Rookie faces are pretty good. Most free agents are veteran NBA players, hence have real cyberfaces.
NBA Live 2003 is better than NBA Live 2001, and I'd say better than NBA Live 2002. Like I said before, it's different, and if you've been reading the boards for a while you'll no doubt know there's a lot of mixed reviews and opinions. I'm pro-NBA Live 2003, but there are still some things that I think stand to be improved. Because Freestyle control and other elements of the game make it so different from previous Lives (especially PC versions of Live), I'm reluctant to say "Yes, this is a great game!", because more than ever there's three distinct groups of people when it comes to Live 2003 - those that love it, those that hate it, and those that are making the best of it, despite their gripes.