Team San Juan and Saskatoon shine on Day 1

The defending FIBA 3x3 World Tour champs and the surprising team from Canada, were the only two unbeaten squads on the first day of the San Juan Masters.

It sometimes felt like 4x3. A big and roaring crowd filled the bleachers on Saturday as the reigning champs were starting the defence of their 3x3 title at home, in Old San Juan.

Jonathan Garcia, Jose ‘Bone’ Lopez, William Orozco and Andy ‘Corky Jr’ Ortiz did not disappoint the crowd, completing a perfect 3-0 record despite a little scare against Team Toronto (14-13).

But the local fans went even wilder when a second Puerto Rican team, Barceloneta, snatched an improbable win in overtime against Team Montreal while being down to just two men against three players. Juan ‘Johnny’ Ortega was the hero as he took the ball to the top of the key, faked then hit an epic game-winner.

Team Saskatoon’s clutch player was Michael Linklater, who had his own game-winner against NY Staten. You could tell there was a lot of chemistry on that team, which has won together the Canadian university title with the Saskatchewan Huskies in 2009-2010. The twin towers Troy Gottselig and Michael Lieffers proved to be unstoppable. Nobody could even stop Lieffers from reaching the dunk contest final on Sunday following a big 360 jam.

Lieffers was on the other side of the poster a few moments later when the dynamic New York Staten guard Zaire Taylor took the elevator to the rim to tattoo the swoosh on the big man’s face. Domonique Perez (Denver), William Orozco (San Juan) and Anthony Cox (NY Queens) provided more dunking highlights.

The 1.45m 11 year-old dribbling wizard and internet sensation Julian Newman hypnotised a lot of fans with his handles. The rest were hypnotised by the charming cheerleaders instead.

One of the tournament favourites, Team Denver, were upset by Barceloneta and finished second in their pool, which means they might face – for the third time in 3x3 World Tour history – Team San Juan, as soon as the semi-finals…

Team Philadelphia, NY Staten, NY Queens and San Cristobal completed the list of qualified teams for the quarter-finals. The latter team was tied with Team Miami in wins and overall points scored, the two first criteria to separate tied teams. It is their better position at the 3x3 World Ranking at the moment of the draw – the third criteria – that propelled San Cristobal into the knock-out phase.

The Quarter-finals schedule:
San Juan – Philadelphia (13.30 local time, 19.30CET)
Denver – NY Staten (14.00 local time, 20.00CET)
Barceloneta – San Cristobal (14.30 local time, 20.30CET)
Saskatoon – NY Queens (15.00 local time, 21.00CET)