- Tweeter
republish
In a big multi-sport competition, there are traditional disciplines, like wrestling, and those that come to shake the codes. The 3-on-3 basketball, Olympic sport from the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, already integrated into the program of the Paris Games in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028, is one of them. She is present at the 2019 African Games.
From our special envoy to Morocco,
Sun, music and happy spectators. The International Olympic Committee, which wishes to rejuvenate the image of the Olympics and encourage young people to practice sports, has hit home. The 3x3 is starting to be popular and the IOC now relies on this phenomenon related to the urbanization of sports to change its image. In Morocco, the 3x3 show is in full swing.
The desire to go beyond for ten minutes
Street basketball has been evolving since the 1990s and the movement is not sparing Africa. The 3x3 seduces, because it can be practiced very easily on a place, a parking lot of supermarket, or a school yard. Just deploy a "kit", it is relatively simple. Everywhere, the youth has the opportunity to express the ball in their hands.
In Rabat, Mali coach Mamatou Kané says: " It's starting to be popular here. And now that this is an Olympic discipline, it will help us even more. Young people will want to invest more. It is good that the IOC decides to enlarge the family of sport with the 3x3. I think that what appeals most to young people is the desire to surpass themselves for ten minutes in the field . Mali won Friday (August 23rd) in the quarter-finals against Morocco (18-17).
10 minutes to music
The little brother of basketball has its own specificities and rules. To begin not the ground. Outside, with only one basket, in a space reduced to half a field, one embarks on the battle. Other specificities: the size of the ball (smaller) and the playing time. The meeting which takes place in music lasts 10 minutes unless a team has reached the total of 21 points before the deadline. The team consists of three incumbents and a replacement. Each basket (as each free throw) is worth one point, two if successful shot outside the arch of 6m75. Players have 12 seconds maximum to shoot.
Present at the Afrobasket 3x3 last year, the Congolese player Fabrice Tshilumba believes that the physical is " primordial ". " You do not have a second of respite, you must be thoroughly during the whole meeting. I think it takes more power than for the 5x5. At 3x3, you have to know how to attack and defend, "says the one who thinks the 3x3 is taking off on the African continent.
To re-read ► African Games: taekwondo, an increasingly popular sport on the continent
Very popular on the side of Madagascar
In the early 2000s, a company that offers soda in Madagascar had organized a tournament to promote its drink. It was a bit of history for 3x3 basketball in Madagascar.
" It's physical, technical and more suited to Malagasy youngsters," said coach Jean de Dieu Randrianarivelo, who is experiencing his fourth high-level competition . You have to be more athletic than the 5X5. In all our neighborhoods, we can see young people indulge in the discipline . "
In the Malagasy team, all players come from basketball. Ratianarivo Livio Rocheteau, 23 years old, captain of the Barea, knew the young selections of the 5x5. He then went to 3x3. " You barely noticed that you are already in the position of defending. It requires a lot of energy. You have to be versatile and have a good cardio. It's good that Africa is interested in this sport and I hope we will be at the Olympics, "says the man who offered himself a semi-final against Angola (19-18 after extra time) . With Tokyo 2020, the 3x3 should inspire even more vocations on the continent.
To re-read ► African games: boxing, popular sport par excellence