The Fourth of July weekend served the United States well this year, highlighted by the American women winning the World Cup 5-2 over Japan (U-S-A!). Under the radar was the Under-19 United States Men’s basketball team, as they competed for the U19 FIBA World Championship.
Recap:
The American men beat Iran, Croatia, — we’ll talk more about them later — and Egypt by 20 points or more in the group stage. It was a pretty easy ride for the U.S., but they knew things would get tougher.
Argentina was their next opponent in the Round of 16. The United States’ defense picked up, and they beat the Argentines by 48(!) points in a blowout. The quarterfinal game versus Italy wasn’t much closer, either. The Americans spanked the Italians by 21, although the game was in hand by halftime.
The semi-final and final game of the tournament were both very different from the previous games. The U.S. won each game by less than ten points, showing the American’s ability to perform under pressure.
On the Fourth of July, the U.S. faced host Greece for a chance to advance to the gold medal game. The crowd was ruckus, and heavily in favor of the hometown boys. The American’s fought hard all game, though, and eventually came out of the game with a 82-76 win. It was a fantastic test to pass for the young team to prepare them for a fight for the gold the next day against Croatia.
The Croatians believed they could win from the tip, despite the beating they took in group stage. Their play — and talk — increased to a new level in the final game, and the United States could never put the game away. Both teams had their chances to put the game away, but it went into overtime where the Americans’ superior skill led to a gold medal victory, 79-71.
Thoughts:
Sean Miller did a great job with this group. He gets a lot of unnecessary flack for never being to a Final Four, but please throw that narrative out the window. He brought a bunch of high school stars together to become the youngest FIBA gold medal winners in the tournament’s history. That’s not an easy task.
Team USA had a ton of quality guard play on it’s roster. Whether it was Jalen Brunson, Allonzo Trier, L.J. Peak, or really any of the other guards on the roster, each one of them could handle the ball comfortably. They outclassed teams like Greece and Croatia despite basketball fans — usually from other countries — calling the American high schoolers “unskilled,” something that Scout’s Brian Snow points out below:
The unskilled Americans today shot better overall, from three, from the foul line, and has as many assists and less TO's than Croatia.
— Brian Snow (@BSnowND) July 5, 2015
Harry Giles, Josh Jackson, and Jayson Tatum have officially separated themselves as the “big three” of the Class of 2016. A case can be made to order those three in any which way. Each brings something different to a team — Giles has the size, Jackson has the athleticism, and Tatum has the shooting. All three had remarkable moments during the tournament.
Jalen Brunson was the most underrated player in the Class of 2015. He isn’t over-athletic, but he is smart, has leadership qualities, and can really shoot the ball. Jay Wright is going to utilize him at Villanova very well next year.
Chinanu Onuaku has come a long way the last couple of years. He’s has a big body already built, and he’ll grab a bunch of rebounds for Rick Pitino if he can stay out of foul trouble.
Grades:
G Jawun Evans: B-
Looking at Evans stats don’t give him enough credit for his play with Team USA. He dished out 2.6 assists per game in limited minutes, and should be a good chip for Travis Ford at Oklahoma State
G Justin Bibbs: C+
Justin Bibbs didn’t have as good of a tournament as he probably hoped, but he played solid defense to make up for any lack of offense.
G Terrance Ferguson: B
Ferguson got to show off his top-notch athleticism during the tournament, but was inconsistent in the big games. He was also beaten on defense too much for my liking. He showed off his all-around game the rest of the tournament, though.
G Jalen Brunson: A
Jalen Brunson was easily the MVP for Team USA in the tournament, leading the young squad on the court and with his intangibles. His play in the big games was simply fantastic.
G Allonzo Trier: A-
This just in, Allonzo Trier is a really, really good scorer. He only averaged 8.7 points per game, but shot 55 percent from the field and 74 percent on all his two-point shots, which are scorching numbers.
F Josh Jackson: A-
Jackson looked like a man amongst boys at points, averaging 12 points per game and seven rebounds per game for the tournament. He highlighted it with many dunks as well, using his athleticism to his advantage.
F Jayson Tatum: B+
Tatum lets the game come to him, and it led to an efficient tournament. He was always comfortable out there, and averaged nearly 14 points per game.
G L.J. Peak: B
Peak was solid all tournament long, and played solid defense for Coach Miller. He ended up averaging 1.3 steals per game, and causing even more turnovers. The Georgetown Hoya got valuable experience in Greece.
F Harry Giles: A-
Giles was a monster scoring and rebounding the ball all tournament, averaging 14 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. Yes, he averaged a double double.
F Caleb Swanigan: B-
Swanigan put together a nice tournament, even if he did most of his stat stuffing early on. He did provide a big body in the middle to be a defensive presence and get rebounds.
C Chinanu Onuaku: B
Onuaku had an up-and-down tournament, and dealt with foul trouble in some of the games. That said, he was an intimidating force that played really hard and stepped up in the later games.
C Thomas Welsh: C
Welsh didn’t get many opportunities to showcase his skills, but the limited minutes might have been the best thing for him. He’ll have time to develop at UCLA and got a lot of quality experience in Greece.
