REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - The 2018 Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST) took place recently in Mannheim, Germany and the biennial event shed some interesting light on what we might be able to expect this summer at the four continental U18 championships.

First off, a brief rundown of the tournament as Germany defended their title from 2016 with a 88-66 victory over Australia in the final. Hendrik Drescher led the way with 20 as the Germans became the third team to repeat as AST champs following the United States (three straight 1973-1977, six straight 1985-1996) and Belgium (1958-1960).

Germany went through the tournament undefeated while Australia's only two losses were to the champs as the Oceania powers blasted previously-unbeaten Italy in the semi-finals, where Germany knocked off Russia. The All-Tournament Team was made up MVP Jonas Mattisseck of Germany, his teammate Drescher, Callum Dalton of Australia, Federico Miaschi of Italy and Russian Nikita Mikhaylovskii.

Here a full rundown of the final standings: 1. Germany, 2. Australia, 3. Italy, 4. Russia, 5. France, 6. Israel, 7. United States, 8. Argentina, 9. Turkey, 10. China, 11. Egypt, 12. Japan

Now that we've run down the tournament let's get into what we have learned from the AST looking ahead to this summer's FIBA U18 African Championship 2018, FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018, FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 and FIBA U18 European Championship 2018.

Germany

Hendrik Drescher

For those who haven't been following European youth hoops recently, Germany are developing loads of talent. And that was clear by Germany's dominance in repeating their Mannheim title. One of the biggest obstacles for Germany to become a major power is for those talented players to win tournaments. And that makes them taking the AST crown again that much more important - learning how to win big games. The German team was loaded with the Alba Berlin trio of Jonas Mattisseck, Hendrik Drescher and Franz Wagner, Kay Bruhnke from the Bamberg system, Joshua Obiesie from IBAM, Jason George from Ulm, Luc Van Slooten from Vechta and Ariel Hukporti from Ludwigsburg. Oh, and half of the team was 2001 or 2002 born. Watch out for Germany at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 in Latvia from July 28-August 5.

Australia

Sam Froling

The Australians should clearly be favorites for the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 in Thailand from August 5-11. Not only will they be highly motivated to get back to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup after being eliminated by New Zealand in 2016, but they will have some great talent. Australia played some great team ball in Germany and were only beaten by the hosts, who had a clear advantage in talent level and athleticism. But they beat - comfortably - three European teams in Israel, Turkey and Italy by an average margin of 25 points. And they did that without arguably their top player in Kody Stattmann, who averaged 31 points on 53 percent three-pointers, 4.4 steals, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists at the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship 2017. Australia were also without Sam McDonald, who had 16.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds last year. The big man duo of Callum Dalton and Sam Froling showed in Mannheim they can hold their own against anyone in the world while Alex Ducas was a nice addition as someone who did not play at the U17 Oceanian tournament. Oh, and Australia will also have the top players from the team that won the FIBA U16 Asian Championship including Tamuri Wigness, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Luke Jackson.

Italy

The Italians only lost once in Mannheim - getting bum-rushed by Australia by 33 points in the Semi-Finals to finish third. Andrea Capobianco's team was highlighted by the outstanding duo of Federico Miaschi and Mattia Palumbo and they also had Omar Dieng, a big man who can take his game outside. Capobianco is an elite coach and this team will be a serious contender for a top-five spot at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018.

Russia

Aleksandr Ershov

Russia showed some fantastic talent and are probably disappointed about losing three of their last four games to finish fourth in Mannheim. The 2000 generation helped Russia get back up to Division A by winning the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016, Division B. And many of the leaders of that team were in Mannheim and will be looking to reach the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup for the first time since 2009. Nikita Mikhaylovskii was outstanding in Mannheim while Aleksandr Ershov was dealing with being sick. Don't sleep on Russia in Latvia.

France

Mathis Dossou Yovo

France were missing a few of their top 2000-born players who could help them at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018. Mathis Dossou Yovo held his own in Mannheim and Karlton Dimanche was one of the real breakout players for France in the tournament, averaging 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 4.0 assists. And 2001-born Timothe Crusol was solid at point guard playing a year younger. But coach Frederic Crapez was missing leaders like Yohan Choupas, Joel Ayayi and Johan Randriamananjara. The French team also could perhaps call on more of their impressive 2001 generation that won the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017 - such as Theo Maledon or Killian Hayes. So expect a better team than the one that only lost to Russia and Italy to finish with a 5-2 record.

Israel

Tomer Levinson

Israel will be playing at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 Division B but they have a very nice group of talent. Deni Avdija and Tomer Levinson are just the two leaders of the team but there is also Yotam Hanochi, Yam Madar and Eidan Alber. Consider Israel a definite candidate to earn promotion to Division A.

United States

The AST has no direct affiliation with USA Basketball so this United States was just a select team by the head coach Joe Mantegna, who works at a high school in New York. There are most likely no players on the team who will play at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018, which will be played in St. Catherines, Canada from June 10-16.

Argentina

Argentina were missing a number of key players from the 2000-born generation. Still, coach Maximiliano Seigorman did get a chance to see a couple of players who could take over some big roles in St. Catherines. Lucas Reyes is a gritty point guard who showed he can really be a leader and score when needed. Fausto Ruesga will also play a factor while Juan De la Fuente flashed some great skills at both ends of the floor. Argentina ended up winning just one game but they also had losses by one point and five points. This was a good test for this Argentina group to prove that they can step up if needed this summer when the rest of the main leaders get back to the team.

Turkey

Mert Akay

Turkey only picked up two victories - over Asians Japan and China and ended up ninth with a team that was without loads of talent. Mert Akay is a fantastic floor general and will be a key to any chance Turkey have in Latvia. He played at the U18 continental tournament last summer as did fellow playmaker Eray Akyuz. But this team will need to drastically step up come this summer if they hope to return to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.

China

China could be a tough out at the FIBA U18 Asian Championship as they have a nice trio of players that showcased themselves in Mannheim. Guo Haowen averaged nearly 21 points a game and shot 36 percent from long range and has good length as a wing. Sun Yansong is a big who can take his game outside and Jiang Haoran is a serviceable center. China's guard group was not overwhelming and that could be a weakness. Luckily, China could also have their top players from the 2001-born generation available, meaning Sun Haoqin, who helped China reach the FIBA U16 Asian Championship Final and a spot at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018. Aizimaiti Aizimaiti is a big from the younger generation who could help as well.

Egypt

Omar Tarek

Egypt struggled in Mannheim with five straight losses in the group stage before knocking off Japan by six points for 11th place. Egypt will definitely be one of the top title challengers at the FIBA U18 African Championship 2018, from which the top two teams will qualify for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019. The Egyptians won the U18 African tournament in 2008, 2010 and 2014 and reached the final in 2016. But they will face some major competition from mainly Angola and Mali in this year's tournament, which will take place Mali from August 17-26. The Egypt team in Mannheim, which lost their five games by an average of 31.4 points, won't really resemble the one in Mali as most of the country’s top players from the generation were not on hand. They did have Karim Hatem, who will be one of the leaders at point guard this summer. And Egypt also had two of the leaders from the team that will play at this summer's FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 in Omar Tarek and Youssef Osama, who combined for 19.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 5.7 steals at the FIBA U16 African Championship 2017. So, don't pass judgement just yet on this Egyptian team from Mannheim.

Japan

Shuki Nakata

Japan were quite underwhelming in finishing last with just one victory - over Argentina on a last second three-pointer by Rentaro Wada. The Japanese U18 team was beaten regularly by the U16 team earlier this spring at their collective camp. And that is not surprising given their lack of top talent. Wada is a nice wing who can shoot from the outside (52 percent on three-pointers for the tournament) and Shuki Nakata is a solid floor general - and someone who actually played two years younger at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017. But this team will need the help of the 2001/2002-born generation, that failed to reach the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018. That means mainly Chikara Tanaka and Keisei Tominaga.

All of the countries save for United States gained some valuable insight into their teams going into an important summer of action.

David Hein

FIBA

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