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FIBA Americas U18 Championship: The Semi-Finals are set
Today's action at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in San Antonio featured the four undefeated teams battling for the title in their individual groups and preferred seeding in tomorrow's semi-finals. 
The first game of the day featured Canada and Brazil. Most experts predicted Canada to win but that wasn't the case. It was a closely contested game but Brazil took a 44-36 lead at halftime and were never seriously challenged as they defeated the Canadians 83-78. Brazil was helped by a masterful performance by point guard Raul Neto. Neto contriolled the game and outplayed his more highly rated counterpart Texas-signee Myck Kabongo. Neto wound up with 34 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists against only 2 turnovers. He was helped by 7-footer Lucas Nogueira (pictured on left) who chipped in 13 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. The Brazilians made it tough inside for Oregon prep 6'9 Kyle Wiltjer. Wiltjer had 18 points and 5 rebounds but had some issues finishing inside against the Brazilian size. Myck Kabongo scored 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds for Canada but shot only 7-for-21 from the field and was forced into 7 turnovers.
The other key matchup had the USA against Argentina. It was no contest as the USA continued to impress. The Americans raced out to a 51-25 halftime lead and coasted to a 88-67 win. The USA led 79-43 after three quarters, then lost their focius as Argentina outscored them 24-9 in the final stanza. Quincy Miller (pictured on right) led the USA with 22 points while Austin Rivers scored 13.
Tomorrow night in the semi-finals, Brazil will face Argentina followed by the USA and Canada.
In the classification bracket, Uruguay topped Puerto Rico 67-54 behind 23 points from Ivan Loriente. Puerto Rico has been a dissapointment in this tournament. The Virgin Islands topped a small Mexico squad 88-78 in the other game. Aaron Brown dominated the game for the Islanders with 39 points and 10 rebounds.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and and be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis with FIBA Americas for the photos.
European Basketball Signings
As we head into July some Europeans teams are starting to sign American players. Here's the initial list:
Israel
Derek Glasser (Arizona State) signed with Maccabi Haifa.
Jaime Arnold (Wichita State) signed with Hapoel Holon.
Chris Watson (Niagara) signed with Netanya.
Jeff Foote (Cornell) signed a 3-year contract with Maccabl Tel Aviv. They also signed Richard Hendrix (Alabama)
Spain
Sergio Rodriguez has left the NBA and signed with Real Madrid. Is Rudy Fernandez next?
Terrell McIntyre (Clemson) left Montepaschi Siena to sign with Unicaja.
Tariq Kirksay (Iona) signed with Cajasol for two years.
Jaime Jones (Portland State) signed with Ourense in LEB-Gold.
Turkey
A.J. Ogilvy (Vanderbilt) signed with Besiktas Cola Turkey of Istanbul
Josh Shipp (UCLA) signed with Galatasaray Istanbul
Michael Roll (UCLA) signed with Bornova.
Kevin Braswell (Georgetown) signed with Aliaga Petkim.
Seth Doliboa (Wright State) signed with Olin Edirne.
Italy
Ryan Toolson (Utah Valley State) signed with Benetton Treviso.
Germany
Derrick Allen (Ole Miss) signed with Alba Berlin.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman.
Poland and the USA Fight for the Gold in Hamburg
Poland and the USA will fight for the gold in Hamburg.
Two great generations and the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the tournament. The United States and Poland will meet in the U17 World Championship gold medal game tomorrow after beating Canada and Lithuania in the semifinals. Both have been clearly the better teams in Germany and will fight for the final victory in a must-see game.
The United States topped Canada 103-83 with the same recipe but a longer effort than the previous games. Canada’s zone defense was effective at times and the Northern neighbor kept the game alive until the end of the third period. Team USA’s scoring was based on fastbreaks and quick offensive transitions, led by an outstanding performance of Michael Gilchrist, who scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
The USA tried to run away as soon as possible, running the floor and putting pressure on the rival ball movement and looked like they succeeded when the gap went up to 21 points (44-23) in the second quarter. Canada reacted very well, with patience and smartness, and recovered step by step. Pangos and Webster-Chan scoring left the difference at six (48-42) before halftime. The Canadian zone defense really stopped its rival and their offense avoided turnovers and American fastbreaks. Team USA kept the lead (75-65) with individual actions and offensive rebound dominance while 15 years old Canadian Andrew Wiggins (20 points) showed all his early talent and physical tools in the third period.
The Americans started the last period strongly and Canada couldn’t react anymore. Again, fastbreaks, highlight reel showtime and U.S authority against a rival claiming for surrender. Bradley Beal, with 17 points, followed Gilchrist leadership. Kevin Pangos added 17 points but 9 turnovers for Canada.
From an American to a European clash. Poland’s sensational generation maturation process has taken them to the World Championship medal game as they got their revenge from last summer’s U16 Eurobasket semifinal against Lithuania (75-65). The Lithuanians started better, displaying their incisive offense and intense defense and took the first leads of the game (21-12) against a raw Poland.
With Karnowski struggling shooting from inside, Poland’s big reaction was led by outstanding forward Mateusz Ponitka. With 14 points in a row, Ponitka gave the lead to his team before halftime (39-38). From the beginning of third period, Poland showed it was a better team and managed the rest of the game, but never with big advantages as Lithuanian faith and courage kept them alive. Ponitka finished the game with 22 points and missed some help from perimeter partner Michal Michalak, lost into foul trouble, but bench player Matczak did a great job contributing in so many ways beyond the stats during the second half. Karnowski, who played 37 minutes, did not have a great day (6/18 from the field) but took a lot of responsibility from the low post and sealed a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He won the battle against Zalgiris Kaunas center Simonas Kymantas (8 points and 12 rebounds). Lithuanian resistance was led by Mantas Mockevicius, who scored 24 points from his assertive and full of energy drives to the basket. Skills beat passion and Poland prevailed.
A great matchup tomorrow between United States and Poland for the gold medal. Tons of talent, athleticism and skills from best 1993 generations from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The game will start at 4pm CET.
Alejandro Gonzalez is an International Scout and Correspondent for NetScouts Basketball
USA Wins FIBA U17 World Championship
The United States showed since the very beginning that it was the best team in the tournament. The American performance in today’s championship game was just a confirmation. Team USA won the U17 FIBA World Championship in Hamburg by crashing Poland 111-80. The great mix of athleticism, individual skills and defensive intensity couldn’t be matched by any team. The gold medal was well deserved.
The USA managed the whole championship game imposing its physical superiority at both ends of the court. Their sensational defensive job putting a lot of pressure on Polish ball distribution, stealing the ball as many as 15 times (5 steals from Wroten) and igniting fastbreaks. Brad Beal balanced the offense with his outstanding outside shooting. Poland’s key players never felt comfortable against the American defense as Ponitka and Karnowski struggled finding open spots and clear shot positions. 
European resistance reached the last minutes of the second period, when the USA broke the game for real. Two secondary players like Niedzwiedzki and Matczak paced their team and Mateusz Ponitka’s faith and skills found the way to the rim to cut the lead to 5 points (46-41) with three minutes to go in the second period. The United States continued dominating the paint (46-28 in rebounds with 22 offensive boards) and forcing mistakes, running the floor consistently. And when they did that during the tournament, they always overwhelmed their rivals. Today wasn’t an exception, and a 12-0 run opened a 17 point gap before halftime.
Poland never could come back. The USA kept the level of the intensity and the high rhythm transition game, due to the deep rotation its roster allows, to cruise to the final victory in Hamburg. James McAdoo (pictured on left) led Team USA in scoring with 20 points and added 7 rebounds. Bradley Beal scored 19 with 5/9 from the arch. Gilchrist reached 16 points and Quinn Cook dished 11 assists. Tomasz Gielo’s versatility allowed him to scored 21 points, meanwhile Matczak and Ponitka contributed with 14 points each. Polish big guy Karnowski struggled against the American physical centers and only scored 3 points with 6 rebounds
In the bronze medal game, Canada beat Lithuania 83-81 in a nice team effort with six players in double digits.
Final standings:
1. United States
2. Poland
3. Canada
4. Lithuania
5. Serbia
6. Australia
7. China
8. Germany
9. Argentina
10. Spain
11. Egypt
12. South Korea
All tournament team: Kevin Pangos (Canada), Bradley Beal (United States), Mateusz Ponitka (Poland), James McAdoo (United States) and Przemyslaw Karnowski (Poland). Chinese guard Ailun Guo was the top scorer with 22.4 points per game.
These were great days of basketball in Hamburg. Among the young talents and good games, two generations shined with real bright. The United States factory is keeping the good work and we will see those World Championship players (Beal, Gilchrist, McAdoo, Cook....) in the NCAA very soon and Poland is dreaming with a golden generation led by Ponitka, Michalak and Karnowski.
NetScouts Basketball will be covering all the young basketball action in Europe this summer. Next station, the U20 European Championship, playing from last Friday in Croatia. We will keep you update on final round action. Stay tuned!
Alejandro Gonzalez is an International Scout and Correspondent with NetScouts Basketball.