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By Simon Dresden
4/6/08
The 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament was for some reason depleted
of it's usual talent level from the past. The US team apparently
was affected by the McDonald's game taking place at the same time,
Russia only sent a second unit, and European powerhouses Lithuania
and Serbia didn't bother to show at all. Of the teams that attended,
most were missing their star players like Spain's Ricky Rubio who
had to bigger fish to fry with his pro team than dominating his
age group once again.
This development
made it difficult to follow the early rounds as it quickly became
apparent there was a great divide between the teams that had a real
chance to win it all and those who didn't. Four teams were destined
from the beginning to make a run at the crown. Those were Greece
and Turkey, who brought arguably their best squads. Australia, which
was not the most talented team out there, but due to the fact that
they live and train together in the AIS program, always presents
an in tune team that is tactically above any other here. And the
USA team, coached by former NBA star Lionel Hollins, that despite
not having the best personnel at hand, always brings a high level
of athletism to the table, that lets them stay in a game until the
very end, but usually misses out in the sync department, especially
in the early stages of the tournament.
Results
The real final
of this tournament in my view was the semi-final encounter between
Greece and Australia in which Greece edged out the Aussies in overtime
behind the outstanding performance of tourney MVP Nikolaos Pappas.
He was the difference maker scoring an eye popping 39 points and
10 boards, with 11 of those points coming in the clutch during overtime.
In the other
semi, Turkey won a close game against the US team due to a more
team-oriented scoring approach, as opposed to USA's one-man-isolation-style
approach in which Irving Walker went for 30 points but only two
other players scored in double figures. Turkey also won the rebounding
battle, edging the US team by 10.
On the final
day's third place game, Australia used a platoon approach to harass
Walker into only 10 points while being in charge of the game at
all times using superb execution to dissect whatever defense the
US was using. The ball seemed to be flowing through multiple hands
until somebody was free for an uncontested shot or a lay up that
caught most of the US players off guard, watching such a in sync
execution. The lone bright spot in this game for the US was Withey
who had 7 blocks, 8 rebounds and 16 points. Walker as usual flashed
his speed and lethal crossover only to run into the perfectly executed
defensive rotations by the Aussie squad that left him with no chance
for one of his trademark floaters. Australia was spearheaded by
floor general Dellavedova who had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists
while always coming up with the right pass or shot, and always being
in charge of every move his team had to execute. Australia was clearly
the second best team in this tournament.
The final was
prepared with hundreds of fans from both countries cheering on their
respective squads. Germany has large populations of Greek and Turkish
immigrants who love to support their national teams whenever it
is possible with songs, drums and cheers. The gym was packed for
this encounter with multiple fans being left out of the arena for
overfilling. The first quarter was an open affair as Greece was
powered by MVP Pappas' intelligence in playmaking and Turkey living
off Mahmutelus three point prowess. In the second quarter, the Greek
team took over, outscoring Turkey 30:14, especially on the defensive
side, allowing the Turkish team only one shot per possession while
containing Mahmutelu. Pappas was all over the court, always in the
right position for the deciding steal, rebound, assist or score.
It is amazing to see a player with his kind of athletic shortcomings
dominate a game with pure intelligence, always being one or two
steps ahead of everyone else on the court. The game seemed to be
over but the Turkish team, supported by a raucous fan base was not
about to give in. It took Greece 5 minutes to get their first points
of the second half and Turkey used their superb frontcourt of Kanter
and Kilicli better to get Greece into trouble. Pappas and Jankovic
had to take trips to the bench with foul trouble and point by point
the lead melted until it was only four. Unfortunately Turkey was
not able to convert on two consecutive possessions and then it was
Pappas who took his team on his back willing his team to the title,
be it by scoring himself, setting teammates up or even coming up
with the important loose balls. He finished with 16 points, 9 board
and 6 dimes in the end.
All
Tournament Team:
PG Irving Walker
USA
One has to make a choice between US PG Irving Walker a speed power
sparkplug, who is listed 510 but that is a little questionable.
and Aussie PG Dellavedova who is by far the best floor leader. Walker
is small but compact, blessed with outstanding speed and the ability
to change directions on a dime. He loves taking jumpers from three-point-land
and is solid in form and accuracy. He has an uncanny ability to
get into the lane and finish with all kind of floaters against even
the tallest players. And sometimes he even figures how to set up
his perimeter teammates for open threes, but this is not his focus
most of the time. He has ankle breaking crossovers and superb handles.
As we compare him here to other AST alumni he is a shorter version
of Kyle Lowry, now with the Grizzlies in the NBA, who played here
4 years ago, but their aggressive, driving styles of game are similar.
He is apparently committed to the University of Florida and that
is a good thing for him since the style of play there will suit
him. Australia's
Matthew Dellavedova is what one would call a true floor general.
He possesses good length, he seemed to be more in the 6-4 range
than the listed 6-2. He possesses a picture perfect stroke and the
ability to make his teammates better. He is an unselfish passer
without the tendency of getting to too fancy or playing risky. He
has solid handles and a knack for defending the opposing guard which
he does pretty solid using his length and good speed to his advantage.
If you want someone who can run a team, the Aussie is your choice
no doubt. If you want a player who can change and take over the
game on any given moment, Walker should be your man. We give the
edge here to Walker, because he was not surrounded by great teammates
and still carried the US team to the semis almost on pure will.
SG Nikolaos
Pappas Greece
For the SG Position, there is a clear cut choice: Nikolaos Pappas,
MVP of the tournament. He is not a SG in the truest sense of the
word, as for example Mahmutelu of Turkey, he's more of a Mr. Do
it all who comes up with whatever is needed at exactly the right
moment. He is not blessed with great size, as he is only 6'3. He
is not speedy or athletic. In fact he has nothing that you would
expect out of a MVP of the AST, but he makes up for it with a big
heart and an on court intelligence that was unmatched here and seldom
seen in youth competitions. He seemed to be 2-3 steps in front of
everyone else, always coming up with the decisive rebound, steal
or pass. Even though he is rather Earth-bound, he possessed the
ability to draw fouls seemingly at will or finishing smoothly even
when stuck in traffic. He led his team by example and more than
once was mentioned with Papaloukas, Bodiroga and other European
Stars that never challenged the NBA level because of their obvious
first sight physical shortcomings. There may be a little similarity
to Milan Macvan who dominated the U-19 Worlds last year with superior
court awareness and intelligence. Pappas proved here that he can
give a
team whatever is needed on any given moment, taking over games as
he did in the overtime semi against Australia or just being the
catalyst for his team to perform. He was without question the deserved
MVP here, being way ahead of any other player.
SF Alberto
Jodar Spain
The SF Position is a kind of toss up. There is no real frontrunner
who dominated to be a standout choice. Tomislav
Zubcic of Croatia has all the tools but can't seem to put
them together as he should be able to take over games at any point.
His shooting needs some work and he better not dare not to become
an inside player. Jodar of Spain who is a year younger than the
competition, excelled with a desire to play defense and a good combination
of athletism and shooting. As well as US youngster Travis Releford
who possesses the athletic profile to become a dominating slashing
wing down the road but needs serious improvement on his jumper to
fulfil his big promise. Because of being a year younger than his
counterparts and no clear frontrunner we should give this one to
Jodar who has more upside for development.
PF Denis Kilicli
The PF position clearly belongs to Denis Kilicli. The way he is
built, one has start wondering if he has a legitimate listed age.
His arms are chiseled as if he just came out of the weight room
and sometimes he seems to be overpowered by his own strength. He
thinks he is a shooter but he isn't, he solely lives off his athletic
abilities but possesses a nice touch to finish after contact. His
star will surely diminish as soon as the others catch up with him
in physical development, but here he had no peer. The only one who
deserves mention here in terms of NBA upside is Wally Judge of the
US team, who has all the tools that the prototypical NBA power forward
needs. He may need to grow another 2 inches as he is only 6-8 right
now but his frame is excellent, as is his athletism and he possesses
a little bit of everything in all the other departments. He wasn't
ready right now to rule this kind of competition, but after some
seasoning at Kansas State he should become a real prospect.
C Enes
Kanter Turkey
The center position without question goes to Enes Kanter. He is
3 years younger than all the others here and still was a dominating
factor, not only for his team Turkey but even when matched up against
all the other centers here. He was the run away favorite for the
Wildermuth award for the player with the most upside. He sure is
deserving. It was known commodity that Kanter was ruling in under
16 competitions due to his heavy and missive body, but that he was
able to keep it up against the under 18 competition, even at this
years watered down level was impressive. One saw no difference between
him and all the other players here and it is impressive to see him
bang with whoever was there and some people even raised some concern
about his listed age. Kanter has a childish face so we don't doubt
his age and would consider him more as a freak of nature kind of
player, that is extremely advanced in his body development. He has
a huge massive body that he puts to use in effective ways. If he
can turn his baby fat, into muscle he is truly worthy of keeping
on the radar for the big time. Right now he is only using his right
hand to score on post ups and he closely to never goes outside the
paint. He is smart on positioning and rebounding and sometimes even
explodes for a nasty dunk with an athletism that is somewhat hidden
in his body, and therefore stuns the crowd when he does it. Others
that deserve mentioning are Arizona bound Jeffrey Withey, besides
his 7 foot frame he has strong legs and a knack for shot blocking
as he proved in the semis against Australia as he rejected 7 shots
through perfect timing. He should be in a good environment in Arizona
for the next years and if he can fill out his frame properly, he
will get a shot at the NBA.
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