Under 21 World Championship Recap
I hate to be that guy that says I told you so, but if
the shoe fits! In my last CHN article I warned of the upcoming Canadian
invasion on the college basketball scene. However, even I didn’t foresee the
outcome of this year’s FIBA Under 21 World Championship.
In Canada’s first ever appearance in the tournament
they came away with a bronze medal. Their crowning moment, however, was
their quarter final nail biting overtime win over the U.S.A. This marked the
first time that Canada had ever beaten an American team in a FIBA
competition and also ended the American’s dream of a gold medal. The States
ended up stumbling to a disappointing 5th place finish.
Looking over the talent on the rosters Canada clearly
overachieved while the U.S. clearly did the opposite. However, the majority
of Canada’s squad has been playing together for several years in preparation
for this tournament while the U.S.’s team was just thrown together a few
weeks ago. Similar to what has been happening in the NBA the past few years,
a good team beats superior talent once again.
The majority of the teams in the tournament had NCAA
talent on their rosters, with the U.S. (12 players) and Canada (8 players)
leading the way. Here is a summary of the final standings, all star team and
reports on a few of the key NCAA players in the tourney:
FINAL
STANDINGS
1 - Lithuania
2 - Greece
3 - Canada
4 - Australia
5 - United
States of America
6 - Argentina
7 - Puerto
Rico
8 - Slovenia
9 - Nigeria
10 - Israel
11 - People’s
Republic of China
12 - Islamic
Republic of Iran
MVP
Renaldas
Seibutis (LTU)
All Stars
Renaldas
Seibutis (LTU)
Yotam Halperin
(ISR)
Konstantinos
Vasileiadis (GRE)
Levon Kendall
(CAN)
Loukas
Mavrokefalidis (GRE)
Player Summaries
Aaron Bruce (AUS) – Baylor – Sophomore
The 2005 NCAA All American Freshman 2nd
Team member and honorable mention Big 12 player had a decent tournament for
the Aussies. The 6’3” guard averaged 10.4 points and lead the team in
assists with 4.3 per (3rd overall for the tourney). Bruce is
currently being projected as a late first round draft pick in the 2007 NBA
draft.
Aleksandar Maric (AUS) – Nebraska – Sophomore
The big man also did well for Australia, leading the
team in rebounding (9.4) while also averaging 10.6 points per game.
Levon Kendall (CAN) – Pittsburgh – Junior
Kendall was the only NCAA player to make the
tournament all star team and also had the most explosive performance of the
tourney – a 40-point, 12-board explosion versus the States. Despite his up
and down performance throughout the games, he did lead Canada in every
important stat category - points (13.4), rebounds (7.6), assists (2), steals
(1.3) and blocks (1.6). With Chevy Troutman and Chris Taft not back on the
Pitt roster next year, Kendall will be hoping to translate his success in
this tournament into more minutes on the court for the Panthers.
Vladimir Kuljanin (CAN) – UNC-Wilmington –
Sophomore
Big Vlad gave the undersized Canucks a strong
performance in the post throughout their games. He ended up with averages of
10.6 points and 5.9 boards per game.
Marius Prekevicius (LTU) – South Florida – Junior
Marius led the gold medal winning Lithuania team in
assists (3.5 per – 5th overall in the tournament) and also
managed to put up 7.1 points per game also. He was the lone NCAA D1 player
on their roster.
Uche Echefu (NGR) – Florida State – Freshman
Uche will bring averages of 13.2 points and 4.7 boards
per game for Nigeria onto the Florida State campus this fall for his
freshman year. He is considered a top 50 recruit in the 2005 class.
Jose Juan Barea (PUR) – Northeastern – Senior
Barea lead Puerto Rico in scoring (17.6 – 4th
overall) and assists (7.3 – which led the whole tournament). The 2 time
first team all conference performer pulled his name out of this year’s NBA
draft to return for his senior year. He is currently projected to be a 2nd
round draft choice in next year’s draft.
Allan Ray (USA) – Villanova – Senior
Ray had a sizzling tournament for the States. He led
the team in scoring with 12.3 per game and shot 62 % (18-29) from the
3-point line (which not surprisingly led the tournament)!
Rajon Rondo (USA) – Kentucky – Sophomore
The Wildcat roadrunner led the team in assists (4.5
per) and steals (3.4) while also scoring 11 per game. He ranked 3rd
and 1st respectively overall for the tourney with these averages.
He was recently announced as one of the preseason nominees for the Wooden
Award and is projected to be a lottery pick in next June’s draft.
***
Next up for some NCAA players are the World University
Games and the FIBA Americas Championship (for Senior Men National Teams).
The U.S. and Canada are both 3-0 through the first round of the University
Games. I’ll have more updates down the road – until that time keep your eyes
out for Canadians!
