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Malta men's national team.

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  • Malta men's national team.

    Am I the only one who thinks that Malta can play at a higher level of competition than the European Championship for small countries?

    Malta has several legit players (Darryl JacksonSamuel Deguara), interesting prospects (brothers Tevin and Aaron FalzonKurt Cassar). In my opinion with the addition of a naturalized PG and players from Maltese US and Australian diaspora‚ Malta can compete in Eurobasket qualifiers without losing face.
    Last edited by serbianhoops; 07-17-2014, 01:24 PM.

  • #2
    Right now‚ Maltese frontcourt is inexperienced and lacks of depth but has plenty of youth and upside (7'4" C Samuel Deguara is 23 years old‚ 6'7" PF Tevin Falzon is 21‚ 6'8" PF Aaron Falzon is 18 while Kurt Cassar is 15 and is said to be 6'9" tall)‚ which implies that Malta will be better equipped to handle the rigors of the competition on an international scale in a couple of years. Moreover‚ the lack of depth at the big-men positions may become a thing of the past thanks to the emergence of 19-year old 7-footer Laurence Mifsud from Australia. Mifsud‚ who was an Australian U19 representative in 2012 (he played at the Albert Schweitzer U18 Tournament and at the FIBA U19 Ocenia Championship)‚ has committed last summer to play college basketball at the Indiana Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Indiana Tech). Like many others before him‚ Mifsud might consider the opportunity to swap national team using the chapter I.22 of the FIBA regulation on Eligibility and National Status of Players.
    Last edited by serbianhoops; 07-17-2014, 07:52 PM.

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    • #3
      Andorra is doing much better than Malta, but I don't think both teams could do a better job than Luxembourg in the Eurobasket Qualifiers.

      An example was the last Games of the Small States of Europe, where Andorra only could win a game against San Marino and lost the other three against Cyprus, Luxembourg and Iceland, which played with a B-team. Malta didn't play.
      FIRE THE NEXT ONE!!!
      EŭroKorbo, the useless basketball blog in esperanto.

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      • #4
        Andorra won the 14th FIBA European Championship for Small Countries after beating a strong Maltese side 66-63 in Saturday’s final.

        A wonderful run in the third quarter was not enough for Malta as Andorra opened very strong in the last period.

        For Malta however this was the best result ever in the competition after two bronze medals in 2010 and 2012 and the third consecutive medal.

        Malta opened a five point lead by the fifth minute of the first quarter 12-7 but Andorra recovered thanks to Xavier Galera’s three pointers and they closed the session ahead 20-19.

        In the second quarter, Michael Naudi and Darryl Jackson gave the lead to Malta but Andorra replied again this time from Rafael Casals who gave them a six point advantage 34-28. Andorra maintained the same distance till halftime 41-34.

        The third quarter opened with another Galera trey for a 10 point lead for Andorra 41-34.

        Here there was a strong reaction from the Maltese side with a strong 13-2 run with a Jackson trey and baskets from Samuel Deguara, Omar Said and Tevin Falzon.

        Falzon gave the lead to Malta with a basket in the start of the seventh minute 48-46. Colom levelled the teams again before a Said three pointer in the last 31 second which saw Malta starting the final period 3 points ahead 51-48.

        In the first minutes of the last session Andorra made a decisive 9-0 run to go six points ahead 57-51.

        The Maltese players fought hard to get closer to the winners but despite the points from Jackson, Falzon and Deguara Andorra remained in control to win their second consecutive title 66-63.

        Jackson netted 19 points for Malta together with 11 from Falzon and Deguara.

        At the end of the competition, Jackson and Deguara were both nominated in the tournaments top five after ending the best scorers with an average of 22.8 and 18.8 points per game respectively.

        Samuel Deguara who won the fair play award, also ended as the best rebounder with 15.0 rebounds per game and Steve Schembri was the second best assist man with 2.5 assists per game.

        Finally, Darryl Jackson also won the tournament’s MVP which is selected by the coaches of all national teams.

        Better i agree, but not "much" better. Actually, Andorra is taking quite well advantage of its the interaction with Spanish basketall formative system and competition. Several Andorran representatives are playing in Spanish minor leagues. But you shouldn't forget that Andorran players are in most cases older than Maltese peers. Andorra backcourt has actually more depth than Maltese one. But Malta has a far younger, taller and talented frontcourt. With the addition of a talented naturalized US point guard and few backcourters from Maltese descent (from US high schools and Australian state league) next to 28-years old 6'3" SG Darryl Jackson, Malta will be able to stand comparison with Andorran backourt. To date, the biggest issue for Malta is clearly the lack of size and the high age average of its backcourt.

        If one day, Malta manages the reach to Eurobasket qualifiers, I don't expect miracles, Malta will have weak results, very likely not a single win but will surely fight tooth and nail.

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        • #5
          I think kosovo is better then the both.

          http://basketball.realgm.com/info/na.../109/Kosovo/S/

          http://www.eurobasket.com/Kosovo/bas...ers-Abroad.asp

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          • #6
            In case you missed it.

            On 26 April 2008, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) declined to admit the Basketball Federation of Kosova as a member because "Kosovo has not fulfilled all necessary conditions".FIBA and FIBA Europe sports directors Ľubomír Kotleba and Kosta Iliev subsequently visited Kosovo in order to prepare a report for the FIBA Central Board. Kotleba said that "FBK does not need to do anything more to get accepted. If you ask me if Kosovo should be admitted by FIBA, then I say yes. But I don't know when this will happen. The decision for the admission of Kosovo will be taken somewhere else". FBK subsequently reapplied for FIBA membership; its application to be reviewed at the FIBA Central Board meeting on 6–7 December 2008. At the meeting, it was decided that there were no grounds for FIBA to change its decision.

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            • #7
              Malta should keep an eye on UC Santa Cruz (NCAA Div.3) recruit Corey Cilia from Half Mon Bay HS. Cilia is an undersized 5'10" shooting guard born to Maltese parents in California with a certain ability to shoot long range shots with ease. He can be a nice addition to Malta NT if he make the switch from shooting guard to point guard during in his coming college years.

              Last edited by serbianhoops; 09-14-2014, 03:46 PM.

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