By Luca Virgilio

 

Last game before the end of the first Round in Mannheim with all the teams that need a win to reach the Second Round with a higher rank and Eurohopes was there to follow live this important test for all the players involved in Albert Schweitzer Tournament 2014:

 

Group A:

England – Sweden 56 – 71

With a solid game Sweden won over England 71-56 leaded by a super Ludvig Hakanson (PG, 190 cm, 1996, FC Barcelona) who ended the game with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists in 30 minutes on the parquet. The playmaker from Barcelona showed once again his leadership and his great ability in reading and playing pick and roll situation thanks to his unstoppable jump shot. Important game from Mattias Markusson (C, 215 cm, 1996, Alvik Basket) that dominated the game inside the paint with 8 rebounds and 6/6 from 2 points. Thewhite big man, that started his career no more than 3 years ago, played a good first round in Mannheim showing a good offensive rebound propensity (2 per game) and good percentages from the FT line (7/10). Poor game in offense from England, that insisted too much in isolated 1 vs 1, with Jules Akodo (PG, 195 cm, 1996, Union Olimpija) that scored 11 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists assisted by a good shooting performance from Pharroh Gordon (G, 182 cm, 1996, Manchester) that ended the game with 4/8 from the court.

 

England: Akodo 11 pts; Gordon 10 pts; Oghide 8 pts.

Sweden: Hakanson 24 pts; Markusson 13; Johansson 11 pts.

 

Serbia – Argentina 108 – 51

Serbia: Dokovic 15 pts; Lazarevic and Peno 13 pts.

Argentina: Delfino 12 pts; Acuna and Buemo 7 pts

 

Group B:

Japan – Slovenia 88-101

Japan: Maki 13 pts; Motomura and Watanabe 12 pts.

Slovenia: Kodrin 25 pts; Kosi 23 pts; Hojc 12 pts.

 

Turkey – Germany 64-58

Very tough match between Germany and Turkey, with the Germans who have tried to offset the technical gap with the opponents putting on the floor a lot of physicality. Turkey play a concrete game with Okben Ulubay (G, 200 cm, 1996, Anadolu Efes) top scorer of the team with 13 points and the one the scored the triple that gave the win to Coach Ugurata’s team. This was not the Furkan Korkmaz’s game with a 0/6 from 3 points but his explosiveness and his technical skills make him one of the most exciting prospects in Turkey without doubt. Epic battle under the board between Egemen Guven (C, 1996, 208 cm, Pinar Karsiyaka) and Niklas Kiel (PF/C, 207 cm, 1996, Baskets Paderbon) with the Turkish that beyond his well-known offensive skills, played very carefully and effectively in defense. Kiel was the top scorer of the match with 18 points and with also 12 rebounds, proving his great ability to play in low postposition thanks to his quick feet and thanks to his knowledge of the use of the pivot foot. Niklas Wimberg (SF, 204 cm, 1996, Oldenburger) played a silent game until the last 3 minutes when he was the go to guy of the German team. Wimberg has a reliable jump shot from middle and long range, a very interesting physical structure and a good comprehension of the game.

 

Turkey: Ulubay 13 pts; Korkmaz 12 pts; Arar 11 pts.

Germany: Kiel 18 pts; Wimberg and Kamp 8.

 

Group C:

Chile, after the incredible accomplishment against France, surrendered to a leathery Ukraine. Andrii Shalamov (PF, 201 cm, 1996, Cherkassy) with 19 points and 9 rebounds and Yevgen Balban (PF, 200 cm, 1996, Khimik) with 16 points and 10 rebounds made the difference under the boards. 1/5 and 6 rebounds from the baby star Sviatoslav Mikhailiuk (SG, 200 cm, 1997, Cherkassy) who seems a little bit tired after the last strenuous weeks. Another great performance from the Chilean lefty power forward Nicholas Carvacho (PF, 206 cm, 1997, Frisco HS) with 18 points and 7 rebounds.Compared to the previous games, he has also demonstrated to have a very soft hand from the average distance and this allows him to be very dangerous client for his opponents thanks to his bidimensionality.

 

Ukraine – Chile 83-63

Ukraine: Shalamov 19 pts; Balaban and Kobets 16;

Chile: Carvacho 18; Gatica and Aguirre 9;

 

USA – France 83-75

USA: Williams 20 pts; Lindsey 13 pts; Happ 11 pts.

France: Catherine 15 pts; Delarboulas and Wallez 13

 

Group D:

China – Bosnia 75-81

China: Zhao 29 pts; Fu and Liu 11 pts;

Bosnia: Smajlovic 20 pts; Atic 19 pts; Dedovic 10

 

Italy – Spain 83-67

The magical Italian trio strikes again. Federico Mussini (PG, 187 cm, 1996, Reggio Emilia) with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists dominated the Spain assisted by Daniel Donzelli (PF, 190 cm, 1996, Casalpusterlengo) with 19 points (3/4 from 3) and Diego Flaccadori (G, 190 cm, 1996, Excelsior Bergamo) with 16 points and 4 assists. Bad shooting night from Spain with 24/64 from the court and especially for Marc Garcia (SG, 198 cm, 1996, FC Barcelona) who ended the game with 14 points and 5 assists but 4/14 from the field. Yankuba Sima (PF/ C, 207 cm, 1996, CB Academy) was the best player on the court from Spain with 13 points and 13 points, showing a reliable soft hand from long range.

 

Italy: Mussini 25 pts; Donzelli 19 pts; Flaccadori 16 pts

Spain: M. Garcia 14 pts; Sima and Diaz 13 pts

 

Second Round Groups:

Group 1: Turkey and Serbia 2, Germany and Sweden 0.

Group 2: Italy and USA 2, Spain and Ukraine 0.

Group 3: Slovenia and England 2, Argentina and Japan 0.