The 7 biggest snubs at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final

BEIJING (FIBA 3x3 World Tour 2018) – The 12 best teams will be in Beijing aiming to take out 3x3’s biggest prize. But there are a number of teams unlucky not to make the cut for the 12-team Bloomage final.

NY Harlem 3BALL USA (USA)

We can all agree on this: Dominique Jones aka Disco Domo will be sorely missed in Beijing. With his Olajuwon footwork and sick handles, Disco Domo turns the court into his personal nightclub and is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining players in 3x3.

Simply put, NY Harlem are just swag and have some of the dopest nicknames on the World Tour. David Seagers aka Super Dave – we’re looking at you!

NY Harlem weren’t just entertainers – they can hoop against the best of them. The Americans finished third in Penang and fifth in Mexico City to just miss out on Beijing after finishing 13th in the World Tour standings. They won’t be in Beijing but NY Harlem are a crowd favorite and won plenty of fans. 

 
Ponce (PUR)

Ponce only qualified for the Mexico City Masters but they made sure their only appearance was more memorable than Eminem’s comeback. They were heavy underdogs against number one seeds Piran but cold-blooded assassin Will Martinez turned supernova to pull off one of the biggest upsets on the World Tour.

But their next game was even more special with Martinez casually nailing the game-winner to lift Ponce into the final. The fairy tale ended but they gave Ljubljana all they could handle in the final.

Had a few things gone differently in the Mexico City Masters final, Ponce would have been in Beijing fighting for championship glory. 

 

Lausanne (SUI)

The Swiss team only played in one Masters this season – at home in the Olympic capital – and they thrilled their fans by making the semi-finals. Westher Molteni and Gilles Martin showed they are a lethal one-two punch with King Wes loving nothing more than rocking the rims.

Their best performance was a thrilling quarter-final victory over Zemun that had the local crowd partying harder than Rick Ross. Lausanne struggled against the very best in Novi Sad Al Wahda and Liman Tesla Voda but have enough talent to go back to the Top 12 like last year. 

 

The Hague (NED)

Skilled big man Hieronymus van der List – who can slam and drain twos - will not be in Beijing and neither will be his partner in crime Kasper Averink. The pair packs a deadly one-two punch with a pick and roll to die for.

In Chengdu, they memorably beat Moscow Inanomo in the quarter-finals before running into the might of Liman Tesla Voda in the semis. The Dutchmen were unable to get out of the pool stage in Penang, which sunk their chances of a spot in Beijing.

Moscow Inanomo (RUS)

Chengdu was make or break for many teams with Moscow Inanomo being one of them. They easily beat Ulaanbaatar in the pool stage to signal their intent with Semen Debda having a cheat code, Anton Indrikov saucing and Denis Bergman being the team’s strong man.

But Moscow lost a tough quarter-final against the Hague and fell short of qualifying for Beijing. There should have been 2 Russian teams at the Bloomage Beijing Final. 

 
Belgrade (SRB)

The Serbs had quarter-final appearances in Debrecen and Hyderabad but all you need to know of Belgrade’s candidacy for Beijing is their performance against Novi Sad Al Wahda. We all know Novi Sad have not lost this season but Belgrade came awfully close to knocking them off in Debrecen.

‘Mister Crossover’ Dragan Bjelica had the chance to do the impossible but Marko Savic saved the day. Belgrade know they can beat anyone, which makes it harder for them to accept missing out on Beijing. 


Manila West
(PHI)

The Philippines is hoops crazy and it always adds to the excitement when they are part of tournaments. They have had a drought on the World Tour Final for 3 years now but nobody forgets Terrence Romeo’s ankle-breakers back in 2014 at the Manila Masters and the Tokyo Final. They would have been our sentimental pick to be in Beijing. 

 

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