When Michael Linklater was growing up in Saskatchewan, 3x3 basketball wasn't hugely popular.

The occasional event that bounced through town, but Linklater and his buddies never got too pumped up about them.

We weren't really looking for 3x3 tournaments because we preferred to play five-on-five, Linklater says.

How times have changed.

In the last several years, 3x3 has blown up around the globe, celebrated for its inclusiveness and hailed as a development platform at all levels of play. Canada Basketball is at the forefront, and if there's a face of the 3x3 movement in this country, it just might be the former CIS champion from the University of Saskatchewan.

The last three summers, Linklater and his teammates have qualified for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and more than held their own, advancing to the Final on multiple occasions, including a second-place finish in 2014.

"With 3x3 exploding, it's huge," Linklater says. "The game is exciting."

Since 2012, several Canadian teams have participated in the 3x3 World Tour, a FIBA-sanctioned event that brings together the elite of a game that boasts over 250 million players worldwide and is among the most played recreational sports in the world.

3x3 is simple to play, says Ron Yeung, Canada Basketball Manager of Domestic Development. It requires a half court so you donâ??t have to have a full-size basketball court, you just need to grab a couple friends and anywhere from on the driveway to outdoor courts to in the gym, you can set up a 3-on-3 game.

The ability to reach out to the masses is a big part of why FIBA is pushing the 3x3 platform. It's almost become a lifestyle sport where you can play anywhere. It's just easy to pick up the ball and start a quick game.

Easy but effective. In fact, 3x3 is better for young basketball players to develop their skills than the traditional game, Yeung says, because kids not only get a lot more touches, but meaningful ones.

In the five-on-five game you usually have one or two kids that dominate the court and basically have the ball more than 75 to 80% of the time, and you have the less skilled players kind of hide, maybe get touches three or four times throughout the game and aren't getting their share of the play, says Yeung.

In 3x3 that's not likely because they'll have a chance to get touches with the ball. You get better spacing with more of an opportunity to make a play and have meaningful possessions each time. So 3x3 allows kids to develop their skills, build confidence, and have the opportunity to just try something that they otherwise would not be able to in a five-on-five game.

To strengthen its growth and increase the number of basketball players and fans, Canada Basketball structures and develops 3x3 basketball events from coast to coast. Tomorrow's senior national teams stars could be getting their start in 3x3 today.

We're developing global players, players who have smarts, says Yeung.They don't just have the ability to shoot but they have the ability to make decisions on the court, and that essentially is what the 3x3 game can help athletes develop. The understanding of the game of combined with the skill development is what makes Canada able to compete with the world, so we're seeing a huge impact of what 3x3 can do.

FIBA has embraced 3x3 with the aim of further promoting, uniting and developing the game of basketball. Several years ago the organization introduced its 3x3 World Tour, which comprises regional Masters events and the Grand Final. Meanwhile, 3x3 is a charter event of the Youth Summer Olympic Games lineup, and has potential to become an official Olympic Games sport. Other FIBA 3x3 programs include the All Stars pro circuit, as well as the World Championships and U18 World Championships.

While there's nothing overly complex about 3x3 main rules (games are played with one basket on a half-court, teams are allowed one substitute player, the first team to reach 21 points or best after 10 minutes wins; and the shot-clock is 12 seconds), they provide for a dynamic game that utilizes players of all sizes and abilities.

Back in the day people were saying you need to have a good point guard and a big guy that can anchor the middle, Yeung says.That's no longer the case in 3x3, because now that they've implemented a 12-second shot clock everything is so quick that you have to have guys who can run, who can set picks, who are smart with the ball and can do a number of multiple things. That's what makes a good 3x3 team.

Team Saskatoon isn't just a good 3x3 team, it's a great one. The foursome currently consists of guards Linklater and O'Neil Gordon with forwards Michael Lieffers and Trevor Nerdahl. Gordon is an All-Canadian who played at Brandon in the early 2000s, while Lieffers, Linklater and Nerdahl were teammates on the 2010 national champion Saskatchewan Huskies.

After I was done my university career and I played a season professionally, I had an opportunity to continue playing overseas but having started my family and having a career here already, moving overseas wasn't really an option, so 3x3 and the World Tour has provided that sense of competitive high-level basketball, says the 33-year-old Linklater, who now runs Prime Basketball Development in Saskatoon.

Our entire team has our careers and our families, so to have that balance between being able to still play at a very high competitive level but still be at home and have everything you need.

That's the beauty of 3x3, says Yeung: Participants range from university-level players to current pros to Weekend Warriors.

There's no age barrier, whereas in the five-on-five platform you have a window where you're competitive, and a 40-year-old team probably can't keep up with a 24-year-old team, Yeung says. But with 3x3 the dynamic is very different, so you see guys in a wide spectrum of age groups still able to compete at the same level.

Canada Basketball will qualify two teams for the 2016 FIBA 3x3 World Tour. The winners of the Canada Quest Elite Division at events in Edmonton, June 4 and 5, and Toronto, July 9 and 10, move on to the Mexico City Masters (July 16-17) where they can earn a spot in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final in Abu Dhabi (Oct. 27-28).

Team Saskatoon will be in Edmonton, looking to win for a fifth year in a row and once again experience a summer of traveling the globe, exploring cultures, meeting new people, and representing their country with pride while playing the game they love.

To do that all for free? says Linklater. It's just great.

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