The United States entered the 2024 Summer Olympics with high hopes for its 3x3 basketball teams. Unfortunately, things haven't gone to plan.
On Wednesday, both the men's and women's teams suffered defeats, running their records to 0-2 in the competition. That's four losses in four 3x3 games for the Americans at the Paris Olympics. Things are not going well.
The women's team suffered a blow when Los Angeles Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink suffered a torn ACL in June. Brink was the MVP of the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup and was expected to be the centerpiece of the team this summer. Forward Dearica Hamby replaced her, joining forward Cierra Burdick, guard Hailey Van Lith and guard Rhyne Howard. It has been a struggle thus far.
The American women fell to Germany 17-13 in their opening game, and on Wednesday suffered a 20-17 upset loss against Azerbaijan. When factoring in tiebreakers, the U.S. women are now dead last out of the eight teams in the competition.
Things haven't gone better for the men. Guard Jimmer Fredette leads the team, along with guard Canyon Berry, forward Kareem Maddox and guard Dylan Travis. The group finished as runners-up at the 2023 World Cup, but has not played well in Paris.
The American men were hammered by Serbia 22-14 on Tuesday, then fell to Poland 19-17 on Wednesday. Like the women, they are currently in last place in the competition.
Both the men and the women have four games left to turn things around. The path for the men looks daunting though. They still have to face World Cup bronze medalist Latvia and unbeaten France, while also taking on the Netherlands, who finished fifth at the World Cup.
The women will face World Cup bronze medalist Australia on Thursday, followed by Spain later in the day. On Friday, they'll battle World Cup silver medalist France, and then Canada to close out group play.
The path doesn't look good for the U.S. 3x3 program. Both teams need to turn things around quickly.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as United States 3x3 Basketball Teams Open Olympics With Dreadful Starts.
