USA comfortably ahead +20 at ht, after a couple of spurts in Q2, but sometimes losing intensity. Porter imo is at really high level, Allen a beast inside but can't shoot ft. Puerto Rico made some good plays in attack but has already committed as many as 18 turnovers.
Despite big win, less defensive pressure from US team let Puerto Rico score 44 pts in 2n half.
Good overall effort of US boys, all went on the score board, Porter, Fultz, Bamba and Allen top performers. USA shot over 52% FG but was just 1/8 from 3pt-line.
Negron and Thompson impressive for PUR, Leandro Allende dnp.
Streaming became unwatchable here, but Argentina-Canada game is over, +34 for Canadian team towards the end of Q3. Argentina stayed in the game for one quarter, then was overwhelmed by the quickness and athleticism of Canadian boys. Nickeal Walker on top and a really fine surprise (to me) besides Wigginton and Brissett. Canada has shot (and hit) a lot from 3-pt line.
Chile beat USVI 68-45 in the last game, USVI took 72 shots and maybe six of them were good shots. Sets up probably a decisive game between Puerto Rico and Chile tomorrow night.
Originally Posted by Fedfan
Canada wins over Dominican Republic 87-74, in a game dominated in the 1st half, while DR played a better 2nd half closing with a partial of 47-46. Too many errors in attack by Canada (how many missed dunks!). Oshae Brissett top scored for Canada and finished with an impressive double-double. Nickeil Walker and Jahvon Blair were also good contributors, for DR Figueroa best scorer and excellent at FT.
Not a pretty game to watch. Sloppy on both sides, lots of TOs, lots of missed dunks and layups by both sides. Shooting by both teams was pretty bad.
Canada needs to play better if it wants the Silver. They seemed much better yesterday vs Argentina so maybe this was just an off game.
Brutal game between Brazil and Argentina, 61 total fouls, Brazil wins and qualifies for the WC despite shooting 2-22 from three and 20-42 from the line. This will be only the second time Argentina has missed a U19/Junior WC, with 1987 the other one.
Canada trailing vs Brazil at ht 31-26. Rough and physical game with Brazil destroying Canada on rebounding. Michael Uchendu (Bra) has 10 pts and 10 reb. Canada still looks the better team in terms of talent but has got very poor contribution from its backcourt, Brissett tops all scorers with 12.
Excellent turnaround by Canada. Brazil couldn't handle Canada's big and athletic guards once they finally found their groove and Canada was able to fix their big disadvantage by the 2nd half.
Story of rebounding if you ask me. After being outrebounded by Brazil by 20+ in the first half (16 Off Bds for BRA in the half!), Canada fixed that issue and held them off the boards in the 2nd. Might have been even in the 2nd which is amazing after how brutally BRA was killing them on the boards in the 1st.
If we play the USA they are going to kill us inside. Per usual.
Canadians reacted with a great 2nd half playing the way they know and closed the game 74-58. With Walker, Wigginton and Alexander (double-double with 12 assists) waking up after the intermission, the game turned to a fine show especially in 3rd quarter. Brazilians were forced to 32 turnovers (with 17 steals by Canada) and bettered Canadian team just on rebounding.
USA with almost an eight minute scoreless run in the first quarter and Chile leads it 14-9...
Huerter brings the US to life with four three in the second quarter, but it's only a 30-27 halftime lead. Chile playing a super game in all aspects other than their shooting...not turning the ball over, creating open shots against the US pressure, not giving up offensive rebounds.
US pulls away in the fourth quarter for a 70-50 win. Full credit to Chile, they execute their offense better than anyone else in the tournament but just didn't have the ability to finish their opportunities, and with limited depth they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter two nights in a row. Hopefully they can translate their decent youth results into senior success in the future. Was nice to see a full arena for all three of their games.
US obviously has to play a lot better than they did tonight...Brazil game could be interesting as the Brazilians rebound really well.
Canada vs. PR is going to be a difficult matchup, have to play well to force the showdown with America.
We The North
Watching USA-Chile repaly, this was a night to forget for USA team for nearly 3Qs. When Porter is not at his best and the bigs more or less ineffective (don't know why Allen had so much playing time with Banks benched most of the game) USA clearly isn't unbeatable. Tonight it was first Huerter and then Coleman with their threes to save/secure the result. Good effort by Chile boys, they fought for the entire game with a lot of energy and their big Maxwell Lorca stood well against USA frontcourt.
My son woke me up at 545 am, game time at 6 am, apparently he wanted to watch! Good win by Canada, first game I really got to watch in full. Super impressed by Wigginton. He's going to be a stud in D1! Also, Brissett looks like a reall good PF at the D1 level as well, impressed by him, even more so then Shittu, but I guess he is older as well. I've been hoping to be impressed by Darling since I have to cheer for my fellow Maritimers, but he has been unimpressive. Alexander, Walker, Kigab and all the wings looked good but not sure if any of them truly stood out to me over the others. Lots of potential there.
Very excited for the finals, but I greatly worry that the USAs size will be too much to overcome.
We The North
USA won the title against Canada in a game that was close until 4' remaining, when Canada rallied back to within 2 pts deficit. It was then Fultz (the eventual MVP) and Porter (the most spectacular player in the tournament imo) who took home the result. Good performance of Diallo and Washington for the winners as well. Canada obviously suffered inside but enjoyed a spectacular 3-pt performance by Walker and Kigab. Among the bigs Brissett was of course alone but looked at the same level of USA frontcourt players.
US had more trouble in this tournament that the last two U18 editions, but there are always so many changes between the U18 and U19 rosters that it's hard to draw any conclusions for next year. They need to defend the three-point line better. A dynamic scorer like Sexton from the U17 would help as well.
If Canada has everyone from their U18 and U17 teams available next summer they should have a strong team. Hopefully they can get over the quarterfinal hump. I don't see Brazil and Puerto Rico doing that much at the WC.
US 2017 U19 WC age-eligible players pool is wide, even at the highest level. 2016-class top prospects who in theory could make the team include, among others, Harry Giles (injuries barred), Jayson Tatum, Terrance Ferguson, Miles Bridges, Malik Monk, if free from other commitments. And of course, some of the talented U17 WC team members could help as well.
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