Pasig Chooks will have one less problem to worry about come the 2019 FIBA 3X3 World Tour Masters in Doha.
Top-ranked team in the world Liman of Serbia will not have the services of world no. 2 Stefan Stojacic for the next six weeks, including the Doha tourney on April 18 and 19.
And according to Pasig Kings import Nikola Pavlovic, the loss of the cager known as ‘Mr. Robot’ will be a huge blow to the Serbians’ campaign.
“It will be a big difference and a big loss to them because he’s the player that makes the team better,” disclosed Pavlovic, who previously played for Liman’s cross-town rival Novi Sad. “He can score a lot of points, especially the two-points. It will be a big problem for them.”
Pasig, the reigning Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup champions, will take on Liman early Friday morning (Philippine time) at 12:25 am. But before that, the quartet of Pavlovic, Joshua Munzon, Taylor Statham, and Angelo Tsagarakis face host team Katara on Thursday at 10:50 pm (Philippine time).
Despite not having Stojacic, Liman is still a formidable squad, as it still has world no. 3 Aleksandar Ratkov, no. 4 Mihailo Vasic, and no. 7 Stefan Kojic.
Just last weekend, Liman – sans Stojacic – still finished in third place during the Wuxi Challenger. After going unbeaten in the group phase and blasting Moscow Inanomo in the quarterfinals, Liman suffered a 21-22 heartbreaker to eventual-second placer Gagarin of Russia.
That is why Pasig Chooks still can’t take either Liman or lower-ranked Katara lightly come the global meet.
“We have to steal one game. Everyone knows that Liman is one of the top teams in the world,” emphasized Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 commissioner Eric Altamirano. “Katara is also the home team that is why we are hoping that the Filipinos in Doha will come out to support us.”
“The Liman squad is really a good team. Well, they are the top team in the world but their best player is original. If we do our best and stick to the game plan, we can get a good result,” added Pavlovic.
