In-form Liman face talented youthful teams at FIBA 3x3 Langfang Challenger 2024
LANGFANG (China) - No.1 seed Liman (SRB) start the FIBA 3x3 Langfang Challenger 2024 on July 13-14 as favorite, but will have to fend off emerging teams early in the tournament.
LANGFANG (China) - No.1 seed Liman (SRB) start the FIBA 3x3 Langfang Challenger 2024 on July 13-14 as favorite, but will have to fend off emerging teams early in the tournament.
Let's preview the 10th Challenger of the year.
The Favorites
Liman are in good form on the pro circuit having won the Poitiers Challenger and also made the semis in Fribourg.
Legendary sniper Stefan Kojic has been on fire this season and he is averaging 7.5 ppg on the pro circuit.
He will need to be on target because the Serbs face talented young teams Marseille (FRA) and St Pauli (GER), who boast teenaged dunking machines Denzel Agyeman and Fabian Giessmann.
No.2 seed Princeton (USA) are also legit contenders having won a title on the pro circuit this season along with an eye-catching semi-final run at the Chengdu Masters.
The Americans will be extra determined after an early exit in Edmonton.
Bucket getter Henry Caruso will be eying the MVP, but so will Chinese superstar Ning Zhang who plays bully ball to ignite a fire under a Beijing (CHN) team that will also fancy their chances of going all the way.
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The Field
No.4 seed Utsunomiya BREX EXE (JPN) deserve respect with a capital R because Teodor Atanasov is the third leading scorer on this season's pro circuit. Only superstars Worthy de Jong and Jimmer Fredette have scored more.
Dusseldorf LFDY (GER) have been hot and cold so far this season, but are capable of beating anyone on their day because Niklas Kropp has ball-handling skills of a dude much smaller than him.
There is one team who should be rightfully angry that we haven't mentioned them so far.
Sansar (MGL) hasn't really got going in 2024, but this might just be their breakout if sharpshooter Anand Ariunbold goes on a heater.
Pools
Pool A: Liman (SRB), Marseille (FRA), St. Pauli (GER)
Pool B: Princeton (USA), Wuxi WenLv (CHN), Dundgol Broncos (MGL)
Pool C: Beijing (CHN), Sansar (MGL), Fujisawa (JPN)
Pool D: Utsunomiya BREX EXE (JPN), Dusseldorf LFDY (GER), QD
What's at stake
The top 3 teams in Langfang will qualify for the Shanghai Masters on September 21- 22, 2024, as part of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour.
How to watch
The two-day extravaganza is on July 13-14 and you can follow it live on the FIBA 3x3 YouTube page.
FIBA