The U.S. 3×3 girls’s basketball started their Olympic play and gold medal protection with a 17-13 loss to Germany to open group play. The crew — made up of Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, and Rhyne Howard — has solely had just a few weeks collectively, and that was evident in a mistake-filled recreation on Tuesday afternoon in Paris.
Whereas Burdick and Van Lith have been each on the 2023 World Cup crew that received gold, Hamby and Howard are new additions. Howard is a WNBA star and member of the Atlanta Dream, however she hasn’t performed almost as a lot 3×3 basketball as the opposite rivals within the subject.
In the meantime, Hamby is in Paris as an alternative to Cameron Brink, the Los Angeles Sparks rookie who received 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 alternative.
What went incorrect for USA 3×3
The USA jumped out to a 5-0 lead and appeared to be in management early on, however Germany stormed again and regained the lead behind some scorching taking pictures 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 appears.
“On the finish of the sport, actually, we have been winded,” stated Van Lith, per USA In the present day. “We began enjoying mushy. And so they performed a lot more durable 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 effectively — common subject targets contained in the arc rely as 1 level, whereas photographs past the arc rely as 2 factors.
Germany began the sport 0-9 from the sector, however caught fireplace in a while, finally ending 53% from 1-point vary and 40% from photographs behind the arc. The U.S. may by no means discover a rhythm from outdoors, hitting only one outdoors shot, which is especially consequential in 3×3 basketball.
Van Lith lower 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 take care of a two-point shoot that gave Germany a 16-12 lead with below a minute to go.
Hailey Van Lith, a 22-year-old guard at the moment enjoying NCAA basketball for TCU, led the U.S. with 6 factors on 5-8 FG, to go together with 3 rebounds and a couple of assists. For essentially the most half, she was one of the best participant on the ground for Group 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, notably defensively, because the German gamers incessantly beat her on backdoor cuts. Howard missed a month of the WNBA season sidelined with an ankle damage, which additional restricted the crew’s capability to construct cohesion forward of the Olympics. Howard appeared rusty within the first pool play recreation, taking pictures 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, essentially 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 Group USA — Germany blocked 6 photographs, whereas the U.S. didn’t rack up a single block.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be fairly,” Burdick stated after the loss, per Yahoo Sports activities. “I didn’t suppose it was going to be that ugly. We’re essentially the most inexperienced crew right here. We’ve obtained lots of talent, lots of expertise, however that doesn’t win 3×3 video games. That was a first-rate instance immediately.”
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 the USA 17-13
- China defeated France 21-19, in time beyond regulation
Subsequent up for Group USA
The excellent news for Group USA is that pool play continues by Saturday. The groups with one of the best two data instantly qualify for the semi-finals, whereas the following 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 stated. “We now have lots of video games left. We’re going to be tremendous.”
Pool play continues for Group 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
