The pools were today released for the Under 19 World Championships of Basketball for Men, to be held in Auckland, New Zealand from 2-12 July, 2009.
Group A: Angola, Greece, Lithuania and Puerto Rico
Group B: Egypt, France, Iran and USA
Group C: Australia, Canada, Spain and Syria
Group D: Argentina, Croatia, Kazakhstan and New Zealand
The host country avoided being placed amongst the top-rated teams in USA, Spain and Greece at the pool stage. Coach Kenny McFadden was happy with the way the draw fell.
McFadden said it was a bonus to miss one of the real big guns like the USA, Greece and Spain who may have the NBA-bound Ricky Rubio in their lineup, but there was no such thing as an easy pool at an event like this which Fiba rates its third most important on the global stage.
“A lot of people have asked me about the lack of experience we’ve got, but I guess the only positive thing about junior basketball is for a lot of those other countries it’s the first time they’ve been at the worlds as well,” said the former Saints NBL star.
“It’s our home crowd, as opposed to getting on a plane and going halfway round the world trying to find about what this international and European basketball is all about.”
Australia, which won the 2003 title in Greece, will be potentially faced with a tough opponent in powerhouse Spain. Previous Aussie squads have included Andrew Bogut amongst many other youngsters that have gone on to success.
The 2007 USA U19 team included Michael Beasley (Miami Heat), future lottery pick Stephen Curry (Davidson College) and DeAndre Jordan (LA Clippers).
