U17 Basketball World Championship 2012: Team USA Will Easily Win Gold in Final

Team USA winning the gold medal at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship is guaranteed to happen.

You can book it.

Team USA will easily defeat Australia to remain undefeated at the U17 World Championship.

Australia has been an up-and-coming country for young basketball stars. They have tremendous talent mixed with solid fundamentals. Saint Mary's and other schools along the West Coast love to recruit Australian kids because of their basketball skill level and IQ.

Despite USA going undefeated at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship, Australia was the only team to somewhat threaten the Americans. 

In the Group A opener, Team USA used a 19-1 third quarter run to blow the Australians away. When the final buzzer went off the deficit was a 22-point victory. 

Team USA used constant defensive pressure, enough pressure to force turnovers, speed up the Australians and both led to transition opportunities.

For Australia to even compete with the Americans, they must be able to knock down the jump shot. If they can create solid looks and finish successfully, they have a chance to at least compete.

Won't happen, though.

Team USA has proved to be the dominating country in basketball, but this is especially the case at the U17 level. Their undefeated record tells the whole story.

Prediction

Jahlil Okafor will lead Team USA to an easy victory. Nobody can defend his scoring ability, his rebounding ability and his overall game. Okafor leads Team USA in scoring and rebounding including grabbing 30 offensive rebounds this tournament.

Conner Frankamp has shot 40 percent from beyond the three-point line. He'll continue to soften up the defense for slashers with his ability to shoot from outside. He's averaging 13 points per game.

Okafor and Frankamp will push the Americans to a comfortable 85-65 victory.