The best of FIBA U17 WC 2018: Green on fire, historic France, Ballo a man-child and Sengun shines

MIES (Switzerland) - The main question going into the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 was - just like every two years - can anybody beat USA? And the answer to each of the past four editions has been no. This time around it was France who hoped to do the trick with a golden generation, but in the end, the Americans rolled to another undefeated title. 

France would reach the Final and take home their first medal while the tournament also featured Puerto Rico pulling off some magic to the detriment of Canada; Mali laid an important foundation for future youth global magic; and a young Alperen Sengun was sensational for Türkiye.

The best team: USA

Rank	Team	W-L
1.	USA	7-0
2.	France	6-1
3.	Puerto Rico	5-2
4.	Canada	5-2
5.	Türkiye	5-2
6.	Australia	4-3
7.	Croatia	4-3
8.	Montenegro	3-4
9.	Dominican Republic	3-4
10.	Serbia	4-3
11.	Argentina	3-4
12.	Mali	2-5
13.	Philippines	2-5
14.	New Zealand	1-6
15.	China	1-6
16.	Egypt	1-6

USA went into the tournament ablaze with a 78-point win over China to start and never slowed down. Their "closest" game was a 32-point drubbing of Serbia in the final Group Phase game, then they coasted in the Knockout Phase with victories by 43, 74, 49 and 43 points - the latter in the Final over France. While USA improved to 37-0 all-time in the U17 World Cup, France claimed their first medal and then Puerto Rico downed Canada for bronze - their first time standing on the podium as well.

The best video: re-watch the Final between USA and France

 
France went into the game with high hopes of having two future NBA guards in Killian Hayes and Theo Maledon. But the USA led 23-14 after 10 minutes and the score was already 45-25 at halftime. 

The best players: Jalen Green MVP

 MVP Jalen Green

Jalen Green not only led USA in scoring - at 15.7 points per game - but he did so playing just 18.7 minutes per game, ranking fifth on the team. He also averaged 2.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals per contest. Green exploded for 27 points with 5 three-pointers against Croatia in the Quarter-Finals and then poured in 25 points in the Semi-Finals against Canada. Those performances - which reminded one of Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson because he got so hot so fast - were the key to giving Green the green light to win the Most Valuable Player award.

From left to right - Vernon Carey  Jr. (USA), Killian Hayes (FRA), Jalen Green (USA), Andre Curbelo (PUR), Oumar Ballo (MLI)

Green was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammate Vernon Carey Jr, Killian Hayes from runners-up France, Andre Curbelo from bronze medallists Puerto Rico and second-leading scorer and top rebounder Oumar Ballo of Mali.

The best game: Mali vs Dominican Republic - Classification 9-12

 
You might be wondering why pick a 9-12 Classification Game as the best game. Well, this showdown between Mali and the Dominican Republic went to triple overtime and had some absolutely amazing individual performances by some future stars. David Jones collected 39 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals in Dominican Republic's 110-108 win and Jean Montero added 33 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 steals. At the other end, Oumar Ballo had 32 points and 32 rebounds in the loss for Mali.

The best performance: Oumar Ballo - Mali vs Dominican Republic

Oumar Ballo Set a new rebound record vs Dominican Republic

Oumar Ballo was like a man among boys throughout the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018, but that seemed especially the case against the Dominican Republic. The Mali big man led the team with 32 points - on 12-of-19 shooting and 8-of-14 free throws - while grabbing 32 rebounds, setting a new U17 World Cup record. On top of that, he chipped in 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks for an efficiency of 53.

Not so fast: Puerto Rico trip up Canada for bronze

 
Canada finally had gotten over their curse of bowing out in the Quarter-Finals - where they were bounced the previous three editions - and the North Americans were thinking of finally adding another medal to bronze from 2010. A loss to USA in the Semi-Finals wasn't unexpected but Canada thought they still could grab a spot on the podium as they were facing Puerto Rico in the bronze medal game. Puerto Rico, however, were not ready to just hand them the medal and outplayed Canada in the second half for a 90-77 victory - thanks to 24 points and 11 rebounds from Jermaine Miranda while Tory San Antonio scored 23 points.

Ballo, Kanoute set framework for U19 World Cup Mali magic

Mali may have only finished 12th in the tournament but the event in Argentina also in essence laid the foundation of what would become absolute magic the next summer at the the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019. Siriman Kanoute led the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 in scoring at 24.6 points per game while Oumar Ballo earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team because he was second in scoring at 20.6 points per game and led the competition in rebounding at 16.9 rebounds per game. Those two would team up the next summer and help guide Mali to second place at the U19 World Cup - the greatest basketball achievement on the global stage for an African nation.

The hidden star: Sengun shines for Türkiye

Alperen Sengun showing Türkiye the way at FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018

Türkiye came into the tournament having finished second in 2016 and were hoping for more hardware. A loss to France in the Quarter-Finals meant the best they could do was fifth place, which is exactly where they ended up - thanks in large part to a player one year younger than the rest of the competition and who would soon become a major star. Alperen Sengun collected 12 points and 9 rebounds in the first game of the tournament against Puerto Rico and never slowed down - registering four double-doubles, including 26 points and 17 rebounds against France in the aforementioned Quarter-Finals. Sengun, who later played for Türkiye's senior national team at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and had a solid debut in the NBA in 2021-22, ended up averaging 15.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and shooting 58 percent from the field.

Stats leaders

Scorers

Player	Points Per Game
Siriman Kanoute	24.6
Oumar Ballo	20.6
David Jones	19.7
Bojan Tomasevic	19.1
Mustafa Kurtuldum	18.1

 

Rebounds

Player	Rebounds Per Game
Oumar Ballo	16.9
Luke Jackson	13.7
Alperen Sengun	12.3
Youssef El-Madawy	12.1
Kai Sotto	10.6

 

Assists

Player	Assists Per Game
Andre Curbelo	5.9
Stevan Karapandzic	4.6
Omer Ilyasoglu	4.4
Jovan Kljajic	4.3
Theo Maledon	4.1

 

If you liked this content, please make sure to check out the reviews of previous FIBA U17 Basketball World Cups:

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

The best of FIBA U17 WC 2012: Duke 2015 NCAA champs, the Exum-Simmons dream and Super Mario

The best of FIBA U17 WC 2014: Tatum, Murray, Rui, historic Khalaf and an Australian miracle

The best of FIBA U17 WC 2016: Sexton stars, Turkish delight, Barrett, Musa, Air Pons

[/unordered]

FIBA