[ehh]

#1 is by far the biggest issue for me. The series doesn't look or feel like NBA basketball and it hasn't for a while. They have to re-do the engine/player movement/physics or whatever term you want to use for it. NBA players are the best athletes in the world but I feel like I'm controlling an overweight pre-teen when I play this game.

Even a mess of a series like Madden has this down pat: I feel like I'm using elite athletes and have full control over what I'm doing on the field (outside of the occasional glitch). The responsiveness is on point. Nearly everything is slow and sluggish in 2K. As you said, it's infuriating to play on-ball defense. Passing and catching animations are so, so bad and slow that it limits your ability to play "real" basketball. I simply do not feel like I'm in control of my players. Most situations in the game boil down to whether or not I can get a favorable animation.

I've played 2K since its birth but I have largely given up on this series in the last few years (I buy it on Black Friday) because I feel like I'm not in control of what's happening on the court. It's not the learning curve or mastering the controls, it's a lack of responsiveness and dated, sluggish animations.