2017 International Basketball Thread

[awhom111]

I am unsure of the level of coverage I will do in this thread this year, but I figure that it is a good time to get started.

Recruiting the classes of 2019 and 2020 can't start soon enough, right? The 24 players headed to USA U16 Boy's tryouts has been announced:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...-athletes.aspx

[awhom111]

FIBA has announced more details of the new FIBA Americas Championship, called the AmeriCup. It looks like the United States will field a team for the first time in a decade. That will probably be used to prepare for the qualifiers for 2019 as opposed to showcasing NBA players and it will be interesting to see who coaches and plays. I would try to explain the qualifying format for 2019, but it is excessively complicated and we should probably just wait for the draw and the schedule to be announced.

[awhom111]

There has been plenty of USA Basketball news this week.

They have confirmed that the USA Basketball will field a men's team at this summer's AmeriCup although more details are not available. The draw was conducted for the groups to be played in Argentina, Colombia, and Uruguay. The United States joins the Dominican Republic and Panama in Uruguay. Argentina hosts Canada, the US Virgin Islands, and Venezuela. Colombia will welcome Mexico, Puerto Rico, and another South American team, which was supposed to be Brazil before their federation was suspended. They could still participate or a replacement could be named. The final stage will be in Argentina and they will automatically qualify along with the top team in each group (second place in Argentina's group if they win it).

USA Basketball also announced a new mini-tournament for a U23 Women's team. Jeff Walz of Louisville has been selected as the coach. This tournament is a good idea because USA Basketball is not responsible for either of the World University Games teams this summer (Maryland was picked on the women's side and Purdue was picked on the men's side).

A coaching staff was also announced for the U16 Girl's team as they have opted for DIII head coach Carla Berube of Tufts after two years of high school coaching in the last cycle results in a pair of debacles.

[awhom111]

USA Basketball named the selection committee for the next international cycle. Shane Battier was picked for the U18/19 Men's committee. This is probably all a ploy for Coach K to retain a recruiting advantage, ignoring the four college coaches on the committee.
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...ommittees.aspx

The U16 Girl's team has part of their tryouts roster determine as invitees have been announced. Open tryout applicants will be announced later.
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...-invitees.aspx

[awhom111]

Another Duke name is involved in a selection committee as Trajan Langdon will be part of determining the team for world championship qualifiers:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...committee.aspx

With his knowledge of the D League and Americans playing overseas, he should be a perfect addition for this role. This is the first official confirmation that non-NBA professionals, especially from the D League, will be the ones representing the United States in the qualifiers, which will be against other teams from the Americas.

[awhom111]

The USA U19 Women's Team tryouts roster has been announced. There are currently no Duke ties on it:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...-athletes.aspx

[awhom111]

FIBA conducted their draw for qualifying groups earlier today:
http://www.fiba.com/basketballworldc...019-qualifiers

The United States got the most politically interesting group possible with Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Games will start in November.

There are some pre-qualifying games that still need to be played, but here are all the groups:

[Truth&Justise]

awhom111, thanks for tracking this!

Any info on the structure of the American's qualifying tournament? My understanding is that the top three from each group go on to the next round. So as long as USA isn't last (and I'm fairly certain our D-leaguers can beat Cuba), we move on to the next round. Is that correct? And if so, what happens after that?

Also, the groups look very uneven. Even assuming Brazil's suspension is lifted and it gets the final spot, Chile and Colombia are two of the weakest teams in the field. Meanwhile, the USA has Mexico and Puerto Rico, either of whom might be favored to win Group B (depending on if Brazil qualifies) or D (depending on Canada's development). Strange!

[Truth&Justise]

For reference, here are the FIBA rankings for the teams in the tournament (not the best measure, but the only objective one we've got):

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Argentina (6)	Brazil** (7)	USA (1)	Canada (18)
Uruguay (26)	Venezuela (15)	Puerto Rico (17)	Dominican Republic (24)
Panama (33)	Chile (NR)	Mexico (19)	US Virgin Islands (59)
Paraguay (46)	Colombia (NR)	Cuba (NR)	Bahamas (NR)

**Assuming Brazil's suspension is lifted and they get the last spot.

I know it's silly to worry about this as a fan of the USA, but I thought it was interesting.

[awhom111]

awhom111, thanks for tracking this!

Any info on the structure of the American's qualifying tournament? My understanding is that the top three from each group go on to the next round. So as long as USA isn't last (and I'm fairly certain our D-leaguers can beat Cuba), we move on to the next round. Is that correct? And if so, what happens after that?

Also, the groups look very uneven. Even assuming Brazil's suspension is lifted and it gets the final spot, Chile and Colombia are two of the weakest teams in the field. Meanwhile, the USA has Mexico and Puerto Rico, either of whom might be favored to win Group B (depending on if Brazil qualifies) or D (depending on Canada's development). Strange!

Yes, the top 3 teams move on to the second round. FIBA chose to go with a regional split in Asia and the Americas, which does result in slightly different group strengths (East Asia may be stronger than West Asia). I agree that Group B could be very weak, especially compared to Group A and Group D ended up being much weaker than Group C.

For reference, here are the FIBA rankings for the teams in the tournament (not the best measure, but the only objective one we've got):

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Argentina (6)	Brazil** (7)	USA (1)	Canada (18)
Uruguay (26)	Venezuela (15)	Puerto Rico (17)	Dominican Republic (24)
Panama (33)	Chile (NR)	Mexico (19)	US Virgin Islands (59)
Paraguay (46)	Colombia (NR)	Cuba (NR)	Bahamas (NR)

**Assuming Brazil's suspension is lifted and they get the last spot.

I know it's silly to worry about this as a fan of the USA, but I thought it was interesting.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of players teams will have available in this new format (because there are a lot of behind the scenes moving pieces politically). I actually like that the United States should face three teams that are nearly at full strength so that the decision makers understand exactly what level of players we need to qualify.

[awhom111]

It's only a partial Duke connection as Bella Alarie is added to the USA U19 tryout roster:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...ls-roster.aspx

Court coaches were announced for the Men's U19 tryouts today. It can be interesting to see who might be a future youth team coach and also which lower division coaches are held in high esteem by their colleagues.
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...t-coaches.aspx

[awhom111]

The first USA team of the summer has been announced as the U19 Women's team finished their tryouts earlier today. Bella Alarie made it and is not the only Ivy Leaguer on the roster.
Roster:
https://www.usab.com/womens/u19/roster.aspx
Announcement:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...ouncement.aspx
Quotes:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...19-quotes.aspx

There are nine current collegians, two incoming freshmen, and the top 2018 high school recruit.

[awhom111]

The USA Basketball approach to the Girls and Boys youth teams are very different. The U16 Girls team will use an open applicant tryout process along with the invited players, resulting in the 142 player tryouts seen here:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...te-roster.aspx
https://www.usab.com/basketball/medi...-alphapdf.aspx

[awhom111]

More players were added to the USA U16 Boy's team tryouts:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...-athletes.aspx

The draw for the two FIBA Americas U16 tournaments were conducted earlier in the week. The USA Boy's team faces the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, leaving Argentina, Canada, Paraguay, and Venezuela on the other side. THE USA Girl's team faces Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, leaving Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela on the other side.

[awhom111]

It took the better part of a week, but the committee chose 12 players for the USA U16 Girl's team that will compete in the FIBA Americas Championship next week:
https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...wu16-team.aspx
https://www.usab.com/womens/u16/roster.aspx

[JasonEvans]

Is there any indication whether Canada is going to get it's best players to play on the team for the World Championships? A team with Nick Stauskas, Jamal Murray, Corey Joseph, and Tyler Ennis in the backcourt and Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Olynyck, Tristan Thompson, Trey Lyles, and Dwight Powell in the front court would be one of the top 5 in the world, for sure, and could probably beat a full strength Team USA on a good night.

-Jason "put those guys up against D-Leaguers and the USA is going down" Evans

[Billy Dat]

EPIC comeback for the US, down 20 in the second half in a 40 minute FIBA game and they win a tight one against Argentina to win the Americup Gold Medal!

[awhom111]

Marshall and the United States had their second game in hostile territory with the final in Cordoba. Argentina took the early lead and built a big one in the second half, but the team rallied to take the lead late and hang on to an 81-76 win. He had a quiet 15 minutes as the team finally settled on a rotation when it mattered. Jameel Warney had 21 points and 7 rebounds, Darrun Hilliard had 15 points and 6 rebounds, Reggie Hearn had 14 points and 6 rebounds, and Xavier Munford had 10 points. Nicolas Brussino, the only active NBA player in the game besides Marshall, had 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. It was a good experience for the United States, who got the win and a tremendous education for what to expect in the latter stages of qualifying as the draw presents another chance to play in Argentina in the future. The team showed impressive fight when a 20 point deficit could have led to them folding in front of a crowd cheering against them. Some of these players will definitely be on the list of players wanted for qualifying games while others should not be involved again.
http://www.fiba.basketball/americup/...ore_statistics
The Bronze Medal game was played earlier and Mexico took the lead early to beat the US Virgin Islands 79-65. Ex-Wyoming player Francisco Cruz had 22 points and 6 rebounds, ex-Fresno State player Hector Hernandez had 13 points and 11 rebounds, ex-Long Beach State player Edgar Garibay had 12 points, and ex-UCLA player Lorenzo Mata had 10 points and 8 rebounds. Ex-Florida player Walter Hodge had one more big game with 20 points in the loss and ex-Charlotte player Phillip Jones had 12 points and 6 rebounds.
http://www.fiba.basketball/americup/...ore_statistics

Group A of EuroBasket started with an fun game as France beat Iceland 115-79. A bunch of people with NBA experience had good games in the win as Nando De Colo had 16 points, Kevin Seraphin had 14 points, Joffrey Lauvergne had 13 points, Axel Toupane had 10 points. In the loss, former California high school Jon Stefansson had 23 points and 7 rebounds, ex-LIU player Martin Hermansson had 13 points, Kristofer Acox, who just finished his career at Furman, had 10 points and 7 rebounds, and ex-Maryland player Haukur Palsson had 10 points and 6 assists. Slovenia nearly wasted a good start, but came back to beat Greece 78-72 to stay on top of the group. Luka Doncic is a name you will hear a lot this year and he had 22 points while Goran Dragic had 20 points. Draft rights trade guy Georgios Printezis had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Greece's only active NBA player on their roster had 10 points. The last game was a thriller as it took Finland two overtimes to beat Poland 90-87. Lauri Markkanen continues to impress with 27 points and 9 rebounds, 2007 draft pick Petteri Koponen had 21 points and 7 assists, and Erik Murphy picked up in Alex's absence with 12 points. Naturalized ex-Western Kentucky player A.J. Slaughter had 18 points and ex-Ole Miss player Tomasz Gielo had 11 points and 6 rebounds in the loss.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

In Group B, Georgia continued to struggle after a strong first day as they lost to Ukraine 88-81. Zaza Pachulia had 17 points, ex-NBA player Tornike Shengelia had 16 points and 7 assists, and ex-San Diego player Duda Sanadze had 11 points. Lithuania put themselves in a better position with a 78-73 win over Italy. Adas Juskevicius provided an unexpected spark with 20 points as their NBA players also chipped in with Mindaugas Kuzminskas providing 14 points and Jonas Valanciunas adding 13 points and 8 rebounds. Germany struggled early against the hosts, but recovered, only to collapse in the fourth quarter to lose to Israel 82-80 and miss a chance to put themselves in a great position. Richard Howell has proven to be a smart choice among a couple naturalized player options as he had 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 steals, Omri Casspi had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and ex-Wichita State player Gal Mekel had 12 points. Dennis Schroder had another good game with 20 points and 7 assists and incoming NBA player Daniel Theis had 15 points and 15 rebounds, but it was not enough.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

Only Group C and Group D will be playing on Monday with all games available on ESPN3 (times EDT):

Group C:
Hungary vs Czech Republic, 8:00am
Montenegro vs Croatia, 10:45am
Spain vs Romania, 1:30pm

Group D:
Latvia vs Great Britain, 7:15am
Belgium vs Russia, 10:00am
Serbia vs Turkey, 2:00pm

[awhom111]

In Group C of EuroBasket, Hungary opened the day with an 85-73 win over the Czech Republic. Their star, 2011 draft pick Adam Hanga had 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists and ex-Stanford player Rosco Allen had 10 points and 6 rebounds. The only active NBA player in the matchup, Tomas Satoransky had 18 points and 7 rebounds and ex-Seton Hall player Patrik Auda had 15 points. Montenegro nearly fought back against Croatia, but fell 76-72. The two NBA players were too much as Bojan Bogdanovic had 23 points and 6 rebounds and Dario Saric had 14 points. Naturalized ex-Boston College player Tyrese Rice finally found his rhythm with 22 points, 2013 draft pick Bojan Dubljevic had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points. Spain continues to roll as they beat Romania 91-50. Juancho Hernangomez had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Marc Gasol had 11 points and 8 rebounds as the full NBA contingent was not needed. Ex-American player Vlad Moldoveanu had 15 points and 6 rebounds as he continues to be the lone bright spot for the hosts.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

In Group D, Eric Boateng and Great Britain fell behind early, but fought back to only lose by a respectable 97-92 margin. He had 8 points in 13 minutes. Ex-Iowa player Gabe Olaseni continues to lead the team as he had 23 points and 10 rebounds, ex-LIU player Kyle Johsnon had 18 points, ex-Rider player Teddy Okereafor had 12 points and 9 assists, and ex-College of Charleston player Andrew Lawrence had 11 points and 10 assists. The NBA duo led the way in the win as Kristaps Porzingis had 28 points and 8 rebounds and Davis Bertans had 22 points while 2013 draft pick Janis Timma had 11 points and 9 rebounds. Russia shows no signs of slowing down after a 76-67 win over Belgium. Alexey Shved continues to be the perimeter threat with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists as Timofey Mozgov worked inside with 12 points. Turkey played well against Serbia, but the hosts came up short 80-74. Both teams have showcased incoming NBA player as Bogdan Bogdanovic had another 17 points. On the other end, Cedi Osman had 15 points and Furkan Korkmaz had 11 points while ex-NBA player Semih Erden had 13 points.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

All groups will be playing on Tuesday with all games available on ESPN3 (times EDT):

Group A:
Iceland vs Slovenia 6:45am
Poland vs France, 9:30am
Greece vs Poland, 1:00pm

Group B:
Ukraine vs Lithuania, 8:45am
Italy vs Germany, 11:30am
Israel vs Georgia, 2:30pm

Group C:
Czech Republic vs Montenegro, 8:00am
Croatia vs Spain, 10:45am
Romania vs Hungary, 1:30pm

Group D:
Russia vs. Latvia, 7:15am
Great Britain vs Serbia, 10:00am
Turkey vs Belgium, 2:00pm

[awhom111]

Group A started EuroBasket play for the day again as teams will only have one more group game. Goran Dragic had 21 points to fire Slovenia past Iceland 102-75. In the loss, ex-LIU player Martin Hermansson had 18 points and ex-Maryland player Haukur Palsson had 14 points. Poland started well against France, but could not sustain it, losing 78-75. Thomas Heurtel led the way with 23 points and 6 assist as Boris Diaw had 13 points as he also auditions for his next club job. Finland delivered for the home fans again and beat Greece 89-77. 2007 draft pick Petteri Koponen had 24 points and 6 assists and Lauri Markkanen had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Thanasis Antetokounmpo had 17 points in the loss. The situation in this group is pretty clear as the Greece-Poland winner will be the last team through. Slovenia wins the group if they beat France and Finland will need to beat eliminated Iceland to create a three-way tie at the top of the standings if France wins.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

In Group B, Lithuania beat Ukraine 94-62 with Jonas Valanciunas providing 22 points and 14 rebounds and Mindaugas Kuzminskas adding 17 points. Artem Pustovyi had 29 points and 8 rebounds in the loss. Germany escaped Italy 61-55 as Dennis Schroder had 17 points and incoming NBA player Daniel Theis had 11 points. Marco Belinelli had 12 points in the loss. There was extra basketball to end the day as hosts Israel were eliminated after losing to Georgia 104-91 in overtime. Ex-NBA player Tornike Shengelia continues to have one of the strongest individual tournament with 25 points and 19 rebounds, Zaza Pachulia had 19 points, naturalized ex-Memphis player Mike Dixon had 18 points and 7 rebounds, and ex-San Diego player Duda Sanadze had 17 points. Ex-Wichita State player Gal Mekel had 23 points, ex-North Carolina State player Richard Howell, who is naturalized by marriage, had 19 points, Omri Casspi had 16 points and 6 rebounds, and 2006 draft pick Lior Eliyahu had 14 points and 6 assists. Germany-Lithuania will determine the group winner. Italy is through, but will be fourth instead of third if they lose to Georgia. Georgia can still advance if they lose as long as Israel beats Ukraine, but they will play their game first.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

In Group C, Montenegro beat the Czech Republic 88-75 as Nikola Vucevic had 17 points and 14 rebounds. The other active NBA player Tomas Satoransky had 13 points and 11 assists and ex-Seton Hall player Patrik Auda had 14 points. The battle for group supremacy saw Spain start well, let Croatia get back into the game, then take charge at the end again to win 79-73. Ricky Rubio had 13 points, Sergio Rodriguez had 12 points, and Pau Gasol had 11 points and 10 rebounds. NBA players also led the way in the loss as Dario Saric had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic had 15 points while ex-JC player Marko Popovic had 11 points. Romania could not avoid elimination after losing to Hungary 80-71, even with 24 points from Andrei Mandache and 12 points from ex-Clemson player Catalin Baciu. In the win, David Vojvoda had 26 points, 2011 draft pick Adam Hanga had 25 points and 6 rebounds, and ex-Stanford player Rosco Allen had 10 points. Spain wins this group and Croatia will finish second while Hungary will need a win over Spain and a Romania win to trade places with Montenegro in the final two spots.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

In Group D, Latvia's big second half handed Russia its first loss 84-69. Kristaps Porzingis had 11 points, but it was 22 points and 6 rebounds from 2013 draft pick Janis Timma that helped seal the deal. Russia continues to lean on two players as Alexey Shved had 21 points and 6 assists and Timofey Mozgov had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Eric Boateng and Great Britain lost to Serbia 82-68 as he had a quiet 9 minutes. Ex-Rider player Teddy Okereafor had 17 points, ex-LIU player Kyle Johnson had 13 points, and Luke Nelson, who just finished his career at UC Irvine had 11 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic continues to gives Sacramento fans some hope as he had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists and 2011 draft pick Milan Macvan had 10 points. The last game of the day ended up deciding last team from this group to advance as Turkey beat Belgium 78-65 after pulling away late in front of the home crowd. The incoming NBA players helped again as Furkan Korkmaz had 14 points and Cedi Osman had 10 points while ex-NBA player Semih Erden had 12 points. Latvia, Serbia, Russia, and Turkey are through, but the final seedings will not be determined until the last three games are played.
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics
http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobaske...ore_statistics

Group A and Group B will finish play on Wednesday with all games available on ESPN3 (times EDT):

Group A:
Slovenia vs France, 7:45am
Greece vs Poland, 10:30am
Finland vs Iceland, 1:45pm

Group B:
Germany vs Lithuania, 7:45am
Georgia vs Italy, 10:30am
Israel vs Ukraine, 1:45pm