Player Review

After packing Brandon Roy and selling him for his giant price tag, I went on to grab Diamond Andre Iguodala, and this card (I still had about 30k left after both purchases). Honestly I was expecting more direct impact from Iggy, but this O'Neal card now plays a big role in my offense, and helps out on defense too. Let me tell you why this card turned out to be one of my favorites in the game.

Bought for: 77,000 MT

Strengths:

• Inside scoring: O'Neal is a killer under the basket, boasting fantastic layup and dunk stats that truly show in game. Often times a standing dunk is expected (despite his 45 standing tendency), but he still can take insane amounts of contact and finish.
• Free Throw: Drawing fouls and getting to the line is easy enough with the amount of contact he takes, but his 86 free throw and standard form makes getting points at the line no task.
• Post Game: In this year's 2K, the post is an actual weapon that can be abused if used right. With O'Neal, it's almost impossible to go wrong. His fade creates way more than enough space, and his hook animations are all incredibly swift and simple. His footwork also helps him get nasty up and under moves, and put him in the position for easy dunks and lays.
• Mid Range: O'Neal has a very standard big man release, which works perfectly fine. No problem with greens, high ratings, hell he'll even make the occasional moving middy.
• 3PT: I don't exactly know why he has a high 3-ball (his rating is very high for his real shooting stats), but he is still cash when left wide open. Any contested 3 is very unlikely to drop. Moving 3's are a big no-no.
• Athleticism: This is one of the more noticeable areas of the card, as he moves rather fast up and down the court for his size. His ridiculous strength helps him back down almost anyone, and his vert helps him get up high for boards, blocks, and shot contests.
• Defense: What they did get right on this card is Jermaine's block rating. This man gets at least 1 swat a game (most of the time). Aside from that, everything outside of lateral quickness allows him to truly affect his matchups, and create misses.
• Rebounding: Jermaine is a glass crasher and rebound hound. After almost any miss, Jermaine is there to sky for it. The amount of offensive rebounds he gets is pretty hilarious.

Weaknesses:

• Playmaking: Speed with ball, passing, and dribble moves. These are words you don't associate with Jermaine O'Neal
• Moving Shots: His moving mid-range is alright, but his moving three should never be attempted
• Steal: None of his defensive stats help him get steals. It's all about prediction with him, or just acting as a body for someone to dribble into.

Recommended Strategy: Post up for easy hooks and fades, catch and shoot, mid range pull-up, toss him plenty of lobs (he has really nice animations on the alley-oops), attack the basket (he can finish on the drive), feast underneath the basket with his nice footwork

Other Comments: My first line of attack with this card is the post. He has very basic, space creating animations that make him much more than a threat. Second is the mid-range. Pick and fades leave him tons of room to square up and hit an easy jumper (if he manages to get an open three let that bitch go).

Use if: You want an incredibly athletic board snatcher that can dominate down low, knock down the jumper, and put up quite the fight on the defensive end

Don't use if: You're low on budget, like a center that can shoot threes proficiently, or want a center who can make plays (try any version of Jokic if you do)

Bottom Line: This card really shocked me, and in the best of ways. He is miles better than his amethyst last year (as he actually dunks), and he is certainly a top 5 (if not top 3) center in the game at the moment. I'm pretty sure he'll be useful for at least a couple more months. Seriously, if you have a good amount of MT, go cop J.O.