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Gilas 3×3 coach Stefan Stojacic did not miss a beat in his first tournament after an injury-plagued 2019.
Stojacic dominated the 2020 FIBA 3X3 World Tour Debrecen Masters, leading Liman to the championship early Monday morning (Philippine time).
The 31-year-old Serbian, who only played in eight tournaments a year ago due to a persistent right calf injury, was crowned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, scoring 41 points (8.2 points per game), the tournament’s high. with 2.6 boards in five games played.
“Watching 3 × 3 as a spectator was difficult because I love to play”, said Stojacic, who spent the first few months of the year training Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3 × 3 stars like Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol for the Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Topping Group A, Liman eliminated Piran in the quarterfinals, 21-9 (7:31), to set up a showdown with Novi Sad in the semifinals.
The 6-foot-4 swingman showed no nerves against Dusan Bulut, scoring 13 points in the 21-15 (8:41) victory to advance to the final.
It was all Liman when he faced Lithuania’s Utena, as Stojacic and Aleksander Ratkov scored eight markets to lead their team to a dominant 21-16 (8:39) victory to lead the tournament.
Next up for Stojacic is the World Tour Europe also in Debrecen this September 4th.
Stojacic also promised to return once training for the Munzon and Pasaol-driven national team resumes.
