Bratislava, Vilnius, Kharkov and Manga on top

Long range shooting was did not come out on top but the wind did on Day 1 of the Istanbul stage of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour.

Instead it was the bigger teams, with strong post play who dominated thanks in part to the coastal breeze of the Caddebostan Pendik Sahilyolu road.

Scores remained mostly low.

Sharp-shooter Tymur Arabadzhy from Kharkov (UKR) was happy to emerge from Day 1 having already qualified for the Quarter-Finals, in spite of the tough shooting conditions.

“The wind was blowing,” he said.

“If there is no wind, I can make threes (shots from beyond the arc).”

“I hope there will be no wind tomorrow,” he smiled.

His team top Pool A, having squeezed past Mragowo (POL) and having comfortably beaten both Ashgabat Istanbul West.

“I am happy, we have had a good practice today, we have won all games and we got ready to fight again.”

“There are good teams.

“Especially the Russian team (Voronezh), Lithuania (Vilnius) and Romania (Bucharest UPB).

“These are tough teams and it will be hard.”

Vilnius indeed lie first in their Pool B and are also through to the quarters.

“We are in the next round,” says big man Mindaugas Budzinauskas

“We won the first place in a really tough group, so we are really happy to finish having won all our games and we are looking forward to tomorrow.”

He singled out Amman (two wins, one defeat) as the surprise package so far.

“We saw one guy from Jordan, Ali (Jamal), he is really good; interesting guy.

“Here, everyone here knows how to play basketball."

A tall and physical team, Vilnius benefitted from their size whenever opponents were off target.

Budzinauskas explained that the outdoor conditions were just part of the 3x3 game.

“It’s difficult yes,” he admitted.

"But you should calculate it always. We have played like this lots of times, so it is not a problem for us.”

This is when strength and fitness come into play.

“If you are weak, you don’t play 3x3 basketball”

The third team lying top and unbeaten is Slovakian side Bratislava. Convincingly beating Plovdiv (BUL), they held their nerve in their narrow wins against Voronezh and Tallinn (EST) to win 15-14 on both occasions.

The bleachers had few spare seats much of the day. But as the games drew to a close, they were literally overflowing. The final buzzer on court two, behind which a stage had been set up for a special concert by one of Turkey’s most famous bands, saw hundreds of teenagers sprint for position.

Nu metal band Manga, runners-up at the 2010 Eurovision song contest, were about to give a free concert to an eclectic mix of spectators that included basketball fans, basketball players, passers by and, of course groupies.

This time the breeze was more than welcome, as singer Ferman Akgül – who had taken part in the 3x3 celebrity game only a couple of hours earlier – led an energetic hour-long show dressed in a Turkey National Team jersey.

Life is good by Caddebostan!