New-look Canadian 3x3 basketball teams shoot for 1st-ever World Cup titles

Battered and bruised in the immediate aftermath of the Olympics, Canada's 3x3 women's basketball team chose the 10,000-foot view.

The long successful group had come to Paris with eyes on a gold medal, but left having not reached the podium at all.

Yet the foursome of Katherine Plouffe, twin sister Michelle Plouffe, Paige Crozon and Kacie Bosch opted to revel in the journey instead of dwelling on the defeat.

Their voyage together may not have peaked with gold, but it was undoubtedly successful, including many victories and establishing the groundwork for Canadian 3x3 basketball from unfunded in 2019 to Olympians five years later.

On Sunday, a new chapter of Canadian 3x3 basketball will begin at the World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with both the women's and men's teams set to compete for a title neither has ever won.

"I don't think we lost confidence after the Olympics. I think it was definitely tender and emotional. But our team values stayed the same and we all knew what we brought to the table both on and off the court," Crozon said from a hotel room in Mongolia.

It'll be up to Crozon and Bosch to pass those values on to a pair of new team members at the World Cup. The Plouffes will not play as they deal with both schedule conflict and minor injuries.

In their place will be Saicha Grant-Allen, with 49 games on her ledger, and Cassandra Brown, a relative rookie at 26 games.

Crozon and Bosch have combined to make 412 appearances for Canada on the 3x3 circuit.

"Just using it as an opportunity to expand our games personally, but then also embracing the challenge of finding out what works for this team … and just trying to continue the culture and values that Michelle and Katherine Plouffe have instilled in this group,"