France the only hurdle keeping Montenegro from historic title
PODGORICA (FIBA U16 European Championship 2017) - Undefeated France shoot for a third FIBA U16 European Championship title while at the same time representing the final hurdle for hosts Montenegro in completing arguably the greatest title run in the competition's history.
Montenegro enter the U16 Final at the Sports Center Moraca having already accomplished more than the country has ever in the past. They twice reached the final eight at the U16 level in 2008 and 2016 and five times at the U20 level - 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. But Montenegro's previous best-ever showing internationally was fifth place at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2008.
Jovan Kljajic, Stefan Vlahovic, Bojan Tomasevic and Co. have already eclipsed that achievement, and it has been one amazing ride. First off, they beat Spain in the Group Phase but then suffered a 14-point loss to Latvia, putting themselves in the upper part of the bracket - with some of the giants of the game. No matter for Montenegro. The hosts knocked off Italy in the Round of 16, Lithuania in the Quarter-Finals and then after having made history took down Serbia. The last team standing is France - meaning Montenegro would have beaten Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia and France in the span of eight days. Let that soak in for a minute. That could arguably make Montenegro the greatest U16 champion of all time - in Montenegro's first Final.
Not so fast say the 2004 and 2014 champions France, who have yet to be beaten in Podgorica. Sure, they have been bent, but never broken. Though that has come against teams who have done much less here with wins over Russia and Sweden from the Classification 13-16 and Italy and Estonia from the Classification 9-12 besides Turkey and Croatia. Still, the French are the only team without a loss and they can only play who face them along the way.
This is the fourth match-up between these teams in U16 history with all three previously being in the Group Phase as France won in 2013 and 2015 and Montenegro prevailed in 2016. This showdown should be a very even matchup as both teams have scored the same number of points through six games - 441 points for an average of 73.5 per game. And while France are shooting 41.6 percent from the field, Montenegro are just a shade below that at 40.6 percent. One advantage for the hosts is that they are fourth-best in the competition from long range at 28 percent while France are the worst three-point shooting team in Podgorica at 21.6 percent. But France are tops in free throw shooting at 70 percent compared to Montenegro's 55 percent - third-worst in the competition. Both teams are in the bottom third in rebounding and middle of the pack in assists while Montenegro have committed the fewest turnovers at 13 per game, but France are only slightly worse at 15.5 per contest.
This will be a thrilling showdown at the guard spots with Killian Hayes and Theo Maledon for France and Jovan Kljajic and Stefan Vlahovic for Montenegro. All of them are so crucial to their teams and a huge factor in the game will be which of the duos can slow down the others on offense. But whereas France have a third regular weapon in Timothe Crusol, the Montenegrins have Bojan Tomasevic and Viktor Vujisic both averaging more than 11 points and 6 rebounds to go with more than an assist and steal a game with Tomasevic also blocking 1.8 shots a contest. With all the focus on the battle of the backcourt, France's X-factor just might be Victor Diallo, who will be called upon to use his athleticism at the power forward spot to neutralize Tomasevic and his superb inside-outside game.
One more thing ... France have been here before, as in being the hated opponents of the hosts in the Final. Current France coach Bernard Faure was at the helm of the 2014 U16 team with the likes of Bastian Tchouaffe, Killian Tillie and Frank Ntilikina, who knocked off hosts Latvia 78-53 in the FIBA U16 European Championship 2014 Final in Riga.
Can France star Killian Hayes join his namesake Killian Tillie from 2014 in being named MVP for France after beating the host team? Or can Montenegro join Spain from 2006 as the second team to win the U16 title on home soil? Seven others have failed to win at home - Italy in 1971, Greece in 1975 and 1991, Lithuania in 2009, Czech Republic in 2011, Latvia in 2014 and Lithuania again in 2015. Let's see if Montenegro can take down another giant.
Before Montenegro and France battle, Serbia and Croatia will square off for the third spot on the podium. The 2007 champions Serbia have rebounded both times they have lost in the Semi-Finals in the past and won their only two appearances in the Third-Place Game in 2009 and 2012. Croatia meanwhile have three titles in 1995, 2010 and 2011 but no other podium finishes as they lost in the Third-Place Game in both 2006 and last year. The series is tied all-time at 3-3 with Serbia beating Croatia 102-52 in the Group Phase in Podgorica. This will be the first time these two nations face off not in a group game.
Both Serbia and Croatia are guaranteed spots in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 - along with finalists France and Montenegro. Europe's final ticket will be given to either Lithuania or Turkey, who square off in the Classification 5-6 game. Lithuania have qualified for three of the four U17 global spectacles and took third place in 2016. Turkey debuted at Zaragoza 2016 and went all the way to the final.
These two teams know each other very well. In February they faced off in the Final of the TBF International U16 Men Basketball Tournament in Konya, Turkey and Turkey won 87-82. Then on July 29, Lithuania prevailed over Turkey 103-101 in double overtime in the Final of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Gyor, Hungary. Lithuania's Modestas Kancleris hit a buzzer beater to send the game to overtime and Turkey's Omer Kucuk nailed his own buzzer beater at the end of the first extra session for a second overtime where Lithuania won. This game will have much more meaning.
The most meaningful game of the other classification action is Classification 13-14 with Germany taking on Sweden as the winner remains in Division A and the loser joins Russia and Finland next summer in Division B. The Germans have been in the top flight since 2009 while Sweden are spending their second straight year in Division A. The Swedes were in Division A for 2013 but before that their previous foray in the top ranks had been in 1985.
In the other classification games, Spain face Latvia for seventh place; Italy take on Slovenia for ninth place; Estonia have already locked up their best-ever showing and will play Israel for 11th place; and Russia finish up against Finland for 15th place.
The action from Podgorica is just a click away as you can follow Live Updates throughout each game day, watch all of the games for free on the FIBA YouTube channel and follow #FIBAU16Europe across social media.
Final
3rd Place Game
Classification 5-6
Classification 7-8
Classification 9-10
Classification 11-12
Classification 13-14
Classification 15-16
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