Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
The United States’ inexperience showed in the women’s team’s opening 3×3 match of the week — dropping the first Olympic pool play game 17-13 to Germany.
The U.S. 3×3 women’s basketball began their Olympic play and gold medal defense with a 17-13 loss to Germany to open group play. The team — made up of Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, and Rhyne Howard — has only had a few weeks together, and that was evident in a mistake-filled game on Tuesday afternoon in Paris.
While Burdick and Van Lith were both on the 2023 World Cup team that won gold, Hamby and Howard are new additions. Howard is a WNBA star and member of the Atlanta Dream, but she hasn’t played nearly as much 3×3 basketball as the other competitors in the field.
Meanwhile, Hamby is in Paris as a substitute for Cameron Brink, the Los Angeles Sparks rookie who won gold with Burdick and Van Lith last year. Brink tore her ACL last month, and in turn, Hamby, her veteran WNBA teammate, was named the replacement.
What went wrong for USA 3×3
The United States jumped out to a 5-0 lead and seemed to be in control early on, but Germany stormed back and regained the lead behind some hot shooting and stifling defense. The U.S. seemed to run out of steam late in the game after the fast start, and made a slew of defensive errors that allowed Germany to get clean looks.
“At the end of the game, honestly, we were winded,” said Van Lith, per USA Today. “We started playing soft. And they played much harder than us.”
Part of the challenge for the Americans is that 3×3 basketball is a vastly different than 5×5, which USA Basketball has historically dominated. Each game lasts for 10 minutes and uses a 12-second shot clock, and scoring is counted differently as well — regular field goals inside the arc count as 1 point, while shots beyond the arc count as 2 points.
Germany started the game 0-9 from the field, but caught fire later on, ultimately finishing 53% from 1-point range and 40% from shots behind the arc. The U.S. could never find a rhythm from outside, hitting just one outside shot, which is particularly consequential in 3×3 basketball.
Van Lith cut the deficit to one point (13-12) with 1:36 to play, but it was all Germany the rest of the way. German sharpshooter Stella Reichert all but sealed the deal with a two-point shoot that gave Germany a 16-12 lead with under a minute to go.
Hailey Van Lith, a 22-year-old guard currently playing NCAA basketball for TCU, led the U.S. with 6 points on 5-8 FG, to go along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. For the most part, she was the best player on the floor for Team USA, and the score was even for the minutes she was on the floor. The U.S. offense — disjointed all game — was especially stagnant when she sat.
Rhyne Howard — who has the least 3×3 experience of the pack — struggled in the opener, particularly defensively, as the German players frequently beat her on backdoor cuts. Howard missed a month of the WNBA season sidelined with an ankle injury, which further limited the team’s ability to build cohesion ahead of the Olympics. Howard appeared rusty in the first pool play game, shooting just 1-8 from the field, including 0-5 from behind the arc.
Dearica Hamby added 4 points and 7 rebounds, and Cierra Burdick, the most veteran 3×3 player of the pack, added 2 points and 4 assists.
The U.S. jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Germany responded with 6 consecutive points to regain the lead. Germany’s interior defense significantly impacted Team USA — Germany blocked 6 shots, while the U.S. didn’t rack up a single block.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty,” Burdick said after the loss, per Yahoo Sports. “I didn’t think it was going to be that ugly. We’re the most inexperienced team here. We’ve got a lot of skill, a lot of talent, but that doesn’t win 3×3 games. That was a prime example today.”
How did the field fare?
Canada, Germany, Spain, and China all began Day 1 with a win, while Australia, Azerbaijan, the US, and France all began with losses:
Canada defeated Australia 22-14
Spain defeated Azerbaijan 18-15
Germany defeated the United States 17-13
China defeated France 21-19, in overtime
Next up for Team USA
The good news for Team USA is that pool play continues through Saturday. The teams with the best two records immediately qualify for the semi-finals, while the next four qualify for a play-in round to compete for the final two semi-final slots.
Hailey Van Lith expressed her confidence in the squad despite the initial loss, per Yahoo Sports.
“It’s not a one-game tournament. It’s a 10 or 11-game tournament,” she said. “We have a lot of games left. We’re going to be fine.”
Pool play continues for Team USA tomorrow, with medal games scheduled for early next week. Here is the schedule:
Wednesday, July 31st: 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 3rd: vs. China, 1:05 p.m. ET (pool play)
Monday, August 5th: Semifinals, bronze and gold medal games
