A Heat Check Gaming Q&A session with ChaChingSingh

Being the 6th man in real life hoops can be a rather unique & challenging role. We check in with Heat Check’s ChaChingSingh to see what it’s like virtually.

Before a Heat Check loss to 76ers GC during week six, I met with Heat Check sixth man ChaChingSingh for a short discussion about his role on the team. I also got to see first hand what someone like him may go through on any given game day.

Lotty, the Heat Check starting shooting guard, was running a bit late to the studio that day. Miami had a warmup scrimmage scheduled later that night with Knicks Gaming. Lotty could’ve shown up at any minute, but ChaChing needed to prepare as if he wouldn’t and put himself into game mode.

Luckily, he plays as a “lockdown” when playing the game outside of the NBA 2K League so covering for Lotty wasn’t such a big deal. During the scrimmage, you could tell he doesn’t get as many reps against real opponents as the other guys do but he was able to hold his own, and the team was able to get what they needed — a good warmup.

Q:
I just watched you play in the scrimmage in place of Lotty. That was cool to watch from a spectators perspective. During league games, a lot of people in the chat are saying they could jump in and play on the league build, but the fact of the matter is that they can’t. What was that scrimmage like for you?

A:
You know, sometimes you have to fill in for different people for different reasons. Filling in for Lotty is I guess easier for me because I play lockdown and Lotty plays lockdown, so it ends up being a good fit for us. But yea, it’s fun.

Q:
How much work do you have to do to be that versatile? Essentially you could wake up any given day and be playing anyone’s spot.

A:
For me, I’m pretty comfortable playing 2-5. I haven’t really touched point guard that much but 2-5 is kind of where I feel most confident at. When you’re the 6th man, it’s important that you know how to play multiple positions and if at any given moment my number’s called, I feel comfortable playing those positions. You don’t know what you’re expecting, then next week it’s something different. For example, our small forward MaJes7ic, he was out like two days before “THE TURN” because he had surgery and I had to fill in and play. You always have to be ready to report.

Q:
Did you go out for the league as well last season?

A:
I was in the combine last year, and I honestly thought my stats were better last year than they were this year in terms of my chances of making it. The process was a little bit different and what 2K wanted was a little different. Last year I was kind of chasing my stats, you know not playing for the win, but this year I made that adjustment that I wanted to get the win over everything. I put my stats aside and was like ‘Let me get these wins up,’ and I ended up having a decently high win percentage for my position.

Rahming:
Nice! I feel like that’s a little tough to do in a combine setting with nine other people that you don’t know. Everyone says “I want to just get the W” but you may have to to say, “Well I want to win too, and if that means passing me the ball so I can get open dunk then So be it.”

ChaChingSIngh:
Going into a game with nine other people, it’s crazy because you’re like “Please, please, please get me good players.” But you know, it’s crazy.

Q:
During the draft, I noticed a lot of people waiting around. The later the rounds got, you start to think there is a certain percentage of people who are here but may not get drafted. What was that like for you? Did you have any heads up from any team that someone may be looking to draft you?

A:
Yea, so I was the second to last pick in the draft so I was sitting there for a couple of hours, but I had two interviews with the Heat so I was kind of confident they wanted to draft me. Famous and I had an understanding that he liked me as a player and as a person and that I would contribute well on this team. So I had that heads up, I guess.

Rahming:
At Least that was something good to hold on to as they’re going through all those picks. Jeez, second to last. I didn’t even realize that! Welp, hey you made it so now it doesn’t matter!

ChaChingSingh:
What’s crazy is that the Knicks sixth man (Hazzauk) got drafted last in both years. Last pick with the Mavs last season and now this year with the Knicks

The beauty about the sixth man role on Heat Check is that we have no clue when ChaChing will see the virtual court, but when he does, I’m sure he’ll be ready. #StayFrosty