2018 3x3 World Tour: Utsunomiya Masters Review
Twelve teams at the top of their game turned up the heat in Japan, across two action-packed days at the Utsunomiya Masters, the second stop on the 2018 3x3 World Tour.
Champions of the previous weekend's tournament, Novi Sad were not to be seen in Utsunomiya, but there was still basketball of the highest quality being played outside the Futaarayama Jinja shrine, and as the tournament went on, it was anyone's guess who was going to emerge victorious.
On-court action at the Utsunomiya Masters. Image: FIBA.com
After two qualifying wins, both by five points, over Utsunomiya and Ulaanbaatar, Gangnam won a spot in Pool D in the main draw. However, their first opponents Ljubljana proved to be a different matter for the Korean team, who taken down 22-10. Amsterdam later eliminated Gangnam with an eight-point victory, and set up a final battle for supremacy against Ljubljana.
The Slovenians opened the game with five unanswered points and led 8-3 after five minutes, but Amsterdam closed the gap behind Aron Rojie’s terrific outside scoring. Shooting well in traffic, Ljubljana kept themselves in front, until a tip-in from Dimeo Van Der Horst tied the scores with 45 seconds remaining. A final floating two from Blaz Cresnar over his opponent would win the game, and the group, for Ljubljana.
After an early loss to Piran, Auckland had a five-point run mid-way through their second game, which saw them break away from Dongguan after a close start. The Chinese team, though, immediately closed the gap and soon there was only one point between the teams. Picking up a lot of second-chance points, Auckland finished the game with four unanswered and picked up a vital pool stage win.
Piran finished off Pool B with a comfortable nine-point victory over Dongguan, securing their spot at the top of the group, with Auckland also advancing as runners-up.
In the toughest of all four pools, good hustle and skill from Melbourne saw them in control for much of their match-up against Zemun. The Serbians, however, took their first lead of the game, by one, with 1:20 left. Rhys Carter tied the scores with thirty seconds left, but in the last ten seconds Nikola Vukovic grabbed the rebound and put the ball away in a dramatic winning moment for Zemun.
Melbourne couldn’t keep up their form against Humpolec, who eliminated them 21-12. The final Pool C game was a tense battle between the two winning sides, but Zemun’s shot creation saw them win by 17 points to 15 and top the group.
Liman began their campaign with a 17-12 win over Okayama, who then faced off against Delhi in a game where there never more than one point between the teams. After Inderbir Singh Gill was fouled, he made one free-throw to put Delhi up 20-19, but couldn’t make the other, game-winning shot aftewards. With the game on the line, Okayama’s Devaughn Washington made two shots in a row to seal the the win at the end of this exciting game.
Delhi’s last chance to progress meant beating Liman, but the number-one seeds proved too much of a task for Delhi, who dropped out of the tournament after an 19-16 loss.
The close results in the quarter-finals showed the standard that was on show in Utsunomiya - three of them were won by a single point.
A two from Auckland’s Karl Noyer made it a one-point game against Ljubljana with fifteen seconds left, but Auckland could not get another, game-winning shot to drop in time. Then a smart play from Amsterdam's Jesper Jobse, where he made the layup off his own steal, would be the game-winner for his team against Piran - the biggest shock of this stage.
Most dramatically of all, after trailing Humpolec by four in the final minute, two outside shots from Liman’s Stefan Stojacic would take them up to the game-winning total of 21. Zemun completed the semi-final field with a more conclusive 21-12 win over Okayama.
Ljubljana seemed to run out of steam when they reached the semi-finals, and Liman took full advantage. With some great outside shooting, Liman dominated the game and eventually ran out winners by 21-15. In the other semi-final, Zemun led Amsterdam early on, but playing smart basketball and keeping hold of possession, the Dutch team kept the game tight.
Amsterdam took a late three-point lead, which Bogdan Dragovic cut down to one in the final minute. On the final play of the game, Lazar Rasic found Marko Dugosija under the rim, but Jesper Jobse guarded him well and blocked his shot attempt - the game-winning moment for Amsterdam that would see them through to the final.
Liman looked to make their experience count in the final against Amsterdam. After a close start, the Serbians took a big lead after four unanswered points. Amsterdam’s Dimeo Van Der Horst played his best defence, and the team kept trying to find open looks, but couldn’t get any attempts to fall fall. Liman, meanwhile, showed great ball movement, team cohesion and outside shooting, all of which contributed to them taking the title in Utsunomiya with a final result of 18-11 over Amsterdam.
Of course, outside of normal play, there was also the Dunk Contest, which saw some spectacular, precision moves from an array of 3x3 talent:
The great news is that it's not long until the World Tour starts up again, as next weekend the Czech capital of Prague will host the first European stop, the Prague Masters. If you can't wait until then, there's plenty of highlights, features and updates on the 3x3 World Tour website.
