I never used a joystick or anything, just plain old keyboard. But if you are using a keyboard, you have to learn how to use the controls quickly if you want to win bigtime. One of the biggest problems with the controls is that one has to figure out what player would shoot better at what distance from the hoop. My suggestion is that you should pick the player in practice mode and just try to figure out the potential of the player. That way you can test the potential of the team you plan to play with the most.
Dunks are amazingly realistic.
If you really want to see some great dunks, just play as MJ in practice mode. You get to challenge any player in the league, and only a few players are a little under-rated, including Kobe Bryant. The franchise mode is the best. You can play 25 seasons with your team starting with the 99-00 season. Every year the rating of the players changes according to how they did last year.