This story is from SLAM Presents USA Basketball. Buy now.
Let's take it back to where it started. Before you learned how to play in a full court position, you had to be comfortable moving around in the half court. It is the essence of basketball. From fast-paced pickup games on famous courts like Rucker Park to the shell drills practiced by every fearsome basketball team, 3×3 basketball is the foundation of the high-flying, low-flying 5×5 game we've grown to love.
For the second time in Olympic history, 3×3 basketball will be intense as countries compete for a medal, and for the first time in Olympic history, USA Basketball will have a team competing on the men's side.
After winning gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games and making a name for themselves on the FIBA 3×3 World Tour circuit, the US Men's National 3×3 Team automatically qualified for this year's Paris Games, entering the field as No. seeds.
The combined foursome has played together for a few years now, and that chemistry will be crucial to any success they hope to achieve. But while chemistry and cohesion are the keys to the Gold, the team will still need strong individual performances. Let's meet the men who made up the first USA 3×3 Men's Olympic Team in USA Basketball history.
There is no better person to represent the United States in 3×3 basketball than Jimmer Fredette, one of the greatest college basketball players of all time. You are a star. He's a box office hit, and if he's on your team, you always have a chance to win. Very few can compete with Jimmer when it comes to putting the ball in the basket. He can catch fire like no other, and his ability to get buckets in bunches will prove vital in Paris. Name a BYU or Mountain West Conference record, and there's a good chance Jimmer holds it.
The NCAA's leading scorer and Player of the Year knows nothing comes easy, although his natural scoring ability might lead you to think otherwise. Jimmer took the college basketball world by storm during his incredible run at BYU back in 2011. He'll look to impress the country again—this time in pursuit of an Olympic gold medal and the first US men's 3×3. history. Jimmer earned two gold medals and a silver medal in his 3×3 FIBA career, which began in late 2022. In this case, one could argue that the stakes are higher than ever. If there's anything you need to know about Jimmer, know this: If you need a bucket, all you have to do is say the name, and it will be done.
“Defense wins championships.” It is one of the most used expressions in the history of team sports. As basketball continues to become more and more dependent on scoring offense, having a Lockdown defender at your disposal who can put out explosives is as important as ever. That's what Kareem Maddox brings to the USA Basketball 3×3 Men's National Team this summer. The Princeton alum and former Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Ivy League selection (2011) is the team's anchor. Along with his defensive skills, Maddox is a scorer who knows years of 3 × 3 experience, starting in 2018 when he received the MVP in the USA Basketball 3 × 3 National Championship. Since then, he has earned five Gold medals and one Silver during his FIBA 3×3 career.
It is very difficult—almost impossible—to win a Gold medal in 3×3 basketball without at least one sharp shooter on the team. Fortunately for USA Basketball, shooting is Canyon Barry's specialty. The 6-6, 215-pound guard is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry and is doing his part to carry on Barry's basketball tradition: winning. The younger Barry was a 1,000-point scorer in college and averaged 20 points as a junior for Charleston before an injury cut short his season. He transferred to Florida the following season, where he earned 2017 SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors. The Canyon is a stable keeper that brings experience to the table and the hardware component to show for it. He has four gold medals and one silver medal in the FIBA 3×3 tournament and won the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup MVP. If this year's Men's 3×3 National Team has any chance at gold in Paris, Canyon will have to tap into the bag he was in when he helped lead the Florida Gators to the Elite Eight in 2017. And based on the strong performance he has had on the FIBA 3×3 circuit, there is no reason to doubt that he will be ready the minute he arrives.
The last member of the group is Dylan Travis, who graduated from Florida Southern College. Travis is the only player on the National Men's 3×3 team who did not play at the Division I level, but any true hooper or hoops fan knows how it goes—the best Division II players in the country can compete at any level. As a junior in 2015, Travis led his team to the Division II National Championship before going overseas for a season. In 2022, Travis made his USA Basketball 3 × 3 debut, where he made his presence felt. He is a sniper who can also get to the ball under pressure and cause defenders. So far in his FIBA career, he has two Gold and one Silver medals. So far…
As the 2024 games begin, the US has, for the first time, qualified four basketball teams for the Olympics. The new team, the 3 × 3 men's team, will undoubtedly shine like the Olympic flame, right at home in the fields of Paris.
SLAM LAUNCHES USA BASKETBALL NOW AVAILABLE
Photos via Getty Images.
! function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ?
n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)
}(window, document, ‘script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘166515104100547’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
Source link
