FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022

[coutournant]

FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 will begin tomorrow, and as usual US are undisputed favourite of the competition.
However Spain and France could pose some problems for them.
2005 generation for France may be the deepest ever, some major prospect are not selected because of the depth of this generation. For example the combo-forward Tidjane Salaun, who impressed at the BWB and is on the NBA radar for sure.
Forwards Risacher, Diawara, Penda are ahead of him in this selection. Ilan Pietrus (nephew of Mike), Alexandre Sarr (brother of Olivier) and Malwaya are legit NBA prospects too, and some others are not in the radar yet but to draw some interest in the future (Fibleuil, Logue, Lamart, Jacques) given their high physical profile.

Here is the website of the competition : https://www.fiba.basketball/world/u17/2022

A presentation of the best prospects :

https://www.fiba.basketball/world/u17/2022/news/20-players-to-watch-for-fiba-u17-basketball-world-cup-2022-volume-1

https://www.fiba.basketball/world/u17/2022/news/20-players-to-watch-for-fiba-u17-basketball-world-cup-2022-volume-2

[GimmeDat]

This is a weaker Australian generation but 7'1 Rocco Zikarsky is very interesting.

Really looking forward to seeing guys like Sarr, Malwaya, the Spanish kid (having a blank on the name right now) etc

[remi_222]

**** start of the game for France vs Serbia, by pressured them so much on defense, provoking mistakes, once again France won via the raw talent, but team chemistry isnt really present, the game plan isnt very clear, too many 1 on 1 sequences

[UcanUwill]

Any interesting players? After watching Spain-Lithuania game, I can tell none on those teams, brutal game.

[bravor]

Pitts was impressive physically for Canada, even though his decision making and qi basket seems bad. But he has some good defensive instincts and positionning. And he is a beast in transition.
The canadian pg (dont check for fat stats, it doe snot necessary show) okojie was pretty nice too (few mistakes in a team that goes 1 on 1 quite often as usual with canadian teams).
they also have another long scoring wing (or sg) with good touch (nitu). Though the passing game from canada is too limited to have a legit opinion of his level (he scored part of his points in transition).

Rioux otoh (the giant) looks really clumsy despite having good hands.
Lots of depth, some interesting wings with good touch (but very thin, hard to guess the ones who can fill up for me, i am not a scout).

For the kiwis, cant really speak of anybody since they gave up really early. Bad body language for most of them

France-Serbia was interesting for the scenario since Serbia litteraly walked on France during 1st 1/4. But the french team dominated after wards.
Penda and Pietrus were the most impressive in their leadership/decision making and efficiency. Even though Pietrus started slow like Risacher.
Malwaya and penda were rotations.
Hard to say which serbian player really showed up. Their center was dominating inside in the 1st 1/4 (mikic) but he was very clumsy at the line and overall he kinda disappeared through the game. I liked the agressivity of the pg (or sg i think it was stankovic) but that's about it since a bit like new zealand, they seemed to have given up after the 2nd 1/4. They had 18 turnovers, thats pretty unusual for a serbian team (even with the youth) and they were missing key players.

France canada will be interesting since canadian have apparently a strong zone defense and very good defensive rebounders. French guards gonna have to show more ceativity and players like Risacher (if he starts) will have to play more agressively.


I did not watch other games. Anyway its just the begnning, some players are obviously rusty. It iwll be interesting to see who are ones who are consistently producing or increasing their level in the elimination rounds.

[remi_222]

Well, France team spirit has destroyed Canada. Everybody scored and Canada looked like they sent the U14 team

[juanc]

Well, France team spirit has destroyed Canada. Everybody scored and Canada looked like they sent the U14 team

If France continues to play such defense, they are the #1 favourite to win it all... Great 1 on 1 defenders who also play great team defense - the recipe for success.

Can't wait for my Slovenia to get that USA beating

[bravor]

Australia and Lithuania (but they dont defend, at least for the current game and despite the score) have nice teams too

I dont think there is a clear favorite (and yes, not even the US). Curious to see dragic 2.0

[LewisnotMiller]

This is a weaker Australian generation but 7'1 Rocco Zikarsky is very interesting.

Really looking forward to seeing guys like Sarr, Malwaya, the Spanish kid (having a blank on the name right now) etc

Yep, agree that Zikarsky is the only really interesting Aussie at this point in terms of NBA futures.
I find it hard evaluating really young really bigs. So rare for them to matchup with kids who have similar size and skills, so not overreacting to things gets tricky. He looks better to me than Anstey did as a junior...?!

[The Moose]

Zikarsky seems to have some stamina issues, looks absolutely exhausted a lot of the times

[GimmeDat]

This is a weaker Australian generation but 7'1 Rocco Zikarsky is very interesting.

Really looking forward to seeing guys like Sarr, Malwaya, the Spanish kid (having a blank on the name right now) etc

Yep, agree that Zikarsky is the only really interesting Aussie at this point in terms of NBA futures.
I find it hard evaluating really young really bigs. So rare for them to matchup with kids who have similar size and skills, so not overreacting to things gets tricky. He looks better to me than Anstey did as a junior...?!

I'm too young to make the Anstey comparison haha, but I imagine Anstey was shooting it better at that age, Rocco's struggling even with his FT's right now, though he's obviously more dominant physically.

Trend wise, we know 7 foot+ guys are not breaking into the NBA as a rule of thumb right now, so it'll be interesting to see what he becomes. I've been told he's further along than Kai Sotto was at the same age, which is a good archetypical comparison. He moves reasonably for his size, loves dunking everything, great instincts as a shot blocker, but we're going to have to see a lot of skill-set development over the next few years.

[LewisnotMiller]

This is a weaker Australian generation but 7'1 Rocco Zikarsky is very interesting.

Really looking forward to seeing guys like Sarr, Malwaya, the Spanish kid (having a blank on the name right now) etc

Yep, agree that Zikarsky is the only really interesting Aussie at this point in terms of NBA futures.
I find it hard evaluating really young really bigs. So rare for them to matchup with kids who have similar size and skills, so not overreacting to things gets tricky. He looks better to me than Anstey did as a junior...?!

I'm too young to make the Anstey comparison haha, but I imagine Anstey was shooting it better at that age, Rocco's struggling even with his FT's right now, though he's obviously more dominant physically.

Trend wise, we know 7 foot+ guys are not breaking into the NBA as a rule of thumb right now, so it'll be interesting to see what he becomes. I've been told he's further along than Kai Sotto was at the same age, which is a good archetypical comparison. He moves reasonably for his size, loves dunking everything, great instincts as a shot blocker, but we're going to have to see a lot of skill-set development over the next few years.

I watched Anstey and Sam McKinnon play for Vic Metro against WA but I'm struggling to remember their age at the time. I'm pretty sure it was U18. It was at Mill Park Stadium, of all places...lol
Might have been about 1994, roughly.

McKinnon dominated physically, dude was a level above. Chase down blocks, etc.
There was hype about Anstey at that point, and he moved well for a very long guy, but he didn't really look for his jumper, and he had very limited post game. He'd catch and roll left, from memory, but his length meant it was hard for the opposition to stop anyway. I remember thinking he looked raw, but that McKinnon was a sneaky shot to go NBA.

So, that was the end of my scouting delusions...lol

[Ferulci]

Who are the most interesting prospect for France?
Just saw them crush Japan and Ilane Fibleuil looks impressive with his athleticism, finishing ability and step back 3pt.
And you know you're getting old when some of you see the sons of your favorite players (Risacher, Pietrus)

[coutournant]

Who are the most interesting prospect for France?
Just saw them crush Japan and Ilane Fibleuil looks impressive with his athleticism, finishing ability and step back 3pt.
And you know you're getting old when some of you see the sons of your favorite players (Risacher, Pietrus)

Hard to say who is the most promising.
I would say Alexandre Sarr in an NBA perspective, and Noah Penda in an Euroleague perspective. And Risacher in a French NT perspective
Pietrus, Dadiet, Malwaya are major prospects too, Fibleuil is a sleeper, he was known as a bouncy guard but nobody expected anything from him in scoring.
Some others are huge projects like Diawara or Logue, or Salaun who is not in this selection. He was a great shooting wing, and had a late growth spurt, he is an athletic 6'9 combo forward now with shooting, and impressed a lot in French espoirs and in BWB.
We never saw a generation that deep in France at this age

[remi_222]

and we can tell the staff is also way more competitive than before, understanding better the players ! Very first time i see an U17 french NT playing this well ! very promising

[sisibilio]

Cooper Flagg can do it all. And he's still 15

[reanimator]

Very impressive games from 2025 class Koa Peat and Cooper Flagg

[reanimator]

Flagg sheesh

[lambchop]

It still amazes me how big the gap is when it comes to ball handling. Once the US started pressuring the Spanish players for real they struggled getting the ball across half court. It happens at all levels even when the men's team plays, unless the opposing team has NBA guards.

[Apz]

Who won?