Mr.Bottomtooth
10-08-2006, 01:29 PM
Rate Me
By Randy Kim
NEW YORK -- Rockets swingman Tracy McGrady sat perched on a corner of a table at the NBA Store in midtown Manhattan with a baffled, if not incredulous, look on his face. "Really?" said McGrady. "Wow, I didn't know anything about that. That's crazy. That's unrealistic."
The news that left McGrady so flummoxed? It wasn't his being told that hoops pundits had picked his Rockets to be at the bottom of the Southwest Division this season, or a rival player saying that he didn't think T-Mac would be the same after an injury-plagued '05-06 campaign.
NBA LIVE 07
TOP TEN
Player, Team Rating
LeBron James, CLE 97
Kobe Bryant, LAL 96
Dwyane Wade, MIA 94
Kevin Garnett, MIN 93
Allen Iverson, PHI 93
Tracy McGrady, HOU 93
Gilbert Arenas, WAS 91
Steve Nash, PHO 91
Elton Brand, LAC 90
Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 90
No, the news that left McGrady so dumbfounded was that he had just been told that he has a strength rating of 50 out of 100 in EA Sports' NBA Live 2007, for which the perennial All-Star serves as the game's cover model. According to the experts at EA Sports, the only Houston players with less muscle on their frames than T-Mac are Rafer Alston (40) and Luther Head (45). This is what left T-Mac shaking his head in disbelief.
Now admittedly, the game's strength ratings are probably based on more than how much weight an NBA player can hoist in the team's weight room. In all likelihood, it has to do just as much with a player's ability to box out, assert position on the blocks, and fight through picks. And maybe (just maybe) a certain writer did bring this low rating to a certain player's attention in order to find a meatier hook for this story. But if nothing else, T-Mac's reaction does serve as an example of how much these virtual ratings mean to the actual players themselves.
"Yeah, (player ratings) mean a lot," said Knicks guard Nate Robinson, also in attendance at the NBA Store for the unveiling of the NBA Live covers. "I'm a 69 (overall) and I think I'm way better than a 69."
Robinson wasn't irate about his 69. In fact, he said that ultimately he was "just happy to be a part of the game." But what's telling about Robinson's response isn't that he wants it to be higher, it's that he was already aware of his rating before the media session, meaning the 2006 Slam Dunk Champion had done his homework prior to the press event. This "advance scouting" is a rarity for a young player -- or any player, actually -- and shows that players aren't just aware of their ratings, they sometimes wear them as badges of honor.
This comes as no surprise to those closest to the game, however. According to NBA Live Senior Producer Brent Nielsen, courting a little ratings-controversy is nothing new to those who work for EA Sports.
"Every year, and it doesn't matter which sport, you'll get guys saying, 'There's no way I should be rated an 82 overall in the game!'," says Nielsen. "It's either that or, 'Hey, can you beef up my stats a little bit?'"
While Nielsen and his team -- including a dedicated database guru who, according to Nielsen, "spends months and months researching game footage and statistics" -- know there's no way to make every player happy in their quest to recreate virtual rosters, they have reached a level of detail never seen before in the NBA Live franchise.
"There are usually 25 ratings in (NBA Live) and this year there are between 75 and 80 ratings," said Nielsen. "We wanted to capture all the different types of athleticism -- from guys' first steps to their crossovers. That way, an Iverson would feel different from a Kobe in the game."
Indeed, a cursory glance at the ratings reveals that not only are there ratings for basics like "Athleticism", "Defense", "Agility" and "Vertical", but there are also super-specific categories for such attributes as "Recovery Quickness", "Scoring With Contact", "Hedging the Screen", and "Defensive Sink or Swim Effectiveness". The additional categories were added in a quest to make the game play as realistically as possible, and to rank the players as accurately as possible, the latter being something Nielsen and his team find to be both gratifying and nerve-wracking.
"When we get the overall ratings, the first thing we do is look and say, 'Are the players that you'd expect to be in the top 10 or 20 the guys that you're seeing?' Or else we're saying, 'Wow, here's a guy who's not getting the respect he deserves.'" said Nielsen. "It definitely sparks a lot of debates. It's a very involved process, but it's a great part of the job. But it's nerve-wracking because, again, the players take it very seriously."
So knowing how seriously the players take their ratings, LeBron James will be happy to know that he's the game's highest-rated player, with an overall rating of 97. Close on The King's heels are Kobe Bryant with a 96, and Dwyane Wade at 94. After the top three, McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson are all in a tie for fourth at 93.
But what of Grizzlies forward Lawrence Roberts? The second-year player who appeared in 33 games last season has the lowest overall rating in the game at 54*. Is it really necessary to single out one player as the worst in the league? Or is this perhaps a slightly devious method through which EA tries to drum up hype for the release of its game, in the way that Redskins' long-snapper Casey Rabach received notoriety in the press for being a "digital Mr. Irrelevant"? I posed this conspiracy theory to Nielsen.
"Absolutely not," says Nielsen. "It's funny, being from Vancouver I was a Grizzlies fan until they moved, so I still follow the Memphis Grizzlies a little bit myself. So I'm a little disappointed to see one of my Grizzlies in (the bottom) spot."
Spoken like a true fan, as well as an objective and careful judge of talent, a combination that is exactly what Nielsen's job calls for.
(* - Writer's Note: After the press event at the NBA Store, I took a closer look at the game's overall ratings and found that Detroit forward Amir Johnson, not Roberts, is actually the lowest rated player in the game at 51. Apologies to Nielsen and Roberts for my gaffe. Such a discovery should obviously drop this writer's ranking in the "Fact-checking" category to sub-30. Hopefully, I won't get cut by the front office at ESPN.com, but maybe I can find a Euro-league gig overseas if I do.)
By Randy Kim
NEW YORK -- Rockets swingman Tracy McGrady sat perched on a corner of a table at the NBA Store in midtown Manhattan with a baffled, if not incredulous, look on his face. "Really?" said McGrady. "Wow, I didn't know anything about that. That's crazy. That's unrealistic."
The news that left McGrady so flummoxed? It wasn't his being told that hoops pundits had picked his Rockets to be at the bottom of the Southwest Division this season, or a rival player saying that he didn't think T-Mac would be the same after an injury-plagued '05-06 campaign.
NBA LIVE 07
TOP TEN
Player, Team Rating
LeBron James, CLE 97
Kobe Bryant, LAL 96
Dwyane Wade, MIA 94
Kevin Garnett, MIN 93
Allen Iverson, PHI 93
Tracy McGrady, HOU 93
Gilbert Arenas, WAS 91
Steve Nash, PHO 91
Elton Brand, LAC 90
Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 90
No, the news that left McGrady so dumbfounded was that he had just been told that he has a strength rating of 50 out of 100 in EA Sports' NBA Live 2007, for which the perennial All-Star serves as the game's cover model. According to the experts at EA Sports, the only Houston players with less muscle on their frames than T-Mac are Rafer Alston (40) and Luther Head (45). This is what left T-Mac shaking his head in disbelief.
Now admittedly, the game's strength ratings are probably based on more than how much weight an NBA player can hoist in the team's weight room. In all likelihood, it has to do just as much with a player's ability to box out, assert position on the blocks, and fight through picks. And maybe (just maybe) a certain writer did bring this low rating to a certain player's attention in order to find a meatier hook for this story. But if nothing else, T-Mac's reaction does serve as an example of how much these virtual ratings mean to the actual players themselves.
"Yeah, (player ratings) mean a lot," said Knicks guard Nate Robinson, also in attendance at the NBA Store for the unveiling of the NBA Live covers. "I'm a 69 (overall) and I think I'm way better than a 69."
Robinson wasn't irate about his 69. In fact, he said that ultimately he was "just happy to be a part of the game." But what's telling about Robinson's response isn't that he wants it to be higher, it's that he was already aware of his rating before the media session, meaning the 2006 Slam Dunk Champion had done his homework prior to the press event. This "advance scouting" is a rarity for a young player -- or any player, actually -- and shows that players aren't just aware of their ratings, they sometimes wear them as badges of honor.
This comes as no surprise to those closest to the game, however. According to NBA Live Senior Producer Brent Nielsen, courting a little ratings-controversy is nothing new to those who work for EA Sports.
"Every year, and it doesn't matter which sport, you'll get guys saying, 'There's no way I should be rated an 82 overall in the game!'," says Nielsen. "It's either that or, 'Hey, can you beef up my stats a little bit?'"
While Nielsen and his team -- including a dedicated database guru who, according to Nielsen, "spends months and months researching game footage and statistics" -- know there's no way to make every player happy in their quest to recreate virtual rosters, they have reached a level of detail never seen before in the NBA Live franchise.
"There are usually 25 ratings in (NBA Live) and this year there are between 75 and 80 ratings," said Nielsen. "We wanted to capture all the different types of athleticism -- from guys' first steps to their crossovers. That way, an Iverson would feel different from a Kobe in the game."
Indeed, a cursory glance at the ratings reveals that not only are there ratings for basics like "Athleticism", "Defense", "Agility" and "Vertical", but there are also super-specific categories for such attributes as "Recovery Quickness", "Scoring With Contact", "Hedging the Screen", and "Defensive Sink or Swim Effectiveness". The additional categories were added in a quest to make the game play as realistically as possible, and to rank the players as accurately as possible, the latter being something Nielsen and his team find to be both gratifying and nerve-wracking.
"When we get the overall ratings, the first thing we do is look and say, 'Are the players that you'd expect to be in the top 10 or 20 the guys that you're seeing?' Or else we're saying, 'Wow, here's a guy who's not getting the respect he deserves.'" said Nielsen. "It definitely sparks a lot of debates. It's a very involved process, but it's a great part of the job. But it's nerve-wracking because, again, the players take it very seriously."
So knowing how seriously the players take their ratings, LeBron James will be happy to know that he's the game's highest-rated player, with an overall rating of 97. Close on The King's heels are Kobe Bryant with a 96, and Dwyane Wade at 94. After the top three, McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson are all in a tie for fourth at 93.
But what of Grizzlies forward Lawrence Roberts? The second-year player who appeared in 33 games last season has the lowest overall rating in the game at 54*. Is it really necessary to single out one player as the worst in the league? Or is this perhaps a slightly devious method through which EA tries to drum up hype for the release of its game, in the way that Redskins' long-snapper Casey Rabach received notoriety in the press for being a "digital Mr. Irrelevant"? I posed this conspiracy theory to Nielsen.
"Absolutely not," says Nielsen. "It's funny, being from Vancouver I was a Grizzlies fan until they moved, so I still follow the Memphis Grizzlies a little bit myself. So I'm a little disappointed to see one of my Grizzlies in (the bottom) spot."
Spoken like a true fan, as well as an objective and careful judge of talent, a combination that is exactly what Nielsen's job calls for.
(* - Writer's Note: After the press event at the NBA Store, I took a closer look at the game's overall ratings and found that Detroit forward Amir Johnson, not Roberts, is actually the lowest rated player in the game at 51. Apologies to Nielsen and Roberts for my gaffe. Such a discovery should obviously drop this writer's ranking in the "Fact-checking" category to sub-30. Hopefully, I won't get cut by the front office at ESPN.com, but maybe I can find a Euro-league gig overseas if I do.)