FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final 2017 Pool B Preview

BEIJING (FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final) - 3x3 World Tour reigning champs Ljubljana (SLO) will headline Pool B will be looking to win their 3rd title at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final on October 28-29. Problem is Belgrade (SRB) and Lausanne (SUI) stand on their way in Pool B.

SCHEDULE*

5:20pm (GMT+8): Ljubljana (SLO) vs Lausanne (SUI)
7.05pm: Belgrade (SRB) vs Lausanne (SUI)
8.55pm: Ljubljana (SLO) vs Belgrade (SRB)

*All pool games on Saturday October 28

PREVIOUS APPEARANCES AT WORLD TOUR FINAL

1. Ljubljana 3 (including 2 titles)
2. Belgrade 1
3. Lausanne 0

HEAD TO HEAD IN WORLD TOUR HISTORY

1. Ljubljana 3-1 (3-1 vs Belgrade, never played against Lausanne)
2. Belgrade 1-3 (1-3 vs Ljubljana, never played against Lausanne)

HEAD TO HEAD IN 2017

1. Ljubljana 2-0 (2-0 vs Ljubljana, did not play against Lausanne)
2. Belgrade 0-2 (0-2 vs Ljubljana, did not play against Lausanne)

WORLD TOUR 2017 TOP SCORER PER TEAM

1. Jasmin Hercegovac (Ljubljana) 126pts (5th overall)
2. Ivan Popovic (Belgrade) 68pts (14th overall)
3. Marco Lehmann (Lausanne) 29pts (44th overall)

STORY

If you follow the World Tour, you've learned to never write off Ljubljana. Just when we thought the 2013 champs were done, they bounced back and won the World Tour in spectacular fashion last season in Abu Dhabi. After Tomo Cajic went down with a season-ending back injury in July, Ljubljana came back and reached the final both in Prague and Debrecen. The team continues to rely on key principles: ball movement, hard defense and the elite sharpshooting of last year's World Tour Final MVP, Jasmin Hercegovac.

Twice this year Belgrade lost at the World Tour against Ljubljana but the shortest team at the World Tour (not a single player over 2m) did beat Ljubljana at the Prague Masters last year. Also they finished the World Tour season on a high note with a 3rd place finish in Mexico City with a convincing win against Piran (SLO).

Team Lausanne is the mystery box at the World Tour this year. The Swiss team competed in just one Masters this season, an incredible 2nd place finish in Lausanne, which saw them beat the number 1 team in the world, Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE). What they lack in experience, they have in talent and showmanship. Football has Zlatan Ibrahimovic, we have Natan Jurkovitz.

FIBA