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Mike Chan

Steve Sir considers Mongolia to be the blueprint others should follow when it comes to developing 3x3 basketball.
Suiting up for Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy at the Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final in Hong Kong, the Canadian said there were several things that made Mongolia successful.
The country tops the 3x3 basketball regional charts in the men’s and under-23 men’s and women’s categories.
“It starts with tremendous sponsorship and leadership, the Mongolian Mining Corporation, Coca-Cola, among a variety of others, they’ve been the ones that have invested in the sport,” Sir said.
“They brought events to the country to show what young athletes can aspire to do, what basketball players can see on a world scale of the sport.”

Sir became the head coach of Mongolia’s seniors and under-23 teams in 2022, and believes recruiting seasoned professionals remains an important step to developing the sport.
“It’s about bringing a foreign aspect to your team,” the 42-year-old from Edmonton said. “I like the idea if it’s a foreigner that fits the guys and fits the ambition of what they want 3x3 to be.
“So, not just bringing a player that maybe can score a lot of points, but also someone that can help facilitate the development of the sport and the development of the players.”
Hong Kong brought in Olympic gold medallist Agnis Cavars earlier this year, but despite the hosts failing to make it past the qualifying stage on Friday, former World Tour winner Sir believed Hong Kong “did well”.
“This is the first year they bring in an import, so they need time,” he said. “Hong Kong represented them well. They were moving pretty well, and their defence was not bad in certain spots.
“Kandava has an Olympic gold medal and Princeton has a World Cup gold medal. So this is a steep learning curve for them.
“Maybe they need to bring one more import, splitting the team between two imports and two locals to try and just get them over the hump to win a couple of games, to kind of jump-start their experience on the Pro Tour.
“Getting a chance to get players on the Pro Circuit, play against this level of competition, see what it means to play at a high level, what it feels like, and then bring that back here to continue to work with players to raise the skill level.”
Sir also advised local players to be multidimensional on the court and try to do one thing “really well”.
“It could be shooting well, being great under the basket, being a good rebounder or a great defender, there has to be one stand-out skill that helps,” he said. “You also got to be tough and determined, knowing that you could be in Hong Kong one weekend, Abu Dhabi next, followed by Canada.
“You’re going to be tired, jet-lagged, miss your kids and family, so you’re going to have to be determined to fight through some adversity, to make sure that you’re successful.”
Playing in Hong Kong for the third time, Sir said there had been changes since he first came to the city in 2022.
“There’s a bigger appetite, I think there’s a continued growth, understanding of and an enthusiasm for the sport,” he said. “It’s progressing; I think Hong Kong has a lot of good things going for it to be a strong 3x3 presence in Asia.”
On the court, Sir connected from long range in the dying seconds of Ulaanbaatar’s first Group C match to stun second seeds Amsterdam 19-17, but the Dutch side bounced back to secure a 21-20 win over Riffa.
In other matches, top seeds including Ub Huishan NE, Miami and Paris each lost once in their respective groups. Paris lost to Princeton 19-16 before outscoring Vienna 20-17. Ub thrashed Liman 22-11 but were then dealt a rare defeat by Partizan, losing 22-19.
Miami started their Group B adventure with a 21-16 win over Lausanne before losing 21-19 to Raudondvaris Hoptrans.


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Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final: Mongolia the benchmark for short form of game, says Canadian Sir

FIBA (International Basketball Federation)

Steve Sir (right) hit a winner at the buzzer for Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy in their game against Amsterdam. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Princeton’s Austin Butler (left) dribbles around Paris’ Jules Rambaut during Saturday’s group matches in Victoria Park. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Leading Olympic coach backs Hong Kong to develop ‘genuinely world-class’ triathlete

Oscar Coggins produced Hong Kong’s best performance at an Olympics, with his finish in Tokyo. Photo: Xinhua

Gold medalist Britain’s Alex Yee holds the Union flag at the end of a medal ceremony for the men’s individual triathlon in Paris. Photo: AP

Hong Kong Open: Patrick Reed takes charge at Fanling with remarkable 59, has 3-shot lead

Patrick Reed starts celebrating as his birdie putt heads to the hole on the 18th during the third round of the Link Hong Kong Open. Photo: Asian Tour.

Ben Campbell goes into Sunday four shots adrift of Patrick Reed. Photo: Asian Tour.

Sport

Basketball

Hong Kong

Steve Sir has been coaching the country’s senior and under-23 teams since 2022, and believes Hong Kong can learn from his experience


Steve Sir has been coaching the country’s senior and under-23 teams since 2022, and believes Hong Kong can learn from his experience.
