International 3x3 Tournaments!

[JGX]

Netherlands named their 3x3 team for the Olympics and Julian Jaring, who was the top scorer in the qualifying game against the US, was omitted in favor of Canadian-born Ross Bekkering. Jaring went to court to try to get a spot on the team but was denied:

https://www.nu.nl/sport-overig/6145196/basketballer-jaring-verliest-kort-geding-voor-plek-in-olympische-selectie.html

[Hepcat]

So going into the Olympic Men's 3x3 competition, I expected Serbia to be the team to beat followed by Latvia. I expected Netherlands, Russia and Belgium to contend for the Bronze. I thought Poland, China and Japan would be also rans. Well these were the standings after the round-robin:

Serbia 7-0
Belgium 4-3
Latvia 4-3
Netherlands 4-3
Russia 3-4
Japan 2-5
Poland 2-5
China 2-5

So Serbia dominated with a 16-15 victory over the Netherlands being the only game in which Serbia was really challenged. Otherwise there was a large element of unpredictability in the results which is not surprising in these ten minute games. The QF scores were as follows:

Russia 21 Netherlands 19
Latvia 21 Japan 18

Netherlands had beaten Russia 18-15 in the round-robin so Russia's victory in the QF was a bit of a surprise. The SF pairings are these:

Serbia-Russia
Belgium-Latvia

I'm predicting that Serbia will get the Gold, Latvia the Silver and Belgium the Bronze.

[Hepcat]

Well so much for my predictions:

Russia 21 Serbia 10 (SF)
Latvia 21 Belgium 8 (SF)

Serbia 21 Belgium 10 (Bronze)
Latvia 21 Russia 18 (Gold)

[reamily]

I think 3x3 game can be improved imo. The round robin thing is bad and almost not meaningful to real rankings.. one idea for me is to have set play... reduce the set games to 8 minutes(still 21) and final set to be 5 minutes and race to 11..Can be applied to pro tour teams first

[Hepcat]

I like the round robin format where every team gets to play all the others before playoff seedings are determined.

I'd be opposed to shortening the games. Ten minutes is already plenty short.

What I do envisage is for the tremendous increase in the quality of play that we've seen in the last two years to continue. Becoming an Olympic event has dramatically enhanced the stature of the 3x3 game.

[reamily]

Whats with the Serbian Goats, 3x3 uspet in semis now Djokovic

[Hepcat]

The third and Final Stop of the Hoptrans 3x3 Tournament took place in Klaipėda on July 31 - August 1st:

Hoptrans Stop 3 - Teams

I thought that the Final of the Hoptrans Tournament would witness the return of Žygimantas Skučas to the 3x3 game but he merely cheered for his Utena teammates from the stands. Ignas Vaitkus who'd broken his foot in late May during a practice for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament also watched from the stands.

The Amsterdam team which included Dimeo van der Horst from the Dutch Olympic team was supplemented by Deividas Kumelis from Lithuanian Team AUCH.

The Russia North consisted of previous candidates for the Russian Olympic team.

Game Scores - Hoptrans Stop 3

Šakiai Gulbelė 21 Russia North 16 (QF)
Kėdainiai 21 Lausanne 11 (QF)
Utena 21 Raudondvaris Tauras 12 (QF)
Amsterdam 21 Marijampolė Sūduva 16 (QF)

Šakiai 21 Kėdainiai 18 (SF)
Utena 21 Amsterdam 9 (SF)

A large part of the reason for Amsterdam's relatively poor showing in the SF was that the Amsterdam team was undermanned. Dimeo van der Horst didn't play in the game but merely cheered his teammates from the stands due to a minor injury.

Šakiai 22 Utena 14 (F)

[Hepcat]

The Hamburg 3x3 Challenger which was held August 7-8th featured a strong lineup of teams:

Teams - Hamburg Challenger

The Liman team included Aleksandar Ratkov and Mihailo Vasic who had been part of the very strong Serbian team at the Olympics.

The Skopje team included 226 cm. Marko Dujkovic who was dominant in the paint.

Game Scores - Hamburg Challenger

Utena 21 Nantes 20 (QF)
Graz 17 Antwerp 12 (QF)
Pirot 20 Šakiai 17 (QF)
Liman 21 Lausanne 10 (QF)

Utena 21 Graz 18 (SF)
Liman 21 Pirot 14 (SF)

Utena 18 Liman 16 (F)

So a very good victory for Utena in the Final over Liman which was the favourite going into the game. Utena had lost to Šakiai in the playoffs in each of the three stops of the Hoptrans Tournament held in Klaipėda, Lithuania in July and I was rating Šakiai as the better of the two Lithuanian teams. But Ignas Labutis of Jonavos Cbet which ran away with the championship in the second division NKL league in Lithuania in 2020-21 was on the Utena team in place of Deividas Rasys and perhaps that made the difference. Or perhaps not since there's a very large random element in the results of these short 3x3 games.

In any event, Ignas Vaitkus who was voted the most spectacular player on the FIBA 3x3 Tour in 2020 may be ready to rejoin his very steady Utena Juventus teammates Vytautas Šulskis and Gintautas Matulis on the Utena 3x3 team in time for the Debrecen World Tour event on August 28th. Utena will be a very real threat for the Gold at Debrecen if Vaitkus is fully recovered from breaking his foot in late May.

[Hepcat]

The Lausanne Masters were held on August 20-21st and featured many of the very best 3x3 teams on the planet.

Teams - Lausanne

There were quite a few upsets though and a surprising (well at least to me) winner:

Game Scores - Lausanne

Antwerp 22 Aachen 21 OT (QF)
Ub 21 Graz 8 (QF)
San Juan 21 Riga 20 (QF)
Liman 21 NY Harlem 15 (QF)

Ub 20 Antwerp 16 (SF)
San Juan 20 Liman 18 (SF)

San Juan 21 Ub 13 (F)

The first surprise was that the very good Moscow Inanomo team failed to qualify for the field of twelve.

The second surprise was that Princeton and Novi Sad failed to make the quarterfinals. I think Novi Sad's days as a dominant team have ended though.

The third surprise was that San Juan emerged as the victor and thumped the excellent Ub team in the Final.

[Hepcat]

The Ghetto Basket Riga Challenger which was held on August 24-25th featured a very decent field of teams:

Teams - Ghetto Basket Riga

Perhaps the best game of the opening day was the one where the Olympic champion Riga team nipped Raudondvaris Tauras 21-20:

Game Scores - Ghetto Basket Riga

But it was the Antwerp team's quickness and athleticism that stifled opponents' scoring and carried Antwerp to victory on the second day:

Antwerp 16 Raudondvaris 9 (QF)
Amsterdam 12 Dusseldorf 10 OT (QF)
Šakiai 19 Princeton 17 (QF)
Riga 20 Ub 18 OT (QF)

Antwerp 14 Amsterdam 12 (SF)
Riga 21 Šakiai 15 (SF)

Antwerp 20 Riga 18 (F)

[Hepcat]

The Debrecen Masters were held on August 28-29th and featured many of the very best 3x3 teams on the planet:

Teams - Debrecen

The not recently seen Emona team is from Slovenia.

Game Scores - Debrecen

Novi Sad once again failed to advance past the round robin stage of the event.

Šakiai 21 Liman 15 (QF)
Ub 21 Graz 11 (QF)
Riga 20 Piran 18 (QF)
Amsterdam 18 Antwerp 17 (QF)

Ub 21 Šakiai 17 (SF)
Riga 14 Amsterdam 12 (SF)

Ub 21 Riga 19 (F)

Ub thus got its first triumph in a Masters tournament.

Ub Wins First Masters - FIBA

[Hepcat]

Not technically "international", but USA 3x3 Nationals were this weekend and there was a changing of the guard as 3Ball Omaha beat Harlem 21-20 in the championship game. Omaha had also eliminated Princeton in the quarterfinals. Wonder if this gets them the opportunity to play in FIBA World Tour events.

The answer is "Yes!" Omaha 3Ball will be competing in the Montréal Masters on September 4-5th in which seven of the top thirteen teams in the world will compete including fellow American team Princeton:

Teams - Montréal

Canada will be represented by Winnipeg and Old Montréal as well as tenth ranked Edmonton.

What I don't understand is why Šakiai Gulbelė didn't choose to return to Montréal this year to defend the championship Šakiai won in 2019. Raudondvaris Tauras, which I rank as the third best Lithuanian 3x3 team, will be competing in the Tournament as the sole representative from Lithuania.

[Hepcat]

The Montréal Masters were held on September 4-5th and featured a number of teams that we haven't seen in the top level competitions that have been taking place in Europe. These included the Manila Chooks, 2021 U.S. champions Omaha 3Ball, Old Montréal and Winnipeg:

Teams - Montréal

Winnipeg was the best of these and was the only one to make the quarterfinals. Omaha 3Ball got blitzed 22-9 by Amsterdam but then put up a real fight against perennial contenders Princeton before losing 19-18:

Game Scores - Montréal

The Winnipeg team then bowed out in a very tight quarterfinal to Princeton:

Amsterdam 21 Riga 20 (QF)
Antwerp 22 Lausanne 13 (QF)
Ub 20 Edmonton 16 (QF)
Princeton 21 Winnipeg 19 OT (QF)

Amsterdam 21 Antwerp 12 (SF)
Ub 20 Princeton 19 (SF)

Ub 21 Amsterdam 15 (F)

Ub thus won its second Master Tournament in a row.

[Hepcat]

The 2021 FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup was held in Paris September 10-12th.

Teams - 3x3 Europe Cup

Olympic champion Latvia had sent a team that wasn't their strongest to the Qualifying Tournament in Constanta, Romania on June 26-27th and failed to qualify for the Europe Cup.

Game Scores - 3x3 Europe Cup

Serbia 20 France 17 (QF)
Russia 19 Estonia 16 (QF)
Poland 21 Netherlands 14 (QF)
Lithuania 21 Ukraine 9 (QF)

Serbia 18 Russia 13 (SF)
Lithuania 19 Poland 10 (SF)

Serbia 20 Lithuania 14 (F)

It was 8-8 in the Final after 5:30 of play but then Serbia made three very quick two pointers and pulled away in the game. Lithuania's shooting from beyond the arc which had been so good against Ukraine and Poland simply disappeared in the Final and they made not a single long distance bucket in the game.

[Erasko]

It was a good cup, I enjoyed it. But I wouldn't have thought that Russia lost so obvious against Serbia. After that game I was sure that Serbia can win the whole tournament and placed a bet on them.