The 3x3 Men and Women Wombats will both look to secure third place at the Asia Oceania 3x3 Cup today.
Despite a commanding performance throughout the tournament, the Men's team encountered a stumbling block last night as Korea orchestrated a 9-point upset and interrupting their impressive winning streak.
Head Coach Nick such identified Korea’s strengths, but says the Men are prepped and ready for what he anticipates to be a closely contested match against China today.
“Whilst we executed our game plan, Korea used their significant size advantage to pressure our shooting and gain second chance possessions for themselves. This put scoreboard pressure on us.
“Our game versus China will be a close match and will come down to conversion of shots early in the set and quick transitions to defence, forcing contested mid-range attempts.
“The Men have come together well with limited preparation and proven they can be a player in the 3x3 world stage,” he said.
After falling to The Philippines and China last night, all was not lost as the Women have made their way into to the bronze medal game tomorrow against Thailand in a surprising turn of events.
After defeating the Wombats, The Philippines faced disqualification for exceeding the permissible number of classification points on the floor as per the 3x3 rules.
Classification points refer to a system used to assess and categorise the functional abilities of players based on their level of physical impairment, and the IWBF 3x3 regulations stipulate a maximum of 8.5 points that can be fielded at any given time.
Due to an injury and the absence of a substitute player, The Philippines opted to play a higher number of points than allowed. This decision ultimately led to their disqualification, presenting an unexpected opportunity for the Wombats to secure their ticket to the bronze medal game.
Head Coach Rob Pike is optimistic going into today’s game and said the team are ready for the challenge against the host nation.
“One of our goals for the tournament was to get better every game, and so far, we have achieved that objective despite our losses tonight.
“The women played their best game for the tournament defensively, allowing China to only score eight points – their lowest score all tournament.
“The team is excited for tomorrow’s game against a very well-drilled Thai team, and we believe our best basketball is ahead of us. If we put it all together, we will come away with a win – Strong defence leads to great offence!”
Keep up to date with the 3x3 Wombats schedule here
All games will be streamed via the IWBF YouTube Channel.
