The U.S. 3×3 ladies’s basketball started their Olympic play and gold medal protection with a 17-13 loss to Germany to open group play. The workforce — made up of Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, and Rhyne Howard — has solely had a couple of weeks collectively, and that was evident in a mistake-filled recreation on Tuesday afternoon in Paris.
Whereas Burdick and Van Lith had been each on the 2023 World Cup workforce that gained gold, Hamby and Howard are new additions. Howard is a WNBA star and member of the Atlanta Dream, however she hasn’t performed practically as a lot 3×3 basketball as the opposite opponents within the area.
In the meantime, Hamby is in Paris as an alternative choice to Cameron Brink, the Los Angeles Sparks rookie who gained gold with Burdick and Van Lith final yr. Brink tore her ACL final month, and in flip, Hamby, her veteran WNBA teammate, was named the substitute.
What went fallacious for USA 3×3
America jumped out to a 5-0 lead and gave the impression to be in management early on, however Germany stormed again and regained the lead behind some sizzling capturing and stifling protection. The U.S. appeared to expire of steam late within the recreation after the quick begin, and made a slew of defensive errors that allowed Germany to get clear seems to be.
“On the finish of the sport, truthfully, we had been winded,” mentioned Van Lith, per USA At the moment. “We began enjoying gentle. They usually performed a lot tougher than us.”
A part of the problem for the Individuals is that 3×3 basketball is a vastly totally different than 5×5, which USA Basketball has traditionally dominated. Every recreation lasts for 10 minutes and makes use of a 12-second shot clock, and scoring is counted otherwise as properly — common area objectives contained in the arc depend as 1 level, whereas pictures past the arc depend as 2 factors.
Germany began the sport 0-9 from the sector, however caught hearth afterward, finally ending 53% from 1-point vary and 40% from pictures behind the arc. The U.S. might by no means discover a rhythm from outdoors, hitting only one outdoors shot, which is especially consequential in 3×3 basketball.
Van Lith minimize the deficit to 1 level (13-12) with 1:36 to play, nevertheless it was all Germany the remainder of the way in which. German sharpshooter Stella Reichert all however sealed the cope with a two-point shoot that gave Germany a 16-12 lead with beneath a minute to go.
Hailey Van Lith, a 22-year-old guard at present enjoying NCAA basketball for TCU, led the U.S. with 6 factors on 5-8 FG, to go together with 3 rebounds and a pair of assists. For probably the most half, she was the perfect participant on the ground for Staff USA, and the rating was even for the minutes she was on the ground. The U.S. offense — disjointed all recreation — was particularly stagnant when she sat.
Rhyne Howard — who has the least 3×3 expertise of the pack — struggled within the opener, significantly defensively, because the German gamers steadily beat her on backdoor cuts. Howard missed a month of the WNBA season sidelined with an ankle damage, which additional restricted the workforce’s potential to construct cohesion forward of the Olympics. Howard appeared rusty within the first pool play recreation, capturing simply 1-8 from the sector, together with 0-5 from behind the arc.
Dearica Hamby added 4 factors and seven rebounds, and Cierra Burdick, probably the most veteran 3×3 participant of the pack, added 2 factors and 4 assists.
The U.S. jumped out to a 5-0 lead, however Germany responded with 6 consecutive factors to regain the lead. Germany’s inside protection considerably impacted Staff USA — Germany blocked 6 pictures, whereas the U.S. didn’t rack up a single block.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be fairly,” Burdick mentioned after the loss, per Yahoo Sports activities. “I didn’t assume it was going to be that ugly. We’re probably the most inexperienced workforce right here. We’ve bought lots of ability, lots of expertise, however that doesn’t win 3×3 video games. That was a major instance as we speak.”
How did the sector fare?
Canada, Germany, Spain, and China all started Day 1 with a win, whereas Australia, Azerbaijan, the US, and France all started with losses:
- Canada defeated Australia 22-14
- Spain defeated Azerbaijan 18-15
- Germany defeated america 17-13
- China defeated France 21-19, in time beyond regulation
Subsequent up for Staff USA
The excellent news for Staff USA is that pool play continues by Saturday. The groups with the perfect two information instantly qualify for the semi-finals, whereas the subsequent 4 qualify for a play-in spherical to compete for the ultimate two semi-final slots.
Hailey Van Lith expressed her confidence within the squad regardless of the preliminary loss, per Yahoo Sports activities.
“It’s not a one-game match. It’s a ten or 11-game match,” she mentioned. “We’ve got lots of video games left. We’re going to be effective.”
Pool play continues for Staff USA tomorrow, with medal video games scheduled for early subsequent week. Right here is the schedule:
- Wednesday, July thirty first: vs. Azerbaijan, 3:30 p.m. ET (pool play)
- Thursday, August 1st: vs. Australia, 7 a.m. ET (pool play)
- Thursday, August 1st: vs. Spain, 3:30 p.m. ET (pool play)
- Friday, August 2nd: vs. France, 7 a.m. ET (pool play); vs. Canada, 12 p.m. ET (pool play)
- Saturday, August third: vs. China, 1:05 p.m. ET (pool play)
- Monday, August fifth: Semifinals, bronze and gold medal video games
