Unrivaled 3v3 League (January 2025)

[Doctor MJ]

Another legendary playoff performance by Chelsea Grey. Weird to say someone so venerated is underrated, but I feel like she tends to get slotted a tier down from the very best, and she really shouldn't be.

[ellobo]

Now that the season is over, I've got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Unrivaled. Here are a few observations/opinions off the top of my head:

The full court/short court 3 on 3 format absolutely worked and is much better than the FIBA half court game. It looks like real basketball and you get the same familiar back-and-forth rhythm of the traditional game, and almost every detail that they tweaked was successful.

The short court and the 18 second shot clock led to a fast pace and a good balance of transition basketball and half court execution. The spacing allowed for iso opportunities, but the short shot clock put a premium on getting into actions quickly and executing smartly. The extra spacing did not mean a steady diet of hero ball as a first option became a winning strategy, but it was still a huge advantage to have players who could create something on their own.

Even with 7 minute quarters and the untimed fourth, the games didn't feel too short. The pace was high and intense and there were enough possessions for runs back and forth throughout the game. Personally, I'd like to see the target score margin increased from 11 points, which I think would allow more fourth quarter comebacks. It seemed like a lot of games were mostly decided by the start of the fourth and the games felt more like a three quarter game with a short ending added, rather than a four quarter game.

The one free throw thing worked fine. I didn't love it or hate it, although empty possessions based on missing one free throw reminded me of the old "one and one" college rule, which I did hate. On the other hand, getting two or three points for one make probably balances it out overall. Although I'm not a big fan of FIBA 3x3, one thing I do like is that they don't keep track of personal fouls, so players never have to sit due to foul trouble. They just have penalties based on the number of team fouls, which is plenty of incentive not to hack indiscriminately, but keeps the stars in the game. I'd love to see that in Unrivaled, and really become adopted more widely in general.

I really enjoyed the one on one tournament. It was very competitive, and the matchups of different types and sizes of players were intriguing. The very short shot clock helped minimize the ability of bigs to just back down smaller players. The outlet passer format was another interesting wrinkle, and was almost compulsory to use because it delayed the start of the shot clock. Otherwise, clearing the ball could take half your shot clock time. It also allowed players to set up possessions after a defensive rebound out of triple threat, or for catch and shoot three pointers, rather than always off the dribble. The two consecutive non-shooting fouls resulting in a free throw was great too. It allowed players to foul strategically, but not so much that it destroyed the flow.

It was great seeing a mix of stars doing what they do, and young players or role players taking on new and often bigger roles.

A couple of things stood out to me that could be improved, aside from the officiating (which can always be better).

One is management of injuries. I don't think it makes sense to expand rosters too much because if a team is healthy there will be too few minutes to go around. But I felt like the relief player system wasn't well thought out, and kind of an afterthought, and the players who participated were a bit random. Hiedeman was great, and Ariel Atkins and Naz Hillmon were good and played in some key situations. With NaLyssa Smith, teams were like, "Nah, we'll just play shorthanded." I think recruiting players to the relief pool more purposefully, with a few bigs, wings, and guards to match the role of the players they replace, and figuring out how to maintain some continuity when a regular player is out for an extended time, would be nice. Instead of every team having end of the bench, non-rotation players in reserve, it would be like a common shared end of the bench, so the league wouldn't have to carry more full time regulars who don't actually play.

Another is TV production, especially the lack of replays and camera angles, which seemed very lacking compared to typical basketball broadcasts. Even on coaches' challenges, the refs would be looking at replays on a monitor, but we almost never saw what they were seeing, just team huddles or commercial breaks.

Finally, I'd like to see a lot more extensive statistics and analytics.

[Doctor MJ]

Now that the season is over, I've got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Unrivaled. Here are a few observations/opinions off the top of my head:

The full court/short court 3 on 3 format absolutely worked and is much better than the FIBA half court game. It looks like real basketball and you get the same familiar back-and-forth rhythm of the traditional game, and almost every detail that they tweaked was successful.

The short court and the 18 second shot clock led to a fast pace and a good balance of transition basketball and half court execution. The spacing allowed for iso opportunities, but the short shot clock put a premium on getting into actions quickly and executing smartly. The extra spacing did not mean a steady diet of hero ball as a first option became a winning strategy, but it was still a huge advantage to have players who could create something on their own.

Even with 7 minute quarters and the untimed fourth, the games didn't feel too short. The pace was high and intense and there were enough possessions for runs back and forth throughout the game. Personally, I'd like to see the target score margin increased from 11 points, which I think would allow more fourth quarter comebacks. It seemed like a lot of games were mostly decided by the start of the fourth and the games felt more like a three quarter game with a short ending added, rather than a four quarter game.

The one free throw thing worked fine. I didn't love it or hate it, although empty possessions based on missing one free throw reminded me of the old "one and one" college rule, which I did hate. On the other hand, getting two or three points for one make probably balances it out overall. Although I'm not a big fan of FIBA 3x3, one thing I do like is that they don't keep track of personal fouls, so players never have to sit due to foul trouble. They just have penalties based on the number of team fouls, which is plenty of incentive not to hack indiscriminately, but keeps the stars in the game. I'd love to see that in Unrivaled, and really become adopted more widely in general.

I really enjoyed the one on one tournament. It was very competitive, and the matchups of different types and sizes of players were intriguing. The very short shot clock helped minimize the ability of bigs to just back down smaller players. The outlet passer format was another interesting wrinkle, and was almost compulsory to use because it delayed the start of the shot clock. Otherwise, clearing the ball could take half your shot clock time. It also allowed players to set up possessions after a defensive rebound out of triple threat, or for catch and shoot three pointers, rather than always off the dribble. The two consecutive non-shooting fouls resulting in a free throw was great too. It allowed players to foul strategically, but not so much that it destroyed the flow.

It was great seeing a mix of stars doing what they do, and young players or role players taking on new and often bigger roles.

A couple of things stood out to me that could be improved, aside from the officiating (which can always be better).

One is management of injuries. I don't think it makes sense to expand rosters too much because if a team is healthy there will be too few minutes to go around. But I felt like the relief player system wasn't well thought out, and kind of an afterthought, and the players who participated were a bit random. Hiedeman was great, and Ariel Atkins and Naz Hillmon were good and played in some key situations. With NaLyssa Smith, teams were like, "Nah, we'll just play shorthanded." I think recruiting players to the relief pool more purposefully, with a few bigs, wings, and guards to match the role of the players they replace, and figuring out how to maintain some continuity when a regular player is out for an extended time, would be nice. Instead of every team having end of the bench, non-rotation players in reserve, it would be like a common shared end of the bench, so the league wouldn't have to carry more full time regulars who don't actually play.

Another is TV production, especially the lack of replays and camera angles, which seemed very lacking compared to typical basketball broadcasts. Even on coaches' challenges, the refs would be looking at replays on a monitor, but we almost never saw what they were seeing, just team huddles or commercial breaks.

Finally, I'd like to see a lot more extensive statistics and analytics.

I co-sign all of this! Well stated.

Biggest thing for me is how well the full-court game worked compared to half-court. I think the reality is that half-court is great for playing with a small number of players...but not so exciting to watch.

[boogiezen]

Meh. Unrivaled was not a good product outside of that 1 on 1 which was intriguing.

[hermes]

how were the ratings? did a lot of people watch?

[Green Chile]

how were the ratings? did a lot of people watch?

Recent Reddit post said 230K/game average. Not out of this world, but better than NWSL type things.

Not sure totally sure, though, and I have no idea what sort of numbers TNT was hoping for.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[bisme37]

Where is Unrivaled getting all this money from to where they can pay 4 times more than WNBA? (Honest question)

[hermes]

they have fewer players to spread the money across, that's one thing (like 140 some compared to 30 some)

[MrDollarBills]

Where is Unrivaled getting all this money from to where they can pay 4 times more than WNBA? (Honest question)

Less players, a lucrative TV deal with Turner Sports, and they have a crap ton of sponsorships. They also made $27m in revenue in Season 1.

Stewie and Phee have done the lord's work here. The ladies get paid and can stay home, and the league is only getting started.

Cathy might wanna start getting consultations

[MrDollarBills]

Unrivaled marketing also blows the WNBA out of the water. It's really sad.