adjust your game plan on the fly. I think we’re doing a great job with that.” On the women’s side, the USA was
impressive offensively and defensively in its two wins. The USA women made it look easy as they raced to a 21-5 victory over Hungary in their opener, then followed that with a 21-5 win against Brazil. “It’s definitely more physical than in
the U.S., by far,” said Loyd. “They kind of let you get away with a lot of pushing and stuff. We had to adjust a little bit on offense and our mindset a little bit. “We were just being tough and
physical, going back to our plays and not doing too much one-on-one. We were going back to our plays and getting to the free-throw line,” she said about the USA’s victory over Brazil. “They got into foul trouble, so basically we were going to the free throw line almost the whole game. So, that helped us a lot.” “You can’t really rely on your jump
shot too much, you have to learn how to attack, create for others. Drive and dish is pretty big, find the mismatches a little bit,” said Lloyd on the differences between the standard basketball game and 3x3. “The key is to know your strengths. You might have an open shot, but because of the wind you might have to take it in. You have to be able to fin- ish through contact and go up strong.” The second day of competition saw
both the USA women’s and the men’s teams advance to the round of 16. The U.S. women won their three
games to improve their record to 5-0 and earn the No. 1 seed for Pool D, while the U.S. men finished preliminary-round play 2-3 and as the No. 4 seed out of Pool A. The USA women closed out
preliminary play on June 6 by upending Ukraine 21-10, Spain 16-6 and Argentina 21-11 to remain undefeated. “I think our goal is to win every ball
game, and we have done that, but we realize that it’s zero-zero tomorrow – new slate, new competition, so we just have to come out with the right mindset and get ready to take care of business tomorrow,” said Burdick. “We watched film earlier this morning, we went over some of our sets, and I think that helped. Our play is getting crisper and crisper as the days go by. We know as we get into the crunch time, we are going to be see-
USA Basketball News
ing better competition, so we have to be clicking on all cylinders.” The USA men concluded prelimi-
nary play 2-3 after suffering down-to- the-wire losses against Poland, 20-18, and Tunisia, 21-20. “I think some of the adversity that we encountered and some of the plays
that we gave up will make us a lot better,” said Darrow. “On three or four plays, we weren’t clicking and that is enough to turn the game against you. That’s part of 3-on-3; it’s a short game, so you really have to have a short-term memory and move onto the next play right away. “I think the situational stuff that we
saw, really will make us better,” Darrow continued. “Just being in those close games and learning. It’s tough to lose and learn, but to still be going to the knockout round, I think it will help us.” Entering the win or go home phase
of the 3x3 World Championships on June 7, the USA women continued their winning ways and improved their record to 7-0 after knocking off Uruguay and France, to secure a spot in the medal round semifinals. “(Our games today) were pretty
Above: Cierra Burdick won her first 3x3 gold medal at the FIBA 3x3 World Championship, it was her fourth overall gold medal. Below: Jitim Young helped lead Ariel to the USA Basketball 3x3 National Championship and earned co-MVP honors along the way.
physical, which is how a lot of teams have been playing us since we got here,” said Mitchell of the women’s competi- tion. “They’re trying to be really physi- cal with us, so we’re just trying to keep our heads and just do what we do best. We know we’re a good team. We’re playing well, so that’s all we’re trying to keep doing.” The USA women opened the day
with a one-sided 19-6 victory over Uruguay to move on to the medal round quarterfinals. Matched up against 5-1 France in the quarterfinals, the USA came out on top 12-9 in its closest game of the World Championship to advance to the semifinal round. The U.S. men ended their run in the
2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championship with a 19-15 tightly contested loss to 2012 champ Serbia in the Round of 16. Facing Serbia in the Round of 16,
the USA men led 15-14 with under a minute to play. Serbia made one free throw to tie the game, got the rebound off of the second free throw miss, scored and took the lead 16-15. Serbia continued to make shots and
free throws down the stretch, while the USA turned the ball over and missed its game-tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds. Forced to foul with nine seconds remaining, the USA was whistled for an intentional foul, and Serbia made both from the line and then ran the clock out. “I think we played very hard,” said
93
FIBA.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116