TUCSON (USA) - United States enter every tournament as one of the top favorites. Most times they have a target on their back. But the Americans go into the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 not as defending champions.
And USA head coach Tommy Lloyd knows his players will be aware of that.
USA are record eight-time champions of the FIBA U19 World Cup but they stumbled to fourth place in 2023 - the country's first non-podium finish since fifth place in 2011. The Americans lost to France in the Semi-Finals and then suffered their first ever loss to Türkiye in the Third Place Game to leave Hungary empty-handed.
"That'll resonate with our guys," Lloyd said.
I'm sure our guys are going to be fired up
"These stories have been told really well by Netflix over the years. All these guys are able to see (the documentary) The Redeem Team; they're able to see these kind of things. And it's names and faces they know, idolized and revere. To see those guys in those documentaries talk about what USA Basketball means, I'm sure our guys are going to be fired up."
The Americans will not have an easy task from the get-go as they were drawn into the challenging Group D with France, Australia and first-timers Cameroon.
"When I first saw the group, I was like: Wow, okay here we go, and then it's like if you're going there and the objective is to win the tournament then let's get to it," Lloyd said. "We know it's going to be tough but I think that's a good thing for our guys. Some of them will have some FIBA experience and some of them will have extensive FIBA experience. Others may not. But I think it's good to get thrown into the fire of FIBA basketball right away for our guys."
France have finished second in the last two FIBA U19 World Cups and took third in 2019. Australia have only missed the FIBA U19 World Cup once and reached the top eight nine times including taking the title in 2003. And Cameroon will be extra motivated as they are making their debut.
It's important for our guys to understand how incredibly challenging this tournament is
"It's important for our guys to understand how incredibly challenging this tournament is. And the most important objective is going to be to win the first game. I know that our guys are going to be on edge and understand the sense of urgency from day one," Lloyd said.
USA open group play on June 28 against Australia and then take on France a day later before squaring off against Cameroon following a day off.
"You could easily see scenarios where in past years USA, France and Australia can all be on the medal stand in whatever order. And for that for your first two games and then I know the level of talent in Africa and how it's developing now, there's going to be no gimmies. We're up for the challenge because our objective is to go there and find a way to win the whole tournament," Lloyd said.
Lloyd will be coaching at the FIBA U19 World Cup for the first time. He signed up for the job before last summer when he agreed to coach the USA team at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup - the Kelso, Washington native's first experience coaching at a FIBA event.
But Lloyd has a long history with following international basketball. His first FIBA event was the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2000 in Zadar.
"I was just blown away at the concentration of talent and the level of basketball," Lloyd remembered.
That tournament was won by a France team that included Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Mikael Pietrus and Ronny Turiaf. Also present in Croatia 25 years ago were European greats such as Vassilis Spanoulis, Nikos Zisis, Victor Khryapa, Sergei Monia, Ben Udrih, Zoran Planinic, Marko Popovic, Erazem Lorbek and Yotam Halperin.
"That might have been the most concentrated level of talent that I ever remember at a FIBA youth event," Lloyd said.
The coach ended up recruiting Turiaf to attend the Gonzaga University where he served as assistant coach. Lloyd's efforts created a pipeline of high level international players to the college on the west coast of the United States.
Turiaf, Domantas Sabonis, Rui Hachimura, Kelly Olynyk, Killian Tillie, Kevin Pangos, Elias Harris, Filip Petrusev, Joel Ayayi, Oumar Ballo and Przemyslaw Karnowski are just some of the bigger international names he brought to Spokane, Washington between 2001 and 2021.
Lloyd in 2021 left Gonzaga to become the head coach of the University of Arizona. And in the four years he's been there in Tuscon he has secured the likes of Ballo, Pelle Larsson, Paulius Murauskas, Motiejus Krivas, Adama Alpha Bal and Sidi Gueye into his program.
So he knows the international scene well and witnessed its development.
"I would say the biggest gains have been made in the periphery regions. If you look back, Europe has been fairly strong for a long time - 20 plus years of good basketball. But what you're seeing is the Asian teams getting stronger. They've definitely invested more. The African teams have made significant progress in the last four to five years. I'm seeing a real difference out of there. And then Australia has just been so steady over the years and their teams have been so competitive," Lloyd said.
Lloyd knows his coaching assignment is not an easy one. Many of the top American players from the generation are traditionally not available for the FIBA U19 World Cup. Some are going for the NBA Draft - consider that Cooper Flagg is 2006-born and eligible for this summer's big show in Switzerland - and others will be attending colleges that wish to have the players on site in the summer.
Lloyd will run a true tryout with 33 players starting on June 14 - just 14 days before the start of the tournament.
"The challenge is putting it together in a short window. You have to have a humbleness to understand you're not going to be perfect," the coach said.
"It's incredibly challenging and you have to really communicate that with the players. They have to understand that you're not perfect as a coach and you're not expecting them to be perfect as the players. But when you have those three letters across your chest - USA - we need to all come together for one common goal. And the objective is to win the gold and you make no bones about it. You dial into the process and let the chips fall."
At least Lloyd doesn't have toe worry about motivating his players.
FIBA