A to Z of FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship 2017
NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen’s Women’s Basketball Worldwide) – The dust is settling on the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship 2017 and here's my A to Z of what unfolded in Matosinhos.
A is for All-Star Five of Agnes Studer (Hungary); Annamaria Prezelj (Slovenia); Maria Conde (Spain); Elizaveta Shabanova (Russia); and Maria Araujo (Spain).
B is for best Spanish team I have seen at youth level? Possibly. They looked completely unbeatable throughout and like a side that didn't doubt themselves for a second.
C is for champions and crown, which Spain retained again to secure a third-straight title and their sixth in seven editions. Remarkable.
D is for Digna Strautmane who I can't wait to see again at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup with Latvia. Such a nice player to watch.
E is for Eilat and Division B which ran concurrently and it was fun keeping an eye on that.
F is for full-court press, which so many teams [inexplicably] failed to handle.
G is for Germany who won Division B and got promoted with Slovak Republic and Croatia.
H is for hosts and as ever, Matosinhos and the Portuguese Basketball Federation continued to enhance its reputation as a fabulous host of FIBA youth events. Thanks for having us. The passion remains intense! So many people working hard behind the scenes!
I is for I agreed with the excellent All-Star Five, but my alternatives are Ornella Bankole, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi, Yulia Kozik, Zala Friskovec and Janis Ndiba.
J is for Jose Hernandez, Spain's veteran coach who just keeps putting silverware on the board and his players are lucky to benefit from his vast and priceless experience.
K is for killer blow that can be landed in the Round of 16 and can be seen as rendering the group stage irrelevant. I am still struggling with the format if I am honest.
L is for Latvia who I was disappointed with if I am honest [outside of the excellent Digna Strautmane].
SOMOS CAMPEONAS DE EUROPA! 🥇🥇🥇 pic.twitter.com/7fzGRpEIc8
— María Araújo (@Maria_Araujo8) July 17, 2017
M is for MVP, Maria Araujo who was so, so impressive. Not in a flashy way, but in how she quietly goes about her business and everything is done so beautifully simple and yet so effectively.
N is for Netherlands who I was pleased survived the relegation dogfight on the last weekend. They had a young team and I felt they were unfortunate to even be in that position.
O is for overtime and I am not sure I can recall a tournament with quite so many, which shows how competitive it was.
When you score 17 points & serve a tournament-high 12 assists in an OT epic to keep your nation in Div A. Ana Rodrigues. WOW #FIBAU20Europe pic.twitter.com/5xckcdxdT7
— Paul Nilsen (@basketmedia365) July 13, 2017
P is for Portugal who I had feared for because they had their top players missing and I thought it would be dreadful if the hosts dropped to Division B. But, they survived in dramatic circumstances in an absolute overtime epic against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Q is for quote of the tournament which I can't quite repeat on a family-orientated website. Suffice to say that Annamaria Prezelj of Slovenia looked me straight in the eye when I asked about Spain being favorites in the Final and told me Slovenia were "a [insert missing word here] serious team!” It spoke volumes about her belief, dedication and attitude.
R is for Russia who even with a 6-1 record, I still don't know how good they actually were as they took another bronze. They played so well without any real so-called star names and were relentless.
S is for Spain who I think I called 'The USA of Europe' because of their utter dominance.
T is for Turkey who got deservedly relegated after narrowly surviving last year by 2 points in their last game. This time they had the same 2-5 record but were sunk and it always feels an even bigger thing to happen when it is a women's Olympic basketball nation.
U is for unbeaten and only Spain managed that feat of course, which made it extra special.
V is for volunteers who do all the hard work behind the scenes and they are always among the best in Matosinhos.
W is for what happened to France? Blowouts on the first and last days, promised so much and ended up with nothing.
X is for 'X-factor' and the reason Slovenia were able to make history with a first-ever Final was down to head coach Damir Grgic. I don't believe any other play-caller knows his players quite as well. It showed.
Y is for yesteryear and great seeing past international players such as Hungarian legend Anna Vajda on the coaching staff of her country, Spanish legend Elisa Agular as part of the Spanish delegation and Lithuanian legend Jurgita Streimikyte-Virbickiene.
Z is for Zandalasini [Cecilia] who was so brilliant in 2016 and especially in the Final, I really missed her presence as this was a tournament where potentially no real superstars emerged.
Paul Nilsen
FIBA
FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.
FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.
