BC3’s Lewandowski named as USA men’s 3v3 Olympics coach
Getting there is an incredible honor in itself. Attaining the ultimate prize for country?
Another entirely.
“There’s no greater feeling than to stand with your hand across your chest and hear your national anthem play,” said Joe Lewandowski, who was named last week as the USA 3x3 men’s basketball coach for this summer’s Paris Olympics. “That’s the goal, to win a gold medal.”
Lewandowski currently guides Butler County Community College’s men’s basketball squad and formerly coached Butler High’s boys and girls teams in separate stints over a decade ago.
Since starting his coaching and advising work with the USA Basketball 3x3 program in 2014, he’s worked 17 coaching assignments in international competition with the men’s and women’s teams.
He’s returned home with a combined half-dozen gold and silver medals, but this will be an experience like never before.
“This will be totally exciting,” Lewandowski said. “It’s very humbling. I’m very appreciative of the opportunity. Any time you get a chance to represent the United States in any competition, it’s a huge deal. You’re competing for your country. I don’t think there’s a greater honor than that.”
Last fall, Lewandowski steered the men’s 3x3 national team to a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. That was just part of the experience he’s garnered that led him to this point.
“It’s been a long process, which has been really cool to be a part of,” he said. “Last summer, I probably lapped the world at least three times coaching. ... It’s been a long haul.”
The three-on-three variation of the sport was introduced competitively at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where were contested in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Latvia earned the gold medal there.
“It’s almost like a different game a little bit,” Lewandowski said. “A lot of the things you’re doing in five-on-five, there’s a lot of background and a lot of history of it. You can look and say, ‘Well, this is how you do these things. This has been done before.’
“In 3x3, a lot of it is new. It’s super technical because you’re eliminating two players off the floor. The game is so much faster.”
The games are played on a half court, with a single basket on one side and an end line on the other. There’s a 12-second shot clock. Contests go to 21 points, with makes from outside the arc being good for two points and those from inside worth one.
“There’s so many different aspects of it that you don’t even anticipate,” Lewandowski said of the nuances. “You can almost say it’s like a five-on-five game on steroids. It’s a run-and-shoot style of play.”
Teams are typically made up of current or former professional players and can roster only four players, which means they only have the luxury of one substitute.
“If someone gets hurt, you’re playing with three,” Lewandowski explained. “If two guys get hurt, you have to play with two once the tournament starts.”
The opening ceremonies of the worldwide event are something he’s looking forward to in France; being around the talent that worked so hard to be there, as well.
Lewandowski’s eyes, though, remain on the podium.
“Being in that setting, in and of itself, will be amazing,” he said. “But, getting a chance to possibly hear your national anthem played in a situation where you’ve invested so much of your time would be totally amazing.”
