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08 - 16
August 2014
Diamond Stone, All-Tournament Team member
15/08/2014
News
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Can Serbia or Spain stop a USA v Australia re-match?

DUBAI (FIBA U17 World Championship) - There are a number of questions ahead of Friday's Semi-Finals at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai.

Will there be a re-match between the USA and Australia? Can Serbia continue their magical run without their missing big man and knock the Americans off their throne? Do Australia get their shot at a title again or will Spain win in the Final Four this time around?

Fortunately, the wait to get answers to these questions won't be too long as these clashes get underway in just a few hours.

The USA have won all 21 games they've played to date at the U17 Worlds - which resulted in two titles and a berth in the semis in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). And USA coach Don Showalter doesn't plan on start losing now.

"Our guys are focused on the task at hand. We don't worry about the individual. They are playing as a team, and we have no problem dealing with the role as favourites," said the coach as he looked ahead to Friday's first Semi-Final to be played the Hamdan Sports Complex in the desert outside of Dubai.

The name of the game for the Americans is defense and getting out on the break for easy points - and lots of them. They are leading all teams in scoring at 108 points per game and have so many different weapons with seven players averaging in double figures.

Serbia have the task of trying to be the first team to defeat the Americans in the history of the FIBA U17 World Championship. They are into the last four for the first time after falling to Poland in the 2010 U17 Quarter-Finals in Hamburg, where they eventually finished fifth. The Serbs then failed to qualify for the 2012 event in Kaunas.

The game plan to knock off the USA would seem to be rebound well, do not turn the ball over and get back on defense.

For this match-up, Vanja Gusa's team definitely could have used power forward Milos Glisic, who broke his leg in the final practice before Dubai. But Serbia have to focus on what they have here. Point guard Stefan Peno cannot afford to repeat the eight turnovers he had in the Quarter-Final win over Canada and the Serbs desperately need Vosijslav Stojanovic to get out of his funk - hitting just 7 of 28 three-pointers (25 percent) in the tournament, including just 1 of 9 versus Canada.

Spain, meanwhile, have to find an answer to slow down Australia's big man Isaac Humphries, who has averaged 25.7 points, 15.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks over his last three games. And sharp-shooter Dejan Vasiljevic finally found his range in the Quarter-Final win over Puerto Rico with 21 points on five three-pointers after making just 3 of 14 from three-point range in the previous three games. Those are Australia's main two weapons which would have to be working to get the Aussies back to the title game.

Spain finished 10th in 2010 and then lost to United States in the Semi-Final two years ago in Lithuania and eventually finished fourth. The Iberians avoided the Americans' side of the bracket this time and will have to go through Australia to reach the Final.

Spain's two main stars, Santiago Yusta and Xabi Lopez-Arosteguj struggled in the Quarter-Final win over France, combining for just eight points. But Sergi Garcia stepped up big time with 20 points and coach Carlos Duran can be happy about Ramon Vila adding 15 points and Pablo Perez chipping in 12 points. But Spain will have a tough time getting past Australia if Yusta and Lopez-Arosteguj aren’t on their A game.

Both Semi-Finals can be seen live and free (registration required; no subscription necessary) on LiveBasketball.tv.

Meanwhile, in the Classification Games 5-8, China face Canada and Puerto Rico take on France.

In the Classification Games 9-16 at Al Shabab Arena, Italy take on Angola, followed by tournament hosts UAE facing Japan, Egypt go up against the Philippines and Greece have a clash with Argentina.

All Classification Games can be seen live on YouTube.com/FIBA

FIBA