ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - United States have dominated the history of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, but their blowout of China to close group play of the 2024 edition may be their most impressive display ever as the Americans shattered three all-time single game records - most points, most assists and most steals.
USA rolled past China 146-62 to blow past the previous scoring record of 138 points held by Spain against United Arab Emirates in 2014 with Jaden Toombs making the historic basket on a layup with 1:56 minutes remaining.
Nine USA players scored in double figures, paced by Jalen Haralson with 21 points and Cameron Boozer had 20 points.
"That's a summation of passing the ball, sharing the ball. What we’ve been saying to the group is the go-to man is the open man. They really believe so that’s the reason we’ve been able to accumulate the points," said USA coach Sharman White.
This was the ninth time that the six-time U17 world champions have scored 120 or more points over the course of this event's history - and the second time in Istanbul as they tallied 124 in the second game in Group against Guinea.
"We didn't expect to go out there and score almost 150 points. That wasn't the intention. But once we figured out the record in the locker room, which just went out there to get it," said USA forward Tyran Stokes, who scored 14 points.
White's team also eclipsed their own record for most assists with 43, topped by Stokes with 10 dimes. The previous record was 40 by this same USA group against Guinea.
"It says what this team is about. They’re about sharing it. Basketball is an unselfish game played by selfish people. These guys are proving that the unselfishness of basketball can make a team great each time they go out," White said.
Yet another record broken was for the most steals in a game as White's team swiped the ball 33 times. That topped the previous best of the Americans of 29 from 2018 - also done against China. In fact, the top three all-time steals games have all come against the Asians, including 27 in 2010.
"These guys are hyper sensitive to playing great defense. They just get out there and are active, have their hands up, are communicating and running all over the place. It causes disruption to teams," Coach White added.
These three records beg the question: is this the greatest USA team in the history of the U17 World Cup?
USA improved their record to 47-0 all time, and if you listen to Coach White, this is just the beginning.
We didn't want to play our best basketball with the first game. We wanted to get stronger. So we're starting to get there." - head coach Sherman White
The United States are four victories from another undefeated title run. How much history will this team make?
FIBA