By Konstantinos iliadis – Coach of Ioannina team
We continue our analyses ahead of the U19 World Cup with two teams that have tremendous potential and big questionmarks as to the point they can reach in the tournament, Croatia with yet another golden crop of players, and Canada, who are eager to return to the forefront of FIBA’s international tournaments.
CROATIA (Ante Nazor) 3rd EUROBASKET U18 2014
The Croatians are coming to this tournament with a complete team and a very strong crop of players and they have a lot of ambitions about their course in the tournament. The biggest talent on the team is Bender (1997), a forward who is 2.11 tall with a huge wingspan and a really good game both with his back to the basket but also face to face in all distances.
It is no accident that he is expected to be very high in the draft of 2016, since the kid helps in scoring, rebounding and facilitating, with all of his team’s balls going through his hands. Generally, with their very good bodies but primarily with the very good chemistry that these players have, they constitute perhaps the best offense of the tournament. Another player that stands out is Arapovic (1996) who plays in the ‘4’ and ‘5’ positions and has really good contact with the basket while he combines amazingly well with Bender. His disadvantage is that he is slow and this can cost him in various situations.
Also, Slavica (1997) and Zizic (1997) are players that, on a good day, they can make a lot of damage to the opponent and offer a combination of bodies that all the other teams – except for the USA – would envy. Unfortunately, Mazalin’s injury on the middle finger of his left hand will deprive him of his participation in the tournament and the Croatians of their most quality solution along the perimeter. While the do have noteworthy players, those are mainly role players that are going to be called upon to prove themselves and play leading roles.
If they can do this then it is not an exaggeration to say that in every game, except the one against the Americans, they will carry the title of the favorites. They have the bodies, the talent and the chemistry. All that remains is to see whether they have the character to handle anything that is put in front of them in the tournament. In the group stage they will face Egypt, USA and Iran.
CANADA (Roy Rana) 2nd FIBA AMERICAS U18 CHAMPIONSHIP 2014
Canada is making steps these past few years with the goal of returning to the forefront of international basketball and their participation in these kinds of tournaments plays an important role in this. Indeed, they want to make an extra step and qualify, even though this year they will be deprived of two very important units, Murray and Ekiyor. A player that is worth keeping our eyes on and who will lead Canada’s effort is Egi (1996), a very strong and athletic ‘four’, with quick feet and explosiveness which gives him the ability to dominate the rim in scoring and rebounding as well as in defense.
Another very good player who plays in the ‘2’ and ‘3’ positions is Brooks (1996), who will take on the majority of the team’s attempts and will lead the scoring, still having more work to do on the court. Their game is based on the American style but without the corresponding talent. They are a team for which the experience of every single game in this tournament will evolve them more than any other team because of their inexperience. What they do have in excess however is ambition and the absence of risk that will accompany them in decisive knockout games. To start with, in the group stage they will face Australia, Tunisia and Italy.