NBA 2K6 Preview

With the start of football having occurred within the past two weeks, basketball isn't exactly in the forefront of most sports fans' minds. Still, with the start of the new NBA season not too far away, the next crop of basketball games is nearly ready to be harvested. Among them is 2K Sports' seventh entry in its hoops franchise, NBA 2K6. Along with the standard exhibition and franchise modes common to nearly every basketball game, the NBA 2K series has come to be known for its 24/7 mode, a different take on career mode that's been run through several iterations of the series. This year, 24/7 mode has a new look and a number of new wrinkles, so we took the mode through its paces to give you a look at just what to expect from 24/7 when NBA 2K6 ships later this month.

Take your created baller from obscurity to streetball glory in NBA 2K6's new-look 24/7 mode.

The first change to point out is also the most obvious: the name change. In 2K6, 24/7 mode has been given a subtitle: Road to the EBC. As any streetball fan can tell you, "EBC" stands for Entertainer's Basketball Classic, a classic streetball tournament held in New York City's famed Rucker Park. As you might expect in 24/7 mode, your goal will be getting your created player to the famed game in NYC, where your street-hoops skills will be given their maximum test. The road to the EBC is long, however, and it won't be an easy journey. So lace up your sneaks, and let's begin.

Since this is a career mode, the first thing you'll want to do when entering 24/7 for the first time is create your virtual baller. Practically everything is customizable, including your name, number, college, position played--all the way down to specific physical traits such as skin color, moustache style, sideburn length, and build. Just as no aging baseball player goes anywhere without his supplements, no hoops player is complete without his tattoos. And you'll have plenty of tats to choose from and plenty of places to ink up here. Finally, you'll be able to customize the gear you wear on the court, from knee pads to sweat bands, and you'll even be able to design your signature shoe from the ground up.

Once you're done creating your player, you'll move on to the next section: a map of the US with various destination icons notated. Most of these locales will be locked in the early going. In fact, you'll only have access to three of them to start out with: your home base, your training ground, and your first round of streetball games. Your headquarters is where you can change your player's gear, look up others players in your phone book, buy new shoes, check out your player card to gauge your progress, or simply save your game.

Before you hit the streetball games, you'll need to acquire some skills. And the best way to do that is to hit the practice drills, which are available to you right from the start. Taking part in these drills will increase specific attributes (provided you pass the drill, that is), but entry into each drill comes at a cost of development points, which you earn by winning streetball games. The more games you win, the more points you earn to spend on development, which will in turn help you win more games (and more development points).

Complete drills to earn valuable attribute points. Then hit the hardwood to teach your opponents a lesson.

There are a number of drills to take part in here, and each challenge will increase a specific set of your attributes. As you might expect, shooting drills will do wonders for all your shot attributes, while more-specialized drills, like the free throw and offensive and defensive rebound tests, will benefit those areas of your game specifically. There are 13 drills to choose from, so let's take a look at a few of the more interesting ones.