Santiago 2023: U.S. 3x3 hoops a new challenge for coach Jennifer Rizzotti
Rizzotti, who is coaching the U.S. women's 3x3 basketball team at the Pan American Games, hopes Team USA's players will reap the benefits from the sport
Basketball 3x3
Jen Rizzotti has been involved with basketball at pretty much every level of the game. As a player, she won NCAA and WNBA championships. She coached college basketball, and coached Team USA’s U-18 program to three world championships. She’s now moved to the front office, working as the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.
But 3x3 basketball? It’s a whole different challenge for her. Rizzotti is coaching the U.S. women’s 3x3 team at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
“Sometimes it feels like a completely different sport. The way that you prepare, the way that you coach, how little control you have as a coach,” Rizzotti said to Olympics.com. “I always really loved the preparation of five on five, so it kind of fits that preparation and the scouting. Trying to have your team feel like they're accountable for their own success is what 3x3 is all about, so I actually love it in that regard.”
Jennifer Rizzotti on the demands of 3x3 basketball: "There's also a mental accountability"
The U.S. women won gold at Tokyo 2020 in the Olympics’ first-ever 3x3 tournament. The team competing in Santiago has two WNBA players, Azurá Stevens and Lexie Hull, plus Cierra Burdick and Blake Dietrick, two WNBA veterans Rizzotti coached previously who are now playing for teams in Europe. Every player has spent their entire career in five on five but is eager to learn in 3x3. Rizzotti said she looks for players who have both skill on the court and the mental abilities to coach themselves.
"3x3 doesn't just help you physically. I mean, physically, it's fast-paced, so you're getting in great shape. You're learning how to play without structure right, like you're learning how to play the game, pass, cut, read, you have to be good at everything to play three on three. But there's also like a mental accountability. Watch five on five now, coaches call the offense like, if they don't like something they call a timeout and they change it, or they go in at halftime, they make adjustments. With 3x3, you have to talk about all of that ahead of time with them and then it's on them, so there's a higher level of accountability, which I think increases their IQ.”
TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 28: Jacquelyn Young, Stefanie Dolson, Kelsey Plum, and Allisha Gray of Team United States celebrate victory and winning the gold medal in the 3x3 Basketball competition on day five of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Aomi Urban Sports Park on July 28, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
3x3 giving U.S. women's basketball players more opportunities to shine
The U.S. gold-medal winning squad from Tokyo is a great advertisement on how 3x3 can elevate a player’s game. Three team members – Jackie Young, Stefanie Dolson and Kelsey Plum – won WNBA championships since winning gold medals. Young, Plum and Allisha Gray have been named to the league’s all-star teams. Plum won the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year in 2021, while Young won the WNBA’s Most Improved Award in 2022.
"They’ve elevated their game offensively, defensively. Now, they're all on the national team, the five on five pools as well as the 3x3 pools. It's just giving them more opportunity, and that's what we want for these women,” Rizzotti said.
“We want them to feel proud to have a chance to represent their country. We want them to feel like they have an opportunity to get better at the sport that they love, so that they go back to their teams and they've got even more to offer. I think that they're good examples of what 3x3 can do for your career if you really buy into it.”