REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - The FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 certainly lived up to its billing as Frank Ntilikina solidified his status as a top NBA prospect and the continent saw the coming out party of 15-year-old Sekou Doumbouya in helping France hoist the trophy.

Ntilikina gave the fans in Samsun a show in the Final with three straight three-pointers in the fourth quarter to put the Lithuanians down for good with a 75-68 victory. Ntilikina ended up with 31 points and took home the MVP award as well. 

Doumbouya also was named to the All-Star Five in leading France in points (17.8), rebounds (7.0 rpg) and blocks (1.2 bpg). The forward was the talk of the tournament for days for what he was doing despite not turning 16 years old until Friday (December 23).

The 1998 French players also won the FIBA U16 European Championship 2014 for the generational double - which Batum, Diot and that team accomplished in 2004 and 2006. 

Take a step further back and France now have bragging rights in Europe. Les Bleuets now have four U18 titles, also including 1992 and 2000, which gives them sole possession for third place on the all-time list of championships behind the Soviet Union's eight titles and five from Yugoslavia. Croatia, Serbia and Spain all have three.

France are clearly soon going to give the senior national team more new blood in the very near future. Missing from this tournament for French coach Tahar Assed was Killian Tillie, who was the MVP of the the 2014 U16 winners, as well as the electrifying Jaylen Hoard and Yves Pons from the 1999 generation. 

But the French 1998s staying atop the continent is only one of the stories of the tournament.

Lithuania returned to the U18 final for the first time since 2012 and have a strong quartet of players who will challenge for the senior national team in the coming years in Tadas Sedekerskis, Arnoldas Kulboka, Gytis Masiulis and Arnas Velicka. The Lithuanians might get another shot at the French next summer at the FIBA U19 World Championship 2017. 

Joining those two in the field in Cairo next summer will be Italy, Germany and Spain.

Italian captain Davide Moretti showed the leadership you would expect from a player competing in his sixth youth European Championship or World Championship. And that helped Italy grab a surprise win over Germany in the Third-Place Game - Italy's first podium finish since 2005, when they also claimed third place.

Germany have to leave Samsun disappointed that they could not at least claim their first ever U18 medal. The fourth place finish was their first Semi-Final appearance since 1986, and it did get the Germans to the FIBA U19 World Championship 2017. But Germany came to Turkey wanting more. Kostja Mushidi and Isaiah Hartenstein clearly led the team but there was not enough support otherwise when it mattered.

Spain meanwhile have to be thrilled to be going to the World Championship again with all the players they were missing from Samsun. But Sergi Martinez and Aleix Font were outstanding and they got the role player help that the Germans didn't to overachieve. Heck, they almost beat Germany in the Quarter-Finals.

It will be kind of disappointing to not see Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Championship next summer in Cairo, but Dzanan Musa and Amar Gegic were not enough to reach the top five - just getting pipped by Spain in the fifth-place game.

The biggest disappointment of the tournament was Serbia, who failed to reach the Quarter-Finals and suffered their worst ever showing in U18 history - taking 10th place. Borisa Simanic failed to really shine and neither did Aleksa Radanov.

The unofficial heartbreak award goes to Israel, who took Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lithuania to overtime but lost and then also lost in the final two seconds against Latvia. Then to top it off, Croatia beat the Israelis on a three-pointer at the buzzer in the Classification 13-16 to seal Israel's fate in Division B. At least Yovel Zoosman and Co did get a final win over Sweden for 15th place. 

Latvia survived the relegation battle by beating Sweden and Croatia and will remain in Division A thanks to a strong tournament from Arturs Strauntins and Roberts Blumbergs.

Overall, even though the tournament was moved from the summer to the winter, nearly all of the top stars from the teams made it to the event and the tournament went off without any problems.

Another FIBA U18 European Championship is in the books and it will certainly be one to be remember for some time.

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.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.