“I don’t think we played together today,” 100T bang on the loss to NRG

The first match of VCT Americas Week 5 saw two NA giants ready for war. Well, it wasn't a war. It was a one-sided beatdown. NRG dismantled 100 Thieves with a quick 2-0. No one even considered that could be the outcome, including 100T player Sean "bang" Bezerra.

Following the blowout loss to NRG, esports.gg spoke with bang. He discussed NRG's play on the returning Bind, his own capabilities in the clutch, and what the loss means for 100 Thieves with the end of the standard league schedule on the horizon.

"Tell me about the transition from last week to this week. After being one of the top players in an incredible series against Leviatán to end the super week, did you have to switch gears at all by going back to just one match per week?"

bang: "I wouldn't say it's really more of switching gears. It's a slower pace, but I don't think it affected me really too much."

"Bind appeared here the very first time it was eligibile for play in VCT Americas. NRG is famous for their success on that map. With the changes that were implemented, do you think that added to their performance on the map even further?"

bang: "They're a team that likes using TP's. And the shower TP is even better than it was before. So, they're good at throwing fakes, you know, non-readable fakes. They're good at selling fakes and TP's helped with that. So, I think that helps their pace a little bit."

"And on Fracture, this is the first time NRG has played it in the league. They selected the exact same Agent composition. Were you prepared for the mirror match up at all?"

bang: "I don't think we were expecting it. I mean, somewhat, yeah, because we thought they'd put ardiis on Jett. So, the only thing that really changed (from their comp at LOCK//IN) was that they're running Killjoy and they're changing the roles around a little bit. I don't think we expected that exact comp, but I mean, it's nothing out of ordinary for them."

"So, as of right now in VCT Americas, you have the highest clutch rate at 42 percent. First, I'd like to ask, are there any secrets or anything you feel you do differently than other players that allows you to come out of those outnumbered situations on top?"

bang: "I don't really do anything too differently. I feel like clutches a lot of the time are just luck. My role is where I'm not really an entry fragger. I don't really run in first very often. So, I'm consistently put into that role of being the clutcher, because I'm the last alive more times than not.

"But I don't think I do anything specifically different from any other people in my role. I'm just pretty decent at trying to get individual fights. In clutches, I'm good at isolating people. I think that's really it."

"Secondly, this match saw you only come out on top of a singular 1v1 scenario. Granted, there may not have been as many opportunities compared to other games, but were there any moments against NRG where you felt you or the team should have won the round and didn't?"

bang: "Yeah, there were a few moments that I feel like we should have won that we didn't. I think we could have won pistol on Bind, on our defense. We were in a man-advantage scenario, but we just lost. We're going to talk about that, I'm sure. That's what really comes to mind right now."

"Well, obviously things didn't go as planned against NRG. I think it's safe to say no one expected the match to turn out the way it did. From your perspective, what do you attribute the loss to?"

bang: "It's not playing together, not being on the same page, and a bunch of small mistakes. Those are the reasons we lost."

"Do you feel like the loss has a bit more weight to it considering the potential playoff implications?"

bang: "Yeah, I mean, it definitely does, but it's not going to take us out of anything. We're definitely still going to play like we want to win every single match we play."

"The rest of the schedule comes off as fairly difficult, considering you're taking on all three Brazilian teams, starting with LOUD. What's your focus going to be like as the league winds down and how will that help your squad win out?"

bang: "We just take every match one at a time. We're not going to try to prepare for all of them at once, obviously. Every week, we'll just prepare as well as we can. As well as we know to and just try to play it together better than we ever usually do.

"Because I don't think we played together today. I don't think we played together against C9. In the Sentinels match, I don't think we played together in a lot of crucial rounds. So, we'll just try to get better at that. We try to improve with every match we play. We're just taking it one match at a time and not being overwhelmed by the results."

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