Highs and lows of basketball – observations from youth European basketball

It is the end of another busy summer of sport – and basketball in particular – worldwide with plenty of competitions for fans to enjoy. And the basketball youth categories made no exception – especially in Europe. Re-named Youth EuroBasket by FIBA, all competitions from Division A and Division B (men and women) provided excitement and good quality basketball across all age groups: U20, U18 and U16. With Finland getting their first-ever title after winning U16 Women Division A; French and Spanish teams continuing their domination at the youth level; three Czech teams re-gaining promotion to Division A together with three Romanian teams – all of these are just some of the highlights of an eventful summer of basketball. This article will present some observations primarily from the women’s game, observations focused on 5 major takeaways:

  1. Finland U16 Women’s first title ever in Division A

With 7 wins from 7 games Finland U16 women conquered the Division A title at the end of a final against a strong French team which gave the MVP of the competition (Kathy-Emma Otto). Finland’s dominant display was based on three key players scoring in double digits throughout the tournament: Anna Gardziella with 11.1 points per game (in 30.5 minutes spent on the floor); Jessi Nenonen with 11.1 points per game (in 26.9 minutes); and Aino Koskela with 10.4 points per game (while playing 24 minutes). Finland winning the gold might not come as a surprise because one year ago (in 2023 in Izmir / Turkey) they lost the bronze medal final by one point only (59-58 to Italy) in the same age group competition!

  1. Promotion for Czechia in three age group categories

There is a chance for the Czechia U16 women’s team to meet and play against Finland in the summer of 2025 after the Czech got the silver medal this summer in Konya (Turkey) and got promoted to Division A. An impressive double-double with 17 points and 22 rebounds from Barbora Vyhlidova was not enough to stop Romania from winning the gold-medal final of the competition.

Interestingly, next year the U16 Czechs will be joined on the top stage (read Division A) by their U18 counterparts who managed to get silver at the beginning of this August in Ploiesti (Romania). 5 points only separated the U18 Czechs from Montenegro, a team that went unbeaten (7-0) and also provided the MVP of the competition in the person of their guard Jelena Bulajic (21.1 points per game with 30% from 3 points territory; in 34.7 minutes per game). The Czech Emilie Brzonova joined the All-Starr Five of the tournament with 13.8 points per game, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists after playing an average of 27 minutes.

The U20 Czechs did not want to stay in Division B and they made sure they played in the spotlights next summer after reaching the podium and getting the bronze as a consequence of their win against Island 77-52 in Sofia (Bulgaria). Emma Cechova made the All-Star Five of the tournament (9.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game).

  1. Two golds and one silver (and three teams promoted to Division A) for Romania

Czechia’s performance of getting three teams promoted to Division A was matched by Romania’s youth teams who achieved three promotions after their U20 and U16 men got gold and silver respectively, while their U16 women captured gold!

Romania also provided two MVPs this summer: Dragos Lungu for the U20 Men team (after scoring 16.3 points and grabbing 7.9 rebounds in 25.5 minutes on the court) and Ioanna-Vanessa Velcea for the U16 women (with equally impressive numbers: 17.6 points and 4.3 assists per game in 34 minutes spent on court). It is also worth mentioning two more players: the 2006-born Denis Badalau who joined the All-Star Five at FIBA U20 EuroBasket Division B in Pitesti (Romania) with his 15.9 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 26 minutes and with a remarkable 45% shooting from behind the 3 points line! And also David-Ioan Rasoga – the U16 up-and-coming star who made it to the All-Star Five after scoring 20.9 points per game and after dishing out 5.6 assists – the best scorer and the leader in assists at the U16 tournament in Skopje (Macedonia)!

  1. Great Britain U16 women get promotion

Athena Thompson, who scored 22.6 points per game in 29.6 minutes (together with 5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game), made it to the All-Star Five and contributed significantly towards Great Britain’s obtaining the bronze medal in a comfortable win in the 3rd-4th place final against the home nation team in Konya (Turkey): 84-62! An incredible 26-3 first quarter was enough for Great Britain to create a comfortable lead which they did not lose until the end of the game! The bronze medal secured them promotion to Division A!

  1. Upsets: Finland, Turkey, Croatia amongst others

While Finland U16 women got gold, Finland U18 men got relegated despite playing in front of home crowds in Tampere. Similarly, Turkey could not take advantage of the home court in the U16 women’s competition and lost the bronze medal final (the last spot that meant promotion) at the expense of Great Britain! Croatian basketball had to deal with three relegations after their U16 men, U18 men and U18 women all finished in the bottom three spots in their respective divisions!

One thing is for sure – basketball across Europe has a bright future for sure and we will see most of these youngsters playing in major leagues around the world in the coming years – some of them already do this!

Alex RADU

Alex Radu is a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching Basketball at the University of Worcester (England/UK). He has coached various teams at different levels of the game at both club and national team levels, including Cardiff Archers (Associate Head Coach – in WBBL/Women Basketball League, UK); Worcester Wolves (Assistant Coach – in BBL /British Basketball League, UK); Romania U20 Women National Team (Assistant Coach) and Romania U18 Women National Team (Assistant Coach – at European Championship Division B); Wales U20 Men National Team (Head Coach) and Wales Senior Men National Team (Assistant Coach – at European Championship for Small Countries); Romania Women National Team (Assistant Coach – at Women Eurobasket 2015).

Photo credit: Alex RADU

Loading...