rectified. The only issue was that it might have been toned down a bit too much. Our ability to achieve post position was severely limited when it should have been based on the matchup. While most players in the league can only back some players, other players can back down anyone (e.g. Shaq and Tim Duncan). And while we don’t want to see a game where all players have this ability, let’s see the elite players separated from the poor, solid, good and average ones.

As an aside, 2K4 had a mechanic where post players would fight for position -- there was a “window” to get them the ball before the defender took away position (the length of this “window” was based on player ratings of course).

13. Online – This one is short and sweet. One pet peeve is the inability to do something online that can be done offline. Remember the fuss the community caused when the 2K Camera wasn’t initially available online? While this might have seemed silly, it’s hard for users to have to change the way they play to go online -- it’s also unnecessary. Case in point: We still do not have the ability to change our double-team settings online. Now I’ve been a 2K player for long enough to remember how this was abused online in previous versions of the game. But here’s the thing, I’ve also watched gameplay evolve to the point where it punishes us when we attempt behaviors that would be unwise in reality (remember when the CPU wouldn’t fast break?).

Let’s see the same school of thought here. Punish excessive double-teaming the same way people were punished for button-mashing to steal the ball. I want to see contact and reaching fouls called at an extremely high rate when gamers excessively double team the ball handler.

14. Removing Injured Players – While I absolutely love the frequency of updated rosters, it was strange the other night to see a Minnesota fan playing with Al Jefferson because he is out for the entire season. Doesn’t it almost defeat the purpose if Al Jefferson is still usable online? I mean I don’t simply use the updated roster to play an offline season. Even online I like the roster to display the accuracy of the “current” NBA season. While I can certainly understand players being able to use their entire roster in unranked games, ranked games should feature a roster where players who are on the IR are unavailable.

15. Baseline Drive – While this is certainly a part of the NBA game, it is certainly not to the extent that it is in NBA 2K. Simply put, it is too easy to drive baseline and finish. This has a lot to do with man and help defense. While I do not want a game where it is impossible to penetrate, making it too easy is just as bad. But there’s no question that finding the right balance is supremely difficult.

16. Pump Fake – I’ve been a hardcore gamer since the early '90s, and since then, the pump fake has been a overly powerful tool against set defenders. While it certainly can force a defender out of a proper defensive stance and make a drive to the basket less difficult, rarely should we see defenders leave their feet on the perimeter. In a nutshell, I would like to see defenders fall “victim” to it far less, but I would also like to see more of a risk-reward structure in place. While I love the fact that defenders are able to poke the ball away during a pump fake, it doesn’t happen nearly as much as it should. Scorers that “pump and drive” are also frequently called for traveling violations when they shuffle their feet, where is this in gameplay?

I also want to see defenders crowd the offensive player and take away his dribble (and get in position for an easy block), as well as animations where pump fakes result in tie-up situations. NBA 2K is a basketball sim, and situations where users pass the ball along the perimeter and pump fake with every player until they get a defender to jump, need to be relegated to the “cheese” scrap heap.

17. Steal Attempts – While many other elements of NBA 2K have become more simulation over the years (including steal attempts), the ability for users to abuse the steal button remains a major headache. The NBA game tends to be about position defense, and most steals come from playing passing lanes. More fouls and more penalties for reaching should be in effect.