PARIS (July 28, 2024) – Just a few days after a spectacular opening ceremony on the Seine, the 2024 USA 3x3 National Team dropped their first two contests on day one of pool play at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Both the USA men and women sparked their Olympic quests with one game apiece on Tuesday. Each crew will play six more contests prior to the play-in, semifinal or medal rounds.
Pitted against Germany in their opening match, the USA 3x3 Women’s National Teamers Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard and Hailey Van Lith officially kicked off 3x3 action at 11:35 a.m. ET before a jam-packed crowd at Paris’ infamous Place de la Concorde.
The United States ignited its offensive attack with a dribble hand-off from 3x3 veteran Burdick to Howard, who nailed a straightaway one-point jumper. Van Lith, Burdick and Hamby would follow with four 1-pointers to balloon the American advantage to 5-0 within the first two minutes of play.
Germany, which missed its first 10 shot attempts, finally scratched the score sheet at the 6:51 mark before rattling off five more points to orchestrate a 6-0 spurt in 46 seconds.
The two squads would trade buckets until Marie Reichert worked inside for a 1-pointer to make it 9-8, Germany. Scoring stalled for about a minute until the Germans scored twice more to flip a 5-0 hole into an 11-8 lead with 3:40 to play.
After failing to score for over two minutes, the United States finally responded with a 1-pointer from Van Lith. On the red, white and blue’s next possession, Hamby would pirouette inside to secure an and-one layup. The USA’s 3-0 charge in under 20 seconds tied it at 11.
Germany’s Sonja Greinacher broke another stall in scoring with a 2-pointer at the 1:52 mark, but Van Lith immediately responded by taking it to the hole to bring the USA within one., 13-12.
The USA would miss on its next three shot attempts, however, allowing Reichert to net a 2-pointer from the left corner. Howard missed consecutive shot attempts, one from deep and a contested floater inside, before Greinacher scooped and scored to seal the 17-13 triumph.
As a team, Germany shot 4-10 from beyond the arch, won the rebound battle 18-14 and blocked six American shot attempts. Reichert and Greinacher each pitched in with five tallies, Elisa Mevius registered four points and Svenja Brunckhorst had three.
Despite shooting 10-for-20 from inside the arch, the USA recorded a 1-of-8 clip from 2-point land. Van Lith posted a game-leading six points and added three rebounds while Hamby notched four points and a game-best seven boards. Burdick and Howard combined to score three points.
“I know we have a long way to go for us to be competitive,” Burdick said. “We just need to continue to get better every single day… We got a lot of work to do, and it’s one day at a time.”
In a game where margins are incredibly thin, the Germans’ ability to execute from deep, coupled with stout team defense, ultimately propelled them to victory.
The USA women will look to avenge its opening loss in their second pool play match of the Summer Games vs. Azerbaijan at 3:30 p.m. ET on July 31.
First-time Olympians Canyon Barry, Jimmer Fredette, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis commenced their Parisian run in the same venue against world No. 1 Serbia at 4:35 p.m. ET.
Both crews traded layups to begin action before Fredette drilled his first Olympic 2-pointer to push the United States ahead 3-2. The score would seesaw until Barry drove to the tin for a swift inside look and Fredette hit back-to-back layups to push the USA ahead 8-5.
Serbia, like they’ve done throughout the FIBA circuits, responded with four unanswered layups to take a 9-8 lead. Omaha native Dylan Travis fought for two straight buckets down low but the Serbians rattled off another four-point surge to take a 13-10 lead with 4:30 to spare.
The Serbians continued to punish down low before Maddox nailed an improbable 2-pointer from the right corner to shrink the deficit to 18-14. Serbia, however, would close with two 2-pointers to secure its first win at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, 22-14.
In one of the more physical games of the day, Serbia’s size and tenacity in the painted area proved too difficult to overcome. They hit all 12 of their 1-point field goals and three of eight looks from outside. Marko Brankovic and Strahinja Stojacic combined for 15 of Serbia’s 22 tallies vs. the United States.
Kareem Maddox captained the scoring charge with six points for the USA men. Fredette chipped in with four while Barry and Travis each scored two points.
“It’s good to get to know the rhythm of how we’re going to play,” Fredette said after the game. “They just did a better job than us at executing their game plan. We got to the foul count early, and they kept getting some easy baskets. We have a lot more to go.”
The American men will continue their pursuit of the first Olympic gold in USA 3x3 Men’s National Team history with Poland at 4:35 p.m. ET on July 31.