FIBA 3X3 World Tour Opener Utsunomiya (part 1)
A short trip to Japan with big thoughts on the participating teams
For the second year in a row I took a trip to Utsunomiya to be a part of the World Tour Opener. 48 hours of travel to be present in Japan for barely 60, but I wouldn’t skip it for the world. It’s not only the start of a post-olympic 2025 World Tour campaign, but its the first look at all of the possible top contenders after an off season full of speculating. The preseason top 10 teams in the rankings were active in Japan, with 4 local teams added. One of the more stacked World Tour Masters of the season!
Even though Utsunomiya is Japan’s dumpling capital, I won't bore you with endless stories about the amount of gyoza and ramen I managed to wolf down, instead I’ll dive right into the thoughts I have about every team that performed in the main draw of the tournament, starting with 12-7 in the standings.
12. Tennoz
17% from 2 on the tournament
Turnovers killed Tennoz, who were outmatched after making it out of the Qualifying draw. I’ve seen better from Takeda, Ito and Naruse. The last two couldn’t hit a shot, contributing to the stat mentioned above a 17% make-rate from deep. Takeda turned the ball over a ridiculous amount, which was the beginning of the end for them against Amsterdam.
Both Japanese squads were fun to watch, and it feels like the level of the Japanese leagues is rising. The style these teams played with is at times hard to keep up with and they run a fully different playbook from the teams that are atop the World Tour standings. Size will always be a problem, but they made up for it in speed and hustle. Beating these teams on the perimeter or getting a comfortable shot off from 2 is very difficult. Both squads couldn’t hit a two to save their lives on the other end, but their play serves as an interesting mold for a structure in which you force teams to play through 1s. If you then can hit 2s you might pick up a win or two!
11. Utsunomiya
6.0 rebounds per game
The home team couldn’t surprise in their poule games. Still, there were positives - Coulibaly definitely is a guy! He’s explosive and crafty with his moves, an offensive sparkplug for sure. He was, unfortunately, the only source of offense for Utsunomiya, so he also jacked up (and missed) a ton of 2’s and it wasn’t enough. It’s a shame Griffin Biwer couldn’t play to give the squad some size. They were up against tall odds as is, but playing with 3 undersized player was too much, to the tune of only 6 rebounds per game.
10. London
9.0 turnovers per game
Austin Butler seems out for the season with a shoulder injury. Notified the team late, and they didn't manage to get a replacement for the opener. Still a decent showing. Hamilton really adds a dynamic to this squad. He’s both a vertical threat as well as a great rebounder. He has the ability to go 1 on 1 if needed and can even hit some outside shots. Justin Pierce showed me he struggles to create his own offense, something this team sorely needs. I like him as a second side guy, catch and shoot threat. Not a main ballhandler in the p&r. He had trouble with the physicality and couldn’t get either Hamilton or Desrosiers going. The latter one really needs a facilitator to be able to score consistently.
Apparently help is coming for London, who are supposed to get Evan Walshe, also a member of the UK national 3x3 team. Last we seen him he was the top scorer for that squad at the Europe Cup with 5ppg. They’ve also added a guy named Ryan Gunnar Langborg to their roster, a former Princeton and Northwestern player who doesn't have 3X3 experience. He did however lead Princeton to the sweet sixteen in 2023. Should be a good add. Question with this squad remains: They have 2 USA based players, 1 Canadian and 2 UK based members. Their defense was shaky in Utsunomiya - not just because of fatigue while playing with 3. The chemistry issues showed on screen defense where they weren’t on the same page. Glaring was also the 9 turnovers per game, adding to the chemistry troubles. Are those things solvable without practice time together?
9. Liman
124 moments of physicality per game, 11 fouls per game
Disappointing run for Liman who were in the toughest poule in the tournament with Ub and Partizan. The games in poule play we’re ugly, gritty and intense… Just the way I like them. Liman however, I didn’t like as much. I know the capabilities of this team, and to me they didn’t play up to them. It might be the familiarity that the other two Serbian teams in poule play had with them, but it was also the lack of execution of a plan/strategy to attack the main matchup in the poule: Partizan. They got out hustled and outmuscled. Supica and Torbica got whatever they wanted underneath the basket.
Liman struggled to get Milutinovic and Stojanovic going, especially from beyond the arc. They fouled a ton, and played a dangerously physical brand of 3x3 basketball, which the referees had soon seen enough of. The 11 fouls per game might as well have been 15, luckily for Liman both Ub and Partizan matched their physicality.
Now the game against Partizan was still close, but Liman never felt like they could slam their fist down and get over the hump. Of course they lost a full on system in Kojic, but I hoped for some strategic tweaks to replace that. Not the case in this one. Curious to see what new add Zigon can bring to the team, as he seems to be the only other creator out of the other 2 options on the roster.
8. Vienna
Söhnel day 1: 7.5 ppg
Vienna looked really good on defense in this tournament… Just not so much on offense. The good version of this team has individual creation from possibly all 4 spots with Kaltenbrunner able to get to the rack and use his physicality to score, Murati creating off the bounce, Blazan in the post and Söhnel who’s showing flashes of the point guard he used to be.
Unfortunately for the Austrians, Kaltenbrunner never got going as the main driver of the offense in this one. He averaged a measly 1.7ppg and looked like he wasn’t in full 3X3 shape yet, which might explain why he seemed to have some trouble getting to the basket. The Burner not only averaged 5.2ppg last year but also averaged over 3 drives a game on the World Tour. This tournament? 3 drives in 3 games. This Vienna squad is one where a different player can take over any game or tournament, which is tough to prepare for as other teams. The danger is that if you rely on, let’s say, Söhnel, who had an amazing day 1, and he doesn’t deliver to that extent day 2… It might lead to unnecessary losses.
7. Partizan
1.0 normal Gladiator performance away from a better result
Another team where the defense really shone. Partizan managed to climb out of all Serbian Poule A, with a decisive win over Liman. They put the clamps on teams all weekend long, and had a superb Milos Supica underneath the basket. The Supaman showed an amazing ability to duck in and use his physicality to get position in the paint. He easily led the team in scoring at 6.7ppg because of this, as well as offensive rebounding and rolls to the basket.
Rebounding in general is something that was a strong point for the Serbs, who also saw new add Borovicanin put his imprints on the tournament. The 23 year old has length, played great defense and didn’t just knock down shots from outside at a 40% clip, but also put his teammates in a position to score shown by his 9 KAS. While Torbica contributed like usual and remains a very solid role player, the Gladiator had a tournament he’d soon like to forget. The Champions Cup MVP never found his shot and struggled on his way to 2.3 ppg. Partizan needs him as a scorer as well as a facilitator to lead the way, and he was clearly frustrated all weekend with the way he played. If he can get back to playing like we’ve seen him do at the Champions Cup and in tournaments in 2023 and 2024 Partizan could be a rising team this year.
Read about teams 6-1 as well as overall thoughts in part 2…