Flashback!
“Please no re-release of the Olympic Games”, could be read on the faces of our Belgian Lions after the lost semi-final earlier in the evening. Our 3×3 Belgians also charmed in Tokyo, but fell just off the podium in the final phase of the tournament.
The Lions were also allowed to take a shot at bronze at the Groenplaats on Sunday evening, which would be a nice reward for their performance at this 3×3 basketball World Cup.
This time? “This is too good a story not to finish”, said Bryan De Valck before the start of the small final.
Before the starting gun sounded, there was in any case already an imaginary 1-0 on the board in favor of the Belgians. One of the Frenchmen still suffered too much from an injury and had to stumble on the bench.
Well started, half done?
Not quite, the numerical advantage of the Belgians – who could switch – was not immediately noticeable. The Lions had to chase almost the entire game. Nevertheless, the Belgian quartet still managed to get the ultimate extensions out of the fire after a firm final sprint.
In those overtimes, all basketball principles and laws were thrown out the window. The survival instinct of both teams came to the fore: fight!
Legs began to tremble, arms to shake and the players’ heads to overheat. For example, the Lions tried too often to go for a two-pointer instead of slowly building up to the basket. That broke them sore at the end of the war of attrition, when the French did make the net vibrate after some wrangling.
Again no climax for the Lions. Nevertheless, this World Cup 3×3 basketball will remain a topic of conversation in our country for a long time to come. A well deserved consolation prize.
“It’s hard to describe: this was a unique opportunity. It’s a huge disappointment and it’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life. We were too nervous and were looking too much for the shot in overtime, which was a life-and-death fight. Then it’s extra painful to go out through a “backdoor.”
“This week was an unlikely event. If even Jean-Marc Mwema comes to see us, you know you are doing well. For us individually, it is not finished sportingly, but the goal of this World Cup in our own country has been successful. : 3×3 has lived in Belgium.”
