1-day 3x3 event in works

MANILA, Philippines - Coach Eric Altamirano said the other day he’s organizing a one-day 3x3 tournament with prize money on Wednesday at the Gold’s Gym basketball court on Sheridan, Mandaluyong, as a final training send-off for the Philippine team of Kobe Paras, Kiefer Ravena, Jeron Teng and J. R. Quiñahan playing at the FIBA World Cup in Nantes, France, on June 17-21.

“We’re inviting PBA players whose teams are no longer in contention in the Commissioner’s Cup, especially those who’ve played in 3x3 tournaments before, like Terrence (Romeo) and Calvin (Abueva),” said Altamirano. “We’re trying to put up prize money to make the competition more interesting. The goal is to get our team more battle-ready for France.”

Altamirano was tapped by the SBP to accompany the team as coach in Nantes but has begged off because of commitments with Filoil Flying V in the PBA D-League. Instead, Altamirano will send his son Anton to join the squad. Anton was recently in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, to coach the Philippine team of Rhayyan Amsali, Michael Malonzo, Kris Pagsanjan and Andrew Velasco in the FIBA Asia U18 3x3 Championships.

Paras will fly in from Los Angeles on Tuesday, confirmed his father Benjie. He initially planned to hook up with his teammates in France directly from Los Angeles but later decided to attend the workouts here before leaving for the competition as one team.

“We were training every other day,” said Ravena. “But now, it’s every day until we leave for France. We practiced with Kobe before he left for L. A. (to formalize his entry into the California State at Northridge program) then continued to practice with Jeron and J. R. We’re excited to compete. J. R.’s a PBA veteran and he’s bringing his PBA moves to France. He’s perfect for 3x3 because he doesn’t have to go up and down the court. We’re working very well with J. R.”

Quiñahan, 33, is in his 10th year in the PBA and coming off his most productive season with an 11.7 point average in 2015-16. He can post up, defend the interior, rebound, pass and hit from the perimeter. Paras, 19, is a two-time FIBA U18 World Cup slam dunk champion while Ravena, 23, and Teng, 23, are tested collegiate winners. Raymar Jose was in the original lineup but backed out because of conflict in schedule with Cignal in the PBA D-League. 

Altamirano said the Philippine team has been sparring with the Red Bull Reign 3x3 Philippine champion squad of Fil-Canadians Clay Crellin and Glenn Gravengard, Kitt Paolo Balmori and Nigeria’s Obinna Ezeike.  Collegiate imports Mustapha Arafat and Bright Akhuetie have also sparred with the Philippine team that is booked to leave Manila on Thursday.

In Nantes, the Philippines is bracketed with Romania, Slovenia, El Salvador and host France in Group B in the first round of eliminations. The Philippines plays Romania at 6 p.m. then France at 9:10 p.m., both on June 18. Then, the next games will be against Slovenia at 7:40 p.m. and El Salvador at 9 p.m. on June 20. There are 40 teams in the men’s and women’s divisions from 36 countries in the 3x3 event.  The top two finishers in each group will advance to the knockout quarterfinals. It will be the fourth FIBA 3x3 World Cup after Athens in 2012, Moscow in 2014 and Guangzhou in 2016. The tournament started out on a biennial basis but is now an annual undertaking.

Next year, Manila will host the FIBA 3x3 World Cup with 20 men’s and 20 women’s teams.  The men’s dunk contest to include pros, women’s skill competition and a mixed shoot-out contest will be side events of the annual tournament. FIBA announced yesterday that 3x3 will be introduced as an Olympic event in the 2020 Tokyo Games with eight teams in the men’s and women’s divisions. FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann said the inclusion “is the recognition of 10 years of hard work to codify the rules of 3x3 and to innovate with a unique 3x3 digital platform and player ranking system that bring together athletes with private and institutional organizers in a world-wide network of FIBA organized or sanctioned 3x3 events.”