Basketball is a simple game. As Uncle Drew puts it, “You bounce [a basketball] and it comes right back to you”. Yet the simplicity makes it so much complex. Every moment of the game is unique; every dribble decides who takes home the trophy and who goes back to the gym wiser. Since its beginning B-ball has seen shifts in format, rules and style. Recently, the Trinity College Basketball team ventured into a new format of the game.
3×3 basketball is a ‘streetball’ version of the organized game involving only half the court (49ft x 36ft) and a size 6 ball. This miniature variant has fewer rules and is played for 10 minutes with sudden death at 21 points.
Although it has only recently been recognized as an official sport, it has been played in the streets and gyms across the world for a long time. FIBA’s intervention however, has spiked the popularity of 3×3 with EESEC naming it the ‘largest urban team sport ‘in the world. It would soon be taking over the Olympic hardwood with its Olympic début due for Japan 2020.
3×3 has gained much popularity in Sri Lanka as well, with tournaments being held nearly every month.
The Trinity cagers got into the game at the Annites 91’ Hoop Breakers Tournament organized by St. Anne’s College Old Boys Batch 91’ on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2019. Three teams entered the U18 category and two teams entered the Open Men’s category.
The Annite courts displayed an atmosphere of basketball skill and talent. All five teams gained invaluable experience and ‘Trinity Yellow’ playing U18 craved for more as they took game by game beating many challenging contenders. They finished 3rd place after a close encounter to ‘Maliyadeva A’, which ended with them trailing by 1. (Trinity Yellow – 4, Maliyadeva A – 5)
Trinity Yellow- Chehan Karunaratne, Nimesh Bandaranayake, Pulith Cooray, Francis Joseph
- Points per game- 7.3
- Points scored- 44
- Games played- 6
- Games won- 3
(source: https://play.fiba3x3.com/events)
Inspired by the initial experience, the Trinity College Basketball team entered their second 3×3 event, the ICBT 3×3 Basketball Tournament 2019 held at the KDU Indoor Basketball Court. This event which took place on the 1st of September had four Trinity teams entering the U18 category.
Three teams entered the knockout brackets after a competitive group stage. After hard fought semi-final matches ended in ‘Trinity Blue’ taking down ‘CIS B’ (5-4) and ‘Trinity A’ defeating ‘Scorpians’ (7-4).
The finals turned up to be a battle between lions. ‘Trinity A’ clearly got the upper hand as they surged past ‘Trinity Blue’ to win 10-5. Milinda Sirimanne was awarded MVP for his brilliant performance.
Trinity A- Milinda Sirimanne, Malith Weerasinghe, Pasan Samaraweera, Lakshan Pathirana
- Points per game- 11.4
- Points scored- 80
- Games played- 7
- Games won- 6
Trinity Blue- Damsith Aluthgedera, Indura Wijeratne, Parinda Ratnayake, Cheleka Samaraweera
- Points per game- 6.8
- Points scored- 34
- Games played- 6
- Games won- 4
(source; https://play.fiba3x3.com/events)
The recent victories clearly show the consistent improvement of basketball at Trinity. Yet 3×3 remains a side sport as the main 5 on 5 game is always at the top of priorities. These achievements will certainly boost the players to perform better at the key tournaments coming this later this year.
