The preliminary round of the U20 Division "A" European Championship, held in Bilbao (Spain), ended yesterday. Twelve teams made it to the Qualifying Round, with only two of them unbeaten (France and Spain). But the breaking news come from the worst. We already know the four teams that will compete to avoid the relegation to Division "B" (two will go down), and three of them are really surprising: Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia and Austria. Will we see prospects like Dario Saric ('94), Jonas Valanciunas ('92) or Nenad Miljenovic ('93) next summer in the second level? We are really close. A detail: all three played a few days ago the U19 World Championship of Latvia, giving rest to some of the best players, who didn't travel to the Basque Country. Maybe the reason. Let's check what happened in the last day of the first round.
In group A Serbia and Slovenia played a crazy contest. And both aren't used to it. The "prize" for the loser was the battle for the relegation. And serbians touched the flames of Division "B". They lost 80-102, receiving 38 points in the third quarter. Red Star's guard Nemanja Nedovic ('91) -one of the best prospects of the event- had 26 points (10/18 FG), 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but wasn't enough. They really struggled. Nemanja Jaramaz ('91) nailed 18 with 4 rebounds and 2 assists, but not enough either. At winning effort Marko Pajic ('92) scored 24 pulling down 7 boards, while 7-footer Alen Omic ('92) added 21 and 8 rebounds. Forward Edo Muric ('91) collected a double-double: 19 points, 11 boards and 2 steals. In the other game of the group Russia beat Montenegro (66-68) -first defeat for them- to finish first. Andrey Zubkov ('91) had 13 with 6/9 FG, while Nikita Balashov ('91) added the same points in only 19 minutes. At Montenegrin side Buducnost Bojan Dubljevic ('91) made another show (25 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks), showing why he is currently the second best event scorer (24.0) and the fifth best rebounder (8.7). But they couldn't add the third victory in a row. Youngster Nikola Ivanovic ('94) and Milutin Dukanovic ('91) had 12 apiece.
In group B the surprise came with the victory of Sweden over Croatia (70-56). Davidson's Chris Czerapowicz ('91) led swedish squad with 17 points (even 8/22 FG), 13 rebounds and 2 assists, while Virtus Bologna's Viktor Gaddefors ('92) added 13 with 3/4 from downtown and Alexander Lindqvist ('91) 12 and 9 boards. Huge win for them, staying one more year in Division "A" (they promoted last summer) and sending croatians to relegation fight. At the losing effort Boris Barac ('92) -Stanko's brother- scored 14 pulling down 7 boards, while guard Ivan Mikulic ('91) ended with 12 and 2/2 from downtown. San Francisco's Marko Petrovic ('91) -son of Aleksandar- added 8 in 16'. In the other contest France crashed Latvia (79-46) to finish first unbeaten. Nike Hoop Summit participant Evan Fournier ('92) finished again as the best french with 23 points (4/6 threes) in only 19 minutes, while Adidas Eurocamp participant Joffrey Lauvergne ('91) played his best game in Bilbao: 14 points in 12'. At latvian side Martins Meiers ('91) scored 13 points (6/8 FG) and Edmunds Dukulis ('92), from Cantu (Italy), had 11 points and 4 rebounds.
And group C? Spain keeps in his road (or motorway). Austria was his third victim. Hosts beat them by 73 points (47-120). Yes. By 73 points. Nikola Mirotic ('91) only played 16 minutes, but enough to score 28 points (11/13 FG) and grab 7 rebounds. In the first quarter they were already winning 12-27. But they didn't stop: increasing and increasing the difference. Alex Barrera ('92) and Alberto Jodar ('91) scored 18 points and 4/6 threes apiece. The whole team? 14/23 behind the arc. For austrians Carlos Novas ('92) ended with 12 and 4/6 FG, while guard Anton Maresch ('91) added 11 dishing 2 assists. In the other game of the group Greece beat Turkey (63-78) to finish second. Furkan Aldemir ('91) showed again his skills (19 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks), while 7-footer Sertac Sanli ('91) tallied 10 pulling down 5 boards. But no way. Greece started very strong (+15 at the end of first quarter) and guard Dimitrios Katsivelis ('91) collected a double-double: 23 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Spyridon Motsenigos ('92) and Andreas Kanonidis ('91) had 12 each.
Finally in group D Lithuania lost to Germany (73-88), being sent straight to the relegation fight. Augustas Peciukevicius ('91) with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, battled, while Dovydas Redikas ('92) -13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists- and Saulius Kulvietis ('91) -11 points, 10 boards and 2 assists- were the other lithuanians who scored. But they couldn't stop Germany. Niels Giffey ('91), NCAA Champion with UConn, led the win with 16 points (7/14 FG) and 4 rebounds, while his teammates Ole Wendt ('92) and Mathis Mönninghoff ('92) scored 15 each. And in the other contest Italy knocked Ukraine (54-70) to end first of group. Achille Polonara ('91) showed why he is one of the best italians in the event (15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals) and rising prospect Nicolò Melli ('91) added 12 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks. At the losing effort Andriy Lebedintsev ('91) finished with 14 points and 3 assists (even 7 turnovers). Pavlo Krutous ('92) added 8 (all his points in the tournament).
Standings:
-Group A: Russia, Montenegro (2-1), Slovenia and Serbia (1-2).
-Group B: France (3-0), Sweden, Latvia and Croatia (1-2).
-Group C: Spain (3-0), Greece (2-1), Turkey (1-2) and Austria (0-3).
-Group D: Italy, Germany (2-1), Ukraine and Lithuania (1-2).
Photo: FIBA Europe / Ciamillo-Castoria / Matteo Marchi (Lithuanian Gil Biruta at the pic)
