Stefan Stojacic. Photo from Fiba.com
MANILA, Philippines—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 miss the services of world No. 2 Stefan Stojacic for the next six weeks, which includes the Doha tournament on April 18 and 19.
Pasig Kings import Nikola Pavlovic said the loss of the cager known as ‘Mr. Robot’ will be a huge blow to the Serbian’s campaign.
“It will be a big difference and a big loss to them because he’s the player that makes the team better,” said Pavlovic, who previously played for Liman’s crosstown 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, takes on Liman early Friday morning at 12:25 a.m. (Manila time).
That clash against Liman comes after the quartet of Pavlovic, Joshua Munzon, Taylor Statham, and Angelo Tsagarakis face host team Katara on Thursday at 10:50 pm.
Liman, however, remains a formidable squad with world No. 3 Aleksandar Ratkov, No. 4 Mihailo Vasic, and No. 7 Stefan Kojic in its stacked roster.
And just last weekend, a Stojacic-less Liman finished in third place in the Wuxi Challenger.Liman went unbeaten in the group phase then, blasted Moscow Inanomo in the quarterfinals before suffering a 21-22 heartbreaker to eventual second placer Gagarin of Russia.
That’s why Pasig Chooks still has little room for error in the global meet.
“We have to steal one game. Everyone knows that Liman is one of the top teams in the world,” stressed 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 gameplan, we can get a good result,” said Pavlovic.