By Konstantinos iliadis – Coach of Ioannina team
We conclude our process of analysis concerning the teams that are expected to distinguish themselves in the U19 World Cup in Crete with the following 3 teams: Australia, Italy and Spain.
AUSTRALIA (Adam Caporn) 1st FIBA OCEANIA U18 CHAMPIONSHIP
The Australians are the ones that reached the final of the U17 World Cup last year where they went head to head with the Americans for quite some time, but this year they’re coming to the tournament with several absences. The country’s basketball has been making great steps in the past few years and they are producing many talents that will not, however, be coming to Crete this year.
Ben Simmons (the biggest talent who will be playing in the NCAA next year according to ESPN), Humphries and Thon Maker are the most glaring absences that definitely lower the level of the existing roster, in which Vasiljevic (1997) stands out, a combo guard with an excellent shot from mid- and long-range. The team’s offense, either through pick and roll situations or through screens away from the ball, will go through this particular player. From there, there are notable bodies on the team, while in the ‘1’ position there is the worthy player Wilson (1997) who offers security and trust in the team ensemble. Australia is in the difficult group with Canada, Italy and Tunisia and there are serious chances that they will find themselves on a very tough path in the knockout games.
ITALY (Andrea Capobianco) 6th EUROBASKET U18 2014
Like Serbia’s Lazarevic but also Charalampopoulos for Greece, yet another leader of a team and a top talent in this age group, Mussini (1997) is on a race against time trying to make it in time for the tournament after the serious injury that he had during the Italian playoffs with Reggio Emilia, a team in which he had a leading role. From this fact alone we can understand that we’re talking about one of his generation’s best players in the world, an ace with a great shot and scoring ability. He’s an excellent creator who read situations really well, as he is a striking decision maker. In short, when he himself isn’t scoring, he serves the basketball to his teammates in a unique way.
So it’s easy to understand that a lot will depend on his presence for Italy’s course in the tournament. From the rest of the guys, Flaccadori (1996) is a combo guard with a lot of confidence who creates his own shots with great change of pace. He’s a formidable scorer from mid- and long-range distances. On the other hand, the offenses and the balls that Mastelari (1996) will receive will increase based on the picture we got from friendly games. La Torre is a kid who can execute from long-range from the wings, or even drive to the basket, while in the paint Tote dominates, without many alternatives behind these guys.
Whether Mussini makes it in time for the tournament will play a definitive role in Italy’s course, but the truth is that the talent he has is limited to only a few players and this might cost them. In the group they will compete against Australia, Canada and Tunisia.
SPAIN (Joaquin Prado) 5th EUROBASKET U18 2014
Spain really is a team that is not coming to this tournament with the best generation of players they’ve ever had but by keeping intact the identity of Spanish basketball they might prove able to distinguish themselves along the way. With Barcelona’s Marc Garcia (1996) as the leader, a player who had a great year as a loan to Manresa, the Spaniards are relying on fast basketball, talent in offense and their creative backcourt. Garcia plays as a shooting guard and he really has a unique talent in finding ways to score, uses screens a lot and is an excellent shooter after receiving a pass.
His disadvantage is that he’s vulnerable in post defense and his opponents will take advantage of this. In the group stage they will face Turkey, Argentina and China. A lot of 1v1, creation and releasing shooters through screens as well as a lot of transition game with many intermediate offenses will constitute the setting that we are going to witness in the team’s game. They are definitely not among the top favorites but certainly no one will feel comfortable facing them in knockout games.
Those were the teams that more or less are expected to play a leading role in this great event, with any surprises coming from the other teams simply raising the level of the tournament. We saw in what ways the 9 teams that we briefly and usefully analyzed are expected to try and distinguish themselves, what their strong and weak points are as well as the kids from each country that are worth focusing our attention on.
All these analyses however have value only until the first jump ball, after which each team will reveal their real capabilities and each kid their analogous prospects. And if there are indeed absences, the level of the tournament is still expected to be very high with the kids that are going to compete justifiably drawing the attention of scouters, teams and coaches. So the people have to embrace this event, to fill the arenas and the battles of the ambitious youngsters from all over the world will definitely compensate those who dedicate their time to these kids.