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Message: [QUOTE="Zarathustra, post: 5287009, member: 11285"] The "regular" USA squads are selected (to be best of my knowledge) in line with the just finished U16 Women's American Women's Team: 52 players invited to Colorado training facility, a " cut " down " to 22 "Finalists" and then a chosen12. For 3x3 competition I would guess that it is different, but similar? In the past the Girls 3x3 were chosen by a competition between a number of teams (four players = one team). The "WOMEN's Series" goes on all year, all over the world and for each competition site it is a different "team". So a particular team may be "selected" based on the individual players experience and skill set for a particular tournament/ championship. One interesting fact is the "seeding" for these tournaments. The seeding is based on the "country's/team's" record over an extended period. Thus, the USA's lowish "seeding" for the Marseille competition. Cierra Burdick has been playing international 3X3 competition for quite a long time. On another front I was wrong on some of my "facts" about the FIBA "official" ball. There are four approved balls: one by VEGA (Chinese from Zhangzhou, China); one from Molten (Japanese, from Hiroshima); and one each from Wilson and Spaulding. On the FIBA website these balls have the "specifications" of "Size "6", Intermediate, 28.5 " (they said Diameter, but they must mean Circumference?!, see below), and the material is described as "composite leather" for Wilson, and Synthetic Leather for Spaulding. They describe the balls has having the "same weight" as the size 7 ball. (men's, I assume). The NCAA, women's ball, is a "size 6" with a circumference "between 28.5 to 29" and a weight between 18 -20 oz. The ball "when dropped from 6 feet will bounce between 51 - 56 inches. So, if I understand this correctly, the FIBA balls are the same "size", i.e. a size"6". I am still a little confused about the weight as it was posted as "Same weight as a Size 7". I also looked up the WNBA official ball: 16 oz, 28.5 " (so there is a clear similarity of these balls). My mistake was that I believe that I once heard a reference to different ball sizes/"grip"/weight etc. but that was at a FIBA 'dunking' contest for MEN. I seemed to have generalized too much. Any better information on such things would be appreciated for further clarification. P.S. There is an Official Surface for all FIBA 3X3 competition and even an official "canopy system" for the outdoor venue (rain and sun variables). So, there is a guaranteed uniformity among all international sites. All teams have to contend with the same wind... and many announcers have made comments about the wind affecting the players outside shooting accuracy. Too much info? I must have too, too much time on my retired hands!! Z [/QUOTE]

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