2013 Fiba Americas U16 Championship for Women

[carlo]

The 3rd Fiba Americas U16 Championship for Women will be played June 19-23 in Cancun, Mexico.

Group A: United States, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina

Group B: Canada, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico

The tournament will qualify the 4 top teams to the 2014 U17 World championship (to be played on 16-team format).

Besides USA, Brazil and Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Venezuela expected to fight for the 4th spot.

[carlo]

Argentina's 12 finalists already defined:

http://www.cabb.com.ar/noticia_ficha.php?id=6866

Roster is virtually the same that finished 3rd at the 2012 U15 SudAmericano.


Meanwhile, USA Basketball trials have started with as many as 124 players (32 invitees and 92 applicants).

http://www.usabasketball.com/womens/u16/13_wu16_trials_features_take_three_day_two.html

Among them, some 2015-class players have already got national recognition (Asia Durr, Katie Lou Samuleson, Kalani Brown, DeJanae Boykin, Te'a Cooper), but it's a 2016 girl, 6-9 (2.06) Nancy Mulkey, who is gathering a lot of interest/curiosity, see also here.

[carlo]

USA Basketball trials are underway and the roster is down from 124 to 43.
Of the 32 invitees, 31 are still in the race.
Finalists to be named tomorrow.

[carlo]

USA team named.

Among the 12 finalists, 6 players are of 2015 class and 6 of 2016 (more than I thought). The top 2015 players made the team (4 on 5), while 2016 Crystal Dangerfield is the highest ranked in her class.
Just two applicants, Taylor Murray and Sabrina Ionescu, made the last cut.
Another 2016 player, 6-9 Nancy Mulkey was named as alternate and will train with the other 12 finalists.

Roster/photo here.

[carlo]

Interesting reading on USA U16 roster selection here.

[carlo]

Some additional notes on US-team trials by FullCourt Editor.

Notes from USA Basketball’s U16 tryouts: Kalani Brown, the 6-5 daughter of longtime NBA player P.J. Brown, is the real deal. She has the skill and footwork of an upper-classman and isn't afraid of physical contact.

Asia Durr and Arike Ogunwobale are future WNBA two guards. Both are very athletic, very skilled and play hard, a recipe for success in college (first) and the pros. Let’s hope they stay healthy …

Katie Lou Samuelson isn’t quite Elena Delle Donne, but she’s 6-3, has a quicker release and is a pure shooter. Her two older sisters are at Stanford, and she’s the best of the trio.

I still don’t understand why Te’a Cooper didn’t make the team, but I do get why USA Basketball invited 6-9 Nancy Mulkey to practice with the 12-girl roster – she’s 6-9. She’s not a skilled right now, but at 6-9, you don’t have to be special to be very effective. If her skill level can catch up with her growth chart, she'll be one of the best Bigs in her class.

http://www.fullcourt.com/wnba/23309/dont-worry-about-phoenix-and-spare-little-pity-tulsa

[carlo]

Canada tryouts invitees announed.

Best ranked players: Tamara Farquhar, Bridget Carleton, Mael Gilles, Eternati Willock.

[carlo]

Alternate Nancy Mulkey (2.05 m) added to the USA team substituting Tori McCoy, who had suffered from a concussion.

http://www.usabasketball.com/womens/u16/13_wu16_team_mulkey.html

[carlo]

Canada team announced.

Truly a tall team, with 8 players above 6' (1.83 m).

Brazil team named.

Team is mostly based on 2012 U15 South American champs, led by MVP Wytalla Motta.

[JGX]

Tournament starts Wednesday with a matchup of maybe the two strongest teams, US and Brazil. Should be streamed on the FIBA-Americas website. Though Canada beat Brazil 65-46 in a scrimmage.

[carlo]

Somewhat interesting could be other today's game Canada - Venezuela.

Canadian team is one of the favorite for the gold, Venezuela's target is the qualification.

Venezuelan team has a couple of players standing 1.90 m (6-3) and was runner-up to Brazil in the 2012 U15 qualifier.

[JGX]

Canada leading Venezuela 47-5 at halftime. Venezuela has zero field goals and 21 turnovers. I guess I should not be so impressed with Brazil's big victory margins at last year's Sudamericano.

[carlo]

Canada-Venezuela no game, South Americans much worse than I thought and worse than last year, have something like 20 turnovers.

Canadian team very strong anyway, very intersting the longs Willock and Yearwood.

[JGX]

USA beating Brazil just as badly as Canada beat Veneuela. Women's basketball gene definitely skipped a couple years in South America.

[carlo]

Surely a big gap between Latin American teams and Canada/USA.

Though I didn't watch Brazil-USA, probably the 1st half was a great game by the North Americans, who need improve their ball possessions (23 turnovers, really too many).

Puerto Rico, the 2012 Centroamericano champ, was another disappointment and now Mexico becomes a candidate for the qualification.