The USA women beat France 16-12 to win the gold medal at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup. This is the U.S.’s third World title and first since 2014. The men lost 21–19 to Serbia and got the silver title.
The USA got two spots in the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will be held in the first half of 2024, before the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The American women played great defence in both the final and the quarterfinals. They only let the other team score 24 points all day. At the end of the first 1:41 of the final, the USA only let France score eight points.
France made 33.0% of their shots from the field, making 8 of 19 1-pointers and none of their 12 2-pointers.
France had a lot of fouls early on. At 6:04, they had their seventh foul, which gave the U.S. two free throws for every foul after that. The USA took advantage of this and made nine out of eleven free throws and seven one-point shots.
Cierra Burdick and Hailey Van Lith led the USA with seven points and six rebounds each. Burdick, who has been playing 3×3 with Linnae Harper for more than a decade, won her second World title. She was also on the U.S. team that won the last gold medal in 2014.
“This is unbelievable,” said Burdick. “I was really upset about how we did in the World Cup last year. I’m just so happy to be back with this staff and this team and to be here. We have a very big family. We knew we had a good chance of winning gold if we all played together.
Cameron Brink won the most valuable player award at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup. This was her first 3×3 competition. In eight games, she averaged 4.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks for the week. On both sides of the ball, she was always a force.
“It’s just insane,” Brink said. “This is my first time playing 3×3, and I’m so glad that USA Basketball gave me the chance to do it. There was nothing else we could do. I’m so grateful for everyone on our team.”
The U.S. beat China 20-12 in the morning’s first playoff game. China then lost 21-20 to Australia in the bronze medal game.
The American men lost in a heartbreaking way to Serbia, which has won the World Cup six times and is the current winner. The game moved quickly, and when the final score was made, there was still 3:08 left on the clock.
With 4:18 left, the U.S. was ahead 19-15 thanks to three 2-pointers from Jimmer Fredette, who had the most points in the game with 10 (2-3 1FG, 4-9 2FG).
After that, Serbia quickly made two 2-point shots to tie the game at 19. Fredette missed a 1-point shot on the next play, but Kareem Maddox got the offensive rebound and passed the ball back to Fredette from beyond the 3-point line. Fredette’s attempt to make a 2-point shot hit the rim and then fell to Serbia, who took the rebound. Serbia won the game when they scored on their next two opportunities.
“It was a great game,” All-Tournament Team member Fredette said. “At the end, I thought the ball was going to go in for me, but it just hit the rim. This happens sometimes in basketball, especially 3×3, which is a quick game.
“It was a great experience. The competition was a lot of fun. We were exactly where we wanted to be, but it didn’t work out for us in the end.”
Dylan Travis scored points, and Canyon Barry scored four points and grabbed one board.
Barry and Maddox were on the team that won the gold medal in 2019. This is their second World title.
The U.S. got to play in the final game by beating Brazil 21–17. Brazil then gave the bronze medal to Latvia.
It was the second time in the history of the FIBA 3×3 World Cup (after France in 2012) that one country got two spots in both the men’s and women’s finals.
Click here. to learn more about the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup.
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