Croatia, Sweden looking to pip Spain, Italy in Group A

SAMSUN (FIBA U18 European Championship) - Perennial podium contenders Spain enter Group A of the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 as probably the nominal favourites but Croatia, Italy and Sweden all have the talent to grab one of the top two spots and a berth in the Quarter-Finals.

Spain are three-time U18 champions with their last title coming in 2011. But save for that crown, Espana have only claimed a spot on the podium one other time since 2006 - that being their third place in 2013.

Still, Luis Guil is expected to have a strong group of players ready to compete at a high level. Pol Figueras runs the team well from the point - a spot he held for Spain at the FIBA U16 European Championship in 2014. Alex Font is strong from the wing and like Figueras rejoins the Spanish team after last playing at the U16 European Championship.

Sergi Martinez is one of the stars of the team and one of the country’s next top talents. He comes to Samsun after a superb showing at the FIBA U17 World Championship 2016, where he averaged a double-double and was named to the All-Star Five.

Joel Parra was a late fill, in the post for the injured Osas Ehigiator and Ignacio Rosa may have a chip on his shoulder after being one of the final cuts from the FIBA U17 World Championship in the summer.

Italy meanwhile have put together a team of great shooters with the likes of Davide Moretti, the generation's top player who held his own earlier this summer at the FIBA U20 European Championship.

Moretti will help with the playmaking but Italy also have a strong duo of point guards in Alessandro Pajola and Lorenzo Penna.

But the key to the Italian team may be Guglielmo Caruso. Head coach Andrea Capobianco will need a strong effort from the 1999-born center, who nearly averaged a double-double at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2015. Italy will have a rotation of big men with Caruso one of four Italians 2.05m or taller on board in Turkey.

One thing is certain, the Italians will play hard for Capobianco, who is hoping to lead his troops back to the FIBA U19 World Championship after they grabbed fifth place at the U18 European Championship in 2014.

Croatia have also collected three U18 crowns and they finished on the podium in 2012, 2013 and 2014. But the Balkan country’s 1998 generation might have problems matching their predecessors’ successes.

The leaders of the 1998 group will be the Spanish-based trio of Leo Cizmic, Domagoj Proleta and Emil Savic while Lovro Buljevic will play a key role as well. Proleta, Buljevic and Kresimir Ljubicic all played in this tournament in 2015 as bottom-level players.

Coming up from the 1999 generation to help will be Darko Bajo with the Cedevita swing man maybe being the team's best player. Also, the mix of Bajo and Cizmic on the wing will cause problems for some teams.

Sweden meanwhile have a nice trio of leaders at the top in Felix Edwardsson, who is playing in the second team at German champions Brose Bamberg; all-around talent Olle Lundqvist, who nearly averaged a double-double at the U16 European Championship in 2015; and Vilgot Larsson, who plays in the Joventut Badalona system in Spain and was the only 1998-born player on the Swedish team that earned promotion to Division A in the summer of 2015.

Looking at the schedule, Croatia and Sweden start Group A play against Spain and Italy respectively and grabbing a victory on Day 1 would go a long way to booking one of the Quarter-Finals spots.

Still, most people believe that the group’s final game - Spain v Italy - will also decide who wins the group and who finishes second.

FIBA