Airmen play in national hoops tournament

  • Published
  • By Stefan Bocchino
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. --  A Team Kirtland basketball team was selected to play in the USA Basketball 3x3 National Team Tournament from July 6 to 8 at the Olympic Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Team players were Tech. Sgt. David Perez, Staff Sgt. Jesse Mitchell and Senior Airman Eran VanDevander of the 377th Logistics Readiness Squadron, and Desean Smith from Los Alamos National Laboratories.

Mitchell said the team played in a 3x3 tournament in Albuquerque. Even though they did not win, they were selected to go to the national tournament to represent the Albuquerque region.

"Regional teams were invited to the Colorado Springs tournament so officials would be able to select a team to represent the USA 3x3 Basketball Team," said Mitchell. "The winner in that tournament would represent the United States in the 3x3 FIBA world tournament in Athens, Greece, from Aug. 25 to 27. This is the first time United States Basketball has ever done it. The tournament is a steppingstone to getting this sport as an Olympic event."

FIBA is the International Basketball Association. According to its website, organizers want to grow 3x3 basketball by structuring and developing the game worldwide.

Their ultimate goal is for the sport to become part of the Olympics during the 2020 games.

"Twelve teams were selected for this tournament. We played six games against teams from all over the country and made it to the quarterfinals. The team selected to go to the world tournament only beat us by three points," said Mitchell.

Perez said that the tournament started with pool play before entering the "knockout" stage.

"Everyone there knew we were in the Air Force. I think we represented our service well," said Perez.

Mitchell said that most of their players hadn't played since high school. He was the only one with higher-level experience, having played at a junior college.

Most of the other teams had players from big-name college Division I schools, and many of the other players also play in professional leagues, he said.

VanDevander said he felt this was a good experience and showed the team where it stood against other teams on a national level.

"This was an awesome experience," said Mitchell. "I hope we'll get to do it again next year. We were told to keep playing in tournaments and work on our game to get even stronger."