Germany, Lithuania, Serbia favourites for FIBA U18 European Championship

REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) - Many in the basketball world raised a critical eyebrow when it was announced that the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 would be played during the club season in December.

Would the national teams be able to get their top players or would the clubs not play along? As it turns out, all parties involved really deserve a fair share of praise as the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 tips off on Friday (December 16) and should really be a tremendous competition with nearly all of the top players in the participating nations will also be on hand.

So…let’s get to the breakdown of the tournament.

Heavyweights

First, let’s start with the favourites. There really are three of them - Germany, Lithuania and Serbia. It would be a surprise if one of those three do not hoist the trophy on December 22.

Germany will be missing two high-level guys in Richard Freudenberg, who is in the US playing for St. John’s; and Isaac Bonga, who injured a thigh in the build-up to the tournament. The Germans however are still loaded with the top two players being Kostja Mushidi and Isaiah Hartenstein. But there are so many other weapons and Germany can beat teams in any number of ways - playing inside or outside; fast or slow; big or small.

They seem like a lock to at least qualifying for the FIBA U19 World Championship for the first time since 1987. In fact, should Germany, who won the 2016 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, not reach the FIBA U19 World Championship 2017, it might be one of the biggest shocks in FIBA U18 European Championship history. That’s how much talent the Germans have.

Lithuania for their part have a trio of great talents who played in the competition last summer in Tadas Sedekerskis, Arnoldas Kulboka and Gytis Masiulis. Add to them Arnas Velicka, who was named to the All-Star Five at the FIBA U17 World Championship this summer, as well as the deadly outside shooting duo of Lukas Uleckas and Ignas Sargiunas and Lietuva are prime for their third FIBA U18 European Championship title - and first since Jonas Valanciunas raised the trophy in 2010.

Serbia meanwhile are led by the ultra-talented Borisa Simanic. Everybody in the basketball community is anxious to see Simanic play, especially since he is not getting a lot of playing time with Crvena Zvezda Belgrade so far this season. Serbia also have Aleksa Radanov and Milos Glisic among many others.

Serbia have a legitimate right to have their eyes on the prize. They also would love to have another crack at Germany after losing to them twice at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament - including in the final.

Could-be contenders

France come into the tournament as the champions of the 1998 generation as they won the FIBA U16 European Championship 2014. But Les Bleus are missing the MVP of that tournament with Killian Tillie playing college ball in the States. Still, France will have great core in Frank Ntilikina, Bathiste Tchouaffe and Adam Mokoka from the U16 team. And France can finally unveil what could be the country’ next superstar, the Guinea-born Sekou Doumbouya, who will not turn 16 years old until the day after the tournament.

The team that France beat in the 2014 U16 final was Latvia, who also are missing a major gun in their arsenal which could keep them from reaching the podium.

Latvia will be led by Kristers Zoriks, Roberts Blumbergs and Arturs Strautins but missing will be all-around star Rodions Kurucs, who has returned to action after an injury but will not play in Samsun.

Bosnia and Herzegovina have their number one star for the team - Dzanan Musa - but the 2015 U16 European champions are missing a major part of their team in Njegos Sikiras, who got hurt just days before the tournament tipped off. That means Sani Campara and Amar Gegic will need to play that much better.

One other issue is the competition system as Lithuania, Latvia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are all in the same Group C. The reduction of the tournament’s length means only two teams from the groups will reach the Quarter-Finals, leaving at least one of those three teams on the outside looking in.

Spain always fancy themselves as podium contenders but they have only collected a 2011 title and 2013 third place finish since 2006. And Espana are missing a couple of important players as well and will rely heavily on the shoulders of FIBA U17 World Championship All-Star Five selection Sergi Martinez as well as Alex Font and Pol Figueras.

Darkhorses

A couple of teams might just sneak into the Semi-Finals and could even do more damage, so let’s call them darkhorses.

Italy have been able to put together a very strong team, led by Davide Moretti, who jumped to the FIBA U20 European Championship this summer and did a great job for the Italians. But coach Andrea Capobianco must get a strong showing from his low post players for Italy to be successful.

Greece meanwhile are the nominal reigning champions after taking the 2015 title in Volos. This team does have a nice trio in Michail Lountzis, Vasileos Christidis and Dimitrios Moraitis and they have no pressure of expectations. If they can play tough defense and score just enough, they could surprise.

And the final darkhorse is Finland. The Finns reached the FIBA U17 World Championship for the first time last summer and a couple of the leaders from this summer’s U17 team will be with this group - headed by the versatile Elias Valtonen. Add the 1998 generation leader Edon Maxhuni and the Finnish fighting determination to succeed and they also might be in line for an upset.

Let’s finish on Turkey, who are not among the favourites at all despite the home court advantage. Missing their top two guns Omer Yurtseven and Onuralp Bitim, the Turks will rely on Omer Al as well as Ragip Atar and Ahmet Duran - if the latter can go since he’s dealing with an ankle injury.

So, with that, let’s get ready for the games … finally.

David Hein

FIBA

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