By Marian Reibert
7/21/07
Novi Sad, Serbia
FIBA World Championships Under 19: Quarterfinals
Official U19 World Championships Site
Quarterfinals
In the first game of the day Team USA took on fourth place finisher Argentina. From the start there was no doubt who was supposed to win the game. USA had the advantage in every aspect of the game opening the first
quarter with a 33:15 thrashing of Argentina from which they never recovered. Coach Wainwright let all his players see action as everyone who played 14+ minutes scoring in double figures ( 7 players). USA had a 48 : 29 rebound advantage because of their athleticism and won easily with Beverly having a good day shooting the ball for a game high 20 pts. 6 reb. and 4 ass. Morgan chipped in with 16 pts. and 7 reb.and it could have been worse if the US Team hadn’t taken their foot of the gas in the second half as Argentina managed to win the third quarter.
A convincing performance for team USA.
In the second game, top seed Australia faced underdog Brazil but they pulled of the improbable victory and shocking upset of undefeated Australia on a game winning buzzer beater by Caue 10 pts. . Australia started in strong fashion building a quick lead behind ten points by General Mills but Brazil fought back and in the second quarter Brazil used a scoring spree to take the lead from the Aussies who looked rattled for the first time in this tournament. They turned the ball over way too much and Brazil built their lead out to 12 points midway through the game. Tourney top scorer Ogilvy was not about to let his team fade away like that as he single handedly rallied Australia back into the game, scoring eight points in a row during the third quarter to bring Australia back within striking distance. When Australia finally took back the lead at the beginning of the last quarter it seemed as if they could somehow escape this game but Caue had other plans. With Brazil down four and less than two minutes to play, he absolutely took over the game. He scored until Brazil was up by one again. Ogilvy 22pts. 6 reb. 3 bl. scored for Australia to bring the lead back to one for his squad with seconds to go. Caue then capped his superb performance with a wild drive inside the lane only to finish a floater as time expired which rolled in knocking Australia out of the Tournament.
Serbia had no problem finishing off Turkey in a game that was never in real danger. Serbia used their front court experience, outside shooting and some grueling defense to hound the Turkish players all over the court. Seven players scored in double digits and Serbia had a whopping 44:19 rebound advantage. Keselj sat out the game with an arm injury that makes his future for this tournament questionable. Serbia seems to have built up steam at the right time, heading into the semis, playing better and better basketball the longer the tournament lasts.
France took out Spain in the final game behind strong performances by Diot and Moermann. After a see saw first quarter that saw lots of lead changes, Spain took a small lead into the break. Diot 27 pts. 7.reb. 7 ass. and Moermann 24 pts. 9 reb. then made a statement and paced France back in front, building a comfortable lead through the two middle quarters. France used their experience to control the game throughout and answered everything that Spain tried to come back into it. Batum 11pts. 6
reb. 7 ass. again was versatile but not dominating. He is still primed for a scoring outburst worth his talent. Forcada led the game with 28 pts. including six threes, but he and Claver 17 pts. 9. reb 6 ass. 4 steals who again showed his great body control and versatility never got enough support from their teammates.
Serbia will now face Brazil in the one semi, while there is a rematch between France with Team USA in the other which is exciting considering the close games the teams had in the qualifying round.
