FIBA to propose 3x3 basketball as an Olympic event

[Hepcat]

Damn! With under two minutes to go:

LTU 20 USA 16

But then nothing further drops on LTU's following four possessions, a slip by Darius Tarvydas, and a two by Joey King with less than twenty seconds to go and:

USA 21 LTU 20

Damn! Damn! Damn!

[Hepcat]

Canada 18 Croatia 14
Canada 17 Netherlands 15

So Canada knocked off the Netherlands which I regarded among the top four favourites pre-tournament! That sets the table for a big game for first place in the group against Latvia tomorrow at 18:40 Austrian time.

[Mindozas]

That was a group of death with Latvia, Dutch and Canada, so someone had to go home.

So far no big surprises. But one thing is quite sure that bracket side with B and D groups is much better one. It's a tough luck that someone from USA, Latvia, Lithuania, Canada will already go down in 1/4. All 4 could easily end up in semis as A+C side with France, Poland, Slovenia or Brazil doesn't look too convincing to me, but at least one of them will qualify

[Hepcat]

So far no big surprises. But one thing is quite sure that bracket side with B and D groups is much better one. It's a tough luck that someone from USA, Latvia, Lithuania, Canada will already go down in 1/4.

Unfortunately two of those teams must be knocked out before the SFs. And that is just very wrong.

[Hepcat]

Wow!

Belgium 20 U.S.A. 16

But Belgium gets jobbed by the tie breaking system and is eliminated from the playoffs.

And looking at the points scored tie breakers, Lithuania and the United States are tied. Who therefore gets awarded first place? Looking at point differential, Lithuania should get first.

[JGX]

Wow!
And looking at the points scored tie breakers, Lithuania and the United States are tied. Who therefore gets awarded first place? Looking at point differential, Lithuania should get first.

Point differential is not a factor in 3x3 tiebreakers, only points scored. US gets first place in the group, either because of the head-to-head win over Lithuania or because of being the higher seed(!), it is not totally clear from the tiebreaker procedure.

[Hepcat]

Agggghhhh!!!

Austria 19 Canada 16

Canada therefore drops to a 2-2 record together with the Netherlands and Austria. The first tiebreaker though is total points scored over all four games:

Netherlands 71
Canada 67
Austria 66

Canada therefore finishes third behind 4-0 Latvia and 2-2 Netherlands and Canada fails to make the playoffs.

[Hepcat]

Point differential is not a factor in 3x3 tiebreakers, only points scored. US gets first place in the group, either because of the head-to-head win over Lithuania or because of being the higher seed(!), it is not totally clear from the tiebreaker procedure.

Looking at the total points scored tiebreaker for the three 3-1 teams in Group B:

United States 80
Lithuania 80
Belgium 77

If we look at just total points scored in the three games involving these teams it's the same picture:

United States 37
Lithuania 37
Belgium 36

The United States is very lucky that the tie breaker used in regular FIBA basketball tournaments wasn't applied, that being point differential in the three games involving these teams:

Belgium +3
Lithuania 0
United States -3

But it is what it is now. Tomorrow's QF pairings are:

Poland - Slovenia
Latvia - Lithuania
United States - Netherlands
France - Brazil

[JGX]

The United States is very lucky that the tie breaker used in regular FIBA basketball tournaments wasn't applied, that being point differential in the three games involving these teams:

Belgium +3
Lithuania 0
United States -3

Not sure how anyone is "very lucky", obviously the teams design their tactics around the rules that are used in 3x3 tournaments and not the rules used in other tournaments.

From what I've seen there are no dominant teams and any of the final eight could qualify for the Olympics.

Women's quarterfinals:
Japan-Switzerland
Hungary-France
USA-Belarus
Spain-Australia

Switzerland beat the US at the tournament in France last week, would be nice to see them make it.

[Hepcat]

From what I've seen there are no dominant teams and any of the final eight could qualify for the Olympics.

Well Latvia has looked very consistent and very good so far:

Latvia (Men)
The chemistry is so real with these guys, we're putting them up for a Nobel Prize. There's not a weak link on this team, and there's no squad in the world that wants to face them in their current form. They head into the quarterfinals where they'll face Lithuania, a familiar foe.

I'm hoping the Latvians stumble tomorrow but....

[Hepcat]

Women's quarterfinals:

Japan-Switzerland
Hungary-France
USA-Belarus
Spain-Australia

Switzerland beat the US at the tournament in France last week, would be nice to see them make it.

Speaking of the women, what are the Frenchwomen doing speaking English in the huddle? Very curious indeed for the French.

[Hepcat]

Ahhhhh, damn.

Latvia 21 Lithuania 19

I was prepared to be disappointed ever since Ignas Vaitkus went down with a broken foot last Saturday and I realized that Lithuania had a dreadful draw. Unfortunately things transpired exactly as I feared. Very disappointing.

[JGX]

US men lose to Netherlands in the quarterfinal. Hummel had a mediocre tournament after dominating at the 2019 WC.

France and US get the first two women's spots, France with a last-second win over Japan.

[Hepcat]

US men lose to Netherlands in the quarterfinal. Hummel had a mediocre tournament after dominating at the 2019 WC.

It's also ironic that it was Joey King, the last minute replacement for Canyon Barry, who ended up being the most valuable member of the U.S. team.

[JGX]

Poland, Netherlands, and Latvia take the three men's spots. The US will have some representation with Michael Hicks who has been a linchpin of the Polish 3x3 team for a long time.

Japan beat Spain 20-18 in overtime for the third women's spot, after trailing 18-14 late in regulation. Happy for them since they should have been given a spot in the first place.