I saw your post about 2K5 so it appears you may have changed your tune but every article that I have read except for IGNs (which was garbage, I mean he pretty much said that the game was more realistic, and remarked that this may be a bad thing (because he can no longer run all over teams)), have noted that the graphics are improved but not as big of a leap on the field as you would expect for Next-Gen, but they have all praised that the game is a solid step in the right direction, praising the gameplay aspects that still need work but are finally in tune with what players have been asking for.
Also NBA 2K14 has been getting roughly the same scores, in the end the Graphics while being an amazing leap have been cancelled out by small changes to the game play (not bad ones, but also not positive changes).
Gameplay is what matters in sports games, and this is a sentiment held by a vast majority on the site (its why people still play NFL 2K5, and MVP Baseball 2005, and choose games like College Hoops 2K8 over the much better presentation-wise NCAA Basketball 2010). Presentation is important and graphics should improve as we venture further into this generation, the most important thing is gameplay.