2016 4th FIBA U17 Women's World Championship

[Paul Nilsen]

Thanks! Going by last year's FIBA archive and translations - I make that the exact same team from Medan?

Minju Bak, Juri Im, Geumjin Jeong, Min Jung Kim, Gyongeun Lee, Jiwoo Lee, Sohee Lee, Jiyu Moon, Hyunji Park, Inah Park, Yebin Pyeon.

Will be really tough for Korea as they look to reach QF's for first time at their 3rd edition. Can;t think of a harder group than USA, Czechs and Italy!

[reptilia]

Did Australia lose against the Chinese u17 side or was it an older squad?

[CKR13]

Thanks! Going by last year's FIBA archive and translations - I make that the exact same team from Medan?

Minju Bak, Juri Im, Geumjin Jeong, Min Jung Kim, Gyongeun Lee, Jiwoo Lee, Sohee Lee, Jiyu Moon, Hyunji Park, Inah Park, Yebin Pyeon.

Will be really tough for Korea as they look to reach QF's for first time at their 3rd edition. Can;t think of a harder group than USA, Czechs and Italy!

Yes, Korea will be sending the exact team from last year's podium finish squad. It is a way of thanking / rewarding the players who took time off from their studies and had to take summer units just to play for the national team.

[carlo]

Did Australia lose against the Chinese u17 side or was it an older squad?

It's not the U17 team, there are 1998-born players as well. As for Lithuanian team that lost to Australia, it's the U18 and not U19 as reported by Australlia Basketball site.

[carlo]

C and D Groups not only are the toughest, but the knockout round will in perspective be a killer, as C/D nations will cross meet in Round of 16 and half of them will be out!

http://www.fiba.com/world/u17women/2016/competition-schedule

[carlo]

USA Basketball announced 18 finalists:

Janelle Bailey (C - 6-3, 2017 Class);
Rellah Boothe (F - 6-3, 2017);
Aliyah Boston (F - 6-3, 2019);
Jenna Brown (G - 5-10, 2018);
Samantha Brunelle (F - 6-2, 2019);
Charli Collier (F - 6-4, 2018);
Aquira DeCosta (F - 6-2, 2018);
Maya Dodson (F - 6-1, 2017);
Destanni Henderson (G - 5-8, 2018);
Nazahrah Hillmon (C - 6-2, 2018);
Taylor Mikesell (G - 5-9, 2018);
Alexis Morris (G - 5-6, 2017);
Olivia Nelson-Ododa (C - 6-4, 2018);
Sedona Prince (C - 6-7, 2018;
Abby Prohaska (G - 5-10, 2018);
Christyn Williams (G/F - 5-10, 2018);
Madison Williams (F - 5-10, 2018);
Zoe Young (G - 5-10, 2019)

Quite a surprising choice, just three members from the 2015 U16 team are back (DeCosta, Morris and Prince), 2018 is overwhelmingly represented with 11 members, 2017 has just four and 2019 three.
It's a very young roster and almost a totally new squad that will need to be rebuilt.
The 18 players will keep training in Colorado Springs until June 2, when the final 12-member team will be named.

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news...announced.aspx

Roster trimmed to 17, as Rellah Boothe was upgraded to U18 team. Strange move, because U17 roster loses another 2017-class player.

http://www.usab.com/basketball/media/galleries/2016/05/womens-u17-finalists.aspx

[reptilia]

Australia u17 looking good then despite some losses to much older and more experienced opponents.

A loss to (u23?) USA all stars 72-57
A loss to China u19 71-70
A win against Lithuania u19 61-74
A win against (u23?) USA all stars 68-78

[reptilia]

I'm making an early prediction ...

Final group standings...
Group A
Canada
Latvia
Japan
Nigeria

Group B
Australia
France
China
Mexico

Group C
Czech Republic
USA
Italy
Korea

Group D
Portugal
Brazil
Spain
Mali

[carlo]

I'm making an early prediction ...

Final group standings...
Group A
Canada
Latvia
Japan
Nigeria

Group B
Australia
France
China
Mexico

Group C
Czech Republic
USA
Italy
Korea

Group D
Portugal
Brazil
Spain
Mali

Realistic prediction, imo. C & D are really difficult to forecast, at least for places 1-3 (though Korea could provide some surprise and Mali has an interesting starting five but lacks bench depth). Would your prediction be good, look at Round of 16 pairings (USA-Spain, Brazil-Italy and even Portugal-Korea)!

[Paul Nilsen]

I'm making an early prediction ...

Final group standings...
Group A
Canada
Latvia
Japan
Nigeria

Group B
Australia
France
China
Mexico

Group C
Czech Republic
USA
Italy
Korea

Group D
Portugal
Brazil
Spain
Mali

Your choices really crystalise just how unpredictable this comp could be and for me - Group C and D are completely unpredictable. I could see a justification in 1-3 each different scenario in each of those two groups. That bodes well for the competition. The only certainties look like the nations tipped to be bottom.....

Wouldn't argue with your assessment of A and B - although nt sure how good China might be....

Can't wait now!

[carlo]

Great start of the touring Australian team in the second Chinese tournament. Young Aussies beat the USA All-Star team, a squad made by graduate students (few of them were even drafted by WNBA, but not signed, and two already played pro in Europe).
A detailed summary of the game won by Sapphires can be found on this link:
http://netscoutsbasketball.com/blog/...ets-usa-stars/.

Other competitors in the tournament are a Chinese junior squad and Lithuania U18.

[JGX]

Lots of good articles about the USA U17 trials and selection on the Blue Star site:

http://www.bluestarmedia.org/tag/usa-basketball/

[carlo]

Lots of good articles about the USA U17 trials and selection on the Blue Star site:
http://www.bluestarmedia.org/tag/usa-basketball/

Interesting readings. It looks like this year's roster should be more talented than 2015 U16. However, I'm still convinced -having watched last year's U16 games- that coaching staff (fully confirmed this year) had a lot to do with the disappointing 3rd place, i.e. starters choices and players rotation, team's discipline (selfishness, defense). This year's roster is btw very young and after the odd choice of shifting Rellah Boothe (one of Blue Star's favorites) from U17 to U18, the 2017-class players left are just three.
It's really an intriguing question mark how these girls will handle more experienced teams like Australia and top European nations!

[carlo]

USA final roster announced:

Janelle Bailey (C - 6-3, 2017 Class);
Jenna Brown (G - 5-10, 2018);
Samantha Brunelle (F - 6-2, 2019);
Charli Collier (F - 6-4, 2018);
Aquira DeCosta (F - 6-2, 2018);
Maya Dodson (F - 6-1, 2017);
Destanni Henderson (G - 5-8, 2018);
Taylor Mikesell (G - 5-9, 2018);
Olivia Nelson-Ododa (C - 6-4, 2018);
Sedona Prince (C - 6-7, 2018;
Abby Prohaska (G - 5-10, 2018);
Christyn Williams (G/F - 5-10, 2018)

Just two 2015 U16 team members have survived the cuts, as Alexis Morris -U16's best scorer in 2015- didn't make the final team.
In terms of age three players are 17-year old, six are 16 and three are just 15.
It's a huge challenge for a very young team!

http://www.usab.com/womens/u17/roster.aspx

[carlo]

Australian team capped the two Chinese tournament with a 3-3 record. Wins came twice with Lithuania U18 and from an upset of USA All-Stars invitational team.