After two days only four teams remain unbeaten in the U-19 World Championship, held in Latvia. Russia, Latvia, Croatia and USA are with a 2-0 record. Today, another great show of the talented Croatian kids, with a great job to beat Canada. Serbia fought till the last second against USA, hosts added their second win and Lithuania recovered against a soft Korea with NBA draftee Jonas Valanciunas ('92) killing all his opponents. Let's check what happened in each contest.
Group A
-Russia 101 Tunisia 55: After the buzzer beater of Sergey Karasev ('93) yesterday against Brazil today Russians added their second win, in this case more comfortable over africans. In the first quarter Tunisia fought (21-16), but when the engine started to run they become unstoppable. With Dmitry Kulagin ('92) leading the offense with 18 points (6/10 FG), 6 rebounds and 2 steals they remain unbeaten. Beside him guard Alexander Varnakov ('92) added 15 (6/8 FG) and 4 assists in only 16 minutes, while Vlad Trushkin ('93) ended with 14 with 4/5 from downtown and 7 boards. At african side only guard Omar Abada ('93) reached double-digits: 12 points (5/9 FG), 2 assists and 1 steal. Three players tallied 8: Sofian M'Rad ('92), Maher Souabni ('92) and Ahmed Manai ('92). The difference in the rebound battle (46 to 26) shows the level of both squads inside the paint.
-Brazil 79 Poland 70: Two quarters for each team, and finally in a tied contest Brazilians added their first victory in the tournament. Polish kids couldn't make it even Michal Michalak ('93) -14 points with 3/8 threes- and Piotr Niedzwiedzki ('93) -13 and 7 boards-. Rising star Mateusz Ponitka ('93) struggled shooting (12 points with 4/13 FG), while Liberty Flames (NCAA) Tomasz Gielo ('93) added 11 with 2/4 from downtown. Who shined for Brazil? 2011 Adidas Eurocamp point-guard Raul Neto ('92) made another good game with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Cristiano Felicio ('92) added 12 with 6/7 FG in only 17 minutes. Center Lucas Nogueira ('92) -withdrawed after declaring early entry- had fouls trouble, ending with 4 points, 6 boards and 5 fouls in only 22 minutes. Both squads are with a 1-1 record after these two first days of competition.
Standings: Russia (2-0), Poland and Brazil (1-1) and Tunisia (0-2).
Group B
-Latvia 78 Australia 68: Hosts are on fire, with two victories in two games and recent NBA draftee Davis Bertans ('92) appearing after his bad opener from long distance (0/6). The forward led locals with 22 points and 6/9 threes, adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Beside him Edmunds Dukulis ('92), from Cantu, made a good job with 20 points (7/9 FG) and 7 boards in only 29 minutes. But another prospect reached these stats. Zalgiris Kaunas guard Kaspars Vecvagars ('93) nailed 24 (9/17 FG) with 6 assists (even 6 turnovers). Australian players couldn't win their second game even Mitchell Creek ('92), who finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Bosnian born Igor Hadziomerovic ('92) had 14 points with 2/4 threes, while Anthony Drmic ('92) tallied 12 with 2/4 from downtown and Hugh Greenwood ('92) 10 points but 0/6 threes in 14 minutes.
-Argentina 80 Taipei 69: Argentinians recovered from the losing effort at the opener with a victory and Carlos Paredes ('92) scoring 19 points and 5/7 from downtown. His teammate Luciano Massarelli ('93) also made a good job with 12 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Who shined for Taipei? Hung Kang-Chiao ('92) had 18 points with 8/15 FG, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Chen Ying-Chun ('93) added 15 points, 6 boards and 3 assists.
Standings: Latvia (2-0), Australia and Argentina (1-1) and Taipei (0-2).
Group C
-Croatia 88 Canada 84: 13 points in a row from youngster Mario Hezonja ('95) -at the pic- gave half of the second win of Croatians, still unbeaten after two days. The forward appeared in the most important moment, finishing with 21 points (3/5 threes), 3 rebounds and 3 steals. But he wasn't alone. Bosnian born Boris Barac ('92) collected a huge double-double (18 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists) and phenom Dario Saric ('94) added 14 points, 13 rebounds and 1 block. Another Bosnian born, Marko Ramljak ('93), hurt with 12 points and 5/7 FG. Canadians fought behind guard Kevin Pangos ('93) -commited to Gonzaga (NCAA)- who had 19 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, while Dyshawn Pierre ('93) added 16 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists. Huntington Prep connection Stefan Jankovic ('93) - Sim Bhullar ('92), first one born in Serbia, had 9pt+4rb and 10pt+5rb.
-Lithuania 117 Korea 64: The Lithuanian engine worked 100% to forget yesterday loss against Croatia, and with Toronto Raptors (NBA) draftee Jonas Valanciunas ('92) making a crazy show they crashed Korea. The center only played 19 minutes, but enough to score 25 points with a crazy 11/11 FG, pull down 17 rebounds and put 2 blocks. They started with a 33-11 run in the first quarter. No comment. Other Lithuanians shined. Vytenis Cizauskas ('92) had 22 points (11/12 FG), 7 rebounds and 7 assists, while Arnas Butkevicius ('92) scored 15 with 2/2 from downtown. Egidijus Mockevicius ('92) collected a double-double too: 11 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in 21 minutes. At the losing effort Kim Jun Yi ('92) ended with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. His teammate Lee Seounghyun ('92) nailed 12 with 6/14 FG and 2 assists in 25 minutes.
Standings: Croatia (2-0), Lithuania and Canada (1-1) and Korea (0-2).
Group D
-USA 80 Serbia 78: Interesting game, with final win for americans after a great effort of Aleksander Cvetkovic ('93) and company. The point guard scored 20 points (6/12 FG), grabbed 4 rebounds and distributed 2 assists. Marko Gujanicic ('92), from Mladost, had 16 points (5/10 FG), 4 rebounds and 4 steals, while shooting-guard Petar Lambic ('92) added 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Luka Mitrovic ('93), from Hemofarm, flirted with the double-double: 9 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. USA remains unbeaten after two days, in this case behind Joe Jackson ('92), from Memphis (NCAA), who scored 19 points with 6/12 FG, but making 6 turnovers. Patric Young ('92), from Florida (NCAA), had 13 points (6/6 FG) and 7 boards in only 18 minutes. Tony Mitchell ('92), from North Texas (NCAA), added 11 points and 9 rebounds in 17'.
-China 96 Egypt 100: Big upset for chinese, who won't make it to the eightfinals round due this tough loss against africans. Zhai Xiaochuan ('93) wasn't enough for them even he finished with 28 points and 8 rebounds, even 8/24 FG. Point-guard Wang Zirui ('93) flirted with the triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists). At the winning effort Assem Ahmed ('92) made a great show: 25 points, 16 rebounds and 3 steals.
Standings: USA (2-0), Serbia and Egypt (1-1) and China (0-2).
Photo: FIBA.COM
