SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Alisha Gray is excited to return to play 3×3 for the U.S. Basketball Team with a shot at making the team for this summer's Paris Olympics.
She is the only player from the foursome to return. won the gold medal at the Tokyo Games 3 years ago. It was the first time the sport was included in the Olympics.
“It was amazing because we were the first team to do it and the first at the Olympics,” Gray said. “It’s great to be back and get back to my normal form.”
Gray was one of eight players selected from a 15-member training camp over the weekend to participate in a 3×3 tournament at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. . She is on a team with Dearika Hamby, Cameron Brink, and Lynne Harper.
Brink and Harper helped the United States win the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup. Humvee made her 3×3 debut and won gold at the Women's American Cup that same year.
The other U.S. team in the tournament includes Sierra Burdick, Ryne Howard, Lexi Hull; haley van lith. Burdick and Van Lith were also on last year's World Cup team. Howard has the least experience in 3×3, only playing in the National Basketball Championship in 2019. She also participates in her 5-on-5 national team at the Olympics.
“3×3 is more intimate and I think it tests your patience a little bit because you have to think about what you're doing to make it look good,” Howard said. “There's not a lot of people to help you get open, so you have to make up a lot of things yourself.”
Hull began his 3×3 career in 2016 and also won medals in the sport in 2022 and 2023.
The Americans will ultimately choose Paris' four-player roster. Two of the players must be in the top 10 in cumulative points for the U.S. team Two other players on the team must also be in the top 10 or between January 1, 2023 and June 2023 Must have participated in at least one official FIBA 3×3 competition on the 24th, 2024.
National team coach Jennifer Rizzotti said it will be a difficult task for the selection committee to choose the four players who will compete in the Paris Games.
“The hard part is that some women have been working hard on this game for four years,” she said. “They scored points for the U.S. and they scored points for themselves. They did all the groundwork and laid the foundation for us to go to the Olympics, but they all It's not like they're going to make it to the Olympics. We tried to find a way to let them know that they're part of the process and we're trying to stay here as long as possible.”
3×3 games are played in half court with a 12 second shot clock and the winner is the first team to score 21 points or lead at the end of 10 minutes. Baskets inside the arc are worth 1 point, shots outside the arc are worth 2 points.
Rizzotti said USA Basketball held a 3×3 camp last May that attracted many college players who were participating in the game for the first time. She has seen a lot of growth from them.
“It’s impressive to see them figure things out in such a short amount of time and limited number of plays,” she said. “We had a really competitive camp in a way that we really didn’t expect.”
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-Paris-Olympic-Games
