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DOHA (Qatar) – Utena’s 2020 World Tour Lithuanian Rookies Uniclub continued to impress on the opening day of the 2020 FIBA 3×3 World Tour Doha Masters on November 20, 2020.
THE TEAM
After reaching the final on her World Tour debut at the Debrecen Masters, Utena Uniclub started strong once again with 2 wins against world number 4 team NY Harlem (USA) and a Lausanne Catapult (SUI), who finished third at the European Masters two months ago.
Newcomer Zygimantas Skucas hit three 2-point shots and a total of 9 points against the New Yorkers, who played without a substitute. The game against Lausanne was a completely different story (read more in “The Game”).
Also undefeated
Three more teams had a perfect day on Friday with 2 wins before the limit:
• The world’s No. 1 team, Liman (SRB), had the best defense on Day 1, conceding just 23 points overall.
• Last year’s Doha Masters winners, Riga (LAT), shot 41% from behind the arc as a team.
• Last year’s World Tour runner-up Princeton (USA) had a little scare against Sub-minus Ub (SRB), but Kareem Maddox’s Tissot Buzzer Beater saved the day
THE GAME
After both teams beat NY Harlem, Lausanne and Utena’s goal was to avoid a clash with the world’s No. 1 team Liman (SRB) in the quarterfinals.
The Swiss started on full throttle with 4 2-point shots in 2 minutes to build the game’s biggest lead at 9-5. Gilles Martin scored a great 2 that gave Lausanne a 13-11 lead after 4 minutes, but then the Lithuanians went on a 5-0 run (with everyone scoring on the team).
Lausanne’s last minute addition, Musa Abdul-Aleem, caught fire with 2 in a row to tie the game at 18. Sulskis responded and Abdul-Aleem performed a small heat check, which was punished by Skucas from behind the arc. . Incredibly, Utena only missed 3 shots and 1 free throw in the entire game (16/19 including 3/3 from behind the arc and 2/3 from the line). Oh, and perhaps even more incredible, Skucas hit a 2 with one shoe and then got a technician to try and block a shot with the other shoe.
PLAYERS*
Have you heard of the value of the player? This is the 3×3 metric for a player’s statistical contribution on the court.
For reference, before the event, Ignas vaitkus (Utena Uniclub) led the Tour in player value with 7.6 per game. Only 2 other players exceeded 7 per game (Westher Molteni to 7.5 and Stefan stojacic at 7.3).
• Our new Lithuanian star Skucas ‘aka’ the Lithuanian Rodman ‘had an absurd 11.1 PVAL / game. He shot 63% from the field and led all scorers.
• The number 2 player in the world Nauris Miezis He had an excellent PVAL of 8.7 / game after averaging an impressive double five of 7 points and 7 rebounds on Day 1.
• Skucas teammate Sulskis He was third with an 8.6 after missing just 1 shot all day (in 12 attempts!)
• Kareem maddox (Princeton, USA) He averaged 8.5 thanks to the tournament-leading 9 rebounds per game.
• Liman Sniper (SRB) Stefan stojacic he was fifth with 8.2 after scoring 6.5 points on Friday.
MORE STATISTICS
• As mentioned, Skucas led all scorers with 18 points, 1 more than crowd favorite Joshua Munzon from Manila Chooks TM (FI).
• Three different players had a Triple Five on Day 1:
– Maddox He had a crazy game of 9 points, 8 highlights, 13 rebounds against Ub (SRB), one of the best statistics in World Tour history.
– Souley ndour (Lusail, QAT) had a monster game of 10 points, 5 highlights and 7 rebounds against Manila.
– Mark St Fort (Yoyogi Crayon.EXE, JPN) had 9 points, 9 rebounds and 5 outstanding points in the loss to Jeddah (KSA).
• Lausanne Catapult (SUI) set a new all-time World Tour record for the Tissot Fastest Game by beating NY Harlem (who came here without a substitute and played part of the game with only 2 players) in just 5 minutes and 19 seconds of time of game.
THE PHOTO
THE SUPPORT
WHO CAN STILL QUALIFY FOR THE FINAL
As we explained in the preview, 10 tickets for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Jeddah Final are already sealed. After the group stage, there are now 5 teams that can compete for the last 2 innings.
Nowadays, Ulaanbaatar MMC energy (MGL) They are 11th with 53 points and Amsterdam (NED) he is 12th in the standings with 50 points.
Three teams, making their season debuts in Doha, can still beat them tomorrow if they reach the semi-finals.
If one of Princeton (United States), Bielefeld LFDY (GER) or Lusail (QAT) win their quarter-finals tomorrow, Amsterdam (NED) will be automatically eliminated.
If two of them win, then neither Amsterdam (NED) nor Ulaanbaatar MMC energy will qualify for the final.
If everyone does, well, out of these 3, the top 2 ranked in Doha will fly to Jeddah.
Find out who qualifies for the final by watching the knockout rounds LIVE on our official YouTube channel.
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