2017 FIBA U19 World Championship

[Picek]

Canada wins.
That must feel good.

[Federoy]

Congrats to the Canadians. I didn't see the game, but it appears our neighbors to the north peaked at the right time. The German's exposed the US yesterday and the Canadians took full advantage.

[JGX]

Hell of an effort by Canada and a well-deserved win. Perhaps they were better off with Barrett as the undisputed alpha doing his thing and everyone else just playing their roles. Hope they can win it tomorrow.

US never figured it out defensively and 33% from the field and 58% from the line isn't going to get it done. Big men seem to lack the explosiveness to finish strong and dunk in traffic. Not impressed with Diallo at all in this tournament. You could see the weaknesses in the first half yesterday and this time they weren't able to turn it around.

[carlo]

Great game of RJ-led Canada and here we have an unexpected (at least for many) final Canada-Italy. Difference maker was of course Barrett, simply immense, but all his teammates (and coach) did what expected to win. Just the opposite, some of US most experienced players lost their offensive skills.

[thiago94]

Saw the first game of R.J. Barret and I still can´t believe what i saw. Talent of this century. If he is not becoming a hall of famer, I will quit my bride future in the sport sector. No big surprise for me USA was beaten by Canada. They already played pretty bad against Germany and Canada is way more talented than us and were able to copy the US style garnished with way better defense.

This gonna be an easy win against the surprise of this tournament Italy - with all the respect.

With the game against the US Germany starts to play grown basketball and stopped acting like future NBA stars as they will (maybe beside of Bonga) never be. Pretty solid team effort against France today.

[Federoy]

Again, I didn't have the benefit of seeing the game, but this loss only fosters the perception that John Calipari isn't a good Xs & Os coach, and that he's made a career by amassing talent instead of coaching it. This team would've been better served if it had Mark Few, Shaka Smart, or even a lower profiled coach. Early on, I wasn't a fan of Cal's platoon substitution style. In the prelims, he should've been ironing out his rotations instead of platooning. He was banking on overwhelming talent being the difference...but clearly that strategy backfired when they went up against Canada, a country that plays the same style but more efficiently. Also, some of the blame falls on whoever made the selections, whether it was Cal and his coaching staff or USA Basketball administrators. International play is NOT the McDonald's All-Star Game. Instead of getting the 12 best players, get the 12 RIGHT players. This team was too top heavy with wings that did the same thing. The US isn't going to win every tournament, but at least lose with your strengths and not your weaknesses.

[Hepcat]

Canada 99 U.S.A. 87

Wow! Just wow.

[Straight forward]

What's with Canada producing super talents lately? I guess a ticking bomb in international BB

[Dreamcatcher]

All this went unexpected. Barrett seems to be like Lebron here.

[carlo]

Coach Calipari from https://www.usab.com/news-events/new...an-quotes.aspx :

We got 30 offensive rebounds. We scored enough points to win. But then it came down to some breakdowns defensively, and the other thing was, RJ (Barrett) had it going. I told the team after the game, I needed to try some different things - go zone, trap pick and roll, trap him. I kind of rode it because I thought we would figure out something, and that is my mistake. ...

Well at least Cal is honest. And Rana and his crew were able to better read the game.

Another drawback imo was yesterday's bench depth which usually is US teams winning factor. Langford, Okogie and Huerter not playing or being no-factors, McCoy just few minutes in, Diallo underperforming...clearly RJ came from another planet but that was one of Canada strengths coupled with US team weaknesses.

[Hepcat]

No big surprise for me USA was beaten by Canada. Canada ... were able to copy the US style garnished with way better defense.

...loss only fosters the perception that John Calipari isn't a good Xs & Os coach, and that he's made a career by amassing talent instead of coaching it.... but clearly that strategy backfired when they went up against Canada, a country that plays the same style but more efficiently. Also, some of the blame falls on whoever made the selections, whether it was Cal and his coaching staff or USA Basketball administrators. International play is NOT the McDonald's All-Star Game. Instead of getting the 12 best players, get the 12 RIGHT players.

Those comments sum it up. Canada's team was similar to that of the United States in many ways, but the Canadian players were schooled by the coaches to play better as a TEAM, particularly on defence.

[carlo]

Congrats to Canada first time and deserved WC winner. Italian team tried its best but was no match for Canada in terms of talent and athleticism, game was already over after Q1. RJ will surely be MVP. Excellent placement anyway of Italy, much more than expected.
Good final game of US team, wide winner of Spain and taking home the bronze.

[carlo]

All-Tournament:
Barrett MVP
Kigab
Bucarelli
Oxilia
Pritchard

[Italian Pride]

All-Tournament:
Barrett MVP
Kigab
Bucarelli
Oxilia
Pritchard

why not denegri instead of bucarelli?

congrats to canada

i'm very happy for our guys,they have few talent but big balls and great defense showed in this tournament

[Hepcat]

Congrats to Canada first time and deserved WC winner.

Yay!



The only thing that saddens me is that 25 years ago the bulk of Canadian players on Youth teams were drawn from Canadian universities. Now they all attend U.S. colleges, and I suspect them of simply being American wannabes. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, that's the route they have to take if they want to be noticed by NBA scouts but I really don't give a damn if they get to this American NBA league. The fact that these fellows have all chosen to play south of the border means that they just don't tug on my heart strings like a hockey team where all the players honed their skills right here at home.