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FIBA U17 World Championships from Hamburg: Day 1
The first day of the preliminary round of the FIBA U17 World Championships has been completed in Hamburg, Germany. There were no real surprises. The day was highlighted by the USA's 82-70 victory over Argentina and Germany's 69-68 thriller over Canada.
In the other games, Lithuania defeated China 85-72, Serbia had no problem with Egypt in a 99-67 win, Poland has a surprisingly easy time with Australia beating the Aussies 71-54 and Spain beat Korea 86-71.
The best game of the day was Germany's squeaker over Canada. The game was tight throughout, Germany led 34-33 at halftime and 55-51 after three quarters.Germany maintained a small lead through the first part of the final stanza until the Canadians tied it at 62 on a three-pointer from 6'7 Anthony Bennett with 4:21 left. The Germans took another small lead, then Kevin Pangos brought Canada within one at 67-66 with 1:10 left. Besnik Bekteshi was fouled with 52 seconds and made both free throws to put the Germans up by three. Canada countered with a drive from Dyshawn Pierre to cut it to 69-68 with 38 seconds left. Julius Wolf of Germany then missed a three -pointer giving the Canadians a chance to win it. They had 18 seconds to do it. First Anthony Bennett missed a three, Kevin Pangos snuck it and got the rebound but couldn't convert at the buzzer. The Germans escaped with a one-point win. German point guard Besnik Bekteshi was outstanding with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He was matched by his counterpart, Canadian point Kevin Pangos who scored 26 points but was sloppy with the ball in commiting 10 turnovers.
The USA-Argentina contest was well played and close throughout although the decision was never in doubt. 6'7 Michael Gilchrist took control of the game for the Americans with 22 points and 15 rebounds. The USA had a 57-35 rebounding advantage, 6'11 Andre Drummond of St. Thomas More Prep pulled down 10 rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
Some of the other better individual performance of the day included:
- Mantas Mockevicius scored 20 points in Lithuania's win as he made 12 trips to the foul line.
- 6'8 power forward Luka Mitrovic led Serbia with 18 points and 6 rebounds
- 6'4 shooting gaurd Michal Michalak played the best overall game for Poland with 18 points on 3 three-pointers and 6 rebounds.
- Spain was led by 21 points and 13 rebounds from 6'8 power forward Daniel Diez who plays for Real Madrid's junior team.
Tomorrow's best matchups include the USA vs. Lithuania and Germany vs. Spain.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to FIBA 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.
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.
USA Wins FIBA U17 World Basketball Championship for Women
United States complete U17 sweep.
The boys did it a couple of weeks ago in Hamburg. The girls beat France today in Toulouse to grab the gold medal and become u17 World Champions. With that, the United States confirmed its authority at this level.
Team USA has been way better than its opponent during the tournament and the championship game (92-62) was not an exception. The Americans started strong (28-16) before the one and only French attempt to compete for real in this game. The host team grabbed the momentum in the beginning of the second period and took the lead (30-31) with a 2-15 run led by Alice Nayo and Sara Chevaugeon.
But that was it. 
The USA reaction came quickly. An Ariel Massengale three pointer and Elizabeth Williams inside job was the first blow. The Massengale "and 1" lay up at the buzzer to close the first half represented sort of an early knockout (50-38).
United States dominated second half playing solid defense and converting transition opportunities on offense to pull away. The French, whose World Silver is a great improvement over their Eurobasket 09 Bronze were great hosts.
A talented trio paced Team USA again.
- Ariel Massengale scored 20 points and dished 6 assists.
- Elizabeth Williams and Kaleena Lewis added 15 each.
- Sara Chevaugeon was French top scorer with 11 points.
China won the bronze medal after beating Eurobasket 09 runner-up Belgium in the third place game. The 15 year old Chinese sensational shooter Meng Li was named MVP of the tournament. Li, playing against older players, averaged 15.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and shot 43% from the arch.
Final standings:
1. United States
2. France
3. China
4. Belgium
5. Japan
6. Russia
7. Australia
8. Spain
9. Argentina
10. Turkey
11. Canada
12. Mali
NetScouts Basketball will keep travelling around Europe in order to cover all the young (U20) basketball action. Next stop will be u18 Eurobasket for men as final round of the tournament will be played next weekend in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Chris Denker, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball, and Alejandro Gonzalez each contributed to this post and can be followed on Twitter @chrisdenker and @netscouts. Special Thanks to FIBA for the photo.