3X3 Basketball for Under 10
Much has been said about 3X3 basketball and how it can be another tool to bring the country more presence and popularity in international basketball. The country is now ranked among the top 24 countries in the FIBA 3X3 world rankings, and we now have a legitimate shot at earning a slot in the Olympic Qualifier tournaments. Let’s clarify that. Being in the top 24 doesn’t get us an automatic ticket to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. We still have to earn that slot through the series of qualifier tournaments. It doesn’t look like we can get an outright berth in the Olympics as we’re nowhere near the top four of the world rankings. But with the rising popularity of 3X3 basketball, we actually found a basketball venue that can help in the development of basketball in the country in the long term. It won’t contribute points to the FIBA 3X3 world rankings. Neither will it get us to the Olympics. And neither will it get a big-name sponsor. But I’m confident and sure that this will help in the development of the sport, especially among the youth.
Welcome to Under 10 3X3 basketball. Yes. We’re not talking about a semi-pro league for 3X3 hoops nor calling for more 3X3 games for the big boys. Let’s bring 3X3 down to young prospects who are ten years old and younger. Where are we coming from? One of the downsides with Under 10 basketball when they full-court five-on-five basketball games is that they don’t get to develop their basketball skills to the fullest. In a full-court game, ten year old players do more running than working on their basketball skills. In most cases, only one or two will get to touch the ball while the rest of the team just watch what happens or sit on the bench. They don’t get to touch the ball too often, dribble, pass or shoot unless they happen to be the best player on the team who’ll get the green light from the coach to take the ball all the way to the basket (while the four other teammates watch, then run back to play defense.) In many situations, four players are asked to spread out in their frontcourt so that the best player can create a play for himself, usually a drive to go for a lay-up or a pull-up jumper. Moreover, being kids that they are, ten year olds do not have the maturity to learn how to pace themselves. They usually go all-out as if it were a 100-meter dash. And we can’t blame them for that. They’re so full of energy from the get-go and can’t slow down. And by the time three minutes have gone by, most of the players are already tired and slow down despite all the shouting and cheering they’ll get from coaches, parents and cheerers. Is this the right way to develop the skills of a ten year old (or younger)? It isn’t exactly wrong but there might be a better way through 3X3 basketball.
We tried this out yesterday at the CYBL Under 10 3X3 Fiesta, a half-day of 3X3 games for the Under 10 age group, born 2009 or later, played at the Sacred Heart School Mango Avenue campus gym. Some 15 teams showed up and played a series of 3X3 games. Leading the lot were the City of Talisay (two teams), SHS-Ateneo’s five teams, USC South’s four, St. Benedict’s two, and one each from PAREF Springdale and Basak San Nicolas. They were split up into four groups/pools to play a round robin of games per group/pool. And boy were we pleased with what we saw. The main objective was to give the players the chance to develop their basketball skills and confidence, i.e. touch the ball to dribble, pass and shoot. With 3X3 games played on a half-court and one goal, a premium is placed on ball-handling. Dribbling, passing and shooting are stressed with all players touching the ball equally. While the best player may still score the most points for a team, it doesn’t mean that his two teammates on the floor didn’t do anything. They were always involved on offense as the ball was passed around among the three teammates since the defense was always there and not left behind, a common sight in a in a full-court game. All players had equal chances to touch the ball whenever on offense. And with the energy on a high, games were played practically non-stop for ten straight minutes with a time-out called somewhere in between. Fouls were very few and limited. After all, ten year olds don’t know how to foul (yet), and defense is not exactly refined (but that’s the least of our concern for ten year olds). Offense mostly came from strong drives to the basket, backed by sound ball-handling, dribbling hard towards the goal. Passes were also aplenty especially when a player had to stop dribbling and wasn’t in a position to shoot. And for the more “advanced” players, drop passes to open teammates were also a pleasing sight to watch. Two-pointers were rare but there were a few who drilled their outside shots.
When all was done, no champions were declared (formally) since this wasn’t the objective of the games. But everyone knew that the team from the City of Talisay was heads and shoulders above everyone else. Every single team and U10 player went home a champion as he was forced to work on his basketball skills in an actual game situation (with referees, table officials and rooting supporters on the sidelines). The coaches should now work on what they saw in their players in terms of confidence level, ball-handling (dribbling, passing, shooting) and team play. And they’ll test this again in Leg 2 of the CYBL Under 10 3X3 Fiesta on October 19.
Did you say “Para sa bayan?” Believe me. Under 10 3X3 basketball will do the country a lot of good. U10 Tatluhan na!
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