It was the third straight year for JUMP10 to stage the World Hoops Challenge in Shanghai, China. Though still quite little-known to basketball fans, the "street basketball" tournament is rapidly gaining attention worldwide, especially among aspiring amateurs, borderline pros, and semi-pros looking for a shot in different professional leagues, including the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and European circuit.
JUMP10, owner and operator of several "playgrounds" all over Shanghai for basketball and other activities under the outfit of Shanghai Rucker Park, led by its founder, Andy Wu, together with the Expo Bailian Retail Group, and with the support of the CBA, were the gracious hosts and organizers of the tournament which was held August 16 to 19 where ESPN5 was one of the league's media partners. This year, the JUMP10 crew set up an impressive outdoor court just outside the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai, with a capacity of over 3,000, for the scheduled games and slam-dunk contest.
Sixteen teams from 12 countries converged to compete for the grand prize of $100,000 and total prize money of $200,000 in this unique basketball showcase, where the rules are different from the usual five-on-five basketball to which we are accustomed. The participants were from host China (four teams), Mexico, Italy, Australia, South Korea, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Canada, the U.S. (two teams), and the Philippines.
Games in the JUMP10 World Hoops Challenge are fast-paced and exciting, owing to the distinctive rules the league has. There is a maximum of eight players per team. A game is composed of two halves, called "sets", twelve minutes each. The team that scores at least 15 points first, or whoever is leading at the end of the 12 minutes, wins the set. In the championship game, sets are 15 minutes long, or first to 21 points.
If the score is tied at the end of 12 minutes, then the teams play "sudden death", i.e., next one to score wins the set. If a team wins both sets, then it wins the game. If each team wins a set (second set starts at zero-all again), then there is a two-minute overtime period. Whoever leads at the end of OT wins. If they are tied at the end of OT, then sudden death again comes into play. The shot clock is at 18 seconds and resets to 12 seconds when applicable, teams have eight seconds to cross the half-court line, players are allowed only four personal fouls each before fouling out, and teams have one full timeout (one minute) per set and a 30-second timeout in case of OT. It is running time for the first 10 minutes of each set, plus, zone defense is not allowed. If a team plays zone, it gets a warning first, then a technical on the subsequent offenses. Everything else follows FIBA rules.
In its third straight year of participation, the Philippines, with JUMP10 Philippines founder and head, Al delos Reyes, at the helm, sent a team composed of forwards Ferdiman "Fog" Llabres, Jr of the Philippine School of Business Administration and Jonathan Lontoc of University of Makati, guards Melgar Murillo of Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Aljon "Bunsoy" Ramos of New Era University, former PBA Rookie of the Year center Rich Alvarez, and team owner/player Jackson "Jax" Chua. Included in the roster but unable to join the squad were Carlos Morales and Korean import Kyuho Lee. Named as coach was former PBA gunner and national team player, Renren Ritualo, who, because of the depleted line-up, was forced to suit up and play as well.
Unfortunately, the rain poured down on the first two days of the competition, forcing the organizers to move the opening ceremonies and games for days one and two to the smaller Rucker Park gymnasium (1,500 seat capacity) just a few hundred meters from the outdoor court. Gracing the ceremonies was former NBA All-Star and current President of the Russian Basketball Federation, Andrei Kirilenko, also known as "AK-47." He addressed the crowd, making special mention of his close relationship with China's basketball head, Yao Ming, to the delight of the crowd. He graciously stayed throughout the opening night games, accommodating fans and allowing them to take photos with him.
The games were competitive and physical. Some sets ended quickly, while several went to full-time. There were several two-minute overtime periods as well. Unlike standard-rules basketball, superior height does not guarantee success in this tournament. In fact, the most effective teams were those with "medium-sized" players, about 6'3 to 6'6, who could run and shoot well. According to Team France coach Pablo Muñoz, who has coached at the Hoops Challenge since its inception, an ideal team under JUMP10 rules would be one that isn't too tall, but has speed and superior skills, and more than adequate rebounding.
Team Philippines played three games, first versus the eventual runners-up China Kings on opening night, then Team Canada on day two, and Team France on day three. Despite losing all its games, the team gave a good account of itself as, despite its lack of overall size and depth, in typical Philippine team fashion, it showed a lot of fighting heart. Alvarez battled with players much taller for rebounds, playing coach Ritualo hit three-pointers in each game, and the group refused to go down without a fight in all its games. In fact, fans and fellow players from other teams in attendance would cheer for the Philippines, the obvious underdog each time. Particularly rousing the crowd's interest and winning everyone's heart and support was Ramos, the smallest player in the entire tournament, who repeatedly penetrated the lane for lay-ups among the much taller players and made his defenders dance with dribbling displays that made the Chinese announcers repeatedly proclaim his name, "Ramos, Ramos, Ramos!"
As part of its community service commitment, JUMP10 also organized a basketball clinic for orphaned children, with several players from different teams participating, including players from Team Philippines.
In the aftermath of the preliminary round games, four teams remained on day four to play before a full house, namely, the China Kings, Team Germany, and the two US teams. In the semi-final matchups at the outdoor court, Germany ousted one US team, while the China Kings won in sudden death on a free-throw, to defeat the other.
Before the championship game between China Kings and Germany, the much-awaited slam dunk competition was held. Renowned international dunkers Chris John, Jordan Southerland, Chris Staples (who played with one of the US teams competing), and Rafal "Lipek" Lipinski were on hand to throw it down and try to out-jam each other en route to the cash price of ten thousand US Dollars. Among the judges were Hammadoun Sidibe, founder of Quai 54, a streetball tournament held yearly in Paris sponsored by the Jordan brand, former NBA player for the Portland Trailblazers and current coach in the Spanish League and in China, Audie Norris, and JUMP10 founder Andy Wu.
Dunk finalists were Staples and Lipek, as they showcased one spectacular slam after another, including Staples' stuff-it-up-to-the elbow jam and Lipek's famous 720. In the last round, Lipek jumped over five volunteers to earn cheers, but Staples one-upped him by dunking backwards after jumping over seven-foot three Mamadou, his USA teammate and the tallest player in the tournament, to earn a perfect score and secure the prize money. ESPN5 learned later on that Staples decided to share his reward with all his teammates, who had passionately cheered him on before and after each of his dunks.
In the final game of tournament, despite a hostile Shanghai crowd cheering for one of its home teams, Germany was able to build a substantial lead and hold on despite a late run from the Chinese, to be crowned kings of the 2018 JUMP10 World Hoops Challenge. Coached by Ralph Junge, a former coach of PBA and Philippine team player Christian Standhardinger in Germany, the Germans proved steadier and stronger than everyone else as they outlasted the field to claim the tournament's last victory.
The JUMP10 World Hoops Challenge is a tournament that Filipinos will surely appreciate. The style of play that the rules dictate is perfect for Pinoy ballers, and the fact that height is not necessarily might is surely attractive. Delos Reyes plans to stage a JUMP10 tournament in Manila in order to exhibit the brand of street basketball that the group promotes and for the Filipino fans to learn more about the yearly Hoops Challenge.
It was an exhilarating four days of basketball in Shanghai, where quality players from all over the world were able to exhibit their hoops skills before an appreciative crowd. The members of the JUMP10 family are looking towards next year's tournament as the group continues to advance its style of street basketball to attract more talented players from all over the world to join them in what they call a "reunion" for basketball.