USA Basketball 3×3 ladies fall to Azerbaijan, drop to 0-2 in pool play: “We’re essentially the most inexperienced crew right here”

On Tuesday, the U.S. ladies’s 3×3 crew dropped its first match of the Olympics, a 17-13 loss to Germany that lead guard Hailey Van Lith described as “tender” and teammate Cierra Burdick admitted was “ugly.”

On Wednesday, a foul Olympic begin received worse for the ladies’s USA Basketball’s 3×3 program, as Azerbaijan beat the USA, 20-17.

The back-and-forth recreation was tied at 17 with 20 seconds to go, however the U.S. couldn’t get a shot up in time, regardless of Burdick — essentially the most skilled member of the crew — emphatically gathering the ladies and drawing up a play upfront.

Then, the Las Vegas Aces’ Tiffany Hayes, a naturalized citizen of Azerbaijan, took benefit of a defensive miscommunication to get broad open for a layup. In response, Hailey Van Lith tried a troublesome three-pointer in hopes of getting USA again forward, however that shot resulted in an airball and Azerbaijan possession.

Dearica Hamby led the way in which for the US with 7 factors on 5-8 capturing together with a team-high 5 rebounds, whereas Van Lith added 4 factors and a couple of assists, however made simply 3 of 10 area objectives.

Cierra Burdick completed with 4 factors, 4 rebounds, and a couple of assists, whereas Rhyne Howard — the #1 choose within the 2022 WNBA draft — scored only a single level on 1-5 capturing. Howard, who’s extra accustomed to 5×5 basketball, has struggled in each pool play video games to this point.

In the meantime, Tiffany Hayes was dominant for Azerbaijan, placing up 11 factors and seven rebounds. Dina Ulyanova added 6 factors within the win.

Picture by Ezra Shaw/Getty Pictures

Down the stretch, USA Basketball 3×3 crew’s lack of expertise confirmed for the second consecutive recreation.

“We’re essentially the most inexperienced crew right here,” Burdick advised USA As we speak after Tuesday’s loss to Germany. “We received lots of ability, lots of expertise, however that doesn’t win 3×3 video games. That’s a chief time instance proper there.”

USA 3×3 basketball continues tomorrow

With the loss, the US falls to final within the standings. The highest two groups mechanically advance to the semi-finals, to be performed Monday, whereas the following 4 qualify for a play-in spherical with the intention to compete for the opposite two semi-final spots. So, so long as the US can get into the highest six within the standings by Saturday, they stand an opportunity.

A tough begin doesn’t imply that Group USA’s medal hopes are over, however it actually wasn’t the beginning this system hoped for. The U.S. performs two of 5 remaining pool video games tomorrow, in opposition to Australia within the morning and Spain within the afternoon.

The remaining schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, August 1st: vs. Australia, 7 a.m. & vs. Spain, 3:30 p.m. ET (pool play)
• Friday, August 2nd: vs. France, 7 a.m. 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

Right here’s the place issues presently stand

By way of two days of play, Canada leads the pack, whereas the U.S. is in eighth place:

1. Canada: 2-0 (Canada defeated China at the moment 21-11)
2. Spain: 2-0 (Spain beat France 17-12)
3. Australia: 1-1 (Australia beat Germany at the moment 21-19)
4. Germany: 1-1
5. Azerbaijan: 1-1 (Azerbaijan beat the US at the moment 20-17)
6. China: 1-1
7. France: 0-2
8. United States: 0-2