U19 World Cup 2023

[Chuck Everett]

Team USA literally took zero centers (guys over 6'10). That makes no sense. This is FIBA basketball. You need a big man in the middle.

[rk2023]

How shocking was the loss to Turkey - as well as to France?

Don't follow some of these more youth-driven / prospect featured tournaments as one who's new, but getting into, to scouting. From what I've heard, the 2019 roster and 2021 (amongst other examples) brought much better talent. How does this most recent team stack up?

[The Moose]

Almansa now has taken MVP of the u19 World Cup, u18 euro championship and u17 World Cup in successive years.

He was great, Sarr looked intriguing too. OTE was pretty well represented here. I’ll be watching a lot of Sarr when he’s down here

[BostonCouchGM]

How shocking was the loss to Turkey - as well as to France?

Don't follow some of these more youth-driven / prospect featured tournaments as one who's new, but getting into, to scouting. From what I've heard, the 2019 roster and 2021 (amongst other examples) brought much better talent. How does this most recent team stack up?

It's pretty bad but not too shocking given who they sent and it doesn't seem to mean a lot anymore. The 2021 roster wasn't really any better tbh. 2019 was LOADED as we sent pretty much all the top talent. But remember, the talent for France and Spain is leaps better than it was in those years. I honestly don't think the top guys care all that much to make the trip. The big fish are working on their games preparing for their college freshmen seasons at big schools. Once this team lost to France last game they seemingly mailed it in.

[babyjax13]

Risacher has looked pretty average

Looks like a worse Grady Dick on offense (bit better passing sometimes, but bad handle, can throw errant passes, shot is quick but doesn't seem as accurate).

[crows2]

Final Thoughts

France was the most talented team but the officiating was very one-sided and cost them the Final game against Spain. I understand why Risacher has the attention of NBA scouts with his springiness and potential on defense. He also seems to have a decent BBIQ but he might have been the 5th best NBA prospect on the floor today behind Sarr, Almansa, Ajinca, and Perrin. Still a likely first round pick but these mock drafts that have him #1 are just way off imo.

We sent a bunch of low BBIQ chuckers to this tournament and I don't feel like it was even coached to win tbh. Newell is the best NBA talent on the roster. He's legit elite. He should be a lock for top 5. Johnson has a deep bag and great skill but he's a chucker and will need to be reigned in. If he's to be elite he'll need to focus on defense and get stronger as well. Jackson needs more polish and he's a good not elite NBA prospect. I think scouts like the idea of Cody Williams more than the reality.

Oversight to not mention Dylan Harper? Looks like possibly the best prospect alongside Newell.

[rk2023]

How shocking was the loss to Turkey - as well as to France?

Don't follow some of these more youth-driven / prospect featured tournaments as one who's new, but getting into, to scouting. From what I've heard, the 2019 roster and 2021 (amongst other examples) brought much better talent. How does this most recent team stack up?

It's pretty bad but not too shocking given who they sent and it doesn't seem to mean a lot anymore. The 2021 roster wasn't really any better tbh. 2019 was LOADED as we sent pretty much all the top talent. But remember, the talent for France and Spain is leaps better than it was in those years. I honestly don't think the top guys care all that much to make the trip. The big fish are working on their games preparing for their college freshmen seasons at big schools. Once this team lost to France last game they seemingly mailed it in.

Go figure. It's my belief a game such as this could hold more merit for scouts well before the season commences.. but oh well.

[BostonCouchGM]

How shocking was the loss to Turkey - as well as to France?

Don't follow some of these more youth-driven / prospect featured tournaments as one who's new, but getting into, to scouting. From what I've heard, the 2019 roster and 2021 (amongst other examples) brought much better talent. How does this most recent team stack up?

It's pretty bad but not too shocking given who they sent and it doesn't seem to mean a lot anymore. The 2021 roster wasn't really any better tbh. 2019 was LOADED as we sent pretty much all the top talent. But remember, the talent for France and Spain is leaps better than it was in those years. I honestly don't think the top guys care all that much to make the trip. The big fish are working on their games preparing for their college freshmen seasons at big schools. Once this team lost to France last game they seemingly mailed it in.

Go figure. It's my belief a game such as this could hold more merit for scouts well before the season commences.. but oh well.

yeah, it could. But the top guys are likely working hard with trainers either independently or via their schools/leagues working on specific drills to address specific areas of their game. The problem with U19 is there's no real consistent minutes or rotations. Top guys maybe don't want to sit watching guys they know they're better than get as many or more minutes than them and be on the floor in crunch over them. They probably feel like it's better to avoid all the travel and just focus on themselves. Can't really blame them.