29/06/2023

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U19 WC Power Rankings Volume 2: Who is now #1?

DEBRECEN (Hungary) - The second rest day is upon us in Debrecen at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 as we look forward to the Quarter-Finals. That also means updating the Power Rankings.

After doing Volume 1 of the Power Rankings just before the tournament, we looked at the teams' performances in the group stage and Round of 16 and re-shuffled the cards and ranked the teams - also with the brackets in mind. So, how does your team stack up? Let's check it out.

16. Lebanon (-2)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 39th

Karl Kozah

Setting a record for the fewest points in a U19 World Cup game was just too much. Kind of hard to see how Lebanon win a game the rest of the way.

15. Korea (+1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 29th

Yuhyeon Moon

The Asians really gave Turkey all they could handle but in the end their lack of size hurt them too much. But a great spirit within the team and great team effort.

14. Egypt (-1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 16th

Belal Elshakery

Belal Elshakery is certainly a nice player and someone Egypt fans can look forward in the future in the national team but they lack the scoring punch to really hurt a lot of teams.

13. Hungary (+2)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 62nd

Kornel Csuti

The hosts have been one of the surprises of the tournament - grabbing two wins to start the tournament with good fan support - but then they fell to Japan in the Round of 16. They face a tough test in Classification 9-16 but then very well could bounce back with two wins.

12. Madagascar (-1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 35th

Madagascar have really been a joy to watch with a quartet of really solid players, topped by Mathias M’Madi (will he finish the event as the top scorer?). While this has been a great debut showing for the island nation, the question is what comes after this for basketball back home.

11. Slovenia (-2)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 10th

Sergej Macura

Slovenia are probably disappointed about losing to Canada in the Round of 16 after controlling USA for about 35 minutes, but the Europeans are not a supremely-talented side. Not that they don’t have any prospects, but they miss the lack of strong depth.

10. China (+2)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 27th

Yang Hansen

China have been the hard luck losers of this tournament - facing Canada, France and Spain in the group stage and then taking on United States in the Round of 16. The country definitely has some players with a chance to reach the senior national team - led by big man Yang Hansen.

9. Brazil (-4)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 12th

Reynan Santos

Brazil waited too long - and were down by too much (20 points) - to come back against Argentina and now they are in Classification 9-16. The South Americans are clearly the best team in this side of the bracket, and now they just need to finish the job.

8. Japan (+2)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 31st

Yuto Kawashima

Japan made history by reaching the Quarter-Finals - the country’s best-ever result in the U19 World Cup. Still, despite having two really strong players in Yuto Kawashima and Akira Jacobs (read his story here), the team lacks guard play to really make noise in the top eight.

7. Argentina (+1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 18th

Argentina nearly melted down and lost their 20-point fourth quarter lead but they downed heated rivals Brazil to reach the Quarter-Finals. Dylan Bordon and Lee Aaliya (read his story here) have really stepped up in their last two wins but it’s hard to imagine Argentina stopping the Spain Express in the Quarters.

6. Canada (-)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 7th

Elijah Fisher

Canada dropped games to France and Spain in the group but took care of business in their games against China and Slovenia and are knocking on the door of a return to the Semi-Finals for the third time in four editions. Only Turkey stand in the way and Canada have shown they know how to use their great athleticism with Elijah Fisher, Michael Nwoko and Xaivian Lee having really carried the team.

5. Serbia (+2)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 6th

Lazar Djokovic

Serbia haven’t lost a game so far, including winning a thriller with Brazil by two points to take top honors in the group. Ilija Milijasevic has been outstanding running the show, but this is just a rock solid team that plays tough basketball and sticks together. The one question is if Serbia have the guy who can ultimately get scores late in the game against elite defense to get them to the podium. We will see against France.

4. Turkey (-1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 8th

Turkey drop a spot from 3 to 4 but that doesn’t mean they will leave Hungary empty-handed. Turkey just haven’t been convincing in any of their games - most notably really, really struggling against a far inferior Korea team. Berke Buyuktuncel has been inspirational with his leadership and the team is still highly talented. But minor doubts have emerged about the Turks.

3. France (+1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 3rd

Zaccharie Risacher

Turkey dropping a spot and France jumping one from 4 to 3 is more because of the latter’s performance - especially in the last two games. France did not look good against Spain in the group stage but then really put the clamps on Canada - 6 points in the third quarter - and Zaccharie Risacher, the top prospect before the start of the event, finally woke up a bit with 13 points in a demolition of Madagascar after totalling 17 points in the first three games. While Zacharie Perrin and Melvin Ajinca have carried the team, top level Risacher will be needed.

2. USA (-1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 1st

Mark Armstrong and Ian Jackson

USA are winning games by an average of 36.8 points, but not all is good for the two-time reigning champs. The Americans trailed Slovenia by 11 points in the fourth quarter before finally coming back to win and USA were down against China after 28 minutes before a strong finish. USA definitely have amazing talent (read Dylan Harper's feature here) but they lack cohesion on offense and have breakdowns on defense - which caused the drop from the top spot to No. 2. Tougher teams are licking their chops with the opportunity to take down the mighty USA.

1. Spain (+1)

FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike Boys: 2nd

Izan Almansa

Spain are the new number one as they have been steamrolling the competition and thoroughly impressed in their first two victories over Canada and France. The Spanish eventually turned it on against China and then crushed Lebanon in the Round of 16. Izan Almansa appears on a mission to beat USA in the Final after losing to them in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 title bout. He was the unofficial MVP of his group the Group Phase. But he has received loads of help - Baba Miller, Lucas Langarita, Rafael Villar and Sergio De Larrea just some of them. This team has been together for three years and really know how to play together and work hard on defense. Spain may finally win their second title after claiming the crown in 1999.

*Power rankings are entirely subjective and is in no way a true, accurate ranking system and any official FIBA Rankings. All comments are purely those of the author to entertain the fans.