SIN - Youth Olympic Games - Day Five

SINGAPORE (Youth olympic Games) - Bonsoir mes amis!

I'm still a bit thrilled after securing an interview with no other but Prince Albert of Monaco who attended the FIBA 3-on-3 Tournament at the Youth Olympics. I see myself already coaching these kids at the next YOG!

Now we are heading for the elimination stages, but before we start off with the quarter finals, we will be having the Skills-Challenge tomorrow, which should be as equally exciting as the tournament itself.

Girls-Highlights
China should be really counted in when we are talking about the potential candidates to win this inaugural 3-on3- tournament. The Chinese know really well how to use their bodies to score easily under the baskets, even if their opponent (This time it was the Czech Republic) is looking physically skilled as well. They will be clashing with the Japanese girls who beat the French today in an all-asian encounter.

The Maple Leafs from Canada shot poorly from the field today but still advanced and are taking on Germany who seemed to found their rhythm in this tournament after securing the ticket to the quarter-final stage over Angola.
Brazil and the US had no trouble to rout their opponents today while Korea needed some time to get into the game to shoot the Ivory Coast out of the tourney.

Boys-Highlights

The Central African Republic was very close to make history as they gave the U.S. boys a pretty good fight under the watchful eyes of Prince Albert. Especially Neil Londoumon displayed some superb athleticism when cutting through the zone towards the basket. "We were allowing some easy baskets", mentioned coach Eric Flannery to the U.S. media after being asked about the Central Africans. The underdogs were leading at times by as much as eight points but ran into foul trouble at the end which cost them the qualification for the quarter-finals and a sensation on day five.

Serbia stayed focused when they needed it the most and held off the Puerto Ricans to secure a ticket to the elimination games. Same goes for Israel who fought their hearts out to make it past the group stage while Lithuania lost to the Argentinos but still qualified as second for the quarters as well.

After a weak performance against the Philippines, the Croats got another strong game of Matej Buovac to bowl the U.S. Virgin Islands out of the quarters. Spain, who didn't play on the day, moved on as the second from the group.

For more extensive coverage, log on to FIBA TV!

My daily favorite today is the probably the youngest coach ever. Natalia from Belarus even looks younger than her players. At least she won the "Best looking coach"-Award while this guy on the pic edged out the Russian coach to place first as "Worst-looking staff member". I have no idea if that's the new trend, but I know where he ordered them.

 

Results of Day Five:

Girls
Ivory Coast - Korea 15-22 (Boni 6 points - Lee 10 points)
USA - Belarus 33-5 (Stokes 17 - Bohdan 3)
Mali - Brazil 14-34 (Konate 5 - Isabela 12)
France - Japan 20-34 (Sbahi 10 - Nagaoka 18)
Canada - Russia 18-15 (Traore 7 - Kozochinka 5)
Germany - Angola 26-17 (Hoffgen 14 - Afonso 13)
China - Czech Republic 33-19 (Ma 16 - Mervinska 10)
Chile - Italy 8-21 (Garcia 6 - C. Dotto 8)

Boys
Puerto Rico - Serbia 30-31 (Medina 20 - Bezbradica 8)
Lithuania - Argentina 27-31 (Uzupis 9 - Zanzoterra 11)
Turkey - Israel 19-32 (Geyik 7 - Chernuvych 14)
South Africa - Philippines 12-26 (Mahlinza 6 - Teng 11)
New Zealand - India 17-12 (Karena 6 - Sukhjeet 4)
Egypt - Panama 30-7 (Ibrahim 13 - Grenald 5)
Central African Republic - USA 28-32 (Londoumon 16 - Chol 14)
Croatia - US Virgin Islands 27-17 (Buovac 17 - Martinez 7)

Quarter-Final Pairings:

Girls
Canada-Germany
China-Japan
USA-Korea
Australia - Brazil

Boys
Serbia - Lithuania
USA-Spain
Argentina-Greece
Croatia-Israel

FIBA