Last week EA announced that their newly named annual basketball game, NBA Elite 11, was delayed until some undetermined time early next year, well into the NBA regular season. So many thought that this week's release of NBA 2K11 would be the only chance they would have to get some non-Jam hoops action in this year. Turns out that's not 100% correct, as EA Sports has announced that NBA Elite 11 would in fact be delivered in October.

But there is a catch: it's only coming to the iPhone.

The iPhone version will include full 5-on-5 game action, with full rosters for all 30 teams (over 450 players), with touch-screen controls. It will also have commentary from the actual ESPN TV line-up of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy. In addition to the roster of current players, Elite will have 30 unlockable legendary players, including Magic Johnson, Darryl Dawkins, and Bill Russell. You'll have the option to play through a full 82-game season, a Playoff bracket, the NBA All-Star game, a straight-up exhibition match, or the 3-point shootout.

While no actual release date has been given, EA has said that the game has a ship date of October 2010. It may not be the full HD basketball experience fans of the series were hoping for, but at least it's something, right?

Here's a few more screenshots: