USA Falls to Germany in Olympics 3x3 Basketball

Robin Lundberg | Jul 30, 2024

Saul Young / USA TODAY NETWORK

Perhaps the USA Women's Basketball 3x3 team missed Cameron Brink. The Los Angeles Sparks rookie was supposed to compete in Paris but was replaced by teammate Dearica Hamby after tearing her ACL. The squad actually competing in the Olympics dropped its opening contest to Germany 17-13. The roster features Hamby, Atlanta Dream star Rhyne Howard, TCU's Hailey Van Lith, and Cierra Burdick, who currently plays for Valencia Basket Club.

The 🇺🇸 #3x3WNT drops the opener.

Game two comes tomorrow against 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan at 3:30 pm ET. pic.twitter.com/IcDMoyRcTP

— USA Basketball 3x3 (@usab3x3) July 30, 2024

Team USA won gold at the inaugural 3x3 competition at the last Olympics in Tokyo. But that was with an entirely different roster. That squad featured current Team USA member and Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray of the Dream (who just won both the Skills and 3-Point Contest at the WNBA All-Star Game), Washington Mystics shooter Stefanie Dolson, and Katie Lou Samuelson of the Indiana Fever. The current group now has some ground to make up in order to repeat.

Even though Hamby is so good, USA still misses Cameron Brink.

Brink is such a unique player in 3x3, she can switch onto any player defensively, incredible rim protector, can cover up others' mistakes, plus she can stretch the floor, beat bigs off the bounce.

— SkinsHoops86 (@SkinsHoops86) July 30, 2024

The good news is the Tokyo team also lost a game in pool play and still was able to emerge victorious. The United States gets another chance in the next contest against Azerbaijan. All eight teams at the Olympics play each other once in pool play, with the top two moving on to the semi-finals, while 3-6 will face off in play-in games to see who advances.

👀 STATEMENT WIN FOR GERMANY! 🇩🇪

💪 They get a resilient win against reigning Gold medalists, team USA! 😤#3x3Basketball #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/Xv860IV84j

— 3x3 Basketball |FIBA3x3 (@FIBA3x3) July 30, 2024

So, Team USA will soon have a chance for redemption in the contests that end fast. The games are only 10 minutes long, or first to 21, and feature a 12-second shot clock. Shots inside the arc are good for one point, while makes from the outside are worth two. We'll see how the 3x3 squad responds very quickly.