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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.
NBA Summer League Day 4 & Free Agent Moves
The past 24 hours have not been as much about the Summer League games themselves but rather the talk and rumors regarding Free Agency and moves involving high profile as well as International players.
Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey) is moving from Toronto to the Phoenix Suns in a 3-team trade that would ultimately send Boris Diaw (France) and Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) to the Raps. Josh Childress who left the NBA for more Euros in Greece with Olympiacos is rumored to be close to signing with the Suns as well.
The Miami Heat added Udonis Haslem and shooter Mike Miller to their roster. Two very good moves for a team with lots of roster space, Haslem is a defender and rebounder who is taking a serious pay cut to stay with Wade and the Heat and Miller is another former Team USA guy who can knock down open 3's with regularity. Wade, Bosh, and James will draw plenty of double teams and force rotation and Miller will make them pay.
The San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks are close to finalizing deals that I am very interested in. The Spurs have held the rights to 6'11 250 Tiago Splitter (Brazil) since 2007, he has played in Spain's ACB for Caja Laboral (formerly TAU Ceramica) and this year led them to the ACB Tournament Championship over Ricky Rubio's Regal Barcelona squad. This is a key acquisition as Splitter will be a great compliment to the Spurs veterans specifically Tim Duncan.
Timofey Mozgov, 7'1 Center for BC Khimki in Russia, is a very good addition to the Knicks. He is a lottery pick type of player that the Knicks are snagging from the EuroLeague. He has played for some of the top coaches in Europe such as David Blatt and Sergio Scariolo and is very athletic for his size. He is very well versed in Pick/Roll action and runs the floor well which should suit Mike D'Antoni and the NYK system quite well.
From Vegas...
- The Spurs beat Minnesota 85-61
- Sacramento beat the Pistons 97-68 thanks to five scorers in double figures
- Landry Fields (Stanford) led the Knicks over the Lakers with 17 points
- Derrick Caracter had another double double with 16 & 10 for LA and continues to impress scouts (both NBA and European) with his play.
- Two Bay Area guys, Jeremy Lin (Harvard via Palo Alto (pictured)) and Omar Samhan (Saint Mary's) are playing very well...not like they are going to automatically stick with a club but are doing well for themselves and will get a contract from this event if the NBA doesn't work out.
We'll update more as the day concludes, keep checking back!
Chris Denker can be followed on Twitter @chrisdenker.
Thoughts from NBA Summer League
As I sit here watching NBA Summer League Day 5 some things are becoming increasingly obvious...
- I have seen some of these players way too much because I'm only seeing all the bad things they do and not the good.
- There are a lot of guys who cannot shoot the ball who are fringe players (sorry, see what I mean?)
- I need to spend more time with my wife & boys who have been camped out at the pool all week, sorry fellas!
- The poor economy must have reached Europe because a year or two ago guys were making more (Euros) to play in the EuroLeague or EuroCup, now guys are flocking to join NBA clubs such as Tiago Splitter, Timofey Mozgov, Josh Childress et al.
- Either that or teams are tired of waiting on all these young guys to develop...check that, Jordan Hill just got a rebound! His 3rd (1st Defensive) in 21 minutes of action to go along with 6 points and 7 fouls.
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See #1
- Ty Lawson is very good, his Nugget team is 4-0 at the moment and he has dominated action in each win.
- Patty Mills is also playing quite well for the Blazers, he's about 2 passes ahead of every other player mentally.
- John Wall changes ends in a hurry. He needs to work on his stroke and range but in my effort to remain positive I'll focus on his speed and quickness, good job John.
- I scouted Matt Janning and Boston University in Santa Clara, CA this winter and liked his game...he's played well here also.
- DeMar DeRozan missed a dunk.
- The officiating has been terrible.
- "Tiny" Gallon isn't...tiny.
- Derrick Caracter is gonna stick.
- If you are in Vegas and like Italian food, hit Brio Tuscan Grille
- Landry Fields (Stanford) has done a nice job. He's an unselfish, blue-collar guy who plays with energy...you need guys like that.
- I just realized that I've sat through 18:00 of the Bucks versus Grizzlies and Hasheem Thabeet has scored 2 points more than I have...
- Roddy Beaubois (Dallas) has another gear.
- Please stop blowing your whistles every trip down the floor!
- Hasheem Thabeet now has one more rebound than I do...
- Okay seriously, the last three whistles have come 20 seconds, 9 seconds, & 6 seconds apart. Flow, we need some flow here people. I couldn't even finish that sentence and another whistle (8 seconds).
- OJ Mayo is getting a lot of run at the point for the Grizzlies
- 17 seconds...
- Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Olympiacos, Greece), playing with the Clippers, is a man amongst boys physically (11 seconds) who pounds guys on picks
- 13 seconds
- Matt Bouldin of Gonzaga made his debut today with the Bulls and looked decent. 18 seconds. He had a couple nice passes and hit some jumpers including 2 three's.
- 14 seconds...my ears are ringing!
- At the half Memphis 32, Milwaukee 24, Fouls 33. I guess the refs are winning...
- #1, stay positive.
- 10-year olds from St. Viator School are playing coed 6-on-6 and thanks to ZERO whistles, they scored 20 combined points in 4:00 of action!
- I need to get out of here.
Chris Denker, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball, can be followed on Twitter @chrisdenker.