REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - The FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 moved a major step closer to being a reality on Thursday when basketball legends Nikos Zisis, Carlos Cabezas and Carlos Jimenez assisted in the draw for the July 2-10 event in Spain. But what did we learn from the allocation of the spots in the four groups? Here are five takeaways from the draw.

1. Spain face tough road to exorcize demons, finally get medal

 
Hosts Spain have some bad memories of this competition that they would like to exorcise in Malaga. And the fact that they will likely face a tough Round of 16 matchup cannot make Spanish basketball leaders super excited. Spain will be competing in this event for the fifth time. After taking 10th place in 2010, the Spanish three straight times lost in the Semi-Finals - to USA, Australia (in overtime) and Turkey (in overtime), respectively - and then fell in the Third Place Game as well - to Croatia, Serbia and Lithuania. The three-time fourth-placed finishers Spain will definitely deserve a medal if they have one hanging around their necks on July 10.

2. Americans can "ease" into tournament

 
Starting in Group C with the five-time reigning champions United States,  U17 World Cup debutants Slovenia will play United States in the second game of the group with Mali facing them in their final group game. The Americans' first game will be against the fourth place team from the FIBA U16 Asian Championship in June. That is probably the best opponent USA could have asked for to start the tournament. The first game of a competition is often the most challenging and the Americans have experienced that in the past. They beat Argentina by only 12 points in their first ever game back in 2010 and were given a real challenge by Greece in 2014 as Vassilis Charalampopoulos and Georgios Papagiannis lost only 83-73 - the second-closest game for USA in the competition. The last two editions United States have opened with a 74-point win over Chinese Taipei in 2016 and blew out China by 78 points in 2018.

3. Most of the "bigger" opponents avoided USA until Quarter-Finals

As most bigger countries will be heading to Malaga with the thoughts of dethroning the Americans, there was probably some relief as many of them will get to avoid USA until at least the Quarter-Finals - being on the other side of the bracket. Assuming USA win Group C and then prevail in the Round of 16 against the fourth placed team from Group D (Asia1, Argentina, Egypt, Poland), the Americans will take on the winner between A2 (Asia3, France, Serbia, Canada) and B3 (Spain, Dominican Republic, Asia2, Lithuania) in the Quarter-Finals. The Group B winners or Group A fourth place team could avoid the Americans until the Semi-Finals. Those finishing first and third in Group A and second and fourth in Group B could avoid playing United States until the Finals.

4. Some monster Round of 16 games possible

 
All that being said, avoiding the United States is one thing, but having so many basketball giants on one side of the bracket offers up some terrifically tantalizing Round of 16 matchups. No team can be considered an automatic favorite in either Group A or B - especially since it is unclear what comes out of the FIBA U16 Asian Championship. If Australia for example do not win the Asian/Oceanian qualifier, they will be in Group A or B (or Group C if they finish fourth in Asia). Some possible Round of 16 matchups include: France vs Lithuania (rematch of 2016 Quarter-Finals), Spain vs Canada, Serbia vs Canada, France vs Spain, France vs Canada, Dominican Republic vs Canada (rematch of FIBA U16 Americas Championship Third Place Game). Man, how can basketball lovers not get excited just thinking about those possibilities?

5. France-United States rematch could be avoided until Final

 
France won their first U17 World Cup medal in 2018 by reaching the Final before they were blown out by the United States 95-52 - despite having two future NBA players in Killian Hayes and Theo Maledon. Excitement in France is high about the country's continued ability to produce exciting talent. And fans in the country are also looking forward to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 with the hopes that the talented 2005-born generation can get another shot at the Americans. And the draw is set up that France could actually meet up in the Final if they win their group - like they did in 2018. This time though France hope to come out on top. The Americans definitely will have a thing or two to say about that. That won't be until July, but at least we know who will play whom - or at least possibly.

David Hein
FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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