USA Basketball 3×3 girls fall to Azerbaijan, drop to 0-2 in pool play: “We’re essentially the most inexperienced crew right here”

On Tuesday, the U.S. girls’s 3×3 crew dropped its first match of the Olympics, a 17-13 loss to Germany that lead guard Hailey Van Lith described as “comfortable” and teammate Cierra Burdick admitted was “ugly.”

On Wednesday, a foul Olympic begin bought worse for the ladies’s USA Basketball’s 3×3 program, as Azerbaijan beat america, 20-17.

The back-and-forth sport was tied at 17 with 20 seconds to go, however the U.S. couldn’t get a shot up in time, regardless of Burdick — essentially the most skilled member of the crew — emphatically gathering the ladies and drawing up a play prematurely.

Then, the Las Vegas Aces’ Tiffany Hayes, a naturalized citizen of Azerbaijan, took benefit of a defensive miscommunication to get huge open for a layup. In response, Hailey Van Lith tried a tough three-pointer in hopes of getting USA again forward, however that shot resulted in an airball and Azerbaijan possession.

Dearica Hamby led the way in which for the US with 7 factors on 5-8 capturing together with a team-high 5 rebounds, whereas Van Lith added 4 factors and a couple of assists, however made simply 3 of 10 discipline targets.

Cierra Burdick completed with 4 factors, 4 rebounds, and a couple of assists, whereas Rhyne Howard — the #1 decide within the 2022 WNBA draft — scored only a single level on 1-5 capturing. Howard, who’s extra conversant in 5×5 basketball, has struggled in each pool play video games thus far.

In the meantime, Tiffany Hayes was dominant for Azerbaijan, placing up 11 factors and seven rebounds. Dina Ulyanova added 6 factors within the win.

Picture by Ezra Shaw/Getty Photos

Down the stretch, USA Basketball 3×3 crew’s lack of expertise confirmed for the second consecutive sport.

“We’re essentially the most inexperienced crew right here,” Burdick advised USA At present after Tuesday’s loss to Germany. “We bought lots of ability, lots of expertise, however that doesn’t win 3×3 video games. That’s a main time instance proper there.”

USA 3×3 basketball continues tomorrow

With the loss, the US falls to final within the standings. The highest two groups robotically advance to the semi-finals, to be performed Monday, whereas the subsequent 4 qualify for a play-in spherical to be able to compete for the opposite two semi-final spots. So, so long as the US can get into the highest six within the standings by Saturday, they stand an opportunity.

A tough begin doesn’t imply that Group USA’s medal hopes are over, but it surely definitely wasn’t the beginning this system hoped for. The U.S. performs two of 5 remaining pool video games tomorrow, in opposition to Australia within the morning and Spain within the afternoon.

The remaining schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, August 1st: vs. Australia, 7 a.m. & vs. Spain, 3:30 p.m. ET (pool play)
• Friday, August 2nd: vs. France, 7 a.m. vs. Canada, 12 p.m. ET (pool play)
• Saturday, August third: vs. China, 1:05 p.m. ET (pool play)
• Monday, August fifth: Semifinals, bronze and gold medal video games

Right here’s the place issues presently stand

By way of two days of play, Canada leads the pack, whereas the U.S. is in eighth place:

1. Canada: 2-0 (Canada defeated China as we speak 21-11)
2. Spain: 2-0 (Spain beat France 17-12)
3. Australia: 1-1 (Australia beat Germany as we speak 21-19)
4. Germany: 1-1
5. Azerbaijan: 1-1 (Azerbaijan beat the US as we speak 20-17)
6. China: 1-1
7. France: 0-2
8. United States: 0-2