Santiago Vaulet was the leading scorer on Day Four of the 2016 Albert Schweitzer with 32 points.

Santiago Vaulet was the leading scorer on Day Four of the 2016 Albert Schweitzer with 32 points.

 

The rest day is over and it’s back to the gym for Day Four of the 2016 Albert Schweitzer Tournament. The day will start in Viernheim for some Wolhfühloase feelings in the first two games and then get a ride over to Mannheim for the Serbia-Germany clash for first place.

France blast China 85-53

France showed why they are the European champions at the 1998 generation with a strong second half – turning a six-point lead at the break into a real blowout to remain perfect at 4-0 in Group B.

This is a really strong France group with an excellent and strong Abdoulaye Ndoye running the show – 13 points, three rebounds, four assists (zero turnovers in 22 minutes) and three steals. Ndoye does a lot of really nice things with this team and man he will be an amazing backup point guard to Frank Ntilikina at the U18 European Championship.

Adam Mokoka (who I missed on Day Two because he was out with an injury) was also very good with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Mokoka is physically a load to handle and can really do a lot of things as well.

The long wiry Quentin Goulmy got down and dirty in the blocks with seven rebounds to go with his 12 points.

For some reason I’m having a hard time getting a real read on Jaylen Hoard, who collected 13 points and three rebounds in 22 minutes.

And Bathiste Tchouaffe is really struggling with his shot – hitting just 2-of-11 for 11 points. He named 2-of-6 three-pointers and improved (!) his three-point shooting percentage to 25 percent for the tournament (6-24).

China meanwhile were beaten up inside to the tune of 51 rebounds to 33 while the Asian powers hit just 2-of-15 three-pointers (13 percent).

Big man Zhu Rongzhen once again struggled with foul trouble, playing just 17 minutes and picking up four fouls. He scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds but the 1999-born center is going to have to learn to defend differently.

Huang Rongqi scored a team-high 14 points but needed 16 shots – with four makes – to get those points. The versatile wing did pick up five rebounds and four assists as well.

But nothing really worked for the Chinese.

Bai Haotian could not deal with the length and athleticism of the French, taking just five shots in scoring eight points to go with three assists and two steals.

And the diminutive point guard Xu Jie fouled out in 22 minutes with five points, zero assists and 0-of-3 from long range.

 

Japan hold off Argentina 76-71

Japan used a big third quarter of 33-10 to pick up their first win at the 2016 AST  by knocking off Argentina.

Yudai Nishida once again was on fire from long range in hitting 5-of-9 treys in scoring 21 points while Yuki Mikami also was 5-of-9 from long range in hitting 23 points.

Rei Ito tallied 11 points as he hit 7-of-10 free throws and Avi Schefer continues to get better and better with experience, collecting eight points, seven rebounds (five offensive), one steal and one block in 30 minutes of play, without picking up a single foul.

Argentina lived and died with Santiago Vaulet, who made 13-of-22 shots for 32 points to go with five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. The next best player for Argentina was 1999 born point guard Lautaro Lopez, who picked up eight points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block.

But it was not enough for the South Americans.

 

Italy race away from Egypt 75-41

Italy held Egypt to just two points in the third quarter (27-2) in running away with a victory to keep them undefeated and set up a showdown of perfect teams against France.

Italy led by just four points at the half but then picked apart the young Egyptians, who turned the ball over 24 times and hit just 2-of-15 three-pointers (13 percent) and shot just 27 percent for the game.

Italy were just a balanced team with seven players taking between six and nine shots. All 11 Italians who played scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound.

Lorenzo Bucarelli and Isacco Lovisotto both had 11 points while Lorenzo Penna had 10 points and five assists as he continues his superb tournament. And Alessandro Pajola collected four points, three rebounds, two assists and five steals.

Mohamed Ramadan paced Egypt with 11 points while Hassan Elkhouga and Tarek Raafat showed flashes as well as Aly Elraei. The 1998 leaders Omar Farag and Seifeldin Elsanadily struggled with their shots, combining to his 5-of-22 shots and 0-of-4 free throws.

 

Australia take down Turkey 78-74 in overtime

Looks like I missed a pretty exciting second game in Mannheim as Australia picked up their second win in overtime over Turkey.

Isaac White showed his outside shooting prowess with 4-of-7 three-pointers in scoring 25 points while Jacob Rigoni had 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Will Magnay returned from an injury to score 12 points with eight rebounds while Matthew Kenyon collected 14 points, eight rebounds and nine fouls drawn.

Turkey were led by Ömer Al, who had 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in his return after missing Day Three to be with the Besiktas professional team.

Görkem Dogan had another solid game in the post with 13 points, seven rebounds and seven fouls drawn while Berk Kar scored 12 points.

Ahmet Can Duran continues to struggle from the field with just 3-of-11 in scoring seven points to go with seven rebounds. Duran is shooting just 29 percent for the AST (12-of-41 FGs).

And Onuralp Bitim played just 18 minutes in scoring seven points on 3-of-11 shots with two rebounds, two steals and one block.

 

Greece cruise past USA 84-69

Greece won their second game of the AST by racing past the Americans, taking the first quarter 28-7.

Michail Lountzis had by far his best of the tournament thus far with 19 points including 4-of-7 three-pointers, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. And Dimitris Moraitis collected 19 points, six rebound and seven assists.

Greece made 11-of-24 three-pointers (46 percent) while the Americans missed all (!) 12 of their three-balls.

Quinton Rose did collect 21 points, three assists, six steals and eight fouls drawn while Savion Flagg added 16 points and Dylan Painter chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.

 

Germany impressive in beating Serbia 80-67

I got a lift from Viernheim after the Italy-Egypt game to arrive just in time to see Serbia vs Germany – in a game which will decide first place in Group A.

And Germany were strong from the get-go. Kostja Mushidi played a great game throughout with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals – though he was a bit of his careless self with five turnovers.

The diminutive Bennet Hundt did a good job all game having an influence with six points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Ferdinand Zylka played big all game with 16 points and nine rebounds while Louis Olinde used his active play to put together 10 points and Oscar Leon da Silva added eight rebounds and three blocks.

But the player of the game was Richard Freudenberg, who was all over the place with 16 points (on a mediocre 6-of-15 shots) and 10 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double to go along with two steals, one block and six fouls drawn.

Scouts were busy writing in their notebooks as Freudenberg took Borisa Simanic off the dribble and beat him to the rim for a layup. Freudenberg was also full of emotion the entire game – a really fiery leader. He also lost some blood as Andrija Marjanovic nailed Freudenberg’s nose along the sideline, requiring quite a bit of attention from the German medical staff.

Serbia meanwhile still haven’t figured things out and came out without a lot of emotion – save for Aleksa Radanov, who is having a fantastic AST.

Radanov’s numbers were great (eight points, zero rebounds, two assists, two turnover and one steal) but he is really elevating his all-around game – including his leadership.

Milos Glisic once again was his usual foul-drawing self inside with 14 points on 5-of-14 shots with eight fouls drawn.

Marjanovic picked up 10 points and Borisa Simanic only had four points, eight rebounds and one assist.

Stefan Djordjevic really had a unusual performance for him with four points on 2-of-6 shots and three turnovers though he did grab seven rebounds. Djordjevic had missed only four shots in the first three games (13-17) and committed just one turnover.

Looking away from the stats, this was a really strange game for the Serbs. Coach Milan Gurovic pulled his starters with more than six minutes left and the team down 11 points. And none of the players really cheered for the reserves on the floor – though Marjanovic and Aleksa Uskokovic did a bit and a couple of hand claps from Glisic.

And then Gurovic decided to re-insert his main guys – Radanov, Simanic, Majanovic, Novak Music and Glisic – with 1:23 minutes left and Germany up 75-65. Simanic was laughing after the coach gave his orders.

We’re still far from the 2016 FIBA U18 European Championship. But Serbia definitely seem to have a lot of work to do.

 

Top guys so far

Okay, so during the Serbia-Germany game I thought I should put together a list of my favorite guys through four days. And this is what I came up with.

The top five guys – without position and not in order: Richard Freudenberg, Aleska Radanov, Matthew Kenyon, Santiago Vaulet and Kostja Mushidi.

Other guys working to get into the top five are Adam Mokoka, Milos Glisic, Zhu Rongzhen, Yudai Nishida, Lorenzo Penna, Davide Moretti, Abdoulaye Ndoye.

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