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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.
Greece and France Meet Again in U20 European Championship Final
Greece and France fought last summer for the U20 Eurobasket 2009 title in Rodas, Greece. That time, the Greeks won the gold medal in front of their fans despite the outstanding Edwin Jackson scoring performance in that game. Kosta Papanikolau led his team to the victory. Tomorrow both teams will face each other again in the U20 Eurobasket championship game. For Greece, it’s a back-to-back gold chance. For France, it’s a matter of revenge..jpg)
Greece kept its main core from last year: Pappas, Sloukas, Papanikolau and Kaselakis. Just PF/C Bogris left, substituted by Sarikopoulos. Same players, same style, same success. Today, Greece beat the host team Croatia 71-56. The Croatians started well but played nervously, under pressure. It wasn’t because of the fans, though, as the arena wasn’t crowded at all. Putting pressure to the rival guards and being very intense defensively, Croatia took first leads, running the floor and trying to grab momentum. But as soon as Nikos Pappas (pictured on right) made his first shots and felt comfortable, the scenario changed dramatically. Pappas’s offensive talent paced his team, balancing Kosta Papanikolau’s bad start. The Hellenic zone made the difference. Croatia couldn’t find the rim and only Mario Delas and Ivan Batur showed some sparks of inspiration. After halftime, Greece decided to move Papanikolau to the PF position and play with three guards (Sloukas, Pappas and Mantzaris). The ball distribution and the guard’s drives to the basket gave their team some offensive fluency and a couple of Croatian turnovers at the beginning of the third period were well punished. Greece took an 8-10 point gap and was able to manage the rest of the game against the willing but inaccurate Croatian players.
Nikos Pappas scored 23 points and grabbed 8 rebonds. Papanikolau needed more time to find his game but finally did it with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Mario Delas was the best player for the host team with 13 points and 6 rebounds.
In last summer’s U20 Eurobasket, France clinched the silver medal led by Edwin Jackson, Thomas Heurtel, Antoine Diot and Kevin Seraphin, all of them flirting now with the NBA Draft. This year is completely new. A new team, similar style, same success. France topped Spain led by the great performance of Asvel Villerbaunne guard Paul Lacombe. Spain played a great first quarter, following Jose Sastre’s talent, grabbing the first leads. But, as it happened in the game between those two teams in the main round, France came back to the game step by step, playing physical, being tougher inside and intense defensively. Spain’s individuality really hurt them, though, as the Spaniards never were able to play as a team, relying in Josep France, Jose Sastre and Nikola Mirotic’s actions. Mirotic did not have a good night, particularly defensively. France found out the hole and punished its rival again and again.
For France, Lacombe’s appearance was the key of the game. It was it during the first half as the guard gave some sense and order to a clumsy French offensive game. Andrew Albicy directed the team pretty well then too. With a 10-12 point lead, France answered with huge baskets every single Spanish comeback attempt. Gavrilovic did it quietly, finding open spot due to his good off ball game into a weak rival defense. Paul Lacombe gave the highlights. A couple of NBA range three pointers and a terrific dunk opened the decisive gap in the last minutes of the game. France struggled a bit from the free throw line giving Spain several small chances for a heroic reaction, but the Spanish players didn’t take them as France came away with an 86-83 victory. France controlled the boards and outrebounded Spain by 13.
Paul Lacombe was the star of the game with 23 points (including 4/6 from the arc) and 7 rebounds. Andrew Albicy added 19 points and 10 assists. Josep Franch scored 22 points for Spain and Joan Sastre reached 19.
Tomorrow at 9.15 pm CET, Greece and France will fight for the gold medal of the first of the European summer tournaments. Repeat or revenge in Zadar, Croatia.
Alejandro Gonzalez is an International Scout and Correspondent for NetScouts Basketball.
France Gets Revenge and Wins U20 European Championship
From the start of the game France was better than Greece. French players had a lot of reasons to play their hearts out tonight. A European gold medal in a step to the highest level in the old continent competition. A revenge in the name of those (Jackson, Heurtel, Diot, etc) who fell in last year’s championship game against Greece in Rhodes. The best way to honor Jonathan Bourhis, a French great prospect and part of this generation, who died in a car accident in November.
France’s athleticism and intense defense stopped Greece from the tip-off. That was the key of the game. French defenders were everywhere, arriving quickly to the help-side, putting pressure on their rivals. The Greek ball distribution was hardest to complete and every individual attempt crashed in the middle of a legs and arms forest.
Greece had a bad day from the three point line too. An 18-point run between the first and the second period broke the game (24-6). France felt more comfortable every second and punished its rival led by Albicy’s direction and Lacombe’s scoring. The first Hellenic attempt of recovery was stopped by two great three pointers by Paul Lacombe. Mantzaris, with a three pointer at the buzzer, softened the damage to 19 points at halftime (41-22).
Greece relied on their stars as Pappas, Sloukas and Papanikolau tried to attack the rim again and again. The second attempt to comeback, with Sloukas cutting the gap to 13 (47-34) from the free throw line was replied by Lang, with two three pointers. Abodou joined the party on the next play to push the lead to 19 at 56-37.
In the last period, France realized how close it was to win the tournament. And they started to be afraid of it, suffering against the Greek zone defense. Albicy, Leonard, Lacombe...collected turnovers and bad decisions, keeping their rivals alive. Greece wasn't brilliant offensively, but went to the free throw line after almost every possession. Step by step, the Greeks recovered, coming back to the game.
Nikos Pappas scored to cut the lead to 5 with just 2 minutes to go (63-58). A lot of pressure on France. And, again, a huge reply from the arc. Kahudi sank the three and Albicy led his team with 5 straight points, including an old-fashioned three that definitely closed the game as France took the gold 73-62.
Andrew Albicy, (pictured on right) the MVP of the tournament, sealed 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the decisive game. Paul Lacombe added 14. Nikos Pappas, with 22 points, was again Greece’s best player.
Some specialists predicted a couple of not so brilliant years in French youth basketball, between last year’s generation (Edwin Jackson, Thomas Heurtel, Kevin Seraphin, Antoine Diot...) and the 93 guys (Hugo Invernizzi, Livio Jean Charles, William Howard, Yannis Morin, etc), but this French team showed all its potential. Andrew Albicy and Paul Lacombe as stars but also a deep rotation (Alexis Tanghe, Christophe Leonard, Lens Aboudou...) and great athletic tools.
The All-tournament team was led by the MVP Andrew Albicy and completed by Nikos Pappas (Greece), Kostantinos Papanikolau (Greece), Mario Delas (Croatia) and Nikola Mirotic (Spain).
Final standings:
1. France
2. Greece
3. Spain
4. Croatia
5. Russia
6. Montenegro
7. Serbia
8. Ukraine
9. Lithuania
10. Italy
11. Latvia
12. Slovenia
13. Turkey
14. Germany
15. Netherlands
16. Czech Republic
The Netherlands and Czech Republic, both teams promoted to Division A last year, were relegated back to Division B. Spain beat Croatia in the third-place game 86-79.
Alejandro Gonzalez is an International Scout and Correspondent for NetScouts Basketball. Thanks to FIBA Europe for the pictures.