By Marcus Faison

This past weekend the 2015 U19 World Championships tipped off in Heraklion, Crete.  The tournament brought together some of the best young talent from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Middle-East.  16 teams battled through the Group Phase and then a 1-game knock-out round to arrive where we are today with only 8 teams remaining in the tournament.  Canada, Greece, Turkey, and the USA teams left no doubt about who would finish 1st in their respective groups by going 3-0, but the race for 2nd place was very competitive.
Group ATeam USA dominated this group with its’ athleticism and full-court pressure style defense that led to easy transition points and average margin of victory (31points). Jayson Tatum (6’8) was on the finishing end of many of those transition baskets averaging (15.2ppg and 2.8ass), he showed many parts of his game by mixing in mid-range jumpers and driving all the way to the basket scoring over bigger defenders.  He was not alone as Josh Jackson (6’8) exhibited his versatility by defending against positions 1-4 and offensively showing great athleticism, energy, slashing and cutting his way to 13.5ppg and 7.8rbs. Croatia used a balanced attack, with a different player stepping up every game to finish 2nd in the group. Nik Slavica (6’7) started the tournament using his size and strength at the wing position to punish Egypt’s defense with strong drives to the basket and back door cuts finishing with 19points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists.  One player who has now put his name on the map with great play off the bench for Croatia is Ivica Zubac (7’0) with averages of 18 ppg and 6.8rbs through group play.  He did most of his work around the basket showing solid post moves and ability to finish strong in traffic with posterizing dunks. 
 
Group B:  This group was by far the most competitive of them all with average margin of victory being only 10 points. While all the teams displayed great team play, the leaders stepped up and showed their qualities.  For Argentina, recently drafted Juan Pablo Vaulet (6’7), fought hard playing seemingly every position from 1-5.  Though he was not able to will his team to a victory in the competition, we did see his toughness and energetic play on the boards.   China played well enough to win every game, but was only able to walk away with 1 victory.  They were led by the two youngest players on the team, Jinqui HU (7’0) and Yanhao Zhao (6’4).  HU has a great motor and was relentless on the boards (10rb) which lead to 17ppg.  Zhao the slim-framed combo guard used his aggressive scoring ability to create opportunities for himself and his teammates.  On the contrary for Spain, it was their most experienced player and captain Marc Garcia, who shot his team to 2 victories good enough for 2nd in the group.  Turkey proved to be the biggest and strongest team of the group, winning all 3 games.  Furkan Korkmaz (6’7) proved why so many NBA scouts will be going to Istanbul, to see the talented young shooting guard.  He came from the bench to lead a very balanced team in scoring with 11.8ppg and did so by shooting 47% from 3, but also played pick and roll well and got into the paint.  With several solid big men on the team, Ege Arar (6’9) was the most consistent averaging almost a double double (9.5ppg, 9rb).
 
Group C:  In this group there was 3 teams fighting for positioning, as Tunisia could not match up with the rest.  After a close hard-fought victory in the first game against Australia, Canada cruised to the top of the group with a 3-0 record.  Dillon Brooks (6’7) put his ball-handling and scoring mentality on full display, scoring in various ways mid-range pull-ups, floaters in the lane, and also with highlight dunks in traffic.  Fellow Canadian, and multi-talented Justin Jackson (6’7), brought a lot of energy, rebounding and all-around game that translated into 15.7ppg and 7.7rbs both good enough for top 10 in the entire competition.  Australia had 2 heart-breaking loses by 1 basket before winning their last game to take 3rd in the group.  While Italy strapped their way to a 2nd place finish in the group, behind their left-handed shooter, Diego Flaccodori (6’4). Flaccodori (17.8ppg) scored from all over the court, showing he is not a one-dimensional player he also got his teammates involved averaging (4.8apg).  Luca Severini (6’8) provided much needed help in front-court averaging almost a double double with 9.8ppg and 9.2rbs. 
 
 
Group D:  This group featured the host team Greece, which provided 3 victories in a row to finish in 1st place in the group. Greece used the tallest player of the tournament Giorgios Papagiannis (7’2) as their main weapon inside the paint.  He played great dominating the paint by blocking shots (4bpg) and grabbing 11 rebounds per game.   For the Greeks on outside, it was Tyler Dorsey (6’5) that showed his well-rounded game. Dorsey scored very well in transition, but also proved he is a capable shooter going 6/13 from behind the arc.  The team from the Dominican Republic were very competitive but were only able to walk away with 1 victory and that came against the last place team of Korea.  Serbia used a very good balanced attack to a 2nd place finish after losing a close game to the Greece on the last day of group play.  Vanja Marinkovic (6’6) contributed 11ppg and 5.2rpg, Vasilija Vucetic (6’10) was a force inside, using his strong frame to score in the paint whether from offensive rebounds or from posting up.

Note: Marcus Faison, former player of Siena (NCAA), played with Belgium NT and has long experienced in pro European basketbal. Marcus played in Belgium, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, Turkey, Greece and Georgia. We are proud to share his outlook over young talented players in Eurohopes.com
Photo: FIBA
 
ADVERTISING