The best of FIBA U17 WC 2010: Beal, Poland and a number 1 NBA draft pick

MIES (Switzerland) - FIBA started a new global competition for 2010 with the first biennial FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2010 in Hamburg, Germany. The United States dominated the competition and took home the title - not losing a game. This is a look back at what you need to remember about the first U17 showcase.

The best team: USA

Rank	Team	W-L
1.	USA	8-0
2.	Poland	7-1
3.	Canada	5-3
4.	Lithuania	5-3
5.	Serbia	4-4
6.	Australia	4-4
7.	China	4-4
8.	Germany	3-5
9.	Argentina	3-4
10.	Spain	2-5
11.	Egypt	1-6
12.	Korea	0-7

Poland came to northern Germany with one of their best-ever generation - Mateusz Ponitka, Przemyslaw Karnowski, Tomasz Gielo and Michal Michalak - but the Americans were too much as Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond, Michael Gilchrist, Quinn Cook and James McAdoo helped USA to the title. Canada brought home the bronze medal thanks to a group led by Kevin Pangos, future No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Anthony Bennett and Dyshawn Pierre.

The best video: re-watch the Final between United States and Poland

 
The best players: MVP and All-Tournament Team

The legendary Dirk Nowitzki handed out the MVP trophy to Bradley Beal

Beal was a real force from beyond the three-point line in leading the United States team in scoring with 18.2 points per game - which ranked third in the tournament. Beal led the competition in three-pointers made (31) and attempted (65) and ranked fourth in three-point shooting percentage (47.7 percent). The future NBA All-Star drained at least four triples in five games, hitting seven in the Quarter-Finals against Australia, four in the Semi-Finals versus Canada and five in downing Poland in the Final. Beal also collected 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Beal ranked tied for fourth in steals.

Beal was joined on the first All-Tournament team by teammate James McAdoo, Mateusz Ponitka (second on the left) and Przemyslaw Karnowski (first on the right) of Poland and Canada's Kevin Pangos (first on the left).

The best game: Spain vs Australia - Group Phase

Major drama in the final Group Phase game of the tournament with two world giants - Spain and Australia - battling it out for only one spot in the Quarter-Finals. Spain - led by future stars such as Jaime Fernandez and Dani Diez - built a 12-point lead in the first half and it was 13 points in the third quarter. Australia fought back and tied the game 52-52. The score was knotted at 64-64 and 66-66 and Australia had the ball for the final possession. Norton Mitch missed a three-pointer but Owen Odigie scored at the buzzer to send the Australians into the Quarter-Finals.

The best performance:  Ailun Guo - China

In a Group Phase game versus Argentina, the Chinese team star Ailun Guo flirted with a triple-double as he poured in 26 points on 10-of-19 shots and 3-of-6 free throws, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 7 assists to go with 1 steal. In the end, China also came away with a victory, knocking off the South Americans 76-64.

The hidden star: Andrew Wiggins - Canada

Andrew Wiggins was two years younger than the rest of the competition as a 1995-born youngster but the skinny kid showed he belonged, averaging 8.1 points and 3.2 rebounds. His best game came in the Semi-Finals against the United States with 20 points and 5 rebounds and he added 12 points and 5 rebounds to help Canada win the bronze medal over Lithuania.

Stats leaders

Scorers

Player	Points Per Game
Ailun Guo	22.4
Mateusz Ponitka	19.0
Bradley Beal	18.3
Ahmed Hamdy	16.6
Dong Yeop Lee	16.6

 

Rebounds

Player	Rebounds Per Game
Ahmed Hamdy	12.1
Przemyslaw Karnowski	11.0
Simonas Kymantas	10.2
Dyshawn Pierre	8.2
James McAdoo	7.9

 

Assists

Player	Assists Per Game
Quinn Cook	7.4
Marquis Teague	6.0
Ailun Guo	5.5
Grzegorz Grochowski	4.4
Anthony Wroten	4.3

 

FIBA