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After three games at the Paris Olympics, the only winless team in the women’s 3×3 basketball pool is the sport’s global superpower.
Team USA fell to 0-3 in pool play on Thursday with a 17-15 loss to Australia, pushing the defending champions into last place with four matches remaining. They’re not entirely out of the competition, as the top six teams in pool play will still have a chance to compete for a gold medal.
Any hope is fading quickly, though. The game against Australia, ranked 16th in the world, looked very winnable, with the score tied 12-12 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining. Then a foul gave Australia’s Alex Wilson two free throws, which she made.
The U.S. came up empty on its next four possessions, and Australia did just enough to stay on top from there.
The complete failure of the American 3×3 teams so far has been one of the odder stories of the Olympics, even when accounting for the fact that the format can sometimes feel like a sport completely different from the one where Team USA has routinely dominated with NBA and WNBA stars.
In addition to the women’s struggles, the men are also 0-2 and the only winless team in their pool. They currently sit behind Poland, China and Lithuania, while the women have Azerbaijan just ahead of them. It’s not a surprise the men are struggling now, though. They didn’t even qualify for the tournament last time and feature no active NBA players.
The women, however, won gold in Tokyo and have two solid WNBA players in Rhyne Howard and Dearica Hamby. The two others, Hailey Van Lith and Cierra Burdick, were part of the team that won the 3×3 World Cup last year. They should be better than this.
The main issue might be the loss of Cameron Brink, the MVP of that World Cup team. Because the Los Angeles Sparks standout tore her ACL in June, Hamby had to be added as a last-minute replacement, giving the U.S. team only two weeks to practice together before taking the court in Paris.
That inexperience is apparent, and the Americans can only hope the close nature of Thursday’s loss is a sign of progress.
Source Agencies
