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FIBA Americas U18 Championship: Days 1 and 2

The first two days of the FIBA Americas U18 Championships have been completed in San Antonio. There have been no surprises. In Group A Canada and Brazil are undefeated at 2-0. In Group B the USA and Argentina are undefeated at 2-0. All four teams will wind up advancing to the semi-finals regardless of who wins tomorrow's contests between Canada-Brazil and the USA-Argentina.

The first day of action started with Canada topping Uruguay 76-52, Canada led 21-4 after the first period after scoring the first 17 points of the game.Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Thomas led Canada with 14 points. Wiltjer, the star of the tournament so far, canned 4-of-5 three-pointers. Khem Birch had a nice game with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

The other first day games were all easy wins. Brazil topped a disorganized Puerto Rican squad 78-53 as Lucas Riva Nogueira sank 8-of-9 fiels goal attempts on the way to 20 points and 12 rebounds. Argentina had no problem with Mexico in their 78-53 win as they led 35-12 at halftime. The USA then has some fun at the Virgin Islands expense in a 131-63 romp. The USA had 9 players in double-figures led by Austin Rivers with 19. Quincy Miller-Scott grabbed 17 rebounds.

Today's action stated with Argentina running away from the Virgin Islands 82-50. Brazil then won the most competitive game of the tournament so far with a 71-64 win over Uruguay. Ivan Loriente Perez was impressive for Uruguay with 23. Canada then topped Puerto Rico 100-83 behind 31 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle Wiltjer. Wiltjer shot 5-for-6 on three-pointers bringing his tournament total to 9-for-11. Myck Kabongo helped with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.

The USA then dismantled Mexico in the finale 114-38. The USA had seven players in doulble figures led by Austin Rivers and Trevor Cooney with 16 points.

The games should be more competitive tomorrow,

Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis of FIBA Americas for the photos.

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.

USA and Brazil for the FIBA Americas U18 Title

The USA and Brazil will meet for the FIBA Americas U18 title in San Antonio tomorrow night.

Brazil won the first semi-final defeating a game team from Argentina 70-56. Argentina held a 45-42 lead after three quarters but ran out of gas in the final period as Brazil outscored them 28-11 to take the victory. Today's star for Brazil was Lucas Noriega (pictured on left). The 7-footer dominated play inside and swatted away eight Argentina shots. He finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Noriega had 11 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter. The Brazilian point guard Raul Neto (pictured on right), who scored 34 points yesterday, was lmited to nine points primarily due to foul trouble and good defense from Argentina. Brazil won the battle of the boards 46-27.

In the nightcap the USA flew out to a 37-10 first quarter lead over Canada and coasted to a 122-89 victory. Austin Rivers (pictured below) was amazing for the Americans. The son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers, scored 35 points on 9-for-12 shooting from downtown. Texas signee Myck Kabongo tried to match him with 32 points of his own on 11-for-15 shooting but he did not get the support that he needed from his teammates. 6'9 Kyle Wiltjer was in foul trouble and was held to 7 points. 7'4 Gursimran Bhullar was the only other Canadian in double-figures with 14. Kyrie Irving played a nice floor game for the USA with 12 points and 7 assists.

In the classification games, Uruguay had no problem with Mexico in their 106-63 win. Ivan Loriente continued his impressive play with 26 points on 6-for-11 three-pointers. Uruguay has been a pleasant surprise in the tournament. They will face Puerto Rico for 5th place. Puerto Rico defeated the Virgin Islands 87-79 behind 17 points and 10 rebounds from Christopher Ortiz. Aaron Brown continuued his strong play with 31 points for the Islanders. Uruguay defeated Puerto Rico 67-54 in the preliminary round.

Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman. Thanks to Ross Davis of FIBA Americas for the photos.

 

NBA Summer League All-Star Team

There were a lot of good individual performances throughout the week at the NBA Summer League Las Vegas and a few solid TEAMS as well, which is obviously a whole lot more important.  I'm going to break down a few of my favorites from the week and a few not so good.

We'll hit on the team performances tomorrow.

MVP

John Wall, Washington Wizards:  Averaged 23.5 points (tops in the league), 7.8 assists (also #1 in league) and helped elevate the game of JaVale McGee.  He also sold out a couple games in the Cox Pavilion due to his presence and still played well.  Well done.  

ALL-STAR PERFORMERS

Reggie Williams, Golden State:  The 6'4 lefty was a scoring machine for the Warriors at 22.6 per game second only to Wall.

DeMar DeRozan, Toronto:  DD shot it extremely well (58%) on his way to 21 points per outing.  He doesn't do a whole lot else on the floor and really needs work defensively as his man often matched his output.

Sam Young, Memphis:  The 6'6 wing known for terrific defense also scored at 19.5 ppg and shot an efficient 54%.

JJ Hickson, Cleveland:  Posted 19.3 points and 6.3 boards a contest, good young player with athletic ability, needs to become more consistent.

Sonny Weems, Toronto: One of the best athletes in the Summer League scored 17.5 ppg on drives, slash cuts, finishing the break, and even knocked down a pull-up J or two.

JaVale McGee, Wizards:  The 7'0 athlete performed at his best this week.  19.5 points and 9.3 boards were 4th best in league and shot 69% from the floor.  He runs the court and with Wall pushing tempo, he can find some PT for the Wizards.

Patty Mills, Portland:  Although the numbers aren't eye popping, they are good, 14.2 ppg, 3.8 boards, 4.6 assists per game.  He is a leader, he helped Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson develop a bit, and he toys with defenders...his use of ball/screens is excellent and his ability to pass off the dribble has really improved.

Omri Casspi, SAC: Quietly goes about his business, plays hard and scored 14.4 a game.

Gary Neal, San Antonio: The 6'4 Towson product led the Spurs to a 5-0 record while scoring over 16 per game and shot an amazing 50% from the floor and 50% from 3-land as well.

BEST BACKCOURTS

Dallas: Roddy Beaubois was great at times, average others (14.0 ppg, 3.0 apg) and needs to involve others better, Dominique Jones their 6'4 draft pick was nice with 16.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 3.4 apg as well as working well on the defensive end.  Jeremy Lin (6'3 Harvard) was also a solid player off the bench chipping in 10 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists per game...he should get a nice contract from this event internationally.

Denver: Ty Lawson played very well.  It was obvious this guy played a lot last year and he is a guy who can play well with quality vets as well as rookies...some can't.  He shot 59% from the floor on his way to 16.4 ppg and dished out 5 assists per game as well.  Coby Karl played well also with 14 points, 6.3 rpg, 2.3 steals, and 3.3 apg.  He should find a home in the league...doesn't Miami need some cheap insurance?  Here's a guy to look at.

SLEEPERS WHO COULD STICK

Derrick Caracter, LA Lakers: The BIG MAN from UTEP played very well in Vegas and is in great shape.  I disagree with DeMarcus Cousins being named Rookie of the Month for the simple reason that several bigs put up decent numbers but Caracter's 15.4 points, 8.6 boards and 59% shooting are better than the 14.5, 9.8, 33% shooting that Cousin's threw up.  Wall was hands down the best rookie there.

Matt Janning, Phoenix: The 6'5 guard from Northeastern continues to play well in summer league and has received at least two TRAINING CAMP invites.  He went for 13 points and 6 boards a game on one of the worst teams in Vegas.

Landry Fields, NY Knicks: A blue-collar guy with some skill.  He works hard, he's smart (Stanford guy), and is sneaky athletic.  He blew buy DeRozan a time or three in their match-up...averaged 15.6 points, 4.8 boards and shot 53% which is a nice stat for a rookie adjusting to the NBA game.

Deron Washington, Milwaukee:  I was tempted to put him on the All-Star team, he played very well.  Already a freak athlete, his stroke is much improved (46% shooting).  He scored 13.2 ppg and grabbed nearly 5 boards a game.  Coach Skiles will get him to defend and he can run and finish at the rim...he could make it.

Omar Samhan, Dallas:  I would never have thought I'd be saying this after seeing him live on multiple occasions in college, but he played very well.  10.5 points, 7.5 boards, 1.0 block and he's smart, competitive, and outplayed guys who were lottery picks.  He's the perfect example of why it's important to evaluate guys playing 5-on-5 as well as in "workouts."  He's a team basketball player.  By comparison, Hasheem Thabeet had similar numbers and played 5 more minutes per game...not to mention he is on the books for about $3.5 Million more than Samhan would receive.  Another point on Thabeet, in the Grizzlies last game versus the Spurs, his +/- rating was a -28!  I don't care who you are, that is ridiculous.

Solomon Alabi, Toronto:  He played exactly half the minutes per game as Thabeet and put up 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.  Double it and he'd blow Thabeet out of the water.  The point is, the Raps investment into a few minutes per game defensive center (chosen in the 2nd round) is much better than the Grizzlies investment into the #2 pick of the draft.

Chris Denker is Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on Twitter @chrisdenker.