I personally have not encountered this issue with freezes. The menu screen in this mode is slow, that's the only issue I've noticed! I just commenced mine and was very shocked how much I enjoyed the mode, player lock and all. I'm normally not into this sort of thing but the rookie showcase game was fantastic and a great way to witness all the greatly scanned rookies this year! Really recommend to those on the fence about Rising Star.
In regards to gameplay, they continue to tune the game and the results are good. Noticed that they've tweaked defense for the better again while allowing more shots to fall for the cpu especially. Just completed a very Sim like game vs Bulls both teams shooting in the lower 50 % fg range. The game is flowing very smoothly now and the cpu is passing the ball with effectivness. New swing and bounce pass animations have been added or better utilized and walk up dribbling has been sped up ( especially the behind back stutter step types) and implemented more realistically.
One issue with defense is certain moves are still overpowering. I can usually hit an angled quick burst first step move with a speedy player like Bron or Wall, after walking the ball up court (lulls the cpu to sleep) , and blast down the paint for a dunk. This occurs in successive possessions. Paint contact and help d have surely improved, however, the cpu does not react fast enough or the moves need to be toned down. I did notice this move was more effective against the Pelicans and not as much against the Nets or Bulls. Overall defense still needs work in this game as there are very exploitable holes at present.
All in all, I really approve of what the devs are doing with the game right now. Hope they continue and eventually bring the game to a stable or consistent state.