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Why Kyle Montgomery, FIBA 3x3’s MC, feels connection with Pinoy players

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Dominic Menor, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q4wPQcjs4Y8" width="560"></iframe></figure><p>Kyle Montgomery is the voice of FIBA 3x3 tournaments — literally the only one behind the mic calling the play by play.</p><p>In the recently <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/02/17/ph-boys-bow-out-of-fiba-3x3-with-loss-in-quarterfinals" target="_blank">concluded</a> under-18 competition in Chengdu, China, he worked 20 games in an 8-hour span for 4 days, before the load eased up to 16 games on the 5th and final day, all by himself.</p><p>The occasional strain on his vocal chords notwithstanding, Montgomery says single-handedly covering a basketball game has become his “favorite job.”</p><p>“It’s tough on your voice, but the game is so quick there’s really not enough time for an analyst to interject and give any of those extra nuggets,” says Montgomery, who sounds more like a hiphop MC than a sports announcer.</p><p>“It’s almost better as a one-man show even though it&#x27;s a lot of strain on one&#x27;s voice, but I can handle it.”</p><p>Montgomery’s style is tailor-made for streetball. Both share the same quality of being spontaneous and the same need to trust one’s instinct on the fly. He used to provide the voice-over for the NBA’s top-10 plays, a show that gave him a chance “to be creative with the things I was saying.”</p><p>In a game between the Philippines and Israel, Montgomery’s signature smooth similes were in full effect. After an ankle-breaking stepback jumper by Filipino point guard Juan Gomez di Liano, Montgomery described it as “nastier than toothpaste and orange juice.” After guard Encho Serrano’s putback off a miss by teammate AJ Edu, he hollered: “He’s got his back like a brassiere hook.”</p><p>Compared with NBA broadcasts, it’s anything goes in 3x3 games. When Montgomery has time in-game, he reads tweets from fans. And when the Philippines games are up, he gets an inordinate amount of messages from Filipino supporters. It’s through these social media interactions where Montgomery eventually felt a country’s collective affinity for the sport at fever pitch. </p><p>“They really show a lot more love than a lot of other countries because of that basketball passion,” Montgomery says.</p><p>In an interview with ABS-CBN News over Skype on Thursday, Montgomery shared his beginnings covering 3x3, his thoughts on Filipino players, and why he didn’t feel exactly bad after his Kiefer Ravena-Alyssa Valdez <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/19/17/fiba-3x3-commentator-marries-kiefer-and-alyssa" target="_blank">flub</a>.</p><div><strong>On starting out doing the play by play for FIBA 3x3: </strong></div><p>This FIBA 3x3 came out of nowhere for me. It wasn’t on my radar, and then somebody contacted me 3 years ago and now it dominates my summer and I love it. It’s become my favorite job, to be honest.</p><p>When you first hear about it, especially when you’re brought up in America, 5 on 5 is king. We all played 3 on 3, but it’s like a recreational thing and not to be taken seriously. So when I first heard about it, I kind of blew it off. Then I took a look at a few links of some of the games, some of the talent and these dudes can actually ball. Now my interest is piqued.</p><p>And then it was an opportunity for me to travel outside of the United States and actually see the players play up close and personal, so I told myself I’d give it a shot.</p><div><strong>On Filipino fans:</strong></div><p>Filipino fans are authentic, they’re passionate and real. They’re always honest in their commentary on our livestreams. I’ve done research on “puso.” Obviously that has a strong meaning for Filipino fans, the heart that they bring. I bring it to ‘em real and they appreciate it, and I appreciate them.</p><div><strong>On Filipino players:</strong></div><p>I remember Terrence Romeo. He kind of reminds me of Kyrie Irving with the way his handles work. Calvin Abueva is another dude. I just started paying attention to the Filipino players. I’ve seen Kobe Paras up close and personal. We kind of identify because Filipinos got swag, that air to them. I’m like, “OK, I like these dudes.” So we kind of have that kinsmanship.</p><p>They play to the crowd and it helps the brand. We’re not trying to be the NBA. We aren’t trying to be 5 on 5.</p><div><strong>On the Kiefer Ravena-Alyssa Valdez flub:</strong></div><p>Me and Kiefer had a good laugh about that afterwards. I’ve been married for 10 and a half years. When I talk about couples and relationships, for whatever reason, I automatically say, “married.” It was kind of written in a vague way in our information packet that we get to study before the game. It said that Kiefer Ravena was half of a celebrity couple in the Philippines. During the course of the game, that note popped up in my head and I said, “married.” Didn’t think twice about it until later I was getting tweets. And I said, “Dang! I put a ring on it too quick.” I gotta lot of love for the Filipino fans because they weren’t hard on me about it at all.</p><p>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/" target="_blank"> <strong>ABS-CBN Sports website</strong></a>.</p>

<p>The voice calling the games in basketball’s fastest-rising event dishes on his beginnings covering 3x3, his thoughts on Filipino players, and why he didn’t feel bad after his Kiefer-Alyssa flub.</p>

The voice calling the games in basketball’s fastest-rising event dishes on his beginnings covering 3x3, his thoughts on Filipino players, and why he didn’t feel bad after his Kiefer-Alyssa flub.

Why Kyle Montgomery, FIBA 3x3’s MC, feels connection with Pinoy players

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Why Kyle Montgomery, FIBA 3x3’s MC, feels connection with Pinoy players

Dominic Menor,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 06, 2017 10:46 PM PHT

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FIBA 3x3

Kyle Montgomery

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