Current:Home > NewsSerbia spoils Olympic debut for Jimmer Fredette, men's 3x3 basketball team -Wealthify
Serbia spoils Olympic debut for Jimmer Fredette, men's 3x3 basketball team
View
Date:2025-04-13 15:07:00
PARIS — Place de la Concorde, where Marie Antoinette lost her head during the French Revolution, has been an important Parisian landmark for 250 years.
On Tuesday, Jimmer Fredette transported everyone watching the Team USA men’s 3x3 basketball team’s Olympic debut to 2011.
Fredette dribbled, stepped back, executed a crossover between his legs and nailed a two-pointer (a three in traditional basketball) to give the Americans a 3-2 lead in the first minute of the game against Serbia.
He might as well have been wearing a No. 32 BYU jersey.
But that was the lone time he fired from deep. Unfortunately for Fredette and the USA, the shot and Kareem Maddox’s dunk – off a pass from Fredette – were the highlights of the game for them in a 22-14 loss to the top-ranked Serbians in the first game of pool play at the Paris Olympics.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
The Olympic rhythm was different from the other 3x3 tournaments he has played in, Fredette said.
“It’s good to be able to see that, feel that crowd, feel that energy, what it’s going to be like,” Fredette told USA TODAY Sports following the loss. “(Serbia) just did a better job than us of executing their game plan.”
Fredette finished with four points, two on that first shot and a pair of layups. But he didn’t score over the final four minutes of the game that lasted less than the 10-minute time limit because Serbia reached 21 points first.
The U.S. has five more games in the round-robin preliminary before the elimination rounds begin. The USA plays Poland on Wednesday.
For the Americans’ first basket, Fredette found Canyon Barry – son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry – on a slick pass for a layup 13 seconds into the game. He finished with three assists and was 2-for-4 from one-point range, both of those makes being layups. The first came on a spin move to the baseline for a right-hand finish. The second was a drive through the paint for an easy score.
Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Serbia has won six of the eight men's World Cups and finished as runners-up in 2014. The country's team also won bronze at the Tokyo Games three years ago, while the U.S. men's team failed to qualify for that Olympics.
The U.S. couldn’t hang with Serbia’s physicality and dealt with foul trouble, which is a death sentence in 3x3, Fredette said.
“We have a lot more to go,” he said.
Fredette attended the opening ceremony and said being surrounded by the best athletes in the world is “something you dream about as a kid.”
“Obviously, it’s amazing to do that,” Fredette said, “and now hopefully we can play better and finish the job here.”
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Follow Christopher Bumbaca on social media @BOOMbaca
veryGood! (46952)
Related
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- 18 killed when truck plunges into a ravine in southwestern Congo
- The main cause of dandruff is probably not what you think. Here’s what it is.
- Nick Viall Is Ready For His Daughter to Give Him a Hard Time About His Bachelor Past
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Party at a short-term rental near Houston turns deadly overnight
- Star power of 'We are the World' remains unmatched: Inside the dramatic 1-night recording
- Sofia Vergara, Netflix sued: Griselda Blanco's family seeks to stop release of ‘Griselda’
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Travis Kelce Proves He's the King of Taylor Swift's Heart During Chiefs Playoffs Game
Ranking
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Euphoria’s Dominic Fike Addresses His Future on Season 3
- Convicted killer attacked by victim's stepdad during sentencing in California courtroom
- A pet cat thrown off a train died in cold weather. Now thousands want the conductor to lose her job
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Stanford's Tara VanDerveer: Timeline of success for all-time winningest college basketball coach
- South Korea grants extension to truth commission as investigators examine foreign adoption cases
- If you donate DNA, what should scientists give in return? A 'pathbreaking' new model
Recommendation
'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
How did Texas teen Cayley Mandadi die? Her parents find a clue in her boyfriend's car
Why Vice President Harris is going to Wisconsin today to talk about abortion
Marlena Shaw, 'California Soul' singer, dead at 81: 'Beloved icon and artist'
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Sarah, the Duchess of York, diagnosed with malignant melanoma found during breast cancer treatment
Former firefighter accused of planting explosives near California roadways pleads not guilty
Grand Ole Opry Responds to Backlash Over Elle King's Dolly Parton Tribute Performance