3x3 basketball season to end with a cracker today

QOC secretary general HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani with FIBA 3x3 advisory board chairman Yvan Mainini and FIBA president Horacio Muratore. PICTURES: Othman al-Samaraee

By Sports Reporter/Doha

The six participating teams were drawn in two pools of three based on their ranking with FIBA 3x3 World Tour winners Team Novi Sad seeded number one in Pool A.

The Serbians led by number one 3x3 player in the world, Dusan Domovic Bulut, will look to replicate what Team Brezovica did last season, a World Tour-All Stars double.

Novi Sad enjoyed a near-perfect season, only tainted by a loss in the final of the FIBA 3x3 World Championships (representing Serbia) against Qatar’s Yaseen Musa and Co.

“I have a great deal of respect for Doha,” said Bulut, who is also known as ‘Mister Bulutproof’.

“Musa and (speedy team-mate) Boney Watson are very good players. I like to play against them but rivalry or not, my mind is set on winning.”

After their triumph in the FIBA 3x3 World Championships, Musa and his team had a lukewarm experience losing the final of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila Masters in July but bounced back to win the 3x3 event at the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand.

“Last year we had no experience (Doha lost in the FIBA 3x3 All Stars semi-final in overtime against Novi Sad). But now we know the rules, we know the teams very well. We play on our homecourt. Now we’re ready,” Musa, the top scorer at the 1999 FIBA U19 World Championship declared.

“We have a very good team. Nobody can beat our inside game when we have Mohamad ‘Big Mo’ Seleem Abdulla and Mohamed Yousuf Mohamed on the court. Boney Watson (the shortest and lightest player of the tournament) is a hustler, an energy guy and our shooter. Now we’re ready!” said the former top scorer at the 1999 FIBA U19 World Championships (5 on 5).

The number one 3x3 player in Japan (qualified as top-ranked player in the rest of the world), Tomoya Ochiai aka ‘Worm’ brings a revamped Yokohama team which will feature the tallest player at the event, 2.11m-tall Matthew ‘White Ninja’ Kyle.

“We organised a well-balanced team with an advantage in speed and height. We understand Novi Sad and Doha are top level teams but will demonstrate that a Japanese team can win,” explained the lefty Ochiai.

In Pool B, two rival teams will meet for the second time in two months. 3x3 legend Angel Santana (who qualified as number one 3x3 player in Europe since Bulut made it as FIBA 3x3 World Tour winner) will bring a new-look Bucharest team with a lot of size - an average height of 1.99m makes it the tallest team at the event - and the prospect of going up against Team Saskatoon and Willie Murdaugh, the number one 3x3 player in the Americas, does not make him sweat.

“Saskatoon is physically amazing but we will play them European style,” predicted Santana, the only player to qualify three times for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final.

“After all, they beat us (in the semis of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final) but we gave them a good run. We earned their respect.”

Saskatoon leader Michael Linklater did not deny. “We had a great battle in Sendai and they definitely have our respect,” said the Canadian ball-handler. “When we look back on our season, we only lost one single match, in the title game of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final against Novi Sad. We kicked ourselves for playing one terrible game and are excited to get an opportunity to redeem ourselves.”

The sixth and last team may be the one playing under the most scrutiny. Kaunas U-18 will be spearheaded by Martynas Sajus, a 2.06m big man who happens to be the number one U18 3x3 player in the world. Together with his team (all aged 18), he won a gold medal in 3x3 basketball at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in August this year. Can a young team compete with the more experienced and physical 3x3 teams like Saskatoon (the eldest team at the event) and Bucharest?

It’s not the first time according to sharp-shooting Jonas Leksas.

“We are used to playing against adults in the second and third Lithuanian league (5on5). It doesn’t matter if we are playing against men or children, we want to win. We have played so many 3x3 events together for the last 10 years at all levels so we know each other extremely well, we are like a family.”

While addressing a press conference on the eve of the event, Qatar OIympic Committee secretary general HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said: “I am very honoured and proud to host the event for the second time. This came with the relationship we have with FIBA and also on the belief we have in this discipline that it is a big instrument to promote and develop the game.”

FIBA president Horacio Muratore, who was also present on the occasion, said, “This is my first time in Doha and this is not by chance that I am here. It’s because of the hard work of Qatar Basketball Federation in promoting and developing the 3X3 format of the game.”

Yvan Mainini FIBA 3x3 advisory board chairman was also present on the occasion.

The event starts at 3pm today and will also feature the Samsung Shoot-Out Contest, two mind-blowing performances from the most prestigious acrobatic dunkers crew, les ‘Barjots Dunkers’ and the tunes of Filipino band Q-York.

Local fans will look forward to the QBF Dunk Contest which will feature FIBA 3x3 World Tour three-time dunk champion Rafal ‘Lipek’ Lipinski (who was chosen by the fans), Chris Staples and new YouTube sensation Jordan ‘Mission Impossible’ Kilganon.

APPEARANCE FEE

Team (each one): US$ 10,000

Dunkers (each one): US$ 2,000

PRIZE-MONEY

Winning team: US$ 25,000

Runner-up team: US$ 12,000

Third position: US$ 8,000

Fourth position: US$ 4,000

QBF dunk contest winner: US$ 5,000

QBF shoot-out contest winner: Electronic device

POOL A

Novi Sad (Serbia)

Yokohama (Japan)

Doha (Qatar)

POOL B

Bucharest (Romania)

Saskatoon (Canada)

Kaunas U-18 (LTU)