Pont du Gard Challenger Preview

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Princeton3x3
September 01, 2023

Welcome to the latest edition of The Drive! This is your inside pass into the world of 3×3, where we bring you behind-the-scenes access, game updates, and all the latest news straight from the court.

Today we are looking ahead to the upcoming Pont du Gard Challenger in France.

Pont du Gard Challenger

  • When: September 1-2

  • Where: Vers-Pont-du-Gard, France

  • Prize: First place wins $20,000

  • Qualification: Top 3 qualify for Amsterdam Masters (Oct 6-7)

Princeton’s 3rd trip to France of the season as they competed in Clermont-Ferrand and Poitiers Challengers earlier this year.

Princeton's lineup and ranks

  • Damon Huffman: World #46, US #6

  • Henry Caruso: World #73, US #9

  • Tyrone Nash: World #118, US #15

  • King McClure: World #274, US #26

This will be the first time this lineup plays together this season for Princeton on the Pro-Circuit.

The 3-guard lineup makes this unit more perimeter-focused and could be one of the more potent offensive lineups for Princeton. Defensively, the focus needs to be rebounding - limiting opponents to one shot per possession.

Princeton’s pool

  • Game 1: Friday, September 1st, 7:00am PT: (7) Princeton vs (3) Liman (Serbia)

  • Game 2: Friday, September 1st, 8:45am PT: (7) Princeton vs *Qualifying Draw A - Winner

  • Watch on FIBA 3x3’s YouTube channel

*Qualifying Draw A - Krupanj (Serbia), Bemowo (Poland), Tubingen (Germany)

Tournament field

7-Teams from the Top 20 make up the field along with San Juan who have had a breakout season. Should make for an ultra-competitive tournament. Raudondvaris is the #1 overall seed and is coming off their 1st Master’s win of the season in Debrecen last weekend, but we wouldn’t say there are any clear-cut favorites.

What this weekend means

Princeton is currently 19th in the rankings, falling 2 spots after taking last weekend off, while most teams were active. All eyes in the 3x3 world will be on the Pont du Gard Challenger as there are no other Pro-Circuit events happening this weekend. The cluster of teams ranked 14th-21st are separated by only 175,000 points (meaning the 21st team could jump to 14th place by winning one event). Princeton is one of two active teams in that cluster playing this weekend, so it’s a huge opportunity to jump in the rankings. Also, a top-3 finish would qualify Princeton for an additional World Tour Masters, important in our pursuit of qualifying for the World Tour Final.

Tweet of the week

Upcoming Princeton schedule

Thanks for reading!