Hoops Honcho Carries High Hopes for 3x3 Discipline

(ATR) The secretary general of the International Basketball Federation tells Around the Rings FIBA’s first-ever 3x3 Youth World Championship was simply the discipline’s next step toward possible Olympic inclusion.

"We are already at the Youth Olympic Games, but if we want to go beyond that, we need to have a sound and solid grass roots around the world," Patrick Baumann told ATR from Rimini, Italy.

"Therefore, one of our main targets is to motivate our member federations, so that’s the reason why we have this Youth World Championship here."

Baumann, also an IOC member from Switzerland, arrived in Rimini on Friday just in time for the opening tipoff. The weekend’s competition included 36 countries for boys and 24 for girls as well as a co-ed shootout, skills challenge for girls only and dunk contest for boys only.

FIBA’s latest pet project, 3x3 hoops features non-stop music, fast-paced action and games lasting less than 15 minutes. Given the de-emphasis on play-calling, coaching and a 12-strong roster, Baumann says the discipline is perfect for countries that can’t otherwise field a full squad of skilled players.

European mainstays Spain and Italy contested Sunday’s girls final with the hosts losing by a single point after failing to get off a decent shot in the closing seconds.

New Zealand, meanwhile, edged Bulgaria on a buzzer beater to take the boys title, perhaps an early testament to the globality of this new-look game. Neither finalist has ever medaled at a Summer Games, and NBA players are few and far between on their national teams.

"It’senough to have four skilled players," Baumann says of 3x3, "and with four we see Sri Lanka beating some teams and India losing very closely to Slovenia, so suddenly you see that the markets where maybe the core basketball game is not that strong in fact do have skilled players.

"We think this is going to be an even more global opportunity thanbasketball currently is, and this is certainly an asset that can be very valuable for the Games."

The half-court, three-to-a-side discipline debuted at the inaugural summer YOG in Singapore, then underwent a rebranding last month as FIBA campaigns for its Olympic inclusion.

In the meantime, Baumann says baby steps are the best FIBA can do, and the Youth World Championship was exactly that.

"There’s a large community of 3x3 basketball players," he tells ATR, "and we’re trying to just put them together in a form which still respects their freedom and their flexibility of playing when they wantbut leads them toward the pinnacle, which right now is the YOG and the world championship like we are just organizing.

"Hopefully tomorrow it will be the Olympic Games."

IOC Executive Board members will decide in 2013 whether to include any new disciplines on the Olympic program ahead of Rio 2016.

Written by Matthew Grayson.