MIES (Switzerland) - Canada basketball had been on the rise for years but they had to wait until the 2017 summer in Egypt to finally call themselves world champions. RJ Barrett helped give Canada their own story in the area known for "One Thousand and One Nights" as he led them to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 title.
The Canadian team won the country's first-ever global basketball trophy by knocking off record champions United States in the Semi-Finals and then Italy in the Final. The Italians claimed their first U19 medal since 1991 by taking second place while USA bounced back for third place.
The best team: Canada
Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
1. | Canada | 6-1 |
2. | Italy | 5-2 |
3. | USA | 6-1 |
4. | Spain | 5-2 |
5. | Germany | 5-2 |
6. | Lithuania | 5-2 |
7. | France | 5-2 |
8. | Argentina | 3-4 |
9. | Puerto Rico | 3-4 |
10. | Japan | 3-4 |
11. | New Zealand | 3-4 |
12. | Egypt | 2-5 |
13. | Angola | 3-4 |
14. | Korea | 1-6 |
15. | Iran | 1-6 |
16. | Mali | 0-7 |
The FIBA U19 World Cup took place in Africa for the first time with Egypt's metropolis Cairo hosting the biennial event. Sixteen countries headed to the Egyptian capital including Germany returning to the global junior tournament for the first time since 1987 while Japan last participated in 1999. Mali had missed the last four editions and Angola, France, New Zealand and Puerto Rico were all back after failing to reach the last three U19 World Cups.
The biggest news among the participants was New Zealand qualifying for the first time instead of Australia, who missed the competition for the first time in history. The Kiwis made their U19 World Cup debut in 2009, but were doing so as hosts. This time around it was because New Zealand defeated Australia 57-51 in the Final of the FIBA U18 Oceania Championship 2016. The following summer Australia and New Zealand would begin competing in the FIBA Asia region.
The teams were broken down into four groups of four with a single round-robin style group phase. All of the teams advanced to the Knockout Phase, starting with the Round of 16. France, Lithuania, Spain and USA all grabbed three straight wins in group play.
The biggest highlights of the first phase was Spain knocking off Canada 78-73 in Group C play; Italy giving up just 2 points in overtime to beat Angola; and Leonardo Lema pouring in 32 points in Argentina's win over Korea.
The Round of 16 did not include any surprises according to the standings from the group stage. The only close games were Germany beating New Zealand 72-65; Argentina fighting past Egypt 72-67; and Italy edged Japan 57-55.
In the Quarter-Finals, Canada finally exorcised their top eight demons, beating France 73-67 to reach the Semi-Finals for the first time after six previous exits at this stage. USA eased past Germany; Spain brushed aside Argentina; and Italy fended off a Lithuania comeback to win 73-68.
The Semi-Finals featured three unusual participants. Canada were in uncharted waters while Spain's last top four finish dated back to taking the title in 1999; and Italy last appeared in the Semi-Finals in 1991 when they took second place.
The Semi-Finals started with Italy defeating Spain 66-63 in a comeback win. As if the all-European showdown wasn't thrilling enough, the other Semi-Finals saw the epic performance by RJ Barrett in Canada's 99-87 win over USA.
The Americans bounced back and beat Spain for third place while Canada would not be denied by the magicians Italy and rolled to the title with a 79-60 win in the Final. Barrett and Abu Kigab both had double-doubles in the historic victory - as Canada won their first global title.
The best player: RJ Barrett - MVP
RJ Barrett came into the tournament already a big name in the basketball community. The son of former Canada international Rowan Barrett, RJ helped Canada take second place at the FIBA U16 AmeriCup 2015. A summer later, Barrett took part in Canada's senior national team training camp ahead of the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament but ended up joining the Canadian team just days before the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016. He competed at the 2016 Jordan Brand Classic International Game and the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit.
At the 2017 U19 World Cup, Barrett led Canada in scoring (21.6 ppg), assists (4.6 apg) and steals (1.7 spg) while finishing second in rebounds (8.3 rpg) - all despite being two years younger than the rest of the competition as a 2000-born forward.
Barrett scored 20 points in the first and third games in the group stage, also totalling 18 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. He slumped to just 10 points on 3 of 15 shooting in Canada's loss to Spain. He didn't struggle in the knockout action, picking up 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists against Angola in the Round of 16 and then picked up 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in a win over France.
Barrett rose his level in the Semi-Finals against USA with 38 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. And he finished the tournament with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists in a comfortable win over Italy in the Final.
Barrett was joined on the All-Star Five by teammate Abu Kigab, Lorenzo Bucarelli and Tommaso Oxilia of Italy and Payton Pritchard of USA.
The best game: The Semi-Final - RJ vs USA; Canada's revenge two years later
Canada losing to Spain in the group stage meant they had to face USA in the Semi-Finals, which for many of the Canadians was a chance to finally finish the job and get a revenge two years in the waiting. In the FIBA U16 AmeriCup 2015 Final, Canada jumped out to an 18-point lead early in the second quarter and it looked like the Americans could finally lose their first game in the history of the competition. That didn't happen as USA stormed back into the game and ended up winning 77-60.
On that team were RJ Barrett, Danilo Djuricic, Noah Kirkwood and Grant Shephard - all of whom now fast forwarding to Egypt and the U19 World Cup had another chance at their neighbors to the south. Canada were missing their injured star point guard Lindell Wigginton for the game but RJ Barrett and the rest of the team would step up their games.
Barrett started cold and USA moved ahead 9-4 and once the Canadian star started hitting shots the game remained close. Once he went to the bench for the first time, USA started to open some space and led 21-15. Canada were down 23-17 after 10 minutes and Barrett had 11 of those points.
The cushion swelled to 28-18 early in the second quarter. Barrett took his teammates on his shoulders and got Canada back into the game and led 33-31. And thanks to 14 second quarter points from the star wing, Canada went into the break ahead 45-42.
Canada led the entire third quarter save for one score as USA were up 53-52. And the Canadians pushed ahead by nine points, 66-57, and the score was 66-59 after 30 minutes - Barrett picking up seven points in the frame.
In the fourth quarter, Canada twice led by 10 points - 72-62 and 82-72 - and Djuricic hit a second corner three in the stanza as well as a jumper at the shotclock buzzer and the cushion was 91-79 with under 3 minutes to play. Barrett had fouled out by that point but the rest of the Canadians had tasted blood and finished off the job to defeat their continental rivals.
While Barrett had his famous 38 points, he got help as Abu Kigab scored 14 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Nate Darling tallied 13 points, Shephard had 12 and Djuricic chipped in all 8 of his points in the fourth quarter plus 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Defeating the Americans was for all intents and purposes winning the title for Canada, who never let surprise finalists Italy have a challenge with 79-60 victory to then hoist the crown.
The best fortune-teller: Important step for German rise
Germany were back on the junior global stage for the first time since 1987, when Henrik Rodl and Henning Harnisch were leading the way. The German team in Egypt was a mix of the 1998 and 1999 generations and it included players who later advanced to leading roles with the senior national team.
Isaac Bonga helped Germany win the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and reach the Olympics Semi-Finals for the first time in the country's history in 2024. Oscar Da Silva also played in Egypt and was on the Olympic team in Paris last summer.
Three other players - Louis Olinde, Nelson Weidemann and Philipp Herkenhoff - all worked themselves into being in the mix for the German senior national team for FIBA EuroBasket or FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
It was also the time when German teams started going into youth competitions confident that they could reach the podium. Many of the players from the German team in Egypt had experienced the high of reaching the Semi-Finals the year before at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2016 but also the disappointment of going home empty-handed despite being more talented than third placed finishers Italy.
The best history: Egyptian Khalaf plays on global stage ... again
The 2017 U19 FIBA World Cup saw the end of one of the most remarkable youth careers on the globe as Ahmed Khalaf led Egypt in efficiency (20.2), rebounds (12.8 rpg) and blocks (3.0) while finishing second in scoring (11.8 ppg). The center led the competition in blocks and was second in rebounds. Playing in front of his home fans in Egypt seemd the fitting close for the player commonly known as "Bebo".
The center was the first player ever to play at two FIBA U17 World Cups - leading the 2014 edition in blocks with 4.9 and averaging 8.6 points and 9.3 rebounds as a 15-year-old; and then collected 17.0 points and led the 2016 U17 World Cup with 14.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in 2016.
The 2015 summer saw him play at the FIBA U19 World Cup (8.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, tournament-best 2.9 bpg) for the first time at two years younger as well as the FIBA U16 AfroBasket 2015 (13.7 ppg, tournament-best 12.7 rpg, tournament-best 3.3 bpg). The next year he followed the U17 World Cup appearance with a dominant showing at the FIBA U18 AfroBasket 2016 (13.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg, tournament-best 2.6 bpg). And then came Khalaf's second showing at the U19 World Cup in 2017. Four youth World Cups in four summers - something no player had done.
The best performance: Rui Hachimura
Japan being back on the global stage for the first time since 1999 was already a major story since they did it without star Rui Hachimura. The Japanese finished second at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2016, finally getting a Semi-Finals win for the first time since winning the crown in 1990.
Hachimura was back on board for the U19 World Cup in Egypt after last playing for the country at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2014 when he was the leading scorer. And he ended up being the leading player in efficiency in Egypt.
Hachimura started the tournament in Cairo with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists against Spain. He followed that with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists against Mali. In the final group stage game, he picked up 21 points and 11 rebounds against Canada.
Hachimara's 22 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks were not enough in the Round of 16 in a loss to Italy. He helped Japan bounce back with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in a win over Korea in the Classification 9-16.
Hachimura finished the tournament strong with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks in beating Egypt and tallied 27 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists in a loss to Puerto Rico for 10th place. That was Japan's best-ever finish at the U19 World Cup though and Hachimura averaged 20.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists for an average efficiency of 23.7.
Stats leaders
Points
Player (Country) | Points Per Game |
|---|---|
RJ Barrett (Canada) | 20.6 |
Rui Hachimura (Japan) | 17.3 |
Silvio Sousa (Angola) | 15.4 |
Tadas Sedekerskis (Lithuania) | 14.7 |
Abu Kigab (Canada) | 14.3 |
Rebounds
Player (Country) | Rebounds Per Game |
|---|---|
Silvio Sousa (Angola) | 13.1 |
Ahmed Khalaf (Egypt) | 12.8 |
Rui Hachimura (Japan) | 11.0 |
Eric Vila (Spain) | 10.9 |
Austin Wiley (USA) | 10.9 |
Assists
Player (Country) | Assists Per Game |
|---|---|
Facundo Corvalan (Argentina) | 6.1 |
Jiwon Park (Korea) | 5.7 |
Pol Figueras (Spain) | 5.7 |
Rokas Jokubaitis (Lithuania) | 5.3 |
Mohamed Youssef (Egypt) | 5.3 |
FIBA