SAN ANTONIO — The NBA 2K League is introducing a new portion of their season dedicated to three-on-three play.
It is a way to inject some excitement into the league as well as try fresh ideas for pro and amateur players to enjoy.
And eager to dive into this is Hawks Talon's head coach, Ismael "MAELO" Diaz-Tolentino.
"It's exciting. It's fun," MAELO said. "It's a transition coming from 5-on-5. There are a lot more x's and o's. A lot more strategy."
All teams will be looking to figure out how to approach this innovative portion of the league's season.
However, for MAELO he sees it as a chance to perhaps throw out the playbook and get back to simple street basketball that his players will certainly welcome.
"Three-on-three is more of a free-flow thing," MAELO said. "It's like street basketball. You have to let players do their own thing with whatever they're comfortable doing."
As an avenue for the two million players who play NBA 2K every day to compete in NBA 2K League competition, amateur teams from around the world will have the opportunity to participate alongside NBA 2K League teams for a share of the "3v3" tournament prize pool. The Coinbase NBA2KL 3v3 BLACKTOP SERIES, which includes the SLAM OPEN, SWITCH OPEN, and STEAL OPEN.
The STEAL OPEN will include the 14 NBA 2K League teams that haven’t already qualified for the NBA2KL 3v3 Playoffs, and one amateur international team from each of the European and Asia-Pacific regions that earned a spot through separate international qualifying events. NBA 2K League teams, amateur teams, and Community Teams will qualify for the NBA2KL 3v3 Playoffs based on their performance in the prior competitions throughout the season.
It's certainly going to be an exciting time ahead for the league and for MAELO.
"I'm there making sure I can give them confidence. To hype them up to do well," he said. "This is going to be their show mostly. They're going to show up."
Hawks Talon's roster boasts some of the best players in the league from "Swann," "Witness," and "Ceez" just to name a few.
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That is a lot of firepower on both ends of the virtual court which makes MAELO confident in his team with the "3v3" play looming.
"Some of our players come from the 3v3 world. Look at Ceez, our point guard, he came up in the 3v3 world in the community," he said. "They guys really like the 3v3 element. Everyone is just really happy."
And don't discount MAELO as well.
When he was playing, he played 3v3 the most and is looking to utilize that experience to help Hawks Talon find immediate success.
"That's the game mode I played the most, actually," MAELO said. "There's a couple of plays that I've put in there in the playbook. We have good knowledge of the game and we should be very competitive for sure."
San Antonio Spurs fans can follow Hawks Talon and coach MAELO by visiting the official team website.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5