Author: sportarena

Romania’s Big 3. Bucharest Legends take on the world’s 3×3 giants

sportarena

Those are players who have carried Romanian basketball on their shoulders for the last two decades, at the highest level, whether they were playing for the national team or at club level. Virgil Stănescu is the most iconic Romanian basketball player since 1989, having put together good seasons in the most powerful European championships and served as captain for the national team for almost two decades. Paul Helcioiu, winner of the FIBA Eurochallenge Cup back in 2005 with Asesoft Ploiești, was also a key-player for Romania’s national team. Mihai Paul…

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Sent by the Gods of Athens: Don Poly makes its Challenger debut in Bucharest

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Greece sends a team to Bucharest Challenger for the first time. From the City of Gods right to “Kilometer Zero” of the Romanian Capital, here come three Greeks and one Serbian guy! Petros Melissaratos, Nikos Tsiokos and Thanasis Chanias-Pantazis, ranked 5th, 6th and 7th among Greek 3×3 players, competed all four tournaments in 2017 alongside Serbia’s Alexander Stevovic, who’s got a 5×5 pro basketball contract in Greece. Don Poly arrives in Bucharest after a first World Tour appearance in Prague (12th place) and three podium finishes in as many tournaments…

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Bulgaria’s Lilov set to prove he’s Fit for 3×3 at Bucharest Challenger, after missing out on Eurobasket ticket

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The winners of the 3X3 BULGARIA TOUR 2017 finale come to Bucharest with only one substitution, led by Ivan Lilov. With no more than three appearances in 3×3 competitions this year, the ballers from Sofia are hoping to speculate any wrong move from their rivals, as outsiders. Yet, Sofia Fit Spo will have a difficult task. Key Player:  Ivan Lilov A 5×5 national team player for Bulgaria, Lilov was one step away from the Eurobasket 2017 qualification, in group E, where the Balkan team faced Slovenia, Ukraine and Kosovo. Eventually,…

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Winnipeg: the win-prone Canadians have experience on their side at the Bucharest Challenger

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Winnipeg Acceleration Performance arrives at the Bucharest Challenger as a finalist of the national tour 3×3 Canada Quest and after having secured a World Tour showing in Saskatoon (12th place, in a contest won by Ljubljana). However, the team is slightly different from Saskatoon, with Darcy Coss (34) and Graham Bodnar (36) joining Wyatt Anders and O’Neal Gordon instead of Jelane Pryce and Matthew Koenig (an entertaining player to watch, enrolled in a special training program to improve detention and dunking skills). Interestingly enough, Bodnar and Coss were Wyatt Anders’s…

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The boys from Piter set to bring their opponents bitter days at Bucharest Challenger

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At first glance, BM-18 appers to be a team put together in a hurry. Igor Medyntcev and Shalva Shatashvili are the two players constantly enrolled in 2017 tournaments as part of the team, but they as well have migrated to other quartets. Nikolai Shangychev is, without doubt, the most important transfer, while Alex Abrikosov will play for the first time under this name. It is from this difficult to manage situation that Abrikosov, who in the past has brought one of Russia’s two 3rd place finishes at Bucharest Challenger, will…

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Clearwater seeks safe sail through the Bucharest Challenger draw, after competing in the US national trials

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America sends a squad for a second consecutive year to the Bucharest Challeger. Ben, Brian and Charlie make a unique BBC trident on the semicircle, that Romanian 3×3 basketball fans are welcomed to watch on Saturday and Sunday on the courts set at University Square. To this “BBC formula” , add a “M”, for Michael – an experienced 34-years-old basketball player, 2.03 m tall, to form Clearwater. Ben Patrick, Brian Pegg, Mike and Charlie Lytle make the squad sent by the world’s strongest basketball nation. They are coming to Bucharest…

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Bordeaux BALListik elite troops target Bucharest Challenger success

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The sixth largest metropolitan area in France sends its BALListik elite troops to Bucharest Challenger. The mission: to make a name for Bordeaux – other than the home of fine wines. The four “Bordelais” come to Bucharest in an unusual formula: Eddy Steiner, the shortest of the French players, only 1.81 m, sets the traditional core with Charles Albert. The two made a first appearance on the FIBA World Tour last year in Debrecen with a 11th place finish and were forced to recruit two new teammates, as Alex Vialaret…

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Red-hot 3×3 basketball: a former town-hero returns and wins Visit Oradea Streetball

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While the weather went from one extreme to the other, with hot temperatures followed by heavy storm, the action was pretty straight-forward on the playgrounds at Visit Oradea Streetball. Serbia’s Dzakovi 3×3, led by former CSM Oradea star Djordjo Djordjic, dominated the competition from start to finish. Even fellow countrymen in Extra Auto Vrbas could not stand in Dzakovi 3×3’s way, even though they flew in with a future contender in America’s University Championship. Dzakovi 3×3 won the final 21-12 and finished the tournament with all matches won before the…

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Georgia’s “Old School”: four Goliaths shadow rivals at Bucharest Challenger

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Tbilisi sends its own “Old School” to Bucharest Challenger, to compete with Bogdan Sandu & Co, aka Romania’s “Old School”. Even though they have not played together all the time this season, the four basketball players coming to Bucharest via Istanbul have a fantastic record in the season: they have never failed to reach the semis in any of the tournaments they have signed in for and the team is now on a roll, with three consecutive wins – including the 2017 3×3 finale in Georgia. Richard Matiashvili has no…

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Bucharest Littles, the new kids on the block trying to make a name for themselves against giants at Bucharest Challenger

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Bucharest Littles, the team that won the U23 category at the first European 3×3 basketball league (3×3 Veranda League by Fitbit), is testing the ground and trying to measure up to the “top guns” at Bucharest Challenger. Still working on making the full transition between junior and Open senior competitions, the former Romanian 3×3 junior national team players are hungry for results and experience. Alexandru Coconea, the Mainea twins (Ștefan-Daniel and Cristian) and Luca Paraschiv team up in an unusual formula, before joining their  5×5 League teams for the new…

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