Losing to the reigning bronze medalists, despite an embarrassing eight-point margin in Tuesday’s loss to Serbia, was expected.
But losing to Poland, 19-17, to fall to an 0-2 start in pool play of the 2024 Paris Olympics?
The result was beneath the world superpower of basketball.
Such is the sad state of affairs for the Team USA men’s national three-on-three (3×3) basketball team, which finished Day 2 of the Olympic sport with its second loss, this time to a Polish country without a five-on-five (5×5) basketball appearance in the Olympics since 1980 and with only one top-five Olympic basketball finish ever — in 1936.
The Polish own 29 gold and 66 total medals in athletics (track and field), eight gold medals and 43 total in boxing, six gold and 34 total in weightlifting, and another five gold and 27 total in wrestling. They even have four gold ski jumping medals, plus another four gold each in fencing, rowing and shooting.
Poland is not known to have talented basketball players. Former longtime NBA center Marcin Gortat is the most notable, and San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan is the only active NBA player of Polish descent.
Which makes Team USA’s inability to secure a victory that much more despicable, considering USA Basketball’s 5×5 roster is lopsided with talent when compared to the international field.
The Polish hunted Team USA star Jimmer Fredette in cross-matches, switching the 6-0 guard onto the 7-1 behemoth, Adrian Bogucki, who finished with a game-high seven points and five rebounds, turning around and floating shots into the basket with ease.
Fredette then compounded a poor shooting performance with an in-game thigh injury. The former BYU standout turned NBA bust finished with three points and missed all four of his attempts from downtown, checking out of the game to get his leg examined before returning to close the game in defeat.
A reminder: the USA Basketball committee responsible for assembling this Olympic roster couldn’t just pick up the phone and call the 5×5 team’s snubs. NBA All-Stars Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown and Jaren Jackson Jr., for example, would have dominated the international 3×3 competition with a level of skill and firepower no country’s roster could match.
Olympic 3×3 rosters, however, are limited to a pool of players who have already participated in FIBA-sanctioned 3×3 events leading up to the official games.
This is how USA Basketball ended up with a roster headlined by Fredette, whose game never translated to the NBA level; Canyon Barry, who shoots free throws underhand like his father, NBA legend Rick Barry, but is a full-time scientist by day who hoops part-time; Kareem Maddox, who turned to podcast producing and audio journalism after his first stint at basketball before becoming a three-on-three player; and Dylan Travis, a special education teacher, who, like his teammates, plays basketball on a part-time basis.
At least USA Basketball is making an attempt in a field that’s handicapped the country of its talent, and in the 3×3 event’s second appearance in the Olympic Games, Team USA is off to an 0-2 start.
Thankfully, the 5×5 team — led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant — is running up a margin wide-enough on the rest of the world that it should be able to wash away USA Basketball’s failure in the 3×3 game.
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