College Hoops 2K8 cover athlete loses season to injury

by pastapadre
Posted September 14th, 2007 at 1:26 am

The news that Greg Oden, the #1 pick in the draft by the Portland Trailblazers, will miss the entire season due to a knee injury brings up an interesting question. Oden is the cover athlete for College Hoops 2K8. With the tentative release date of November 5th, would it be too late for 2K to change the cover? And would they even want to if they could?

Back when it was announced on June 27th, Oden was the obvious choice to represent College Hoops. Kevin Durant had already been snagged by EA for March Madness 08. Oden along with Durant were on a level above any other players in the draft in terms of talent and recognition with the public.

Surely 2K would prefer to have an active player on the cover. It will be somewhat awkward to have Oden out promoting the game when he isn’t playing in the NBA this year and possibly for some time even into the following season. Where Kevin Durant will be mentioned almost nightly on ESPN, Oden will be out of the minds of basketball fans during the season. At least it is an NCAA basketball game which he can still represent as his collegiate career is complete and comes fresh off the National Championship appearance. It does hurt though to not have him in the NBA spotlight.

There is about seven weeks until release which seems like a lot of time. When you consider things such as their marketing plan, promotional materials and loading screens in the game it is probably too late to do any sort of complete switchover to another player. Not to mention the costs incurred by signing another player to a contract.

As to how he will be dealt with in the NBA games, it’s certain that he’ll be on the original rosters as those generally lock in about a month and a half prior to the release date. Whether a roster update will remove or disable him is uncertain although seems likely at some point.

I don’t believe there has ever been an injury or off the field situation this long before the release of a game that impacted a player set for a cover. Despite this, it would seem unlikely that 2K will make any sort of move due to this news and they’ll continue on with College Hoops 2K8 being represented by Oden.

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Anthony

The only one of similarity that I can remember, was the Danny Heatley cover of NHL 04. He got was involved in a car accident and one of his teammates was killed. EA changed the cover, though a few months after NHL 04′s release, to an Avalanche player, Joe Sakic I think.

Could you imagine if Oden signed with EA and Durant with 2K? People would’ve had the EA curse going.
Anthony

The only one of similarity that I can remember, was the Danny Heatley cover of NHL 04. He got was involved in a car accident and one of his teammates was killed. EA changed the cover, though a few months after NHL 04′s release, to an Avalanche player, Joe Sakic I think.

Could you imagine if Oden signed with EA and Durant with 2K? People would’ve had the EA curse going.
shoeprint

I knew this was coming… cant wait for Vince Young to go down (Madden Curse). Man I dont know if I am a smart guy or Pasta is Predictable… What does this have to do with the gameplay, Greg Oden is in the pros not college.

Why do I even bother…
shoeprint

I knew this was coming… cant wait for Vince Young to go down (Madden Curse). Man I dont know if I am a smart guy or Pasta is Predictable… What does this have to do with the gameplay, Greg Oden is in the pros not college.

Why do I even bother…
http://www.artoficial.com/ Artoficial

[quote comment="3951"]I knew this was coming… cant wait for Vince Young to go down (Madden Curse). Man I dont know if I am a smart guy or Pasta is Predictable… What does this have to do with the gameplay, Greg Oden is in the pros not college.

Why do I even bother…[/quote]

I agree, why should they change the cover.
http://www.artoficial.com Artoficial

[quote comment="3951"]I knew this was coming… cant wait for Vince Young to go down (Madden Curse). Man I dont know if I am a smart guy or Pasta is Predictable… What does this have to do with the gameplay, Greg Oden is in the pros not college.

Why do I even bother…[/quote]

I agree, why should they change the cover.
Dantecamp

Sad news for us sports fans. But everybody is already taking shots at Oden. We should wait before the Sam Bowie 2.0 label goes out of the window. Anyway, even injured, College Hoops will be better off with him on the cover than with any other available rookie. Al Horford isn´t than him.
Dantecamp

Sad news for us sports fans. But everybody is already taking shots at Oden. We should wait before the Sam Bowie 2.0 label goes out of the window. Anyway, even injured, College Hoops will be better off with him on the cover than with any other available rookie. Al Horford isn´t than him.
joel0078

I think you were the only person wondering if the cover should be changed. It never even crossed my mind. I see no reason why the cover would be changed. Just because he got injured before his pro career started, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be acknowledged for his short (but dominating) college career. The players who make the cover for College hoops are great college players that have moved on to the NBA, but played well the previous year in college. Josh Childress, Jason Williams, TJ Ford, Rashad Mccants and JJ Reddick, all played great college seasons the year before they moved onto the NBA.
joel0078

I think you were the only person wondering if the cover should be changed. It never even crossed my mind. I see no reason why the cover would be changed. Just because he got injured before his pro career started, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be acknowledged for his short (but dominating) college career. The players who make the cover for College hoops are great college players that have moved on to the NBA, but played well the previous year in college. Josh Childress, Jason Williams, TJ Ford, Rashad Mccants and JJ Reddick, all played great college seasons the year before they moved onto the NBA.
shoeprint

good point joel…

Oh wait, did me and Art agree on something?
shoeprint

good point joel…

Oh wait, did me and Art agree on something?
http://www.artoficial.com/ Artoficial

[quote comment="3958"]good point joel…

Oh wait, did me and Art agree on something?[/quote]

HAH i know, crazy huh. Since we’re bonding now I have a hell of a gift for you to check out. I was floored by some of the stuff I saw and what they’ve added to NBA 2K8 particularly the new play diagram system (be prepared to be extremely happy about this). I like that these guys actually speak with confidence unlike EA’s Ulrich or whatever the hell his name is.

Rest assure 2K8 want be dethroned this year but at least he should have two good games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD5TKmzDo5U
http://www.artoficial.com Artoficial

[quote comment="3958"]good point joel…

Oh wait, did me and Art agree on something?[/quote]

HAH i know, crazy huh. Since we’re bonding now I have a hell of a gift for you to check out. I was floored by some of the stuff I saw and what they’ve added to NBA 2K8 particularly the new play diagram system (be prepared to be extremely happy about this). I like that these guys actually speak with confidence unlike EA’s Ulrich or whatever the hell his name is.

Rest assure 2K8 want be dethroned this year but at least he should have two good games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD5TKmzDo5U
joel0078

Editable post packages, dribble packages and dunk packages….Yet again 2K will not dissapoint. Looks like two solid games this year, both of which I will buy.
joel0078

Editable post packages, dribble packages and dunk packages….Yet again 2K will not dissapoint. Looks like two solid games this year, both of which I will buy.
joel0078

Don’t know if this message posted more than once, sorry if it did. I was having some issues. Thanks for that link. Post packages, dribble packages and dunk packages! Yet again, 2K will not dissapoint. I’ll be enjoying both games this year.
joel0078

Don’t know if this message posted more than once, sorry if it did. I was having some issues. Thanks for that link. Post packages, dribble packages and dunk packages! Yet again, 2K will not dissapoint. I’ll be enjoying both games this year.
shoeprint

great surprise… yeah this game will be dope again
shoeprint

great surprise… yeah this game will be dope again
http://www.pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

I thought College Hoops was the best b-ball game last year. For some reason it was far more enjoyable for me than NBA 2K7 despite the similarities.
http://www.pastapadre.com pastapadre

I thought College Hoops was the best b-ball game last year. For some reason it was far more enjoyable for me than NBA 2K7 despite the similarities.