For the first time, Luxembourg will be represented at the FIBA E-Sports Open, an international tournament where the game « 2K » is played. The basketball federation made an appeal on facebook and plenty of players were interested to represent Luxembourg.
Patrick Hoffmann (picture) is one of the members of team Luxembourg. We talked to him about the challenges of the online game, how to become a better player and the best player to play with.
„It takes a lot practice time to become a good player“ says Patrick Hoffmann, who first played the game 2K in 2012. He started playing because he is also playing basketball in real life (for BBC Mamer, he spent his youth at Sparta) and he played a lot with friends and stayed with the game because it is fun. „You need 1 or 2 years of practice to find a rhythm. To become a better player, it is important to play good defense. Just like in real basketball, there a lot of tactical things involved, you need to know how to defend your opponent.“
E-sports has been on the rise over the last years, there are even professional players in many different sports: „At this moment, it is possible but difficult to play 2K professionally, especially in Luxembourg. Other games like FIFA are dominant and many more people are playing that game, so that the interest is higher and also the chances of becoming of a professional player. »
On 2K, you can use and play with the current NBA players or build your own player. Other than what most people think, the 5on5 game is sometimes not that important to improve your player and become better. „I mostly build one player and try to make him better in a career modus. You can play 2on2 or 3on3 online against other players to improve your skills. » However, the FIBA E-Sports Open will be played in the 5on5 modus.
A lot of basketball fans watch the NBA and you could ask yourself who would be the best choice to play with on 2K. „The best overall player on 2K is Lebron James, but Giannis Antetokounmpo is also a great player. I play mostly point guard on 2K, so there Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard are my favorites to play with. As a point guard, my role in the game is to find the open teammates, tell everybody who they should be guarding regarding the matchups and organize the game. »
Undeniably, E-sports is on the rise, it has taken another big upward trend during the Covid-19-crisis. Being presented at an international tournament will definitely help Luxembourg to jump on the map in this game.
