BÉLEM, Brazil – It was nearly a fatal opening result for the USA Men’s U16 National Team on Monday. Then the Americans awoke.
Falling behind by 17 points over the first 12 minutes of play, the USA U16 National Team (1-0) got it in gear and fought its way to an 83-57 victory over Argentina (0-1) in its opening game of the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship at the Guilherme Paraense Arena.
Leading the USA were Jabari Smith Jr. (Sandy Creek H.S./Tyrone, Ga.), who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, and AJ Griffin (Archbishop Stepinac H.S./Ossining, N.Y.) added 17 points and four assists in just 12 minutes of action. Amari Bailey (Sierra Canyon H.S./Chatsworth, Calif.) and Richard Isaacs Jr. (Coronado H.S./Las Vegas, Nev.) tossed in 10 points each.
“This is a very resilient group,” said USA U16 head coach Mike Jones of DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.), whose team fell behind 20-7 after the first quarter and trailed by 17, 25-8 two minutes into the second period. “Obviously, we went through some adversity today and our guys stuck together and fought through. It was a very impressive performance by Argentina to start the game, but our guys stuck together and were about to come out with the win.”
After falling behind 20-7 after the end of a first quarter that saw Argentina reel off 16-straight points and the U.S. shoot just 15.0 percent (3-20 FGs) from the field, the USA began the second period in a similar manner and faced its largest deficit, 25-8, with 7:59 to play in the half.
“It’s a work in progress,” Jones said. “We’re trying to play so aggressive, but some of the things are just mental lapses. It was our first game that really meant something, that really mattered. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to adjust. It was a physical game but sometimes we were a little sloppy with our physicality, and we have to get better at it.”
Refusing to continue in that manner, the USA started to click, and its defense began to drive its offense for the first time of the night. From there, Lipsey hit two from the line and then assisted on a Isaacs3-pointer. Twenty seconds later the two reversed that – Isaacs dished to Lipsey for 3 and suddenly the deficit was cut to single digits, 25-16 at 6:39.
“We came out kind of slow,” Smith said. “We had to get used to the play, but once we got used to it, we just took off from there.”
In all, the U.S. forced eight Argentine turnovers in the second quarter and limited their trips to the line to eight, while slowly chipping away at the gap. With Argentina ahead 31-24, Smith contributed five points in a 7-0 spurt to even the game at halftime, 31-31.
Griffin saw limited playing time in the first half after being whistled for three fouls in 4:28 of play. However, he made adjustments and scored 15 points in the second half while picking up just one foul.
“My coaches just told me to stay composed and to make sure that I stay out of foul trouble, and when I go back in to be careful, but still play aggressive at the same time,” said Griffin on the adjustment. “After that, I just played hard. I played aggressive. I try to get my team going and I fed off their energy.”
After committing eight turnovers in the first quarter, the USA had just six over the final 30 minutes. In contrast, Argentina’s seven first quarter turnover tally ballooned to 26 by the end of the game. The USA capitalized for 28 points off those turnovers.
The USA outrebounded Argentina 70-49 and snagged 28 offensive boards that led to 22 second chance points.
Kijani Wright (Windward H.S./Los Angeles, Calif.), who scored four points and hauled in eight rebounds, swatted a game-high four blocked shots.
