U18 Championship Update
France took home the gold medal against Lithuania be beating them 77-72. This was a remarkable come back considering the fact that the French had lost three consecutive games at one point. France finally started playing up to their potential and rallied off four consecutive wins. Nicolas Batum took home the MVP honors by averaging 14 points and about 8 boards a game. This kid is a steak dinner and weight room away from being lottery bound. You can't forget Ludovic Vaty and Antoine Diot who look more and more like pros every game. Alexis Ajinca still has a ways to go in terms of his body but he has all the skills in the world to be held in the same breath with these other fantastic kids too. People jumped on his potential too early most likely and he is a ways away from being what he will be. Congratulations France!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
The U18 championships are under way in Europe! Here are some notes from the contest thus far...
This was supposed to be France's tournament to lose but Spain has been fantastic thus far. I don't think this squad will be producing any pros but they are doing very well and have beaten teams like Serbia and France thus far.
Chavdar Kostov has been on fire thus far doing his best George Gervin impersonation. He's had three games with over thirty points and is leading the tournament with an average of 26 PPG.
Nicolas Batum is someone I've mentioned in the past and you all should know that I'm very high on him. To say the least, I wasn't very thrilled about his early game stats. He's picked things up as of late though and tallied 17 and 12 against Lithuania and had 18 and 16 against Greece. While his versatility has always been known, these rebounding stats only add to the list of things that Nicolas can do well.
France is playing much better and look to be rolling again. They are simply too talented not to. Remember to keep an eye on Alexis Ajinca and Ludovic Vaty as well.
To keep up with all the stats and happenings, follow this link to the good stuff!
http://www.fibaeurope-u18men.com/en/
This was supposed to be France's tournament to lose but Spain has been fantastic thus far. I don't think this squad will be producing any pros but they are doing very well and have beaten teams like Serbia and France thus far.
Chavdar Kostov has been on fire thus far doing his best George Gervin impersonation. He's had three games with over thirty points and is leading the tournament with an average of 26 PPG.
Nicolas Batum is someone I've mentioned in the past and you all should know that I'm very high on him. To say the least, I wasn't very thrilled about his early game stats. He's picked things up as of late though and tallied 17 and 12 against Lithuania and had 18 and 16 against Greece. While his versatility has always been known, these rebounding stats only add to the list of things that Nicolas can do well.
France is playing much better and look to be rolling again. They are simply too talented not to. Remember to keep an eye on Alexis Ajinca and Ludovic Vaty as well.
To keep up with all the stats and happenings, follow this link to the good stuff!
http://www.fibaeurope-u18men.com/en/
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Welcome to the dog days of summer...
We're now officially in that awkward stage of the basketball season. NBA players are participating in summer leagues, highschoolers are playing a little AAU ball and the rest of us are wondering what offseason move, if any, our teams will pull off. Thankfully, there are a few items of note.
Numero Uno:
Amare is mobile and playing again. For Suns fans, every step Amare takes is a step towards our future. While he is not as explosive yet, nor will he be for a while, but there are some great signs. His overall game and understanding are vastly improved and he's showing this off with some dirbbling and passing displays thus far in summer league play. Hopefully we'll start to see a few vicious dunks thrown in here and there. To be honest though, I would take a game similar to Karl Malone's or Chris Webber's circa the Sactown days. Keep an eye on those boxscores kids.
Numero Dos:
The world championships are coming this August. This should help baskeball fans in general breath a sigh of relief since we'll be without legit games for two months. It should be fun to see how we bounce back and to see if another country steps forward or if another young phenom can step and become the next big draft prospect. My dark horse for the tourney, if you could call it that, is France. I really like their team and they now have five NBA players on the squad in Parker, Pietrus, Diaw, Petro and Turiaf. If Pietrus can play up to his abilities, France could be tough.
We're now officially in that awkward stage of the basketball season. NBA players are participating in summer leagues, highschoolers are playing a little AAU ball and the rest of us are wondering what offseason move, if any, our teams will pull off. Thankfully, there are a few items of note.
Numero Uno:
Amare is mobile and playing again. For Suns fans, every step Amare takes is a step towards our future. While he is not as explosive yet, nor will he be for a while, but there are some great signs. His overall game and understanding are vastly improved and he's showing this off with some dirbbling and passing displays thus far in summer league play. Hopefully we'll start to see a few vicious dunks thrown in here and there. To be honest though, I would take a game similar to Karl Malone's or Chris Webber's circa the Sactown days. Keep an eye on those boxscores kids.
Numero Dos:
The world championships are coming this August. This should help baskeball fans in general breath a sigh of relief since we'll be without legit games for two months. It should be fun to see how we bounce back and to see if another country steps forward or if another young phenom can step and become the next big draft prospect. My dark horse for the tourney, if you could call it that, is France. I really like their team and they now have five NBA players on the squad in Parker, Pietrus, Diaw, Petro and Turiaf. If Pietrus can play up to his abilities, France could be tough.
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