REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) - The path to the title at the 14th FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup is known after the draw for the 2019 edition was made - a draw that promises some great matchups and intrigue straight away in the group stage.

First off, here are the results of the draw for the games from June 29-July 7 in Heraklion, Greece.

Some fun memories will come back when the tournament tips off in a couple of months since Heraklion hosted the 2015 edition of this event. Before the tournament even started there was the drama revolving around Croatian star Dragan Bender and if he would play as he was mired in the middle of a shoe dispute among the Croatian federation, Jordan Brand and adidas. Bender ended up not playing but that didn’t stop drastically short-handed Croatia from reaching a magical 2015 magical Final against the mighty United States. And Croatia were a missed free throw by Luka Bozic with 4.3 seconds left from winning in regulation but the Americans prevailed 79-71 in overtime with a team featuring the likes of Jayson Tatum, Josh Jackson, Jalen Brunson, Terrance Ferguson and Harry Giles.

But we are here in this column to look forward to this summer’s spectacle.

The biggest storyline will be the United States’ desire for revenge against Canada after the USA lost to the eventual 2017 U19 champions Canada in the Semi-Finals in the Egyptian capital Cairo. The United States have been drawn into Group A along with Senegal, New Zealand and Lithuania. Canada meanwhile are in Group B with Mali, Australia and Latvia. The breakdown of the draw has it that if both United States and Canada win their respective groups, the earliest they can face off is the Final. If Canada were to finish second then they could square off in the Semi-Finals.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves because there is plenty of great battles in the first three days of games.

It’s hard to say this far out what the United States team will look like in June. Duke superstar Zion Williamson is actually eligible to play since he was born in 2000 but he is projected to be taken in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft along with fellow 2000-born players Darius Garland, Nassir Little, Jaxson Hayes, Tre Jones, Kevin Porter and Jalen Smith. This is the same problem the United States have faced so many times - not always having the top level players available at the age group. So that could mean the team trends younger and goes with some of the top stars from the USA team that won the title at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 including the likes of Vernon Carey, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Green and Scottie Barnes.

Group A’s top showdown will probably be United States against Lithuania. While some might look at Lithuania as only the fifth placed team from the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018, the Baltic nation lost only one game. It was just the wrong one - to Russia by 2 points in the Quarter-Finals. And this is a Lithuania team that defeated eventual champions Serbia and then crushed Germany by 28 points to get a spot back at the U19 World Cup - a competition they won in 2011, finished second in 2003 and were third in 2013. And it’s a team with a couple of elite players in Deividas Sirvydis and Rokas Jokubaitis and could get help from a strong 2001-born generation as well.

Senegal’s excellent length and power with the likes of Biram Faye, Amar Sylla and Gora Camara could give the Americans a run for their money, but the African U18 runners-up will live and die with how well point guard Jean-Jacques Boissy ends up playing.

Group B is probably the most intriguing of the four groups with the reigning U19 World Cup champs Canada to go with the U18 African champions Mali, the U18 Asian winners Australia and U18 European runners-up Latvia.

Canada’s next superstar RJ Barrett is also eligible to come back and play again at the U19 World Cup - after winning the MVP crown two years ago in Cairo in leading Canada to their first-ever international title. But like the many Americans, it’s very unlikely Barrett shows up in Heraklion - since the NBA Draft will be taking place nine days before the first game.

Andrew Nembhard will likely be Canada’s main star along with Addison Patterson and that group will be challenged against all three teams. The Australians have already named their extended roster which includes the likes of Sam Froling, Josh Green, Alex Dunas, Kody Stattmann, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Luke Travers and Tamuri Wigness.

Mali have great size and big tournament experience and will be primed to improve on their best-ever U19 World Cup showing of 15th place. But just like Senegal, the key will be point guard play and Mali’s Siriman Kanoute has seen some success, being named the MVP of the FIBA U16 African Championship 2017 and the FIBA U18 African Championship 2018 while also leading the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 in scoring at 24.6 points including 37 points against Serbia.

And Latvia might have one of the most exciting players in the tournament in Arturs Zagars, who teams up with Arturs Kurucs for a dynamic backcourt duo.

All six of the Group B games should be thrilling ones and will all have an impact on the knockout stage of the tournament as really all of them are wide open going in. That also means that every point will be crucial so watch out for any teams winning or losing by a large number of points.

Group C is really just as open with hosts Greece alongside Argentina, Philippines and Russia. The Greeks have a strong tradition of performing well in this tournament when they are the hosts. They won it in 1995 in Athens, were third in 2003 in Thessaloniki and then took fourth place in 2015, in addition to their second placed showing in 2009. But the Greek 2000-born generation - led by Nikos Arsenopoulos and Chrysostomos Sandramanis - actually was relegated at both the U16 and U18 levels in 2016 and 2018 (though the U18 Greece team will remain in Division A because the FIBA U18 European Championship 2019 will take place in Volos, Greece). The 2001-born group - topped by Nikos Rogkavopoulos, Andreas Tsoumanis and Dimitrios Karaiskos - won promotion back to Division A at the U16 level in 2017. It is likely that the two generations will mix - similar to how the 1996 and 1997 groups did at the U19 World Cup in 2015. One issue with that though is that the 2001-born players will be playing at home in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2019 in Volos, which is scheduled for July 27-August 4.

Nikos Arsenopoulos will have the home fans behind him at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

Argentina grabbed third place at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018, losing only to Canada in the group stage and the United States in the Semi-Finals while beating Chile, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to clearly distance themselves as the number three in the Americas. Any success the Argentineans have will rely largely on the performances of Francisco Caffaro and Juan Ignacio Marcos.

Philippines are back in the U19 World Cup for the first time since the first edition in 1979 - and they will have fans in Heraklion, as they have fans everywhere. But the Filipinos do have some serious pieces that could get some victories. First off there is the big man duo of Ariel Edu and Kai Sotto. Add to that the guard combo of Italy-based Dalph Panopio and Rence Padrigao and Philippines fans have a legit reason to be excited about this summer.

Russia meanwhile finished fourth at the U18 European Championship including wins over fellow U19 World Cup sides France and Lithuania. And the Russian group will have a lot of weapons.

Moving onto Group D, the most anticipated matchup will be France versus Serbia, which will be a repeat of the U18 European Semi-Final, which Serbia won en route to the title. The duo of Marko Pecarski and Filip Petrusev can match up against any big man combo in the world and they will likely carry Serbia’s chances in Greece. But the likes of Zoran Paunovic or Uros Trifunovic will need to show up on a regular basis or some of the 2001-born generation that finished third at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017 and played at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup last summer.

France surprised some by finishing third at the U18 European level last summer and it remains to be seen what the team will look like - as the French could bring some of the 2001 stars such as Killian Hayes and Theo Maledon, who helped France win the U16 European crown in 2017 and then reach the U17 World Cup Final.

The other two teams in Group D are China and Puerto Rico - both of whom with the right draw could reach the Quarter-Finals. The Chinese reached the top eight in 2013 and will be out to make a statement. Any chances they have will rely on Wang Quanze and Guo Haowen. Puerto Rico took fourth at the U18 Americas, beating the Dominican Republic before losing to the United States and Canada as well as Argentina in the Third Place Game. The team should be a mix of the U18 group - led by George Conditt, Alejandro Vasquez and Giovanni Santiago - and the historic U17 side which took third place at the U17 World Cup thanks to Andre Curbelo and Jermaine Miranda.

Now we know the draw and can think about the matchups and dream about who might face off in the Final on July 7.

David Hein

FIBA

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