Youth is key to 3x3 success

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ breakthrough in 3x3 U23 basketball at the recent Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has opened SBP’s eyes to realize that youth is the key to success in the program. With the goal of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics in both men and women divisions, SBP 3x3 director Ryan Gregorio said it’s a tough road ahead but there’s nothing to lose in reaching for the stars.

In Nagoya, the women’s team plucked the silver medal and the men’s squad made it to the Final Four, both record achievements. They were in the U23 category. In LA, the 3x3 competition will be open to players 18 and above with no age limit.

“Mahirap mag-qualify sa Olympics,” said Gregorio. “In terms of federation points to determine the best in Asia, currently ahead of us are China, Mongolia, Japan, Qatar, Chinese-Taipei and Singapore. We don’t host Challenger events kaya lamang sila. For future 3x3 tournaments, we won’t hesitate to use our young players who played in the Nations League, World Cup and Asian Games. Youth movement is the template of successful 3x3 teams like New Zealand (Asia Cup champion) and South Korea (Asian Games gold medalist). Young players who’ve played together and joined tournaments and are very familiar with 3x3 basketball.” Because 3x3 is a halfcourt 10-minute blitz game with a 12-second shot clock, the key is to recruit tireless, dedicated players.

There will be 12 teams in the men and women divisions in the coming Olympics. Host USA has an automatic slot, leaving 11 up for grabs. Five places will be allocated to the top-ranked countries in Africa, Americas, Europe and two in Asia-Pacific for each division. The six remaining tickets will be awarded through four qualifying tournaments. The first qualifier will be based on universality for teams that didn’t play basketball in the last two Olympics. The second qualifier will be based on rankings. The top two placers in the first and second qualifiers will advance to LA. The last two slots will go to the winners of the third and fourth qualifiers. The third qualifier will bring in 3x3 winners from the 2026 and 2027 Champions Cups, Continental Cup and 2027 World Cup. The fourth qualifier will integrate Cup winners and ranked teams.