France star Kamardine takes home MVP award
HERAKLION (Greece) - Ilias Kamardine had double reason to celebrate at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2023 as he helped France take home the trophy and was also named the Most Valuable Player.
Kamardine was strong all tournament for the deep and balanced France team but the guard shined even brighter in the Final, picking up 23 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in an 89-79 thrilling overtime winner over Israel.
For the tournament, Kamardine averaged 14.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists. 2.6 steals and 0.9 blocks. He was tied for the team scoring lead with Maxime Raynaud, topped the charts in steals and was second in assists.
The #FIBAU20Europe MVP put up a show tonight. 🏆
— NextGen Hoops (@NextGenHoops) July 16, 2023
Ilias Kamardine tonight:
📊 23 PTS | 3 REB | 7 AST 2 STL | 3 BLK
Tournament:
📊 14.0 PTS | 2.9 REB | 3.4 AST | 2.6 STL pic.twitter.com/dcRPSHj6as
Kamardine was joined on the All-Star Five by Israel's dynamic duo of Daniel Wolf and Noam Yaacov as well as Vangelis Zougris of third place finishers Greece and Thijs De Ridder of Belgium.
Wolf and Yaacov were close to helping the Israelis finish a fairytale run on the island of Crete. Yaacov poured in 31 points to go with 5 assists in the Final against France while Wolf collected 17 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.
Noam Yaacov, Thijs De Ridder, Ilias Kamardine, Vangelis Zougris, Daniel Wolf
For the competition, Wolf averaged a double-double of 17.7 points and 12.0 rebounds while also picking up 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks. Wolf ranked second in the tournament in scoring and first in rebounds.
Yaacov tallied 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.0 steals. The playmaker was second in scoring on the team and rebounds and was the top assist man in the event.
Zougris led the Greek team as he poured in 14.4 points to go with 11.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks. He was the second-best rebounded in Crete.
De Ridder was outstanding throughout and played a major role in Belgium achieving their best result ever in the U20 event. He scored 16.9 points and added 9.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals for the fourth-place finishers.
FIBA
