REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) – The Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) announced the preliminary rosters for the country’s national teams this summer – all in a fancy 74-page PDF. And looking at the breakdown of the men’s youth teams, it will not be a surprise if the U18 team performs better at the European Championship than the squad playing at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Suppose first you need to know the rosters of the two teams. First off, let’s note that six players are listed on both squads – Sergi Garcia, Xabi Lopez, Pablo Perez, Samuel Rodriguez, Jaume Sorolla and Ramon Vila, all born in 1997.

So, around that sextet on the U19 team will be Francisco Alonso, Marc Bauza, Jacobo Diaz, Diego Gallardo, Marc Garcia, Jose Alberto Jimenez, Xabi Oroz and Yankuba Sima.

And the U18 group is surrounded by Oscar Amo, Jonathan Barreiro, Marc Marti, Alex Mazaira, Victor Moreno, Andres Rico, Eric Vila and Santi Yusta.

That 1997-born sextet is a very strong group of players – they all played roles in Spain finishing fourth at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship. And should they play at both tournaments this summer – both taking place in Greece – then Spain will likely go far in both.

But the team set-ups and the draws of the competitions begs one to think Spain will do better at the U18 Euros.

Please do not understand this column wrong. I am not rooting for one Spanish team to do better than another. I am just breaking down the two teams and their chances this summer.

The main thing that puzzles me is why the Real Madrid trio of Andres Rico, Santi Yusta and Jonathan Barreiro were not chosen for the U19 team. They had just shown at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament that they are big-game players, taking the title by unseating the strong reigning champions Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade team.

Some have suggested it was Madrid’s decision not to have the players play at both tournaments – the U19 World Championship runs from 27 June-5 July and the U18 European Championship takes place from 23 July-2 August. And that is understandable.

But if I were running Madrid, I would have argued to have my players go to the U19 World Championship, especially since there is no special urgency with the U18 Euros since it does not serve as a qualifier for a World Championship.

Not only would the players have fewer games – seven in nine days at the World Championship as opposed to nine in 11 days at the U18 Euros – but the players would face better competition as well. They would also be exposed to different styles of play and be able to see where they stand on a world level – though Yusta did play at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship.

And the U19 team would definitely be better with those three Madrid players. The thought of Yusta and Barreiro being on the wings along with Marc Garcia and Lopez is downright scary. And Rico would give the team another strong ball-handler.

Spain face a stiff test at the U19 Worlds, which will see the debut of Joaquin Prado as a national team head coach. He served as the assistant to Jose Ramon Cuspinera at last summer’s U18 European Championship, where the team finished fifth despite losing four games.

At the U19 tournament, the Spanish will play in the loaded Group B with Argentina, Turkey and China. Turkey are the reigning European champions while Argentina will be improved under head coach Sebastian Ginobili and China have been steadily improving.

Spain will be very well served to finish in the top two of the group as the third place team will most likely get the loser of the big Group A battle between the United States and Croatia – two of the top contenders for the title.

Spain’s U18 team will be led by Luis Guil, who guided Spain to the title at the 2011 U18 European Championship and fifth place at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship. Since then, the 43-year-old coach has sought new challenges in the coaching world, working both in England and Venezuela.

The Spaniards have been drawn into Group A at the U18 Euros along with Czech Republic, France and Ukraine. The top three advance meaning Spain most likely will have little trouble moving into a second round group with three of Germany, Latvia, Montenegro and Serbia.

While Guil will not have the services of 1996-born Sima, he will certainly find a way to utilise the great group of Lopez, Yusta and Barreiro and a good mix of big men with varying attributes.

Again, this is not a column saying the U19 team will be bad, but the Spanish federation missed a chance to really give Prado a stronger group at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship - and give the Real Madrid players a better chance to develop.

David Hein

FIBA

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