Big strides in 3x3

There’s an exciting buzz in tracking the Philippines’ progress in 3x3 basketball with the men’s team qualifying for the 20-nation FIBA U23 World Cup in Wuhan on Sept. 15-19, ending an eight-year wait from when RJ Abarrientos, Ricci Rivero, Rhayyan Amsali and Jeepy Faundo posted a 2-2 record in 2018.

“It came as a surprise,” said SBP 3x3 project director Ryan Gregorio who took over the role six months ago. “We topped the U21 Nations League with three first place finishes, two second places and one fourth in six stops over Japan, New Zealand, Belarus, Singapore and Malaysia. That qualified us for the U23 World Cup. A U23 Nations League will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 17-23. We’re looking at our players from the U21 and U23 Nations Leagues to decide who will participate in the U23 World Cup and U23 Asian Games on Sept. 20-25.”

The U21 players who saw action in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, were FEU’s Cabs Cabonillas and Jed Daa, UST’s Koji Buenaflor, Adamson’s Earl Medina and San Beda’s Jhuniel de la Rama. So far, La Salle’s Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo are confirmed for the U23 Nations League. Gregorio said he’ll reach out to four others this weekend before finalizing the roster. In contention are two from UAAP and two from NCAA.

Gregorio said the Gilas 3x3 women are ahead of the men in ranking points and made it back to the FIBA 3x3 Women World Cup in Warsaw last June. The women are No. 21 and the men, No. 40 in the federation ladder. Anton Altamirano coaches the women while Kirk Collier, Patrick Fran and JJ Espanola take care of the men. SBP executive director Erika Dy said the upswing in both the women and men programs is “proof that Filipinos are world-class not just in 5x5 but also in 3x3…with the support of our sponsors and the commitment of stakeholders, SBP will continue to put our athletes in a position to succeed.”

A dream is to make it to the 2028 LA Olympics in 3x3, men or women or both. The field has expanded from eight in both genders the past two Olympics to 12. Gregorio said the qualifying system involves ranking points which are compiled through participation in 3x3 events around the world. Slots will be awarded to host USA, the top Europe, Africa, Americas and two Asia/Pacific (limited to one from Pacific) teams and six winners of qualifying tournaments. “To generate ranking points, we’ll need to actively join competitions and even host,” said Gregorio. “3x3 in the Olympics is an open format so no age limit and pros can play. It’s difficult to sustain a pool because tournaments are being held everywhere and schedules are often conflicted. A FIBA Challenger tournament is set in Singapore on Aug. 15-16 and we might be able to tap PBA players because of the break. But it’s a tough process to find players available throughout the year. I’m requesting UAAP to customize the calendar so that we can bring the best U23 players to prestigious competitions. Despite the challenges, we’re moving forward and achieving success.”