×
29 June, 2019
07 July
Who could record first triple-double in U19 World Cup since Dario Saric?
29/06/2019
News
to read

Who could record first triple-double in U19 World Cup since Dario Saric?

HERAKLION (Greece) - The triple-double is one of the most impressive feats in basketball. Dario Saric is the only player in FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup history since 1991 to accomplish it, doing so six years ago in the Czech Republic. Who could join the Croatian sensation at the 2019 edition in Heraklion?

Saric recorded his great game in Croatia's opening contest of the 2013 edition of the U19 World Cup, collecting 32 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists against Korea.


It was just the first game of a great tournament for Saric, who averaged 20.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists - finishing second in all three categories. The Croatian star actually had a chance to take top honors in all three stats but he picked up just 4 points, 3 rebounds and 0 assists in just 5 minutes in the final game against China.

Saric went into the game leading the competition in points (22.4ppg) and rebounds (12.2rpg) and second in assists (5.5apg), but fell behind Tyler Ennis (20.9ppg) and Martin Peterka (11.5rpg) and could not catch Radovan Kouril (5.7agp), respectively.

Saric's triple-double is the only one on the FIBA books as records for the first four U19 World Cups (1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991) included only points among the three triple-double stats. And blocks have only been recorded since 2003.

So, who could join Saric in U19 World Cup history? Here are six players who might be able to do it in Heraklion.

Jean-Jacques Boissy, Senegal

The point guard tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists versus Egypt in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U18 African Championship 2018.

Flynn Cameron, New Zealand



Cameron actually had a triple-double at the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 with 19 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the Semi-Finals against China. That came after Cameron had 15 points, 8 assists and 7 steals against Iran in the Quarter-Finals.

Karlton Dimanche, France



Dimanche picked up 11 points, 11 rebounds and 9 steals versus Montenegro in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 Quarter-Finals after collecting 11 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds against Greece in the Round of 16.

Biram Faye, Senegal



Faye was dominant against Libya in the FIBA U18 African Championship 2018 with 25 points, 16 rebounds and 8 blocks in the Quarter-Finals.

Guo Haowen, China



The wing is an all-arounder and he picked up 11 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds versus Indonesia in the Qualification for the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018.

Arturs Kurucs, Latvia



Kurucs will be called upon for loads of production for Latvia with Arturs Zagars out. Kurucs tallied 18 points, 11 rebounds 6 assists against Greece in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018.

Who has come close in the past?

  • Manuel Berroteran of Venezuela collected 19 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds against Egypt in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 1999.
  • Carlos Almeida of Angola picked up 21 points, 8 rebounds and 8 steals versus Nigeria  in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 1995.
  • Pepe Sanchez of Argentina may not have been that close but his performance against Nigeria is still noteworthy with 5 points, 9 assists and 9 steals in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 1995.
  • Toni Prostran of Croatia collected 20 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds against Puerto Rico in the Quarter-Finals in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2009.
  • Zhou Qi of China was close in the triple-overtime Classification 5-8 game against Canada with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 9 blocks in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2013.
  • Dillon Brooks of Canada was all over the court for Canada but came up just short with 19 points, 9 rebound and 9 assists versus Korea in the Round of 16.

FIBA