Big Baller Brand International Tournament
The Big Baller Brand International Tournament was a round-robin basketball tournament hosted by Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) that featured three teams from different European countries. It began on February 25 and ended on February 27, 2018, with a total of six games and three games per team. The competition took place at Prienai Arena in Prienai, Lithuania, with the games featuring Vytautas being streamed through Facebook.
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| Date | February 25–27, 2018 |
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| Duration | February 25–27, 2018 |
| Venue | Prienai Arena |
| Location | Prienai, Lithuania |
| Coordinates | 54°38′52″N 23°57′41″E |
| Patron(s) | Big Baller Brand Ballislife.com |
| Organised by | Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas |
| Participants | 4 teams |
Wilki Morskie Szczecin, who play in the Polish Basketball League (PLK), claimed the tournament title after winning all three games and defeating runners-up, the Latvian second-tier VEF Rīga Skola, 94–74 in the deciding game. Slovenian team Helios Suns Domžale and hosts Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas finished in third and fourth place respectively.
History
Following the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games, a series of exhibition games hosted by Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas in January 2018 to feature new American signees LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball, it was announced that the team was planning to hold a similar competition at the end of February.[1][2] At the time, Vytautas offered several top European youth clubs to participate, and in the following weeks, it was revealed that they had also invited Italian teams.[3] In addition, Vytautas attempted to bring Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) teams to the competition, but according to team general manager Adomas Kubilius, they turned down the invitations for financial reasons and due to the lack of defense in the exhibition games.[4] On February 19, 2018, Vytautas officially announced the Big Baller Brand International Tournament.[5] The tournament was played in a single round-robin format, with each team meeting all the other teams one time and final standings being determined by record.[5]
The Big Baller Brand International Tournament was sponsored by Big Baller Brand, a sports apparel company owned by LaVar Ball, the father of Vytautas players LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball.[1] LaVar Ball also assumed the head coaching position for Vytautas during the tournament.[6][7] The games that featured Vytautas were streamed live on Facebook through the Ballislife.com page.[8][9]
Venue
| Prienai, Lithuania | Big Baller Brand International Tournament (Europe) |
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| Prienai Arena[10] | |
| Capacity: 1,500 | |
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Teams
The tournament featured four teams, with the three visiting clubs being based outside of Lithuania. VEF Rīga Skola, the youth team of VEF Rīga, was among the competitors.[11]
| Team | Country | League (2017–18) |
|---|---|---|
| Helios Suns Domžale |  Slovenia |
Slovenian Basketball League |
| Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas |  Lithuania |
Lithuanian Basketball League |
| VEF Rīga Skola |  Latvia |
Latvian Basketball League-2 |
| Wilki Morskie Szczecin |  Poland |
Polish Basketball League |
First round
Helios Suns Domžale vs. Wilki Morskie Szczecin
| 25 February 2018 | Helios Suns Domžale |
75–80 | Wilki Morskie Szczecin |
Prienai, Lithuania |
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| 18:00 (EET) | Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 12-24, 24–13, 17–22 | |||
| Pts: Pelko 27 Rebs: Đumić 7 Asts: Pelko 8 |
Boxscore | Pts: Benjamin 17 Rebs: Benjamin 10 Asts: Bartosz 5 |
Arena: Prienai Arena Attendance: 200 Referees: Juozas Barkauskas (LTU), Šarūnas Gabrilavičius (LTU), Mantas Butvilas (LTU) |
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Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas vs. VEF Rīga Skola
In both teams' debut at the Big Baller brand International Tournament, VEF Rīga Skola defeated Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas with a final score of 144−133. VEF Skola was spearheaded by Nikolajs Zotovs, who led his team with 29 points and 14 assists, along with 10 turnovers. The visiting side was also headlined by Klāvs Čavars and Arnolds Helmanis, who both recorded double-doubles while scoring 25 or more points. Edvinas Šeškus paced Vytautas with 35 points, shooting 13-of-20 from the field, while LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball scored 32 and 31 points respectively. Vytautas led by as many as 29 points in the first quarter, but after the hosts substituted all five starters, VEF Skola quickly reduced their deficit. The offense-driven game marked LaVar Ball's first loss as an assistant or head coach, as he won two games holding either position in the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games.
| 25 February 2018 | Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas |
133–141 | VEF Rīga Skola |
Prienai, Lithuania |
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| 21:00 (EET) | Scoring by quarter: 49–25, 22–38, 31–32, 31–46 | |||
| Pts: Šeškus 35 Rebs: Miniotas 13 Asts: La. Ball 8 |
Boxscore | Pts: Zotovs 29 Rebs: Čavars 12 Asts: Zotovs 14 |
Arena: Prienai Arena Attendance: 800 Referees: Jurgis Laurinavičius (LTU), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU), Mantas Butvilas (LTU) |
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Second round
Helios Suns Domžale vs. VEF Rīga Skola
| 26 February 2018 | Helios Suns Domžale |
89–94(OT) | VEF Rīga Skola |
Prienai, Lithuania |
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| 18:00 (EET) | Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 25–27, 18–15, 14–16, Overtime: 10–15 | |||
| Pts: Đumić 22 Rebs: Brodnik 11 Asts: Pelko 5 |
Boxscore | Pts: Zotovs 30 Rebs: Hlebovickis 8 Asts: Zotovs 8 |
Arena: Prienai Arena Attendance: 150 Referees: Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Ignas Davainis (LTU), Andžej Urbanovič (LTU) |
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Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas vs. Wilki Morskie Szczecin
In the final game of the second round, Wilki Morskie Szczecin improved to 2–0 in the tournament with a decisive 32-point victory over Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas.[12] The winning team was led by Tauras Jogėla, who chipped in a team-high 24 points, and Kyle Benjamin, who notched a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds.[13] For Vytautas, LiAngelo Ball led all scorers with 26 points in 40 minutes, shooting 1-of-9 from the three-point line. In 28 minutes, LaMelo Ball recorded nine assists to lead his team, but shot 0-of-7 on three-pointers and had 10 points before being sidelined with a leg injury.[14]
| 26 February 2018 | Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas |
96–128 | Wilki Morskie Szczecin |
Prienai, Lithuania |
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| 21:00 (EET) | Scoring by quarter: 24–34, 24–27, 30–32, 18–35 | |||
| Pts: Li. Ball 26 Rebs: Miniotas 7 Asts: La. Ball 9 |
Boxscore | Pts: Jogėla 24 Rebs: Benjamin 14 Asts: Paliukėnas 8 |
Arena: Prienai Arena Attendance: 500 Referees: Jurgis Laurinavičius (LTU), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU), Šarūnas Gabrilavičius (LTU) |
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Third round
Wilki Morskie Szczecin vs. VEF Rīga Skola
| 27 February 2018 | Wilki Morskie Szczecin |
94–74 | VEF Rīga Skola |
Prienai, Lithuania |
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| 18:00 (EET) | Scoring by quarter: 23–20, 20–20, 24–21, 27–13 | |||
| Pts: Benjamin 23 Rebs: Benjamin 7 Asts: Kowalczyk, Paliukėnas 4 |
Boxscore | Pts: Hazners 18 Rebs: Čavars 9 Asts: Lacis, Zotovs 3 |
Arena: Prienai Arena Attendance: 100 |
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Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas vs. Helios Suns Domžale
In the concluding game of the Big Baller Brand International Tournament, the Helios Suns Domžale left the tournament with a third-place finish over Vytautas with a 96–87 win. The Helios Suns were led by Urban Oman and Nejc Klavžar with 22 points each, the latter of whom also tied Božo Đumić for assists with 6 each; Đumić also led the team with 8 rebounds. In the aftermath of Vytautas' previous game in the tournament, LaMelo Ball did not play the last game of the tournament. LiAngelo Ball led all scorers with 30 points, while Kervin Bristol led all players with 14 rebounds and Gediminas Maceina recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-leading 10 assists.
| 27 February 2018 | Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas |
87–96 | Helios Suns Domžale |
Prienai, Lithuania |
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| 21:00 (EET) | Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 26–22, 23–23, 17–28 | |||
| Pts: Li. Ball 30 Rebs: Bristol 14 Asts: Maceina 10 |
Pts: Oman, Klavžar 22 Rebs: Đumić 8 Asts: Klavžar, Đumić 6 |
Arena: Prienai Arena |
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Standings
| Rank | Team | Record |
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Wilki Morskie Szczecin | 3–0 |
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VEF Rīga Skola | 2–1 |
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Helios Suns Domžale | 1–2 |
| 4th | Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas | 0–3 |
See also
References
- Miklovas, Jonas (January 29, 2018). "Lietuvoje ateitį piešiantis LaVaras: "Bet kas gali būti treneriu"". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- Martin, Josh (January 29, 2018). "Big Baller Brand Challenge Games to return, London pop-up shop coming". Lonzo Ball Wire. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- Urbonas, Donatas. "Iš Lietuvos išskridusių Ballų posūkiai: Londonas, NBA savaitgalis ir turnyras Prienuose". 15 min (in Lithuanian). Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- Stalgaitis, Vilius (February 23, 2018). ""Vytautas" pasitinka dar vieną turnyrą: "Lietuvos komandos mano, kad dabar sėdime ant pinigų maišo"". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- "Prienuose Tarptautinis "Big Baller Brand" Turnyras". BCVytautas.lt (in Lithuanian). February 19, 2018. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- "LaVaras dar kartą stos prie "Vytauto" vairo". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- "LaVaras Ballas vėl tapo "Vytauto" pagrindiniu treneriu". 15 min (in Lithuanian). February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- "Big Baller Brand International Tournament". Facebook. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- Martin, Josh (February 24, 2018). "LaVar Ball to coach LiAngelo, LaMelo in Big Baller Brand International Tournament". Lonzo Ball Wire. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- Martin, Josh (February 24, 2018). "LaVar Ball to coach LiAngelo, LaMelo in Big Baller Brand International Tournament". Lonzo Ball Wire. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- Martin, Josh (February 19, 2018). "LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball to play in Big Baller Brand International Tournament". Lonzo Ball Wire. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- "Pirmą kartą BBB turnyre 100 taškų nepelnęs "Vytautas" neturėjo vilčių mače su "Wilki Morskie"". BasketNews.lt (in Lithuanian). February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ""Vytautas" nepasipriešino svečiams iš Lenkijos Visą straipsnį galite rasti". Sportas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- Joseph, Andrew (February 26, 2018). "LaVar Ball plans to sit 'hurt' LaMelo Ball after injury in Big Baller Brand game". For The Win. Retrieved February 26, 2018.