2014 FIBA U17 World Championships: Dates, Schedule, Groups, Teams and More
As the world's best professional players from across the globe prepare to represent their country in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the future members of the elite class are preparing for an international competition of their own.
Friday marks the beginning of this year's FIBA U17 World Championships in Dubai, the third iteration of this particular tournament. Because the event is held only every two years, there is something of a luck-of-the-draw feeling when it comes to assessing the results. The rapidity with which kids that age grow and develop can make all the difference when a talented 15-year-old has to go up against equally talented players one or two years his senior.
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Nevertheless, the first two iterations have gone how most stateside would expect. With complete domination from the United States. The U.S. holds an undefeated 16-0 record through the first two U17 World Championships, with wins regularly coming well into the double digits. Their two gold-medal wins have come by a combined 64 points.
Wizards guard Bradley Beal won MVP honors four years ago, while Duke commit Jahlil Okafor dominated in Lithuania to earn his own individual trophy. Equipped with high-profile prep stars like Malik Newman, Diamond Stone and Ivan Rabb, the United States are favorites for a three-peat.
But as basketball becomes more of an international game, the talent gap closes with each generation. With that in mind, let's take a complete look at the field heading to Dubai and preview what to expect over the next couple weeks.
2014 FIBA U17 World Championships Information
Dates: Aug. 8-16
Location: Al Ahli Arena, Al Wasl Arena and Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Television: ESPN's family of networks will have coverage of Team USA games.
Groups
| Angola | Puerto Rico |
| Greece | United Arab Emirates |
| United States | Italy |
| Philippines | Spain |
| Japan | Argentina |
| France | Serbia |
| Canada | China |
| Australia | Egypt |
Schedule
| Aug. 8 | 3:45 p.m. | Angola vs. Philippines | |
| Aug. 8 | 9 p.m. | Greece vs. United States | |
| Aug. 9 | 4:30 p.m. | United States vs. Angola | |
| Aug. 9 | 6:45 p.m. | Philippines vs. Greece | |
| Aug. 11 | 4:30 p.m. | Angola vs. Greece | |
| Aug. 11 | 6:45 p.m. | United States vs. Philippines | |
| Aug. 8 | 1:30 p.m. | Japan vs. Australia | |
| Aug. 8 | 6:45 p.m. | France vs. Canada | |
| Aug. 9 | 2:15 p.m. | Canada vs. Japan | |
| Aug. 9 | 4:30 p.m. | Australia vs. France | |
| Aug. 11 | 2:15 p.m. | Japan vs. France | |
| Aug. 11 | 4:30 p.m. | Canada vs. Australia | |
| Aug. 8 | 1:30 p.m. | Puerto Rico vs. Spain | |
| Aug. 8 | 6:45 p.m. | United Arab Emirates vs. Italy | |
| Aug. 9 | 2:15 p.m. | Italy vs. Puerto Rico | |
| Aug. 9 | 9 p.m. | Spain vs. United Arab Emirates | |
| Aug. 11 | 6:45 p.m. | Italy vs. Spain | |
| Aug. 11 | 9 p.m. | Puerto Rico vs. United Arab Emirates | |
| Aug. 8 | 3:45 p.m. | Serbia vs. China | |
| Aug. 8 | 9 p.m. | Argentina vs. Egypt | |
| Aug. 9 | 6:45 p.m. | Egypt vs. Serbia | |
| Aug. 9 | 9 p.m. | Argentina vs. China | |
| Aug. 11 | 2:15 p.m. | China vs. Egypt | |
| Aug. 11 | 9 p.m. | Argentina vs. Serbia |
2014 FIBA U17 World Championships
Youth basketball in the United States is a religion. Kids who start in playgrounds or in their parents' backyard are no longer the success stories. Talents are found early, coddled and thrown into high-level competition as soon as they can tie their shoes properly. The divisions for AAU basketball begin at "8 and under."
We highlight this for one reason: The structure is critical to the United States' dominance of international competition. Other countries are beginning to develop similarly styled programs, but it takes a ton of cash and generations worth of repetition to replicate the U.S. youth program.
By the time the Rabbs and Newmans head to Dubai, they're nationally known commodities. Philippines captain Michael Joseph Nieto has been afforded nowhere near the same amount of structure and guidance. The same can be said for a majority of other countries taking the trip to Dubai, each of which are getting a first-hand lesson in how to run a youth basketball program.
Non-U.S. countries hitch their wagon to transcendent young talents. In 2010, Przemek Karnowski and Mateusz Ponitka gave Poland as many all-tournament team members as the United States. In 2012, scouts from across the world got their first startling glimpse of Dante Exum, a brilliant athlete who helped carry Australia to the gold-medal game.
Exum, as you know, was the fifth overall pick in this June's draft. Ponitka is DraftExpress' top international recruit born in 1993. Karnowski averaged 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds last season at Gonzaga. With a little improvement, he could latch onto an NBA roster when his career ends.
These events are the best possible showcases for burgeoning international talent. Scouts from around the basketball world will travel to Dubai, mostly to see the Team USA guys get their feet wet in international competition. But it'll be the couple international guys who stand out that wind up getting the most out of the experience.
France's Stephane Gombauld, Italy's Davide Moretti and Canada's Jamal Murray are among the many players who might excel in the environment. Murray, in particular, has the potential to stake his claim among recent Canadian greats like Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. The Class of 2016 point guard is considered the 55th-best player in the nation.
Jolo Mendoza of the Philippines will also be fun to watch.
That said, we're highlighting individual players for a reason. What is that reason, you ask? Well, I'll tell you: It's because the United States is demonstrably better than any other team in this tournament. From top to bottom, Don Showalter has another juggernaut roster that frankly shouldn't come close to losing a single game.
Showalter told FIBA when making his cut to the final 12:
"We couldn't really make a wrong decision. Whoever would have been picked would have been the right decision. It just boiled down to filling in some gaps as far as who could play well together and who's going to be specialty people for us. That's what it kind of boiled down to.
"
The five players cut by Showalter could have started for most, if not all, of the United States' competition in Dubai. With athletes like Newman, Rabb and Josh Jackson, the United States can just out-athlete most of these teams. Showalter will look to end games early with a series of presses and aggressive defense to give his team opportunities in transition.
Newman in particular dominated at last year's U16 competition. We'll likely see more of the same this time around, just on a bigger stage.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
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