Who do you know of that was available, but wasn't selected?

We are starting well behind the 8-ball on 3x3 and because of a lack of FIBA sanctioned competitions.

At the moment it is a given that we are unlikely to qualify any teams to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, which is a shame. As of today, our men rank 55th in the world, our women 42nd.

These WC results reflect our low ranking in the professional 3x3 competitions. Nothing to do with the team selection.

Only players registered with the 3x3 league were eligible. Australia doesn't have any world class 3x3 players. FIBA's rankings show that Australia's highest female 3x3 player is 5,371st in the world points scored rankings.

Players' rankings are determined by their performances in eligible 3x3 events. A nation's ranking is determined by the total points in the last 12 months for its top 100 players.

Australia qualified 20th of 20 teams in the women's competition. Our federation points' total was 491,921, The 19th qualifier, Venezuela, had 771,190 points. The 1st qualifier, Hungary, had 3,272,595.

Australia only got in because the qualification rules set a maximum number of countries from any one continent (10).

XY is right about the lack of sanctioned competitions being a factor. FIBA has handballed the development of 3x3 to the national federations and set up qualification criteria to encourage them to mount 3x3 competitions. Quote from FIBA:

"The 3x3 Federation Ranking not only rewards the elite performances of the players but also the 3x3 activity in the territory of each National Federation. The position in the 3x3 Federation Ranking is driven by the number of players and their playing frequency. The more events are organised the more likely players will accumulate points and increase the national federation's standing in the 3x3 Federation Ranking."

So BA just needs to put on lots of 3x3 competitions. Of course, doing that would cost money and that would have to come from sponsorship, government or local associations.

It's great that you are learning a lot. You may want to re-evaluate your opening comment regarding an 'embarrassing loss'.

From a source close to BA high performance here are some facts:

1. Our girls received a couple of weeks' notice re their selection, they had no preparation, no team training and no coach.
2. They arrived in Europe less than 24 hours before playing 6th Ranked Ukraine, last year's silver medallists, gave a good account of themselves but lost. Fair to say they were finding their feet in a new competition.
3. Playing in 37 degree heat they then won against China and Japan ranked 12th and 15th and then played magnificently against the 3rd Ranked, unbeaten team from Netherlands.
4. Lost heartbreakingly in OT.
5. Amelia Todhunter, Carly Mijovic, Rebecca Cole and Nadine Payne represented their country with honour. To say they gave their all for our green and gold would be an accurate description.

BA and our high-performance department have not had a focus on 3x3 basketball and use the resources they have to fund all of our other national teams. No doubt an expensive process. Given that FIBA 3x3 has now been admitted to the Tokyo Olympics, perhaps BA will invest in this exciting form of Basketball.

There is an Asian Championship and a European Championship. The Europeans played in two tournaments and had training camps leading into the world championships, we didn't have a training session!

Probably a little unfair to label our wonderful women athletes embarrassing. They did the best they could for the green and gold of Australia. Proud would be a better description. But hey blogs are all about opinion, hope you are wiser - Sage.

Great posts explaining the situation!

Very good posts. Spot on XY, PeterJohn & Sage.

However anyone can participate in the 3x3WC as long as they register on FIBA3x3 Planet and their country qualifies (and they are selected of course).

Our team sent were arguably the most inexperienced 3x3 team playing at the WC and were outstanding!

Times are changing, and with 3x3 now an Olympic sport, this needs to be reflected in how this form of the game is now managed in Australia moving forward. This is where CLB3x3 have gained traction and in essence helping boost Australia's ranking by actually organising and holding events! Needless to say more is needed.

Absolutely spot on Sage, these women did a magnificent job given the conditions and all were just so proud to represent their country.
This game is as tough as nails and until you get out on the floor and experience it, only then will you truely appreciate just how phsically demanding it is and how there needs to months and years of preparation and not just weeks or even days.

LC, you are spot on and CLB3X3's activity, account for almost 70% of all 3x3 ranking points activity in Australia in the last 12 months.

PeterJohn, your points and info is great and almost spot on, although it is my understanding that the Aussie women were only there beacause NZ could not field a Womens team. NZ are ranked way ahead of Australia due to all their 3X3 activity, and therefore qualify to send both a Mens and Womens team, but do not have enough women playing to qualify.
Your given federation also has to rank in the top 50% of all federations in your region (i.e. Oceania) to qualify and NZ do and Aus do not (yet).

I can understand BA putting more money into the opals. While the players available to be chosen have continued to be of very very high quality in all respects ( skills, attitude, athleticism etc), IMHO the results from both Graf and Joyce have been a clear level below, in both quality and consistency, than what was achieved under Maher and Stirling. Its almost back to the "did not Qualify" Cadee and Flynn days, whose "success " bars were set at the same Gaze Sr "Boomers" level of "we didn't lose by much - so we we successful"

Given that the funding was/is dependent upon WC and Olympic performances, I can understand the BA panic, as it will affect their individual salaries if we continue downwards.

That said, a medal in the 3x3 is still a medal and should have been treated as such in the BA budget and planning.

The players did well, BA - not so much.

A good point very old - Olympic success in the 3x3 format could lead to an increase in funding for basketball generally, and if we turned our minds to it I suspect we could be pretty good at it. An opportunity missed.

I doubt a world ranking in the 50's is going to lead to any additional funding at all. It would take us pulling out all stops to qualify any teams for Tokyo from here.

It is an atrocity that New Zealand, not to mention Japan, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and the Philippines in the Asia region, all rank above us.

To use the OP's term, that is what is embarrassing.

Olympic funding should be there since it is an Olympic sport.

Olympic funding is now linked to the likelihood of Olympic success (I.e. Medals). Modern pentathlon can expect a lot more funding than BA will get for the currently remote prospect we are going to qualify a team for 3x3 basketball.

#638372

Unlike others, I would not put it down to weather, well not fully.

We are one of the few countries where domestically, basketball is basically played all year round. In Europe you get some summer leagues but the real stuff is played over winter. In the US kids the elite stuff is more constrained - HS seasons basically.

We even confuse this with our elite leagues playing winter (Semi pro) and summer (pro).

It means that the groups who organise the mass participation of the game, and rely heavily on a 42 week calendar for revenue etc., are preoccupied with 5-5. That is not criticising them, it just reflects how the game is structured here.

What motivation is there for an organisation like Dandenong, who have a stadium to manage and maintain, and who have a elite teams to finance, to give up their time and court space for 3x3, especially when their financial model is built around 5-5 not just playing, but also paying stadium entry fees etc.

If I was a basketball administrator in this country, I would have, up until now, genuinely asked what was in it for me. Now of course, BA do have to seriously ask themselves this question. But everyone criticising BA for their inertia also need to take into account that up until a couple of weeks ago, their major funder was not the slightest bit interested in 3x3. BA had every reason to focus on 5-5.