Andre Roberson is the worst in NBA 2K18 and I won’t stop playing him
Welcome to Thunderous Thoughts, a weekly look at the OKC Thunder. This week I played video games.
Like most basketball fans, I’ve spent the last week playing NBA 2K18. While I’m sure some of you dived into MyPlayer, I don’t particularly like the first person mode in sports games. I prefer MyGM as I like to be in control of my favorite team, not just myself.
Think about this for a second. If you are a fan of MyPlayer, would you create your player to be an elite defensive player with limited offensive skill? Probably not. Because why would you want to do that in a video game? I think you can see where I’m going.
Being an Oklahoma City Thunder fan, I obviously use the Oklahoma City Thunder in MyGM mode. In using the OKC Thunder, I discovered a major gameplay issue.
Andre Roberson is useless.
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Roberson has been on the Thunder for four seasons now. I’ve always used him in MyGM mode, but I’ve never been as frustrated with him as I am in this year’s game. 2K18 has the most realistic gameplay of any 2K game. The opponent doesn’t bother covering Roberson on most plays. In real life, this is less of an issue because Roberson and other players have their own brain and know the playbook.
In video games, this matters a lot because you’re controlling every player and may not know every play in the playbook. And no, I don’t have to time to learn it. In video games, there’s the obvious delay between your brain, your fingers, and the screen. By the time you figure out what you want to do and what actually plays out, you’re left just hoping for the best.
And most of the time, the best is passing to the guy who is wide open.
But do you know who that wide open guy is? Why, it’s Andre Roberson. And do you know who misses the wide open shot? You guessed it. Andre Roberson. But I don’t have to shoot, right? I can always dribble or pass it, right? Sure, logically, I could do that. But do you know who loses the ball if you dribble or who throws terrible passes? Why of course, it’s Andre Roberson.
Whenever I pass the ball to Roberson, I immediately hang my head in shame. I’m not mad at myself, I’m just disappointed. I’ll waste a timeout if the ball is in Roberson’s hands just so it’s not a lost possession.
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Now, I could trade Roberson or not play him. But his defense is still valuable. It’s not as valuable as it is in real life because offenses will always dominate in video games, but it’s still nice to have a strong perimeter defender. Also, I like to run my team in a realistic manner. That’s why I continue to play Roberson and why I don’t immediately trade him.
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Is it my fault for not cutting bait with a guy whose skills don’t translate well to video games when I have an easy opportunity to do so? Yes. But if being loyal to a video game characters based on my love for him and the team in real life, then call me Kendrick Lamar because it’s in my DNA.
Plus, have you seen some of the trades offered in 2K? The best offer I got for Roberson was Matthew Dellavedova. I tried to get the Bucks to throw in Jabari Parker, but they said I was crazy.
This article is a warning to anyone who uses the Thunder in 2K18. Get ready to hate Andre Roberson. His skills simply don’t translate to a video game where offense is far more important than defense. And even his defensive skills don’t translate because guys still hit tough shots that piss you off because you never hit those shots.
What I’m saying is, edit Andre Roberson’s stats and make him good from three.