RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Richyyy]

[root_thing]

This is all very interesting. We were given the impression that Ionescu was very involved in 3x3. Instead, Sabrina is ranked 5,649th in the world with just 59,830 points. To put that in perspective, Laetitia Guapo of France is #1 with 603,640. Christyn Williams is the top American at #33 with 289,750 points.

In terms of WNBA or former WNBA players, I went through all 550 Americans and found the following pros:

Cierra Burdick #3239
Alexis Peterson 3245
Linae Harper 3535
Alex Montgomery 6882
Napheesa Collier 7214
Jackie Young 7246
Samantha Logic 10074
Brittany Boyd 11753
Andrea Riley 13415
Kelly Faris 19082
Ashley Shields 19330
Maggie Lucas 25253
Jen(nifer?) Hamson 26261

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Randy]

That list looks like the roster of a WNBA expansion/lottery team. They would probably struggle win a single game. Of course, they only need 4 players I guess.

[root_thing]

[Randy]

[Richyyy]

That USA Basketball article also says:

[Richyyy]

Reading the actual rules on FIBA's site, I can't find anything that says the 'two players from the country's top-10' rule applies to the Qualiying Tournament. Its definitely a rule for the actual Olympic Games, but the only thing I've seen that says it applies to the qualifier is that USA Basketball article. So as long as their own article is wrong, they can send anyone they like to qualify in March, then worry about the more awkward rules for the Olympics (when all those college kids would be available anyway).

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Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[root_thing]

Well, if Team USA does need to worry about the two in the Top 10 rule, then it's going to be difficult. Changing my criteria to anyone who has been a pro here or overseas, below are the top 10 non-college players with their USA rank and points:

Cierra Burdick #60 33,000 pts
Alexis Peterson 61 33,000
Megan Huff 69 30,000
Linae Harper 70 30,000
Shannon Coffee 89 21,600
Candice Agee 107 15,300
Alex Montgomery 115 12,900
Napheesa Collier 119 12,000
Jackie Young 122 12,000
Oderah Chidom 146 9,600

So, how do we move any of these people into the Top 10? Carly Lutz is #9 with 81,400 points and Baylie Mook is #10 with 76,200 points. Collier and Young recently played in a tournament, and as far as I know that was their first. Did they get 12,000 points for that one tournament? (OT quarterfinal loss.) That suggests Burdick, Peterson, Huff or Harper need to play in 4-5 tournaments where Team USA performs well. Are there 4-5 tournaments left?

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Richyyy]

[root_thing]

[ClayK]

The other two players, though, don't have to be in the top ten.

But do they have to have some other level of qualification?

_________________
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[Richyyy]

[root_thing]

We may have good news on the 3x3 Team:

1) I drilled down to see what these players did in individual tournaments. It looks like all the points were accumulated this year. It's possible that totals reset to zero on January 1, 2020, so none of the current rankings would matter. However, I noticed that Guapo, the French player at #1, had two early June 2019 tournaments excluded. It's also possible they're operating on a season-based year starting in June rather than a calendar year. In that case, the points would carry over.

2) There are tournaments where you can accumulate over 70,000 points in a single event. So, the 36,000 point minimum is easily attainable if you pick the right tournament. Guapo played in two such tournaments in each of three months: June, August, and September.

3) All team USA has to do is find a couple of these high-value tournaments and send some pros to get them qualified.

4) Afterward, USA Basketball has to prevent the college kids from participating too much so that we keep our pro players in the Top 10.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Richyyy]

Accumulation of points for the federation rankings started November 2018, for what that's worth. That might be where they're going from for individuals as well. It would seem strange and unlikely to me to reset to zero on January of the Olympic year, but FIBA does some strange shit, so I wouldn't rule it out.

The problem with finding those high-value tournaments could be that this year's FIBA 3x3 Women's Series - https://womensseries.fiba3x3.com/2019 - ran from June to September. If next year's is somethng similar, then obviously that would be no help to anyone in terms of ranking points pre-Olympics.

_________________
Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[Randy]

I wonder if Hayes will get called up by Azerbaijan for their 3x3 NT?

[root_thing]

I looked at about 15 players. The earliest date I could find where points counted was March 2019 for Asian players. Still, even if there is time left it's possible that there are no high-value tournaments remaining. I also noticed that a number of players had their October tournaments excluded. They were low-value events, but still, it's interesting that they were tallied but not included.

So, maybe the USA is back to being screwed. No pro players are eligible for the Olympic Qualifier, and college players will be tied up in their various tournaments.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[J-Spoon]

Maybe the plan was to use college kids all along

A team of say top 10

C. Williams and Bella Alarie or C. Collier

with

Ionescu

or maybe Hebard, Ono if you don't want both Collier and Alarie seems do-able right amount of size and familiarity

and if the US does well they stay with this system grooming college kids as part of the future for the larger National team and if the US blows it they re-think and develop the next tier down from top 12 national team pros with more of a skill set for 3x3

[root_thing]

[ClayK]

This is very interesting ...

The U.S. plan all along has been to use college players, and not those trying out for the national team.

All of the college players are eligible, but given the timing of the qualifying tournament, some cannot participate in that event.

I'm guessing the plan is to cobble together some kind of team for qualification from players who aren't in the NCAA tournament at that point, or get some pros eligible.

If I had any press credentials, I'd call up and dig up the details, but I don't. And as far as I know, no outlet is interested enough in this issue to go after the story, so we'll be in the dark for some time most likely.

_________________
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[Richyyy]

I'm intrigued as to whether the US would qualify anyway. Let's say the USA Basketball article is wrong (which actually is my best guess, considering nothing else seems to say the same thing) and you can send anyone you like to the qualifier. There are still only three spots on offer at the Qualifying Tournament, and everyone else will presumably be sending their best teams, many of whom have actually been playing 3x3 for a while. If Team USA chuck together a team of whatever good-but-not-star WNBA players are around who aren't playing overseas, would they have enough basic basketball talent to get through? I might actually be intrigued enough to watch some 3x3 to find out.

_________________
Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[J-Spoon]

[root_thing]

[J-Spoon]

If there are no requirements for the qualifying team it would be funny if they sent a squad from the designated 8

I am pretty sure a team of C. Gray, Taurasi, EDD and Nneka could get through with minimal practice

[Richyyy]

[threadkiller1201]

from swishappeal:

https://www.swishappeal.com/2019/11/2/20944793/fiba-3x3-olympic-qualifying-tournament-united-states-tokyo-2020