3x3 - Blaz 'Birdman' Cresnar rises to number one 3x3 player in the world

16 Dec 2013

MIES (3x3) - Blaz 'Birdman' Cresnar, the Team Brezovica (SLO) star, not only won a shiny 25,000 USD cheque at the first-ever FIBA 3x3 All Stars in Doha, Qatar on 12 December 2013, he also collected enough ranking points to replace All Stars finalist Dusan Domovic Bulut (SRB) at the top of the 3x3 Individual World Ranking with an all-time record of 668,629 points.

The intimidating 2.16m big man edges out two team-mates as Rok Smaka and Jasmin Hercegovac now rank second and third respectively.

It was an amazing year for the 27-year-old (and his trademark mohawk) who also led his team to the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final in Istanbul on 5 October.

"Birdman is our star player", his third team-mate Ales Kunc said.

"With his size, his ability to move, his ability to shoot, to play low post, to play outside, to drive, he's an all-around player who could fit in any team."

"Otherwise he's a shy guy, who doesn't give many interviews but with the kids he is going to sign autographs till 3 in the morning if they're around."

Rankings points are collected at all FIBA-endorsed events (and pick-up games).

For the World Tour (and World Championships) events, additional ranking points are allocated based on individual scoring statistics.

Only the top six performances are taken into account for the ranking.

Cresnar's six main highlights* from 2013 are:
11 August: Third at the 3x3 EuroTour 2013 Tallinn Open - 61,200 ranking points
24 August: Winner of the 3x3 EuroTour GAM3 Copenhagen Open - 43,200 ranking points
25 August: Winner of the 3x3 EuroTour 2013 GAM3 National Finals - 79,200 ranking points
31 August: Second at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Lausanne Masters - 141,258 ranking points
5 October: Winner of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Istanbul Final - 178,629 ranking points
12 December: Winner of the FIBA 3x3 All Stars - 164,572 ranking points

*Cresnar also played 10 pick-up games in September and November earning 300 ranking points in the process.

FIBA