After six days of intense action and 84 thrilling games played, the winners of the FIBA U23 3×3 Nations League have been found – with New Zealand taking out both the Men’s and Women’s conferences in dominating fashion.
The prize for New Zealand; a coveted place at the FIBA U23 3×3 World Cup 2024 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 11-15 September 2024, with both the Kiwi men’s and women’s teams set to compete for the title of U23 3×3 World Champions.
This will be the fifth edition of the FIBA U23 3×3 World Cup, with a previous NZ Men’s team – featuring a young Taylor Britt and Taane Samuel in the squad – finishing eleventh out of 20 teams in the 2019 edition. The NZ Women’s team will compete in this tournament for the first time.
Kiwis Sides Dominate In Kuala Lumpur
Both New Zealand sides were unstoppable during the FIBA U23 3×3 Nations League tournament, held in Kuala Lumpur over seven days. Playing against the U23 3×3 national teams from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in a six-team competition, the young Kiwi sides quickly established themselves as title favourites with a dominant Day 1.
The NZ U23 3×3 Women’s team went a perfect 18-0 over six days, averaging 20.5 points per game while holding opponents to an average of just 8 points per game. The squad made it to 21 points in all but three of their games, one of those a thrilling 15-13 overtime win against Singapore on Day 3. The squad also set the tournament record for fastest win, a 21-2 defeat of Qatar that was over in just 5 minutes and 7 seconds.
The squad was paced by the elite shooting of Maia Jones (7.1ppg) – who finished among the tournament leaders in scoring – and Kate Herman with 6.6ppg, while Dominique Stephens averaged a solid 5.1ppg, Anika Hyland 4.3ppg and Maddy Timms with 1.9ppg.
Both Jones and Stephens were named to the 2degrees Tall Ferns extended squad on Friday, in contention for their Tall Ferns debuts at next month’s FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers.
The NZ U23 3×3 Men’s team went 17-1 in their campaign, their sole loss coming against Qatar in the Day 2 Final. The squad averaged 20.7 points per game while holding opponents to 12 points per game, making it to 21 points in 15 out of 17 of their games – their 18th game being a forfeit win against Saudi Arabia.
Fuelled by his three-point shooting prowess, Josh Book – son of Tall Blacks centre Ed Book – led the tournament with 8ppg, with Campbell Scott equally as efficient from beyond the arc with his 5.9ppg. Aidan Tonge (5.5ppg) did the majority of his damage from inside, while Daniel Dobson had 3ppg and Zach McKenzie 2.5ppg.
The boy’s fastest win came in Round 3 – a 21-7 win over Singapore that was over in 5 minutes and 38 seconds – while Campbell Scott set a tournament record with 5 made outside shots in the team’s final group game at Stop 6; a 22-10 win over Indonesia.
“3×3 lends itself really well to my style of game”
Tournament’s standout, Maia Jones – daughter of Tall Blacks legend Phill Jones – says that although she’s relatively new to 3×3, she has greatly enjoyed her experience in Kuala Lumpur.
“The last I played 3×3 basketball in a tournament setting was at the 3×3 Cup in 2022; and since then I’ve been away at college and playing 5 on 5 basketball – so it’s been a while,” says Jones.
“It feels great to be here, it’s awesome playing – especially when everything is going our way – and it’s fun. It’s been great to be cheer on the boy’s team too and showing support to them, like they do to us. It’s a crazy environment here and I’ve had a lot of fun.”
Jones feels the fast-paced, offense-based style of 3×3 basketball suits her skill-set well.
“I’m very much an offensive-focused player, so 3×3 lends itself really well to my style of game; whereas in my opinion 5-on-5 basketball, in New Zealand especially, is very defensive-focused. But I love both!”
“Our players really bought into this dynamic style of play”
3×3 programmes manager Nikolay Mikhalchuk believes this victory will go down in the New Zealand history books as one of 3×3 basketball’s great achievements.
“This has been an absolute success for us; our strong performance has made waves across the 3×3 global landscape, and it gives us confidence heading into the U23 3×3 World Cup in September,” says Mikhalchuk.
“This was an important tournament to win and do well in, and our success is unprecedented in the history of 3×3 basketball in New Zealand; we’ve been able to skyrocket into the top 25 world rankings for 3×3, so it’s paid off well for the programme.”
Mikhalchuk says that the athletes bought into the new style of play quickly and had fun on the court.
“We came into this tournament with a bunch of young, new and talented athletes on the rosters, and we spent a lot of time trying to create and establish a unique style of play for New Zealand 3×3 basketball – which would allow us to be competitive on the international stage. We put a heavy emphasis on creating and knocking down two-point shots and creating easy, uncontested layups; with the goal of reaching 21 points as fast as we can.
“Our players really bought into this dynamic style of play; it was a lot of fun for athletes to play and for spectators to watch. And to see these young players get to experience so much high-level international 3×3 basketball in a short period pf time – 18 games played in 6 days – is great for their future.”
New Zealand U23 3×3 National Team – Men’s
Josh Book
Daniel Dobson
Zach McKenzie
Campbell Scott
Aidan Tonge
U23 Men’s Head Coach – Piet Van Hasselt
New Zealand U23 3×3 National Team – Women’s
Kate Herman
Dominique Stephens
Anika Hyland
Maia Jones
Maddy Timms
U23 Women’s Head Coach – Kat Jones
