It's the best player-lock experience I've had in a basketball game. I love that they fixed the play diagrams on the floor. It now shows you what to do and where to go based on the player you're controlling, even if you don't have the ball. The other players also do more. They move around the floor more and pass to each other more. I'm not the only one scoring now, which is awesome.
I'm still sucking on defense though, and I'm not sure if it's a slider thing, or if my teammates are just dumb. I can't blame this on the player-lock though since it would be basically the same not player-lock. I'm only controlling one player either way.
In 2K8 I would go on coach mode when I was subbed out. It was kind of annoying because the auto subs seemed confused on when to take people out and when to leave them in. I'd find myself coming out of the game only to come back in on the next chance. That's not happening here. I'm in for the expected times, and subbed out normally. Coach mode is still there, but as far as I could tell, you can't just move the D-pad over to switch. You have to go into the menu...kind of annoying.
I just like how much smarter the AI seems. They pass to open guys. They set picks on their own. They cut to the hoop and other players actually pass them the ball. When you cut strong to the hoop they actually pass you the ball. There have been a couple of times I've broken for the fast break and my players haven't passed me the ball even though I'm wide open, but plenty of other times when they have hit me for the open shot (I don't force them to pass to me ever).
I've seen maybe once or twice where my PG runs out of bounds or runs over half-court for the violation, but it's not happening often enough to be a major issue.
I just wish I could get the controls down better. I feel like I'm not in as good of control of my player like I was with 2K7 or 2K8.