USA wins Gold, blasts Canada in FIBA U18 Americas Final

The Americans took home their fifth consecutive gold medal at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship, defeating Canada 113-74 in the finals of the tournament last Saturday. Canada got out to an early 12-7 lead, but the US rallied off a 22-8 run to finish the first quarter and really never looked back. It was a balanced effort from the Americans having seven players finish with double digit scoring outings, led by the stand out performances from Cole Anthony, Quentin Grimes and Matthew Hurt.

I highlighted Cole Anthony in the team’s opening win over the Dominican Republic, but I thought this was arguably his best game of the tournament. He led the team in scoring with 18 points and even though he didn’t shoot it particularly, I thought he was relentless with attacking the lane and finishing consistently at the rim.

Anthony displayed it all from smooth footwork in the lane, strength to finish through contact, his ambidexterity, body control and quick crossover in this one. He’s got good size at 6’3″, 180 pounds and knows how to utilize it at the rim to finish, even if he has subpar length. Anthony’s first step quickness is good and he has utilized it greatly to create off the bounce during this tournament for the US, with his crossover being his primary weapon of choice. He also does a phenomenal job creating great spin on the ball, if he gets it to the glass rarely does he not finish, regardless of the difficulty of the lay-up.

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I’m not sure he’ll ever be the shooter or as stout as Deron Williams was, but Anthony reminds me of the 3 time all-star. Both bigger guards who are powerful athletes with sudden quickness and strength to bull through defenders at the rim. I was so impressed throughout the tournament with Anthony and his leadership of this group, he was hands down the best shot creator on the team. I’m excited to see how his recruiting plays out over the next year, he already has offers from Duke, Kansas, UCLA, Georgetown, Oregon, St. Johns and Wake Forest.

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Quentin Grimes had a slow start to the Americas Championship, but really turned it on in medal play and showed out here in the win over Canada. The Kansas commit finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists to not only help the US clinch the gold medal, but also earn MVP honors for the tournament. Honestly, I wasn’t overly impressed with Grimes throughout the tournament and felt Matthew Hurt was probably the best player of the tournament for me. Still I really admired Grimes consistently making plays on both ends of the floor, even when his shot wasn’t falling early on and showing other facets of his game.

I really like Grimes’ versatility offensively, he’s already got a NBA body and can score or play-make off the dribble. He makes his fair share of defensive mistakes, but usually gives consistent effort on that end and should continue to improve under Bill Self at Kansas in that regard. Grimes’ ability as a ball-handler in high pick and rolls, who can shoot or get to the rim is already sound and he really can shoot it off the dribble.

I’m not sure I’d want Grimes to be my primary ball handler or playmaker, but it’s something he can do at times and something I expect Self to take advantage of at Kansas next season. Especially with the losses of guards Malik Newman, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Devonte’ Graham, Self’s gonna need someone to take some of that work load off of fellow freshman guard Devon Dotson.

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I really buy-in on Grimes’ potential already and would expect him to be a riser on boards for the 2019 draft. Kansas is many prognosticators favorite to win the national championship next season, not only because they’re returning players like Udoka Azubuike, Lagerald Vick and Silvio De Sousa to go along with transfers Dedric and K.J. Lawson but also because of this stellar recruiting class coming in headlined by Grimes. I’d expect him to really flourish in Lawrence next season, given the small glimpse of improvement we got to see from him under Self during this tournament. Plus he had one of the best dunks of the entire 2018 U18 Americas Championship below, how can you not appreciate that tomahawk?

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Tags: Basketball, Bill Self, Cole Anthony, FIBA, FIBA Americas, Jayhawks, Kansas, New York, Quentin Grimes, Recuriting, Scouting, USA Basketball