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The draw has just been announced for the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2019 in Minsk, Belarus this summer. (photo FIBA)

If you are a keen follower of women’s hoops, you should be forgiven for thinking that the draw looks familiar. I was one of those people who also had an overpowering sense of déjà vu.

That is because rather incredibly, it just happens to be the EXACT same group that came out in the draw for USA as the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2017 in Udine.

At this juncture, the draw is important for USA because there have not been many times down the years that the global powerhouse has not been a World Champion at either U17 or U19 – let alone both. To not have one of these titles was unthinkable, to currently hold neither is somewhere between embarrassing and mind-boggling.

Getting USA back on the top of that podium has never felt quite as important. Not withstanding all the extra stuff that is going on in relation to women’s youth ball in the States right now, USA must show it is the best nation in the world. To fail again at U17 or U19 level would be catastrophic in terms of the USA’s reputation at youth level.

So, what will they face during the opening phase in Minsk?

Italy were a bit hot and cold at the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship in Bourges, France last year. Blue Star Media had a trio of people to observe up close in myself, Mike Flynn and Pierre Ploszajski, and we witnessed them come good in the end as they took a bronze medal.

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They are led by the fierce one-two punch of forward Caterina Gilli and wing star Ilaria Panzera. Both are looking like they will be locks for the senior team already in years to come. Both are causing relative excitement and not least Panzera who is drawing comparisons with the likes of the legendary Raffaella Masciadri at her age. She made the All-Star Five by the way. What is particularly encouraging is that both players are 2002 born so were actually amongst the youngest players in Bourges – meaning they can play in Lithuania at this year’s 2018 edition too.

The biggest fault line with Italy and one which the USA can and inevitably will expose is a lack of depth. They go 5-6 deep in reality, which is not a slap in the face of those bench players who did a steady job, but unless some of them have made significant strides and are joined by any top drawer absentees not in Bourges, you can’t see them troubling USA.

China seem to be playing USA at every tournament at the moment either in the Group Phase and/or the latter stages. We have both nations paired at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 in Tenerife in the Group stage and of course at the last edition of U17 in Zaragoza, USA beat China to take the third podium step.

China are traditionally the FIBA U16 Women’s Asia Championship winners but that changed with the entry of Australia last year in Bengaluru, India [with the recent merger of Asia/Oceania Zones] and in that respect [as with all levels] they have an extra hurdle to get over if they want to continue their tradition.

It looks unlikely and indeed they lost 2 of their 6 outings last summer – both relatively disappointing defeats to the Final pairing of Japan and Australia. Certainly this team does not look to be at the level of the one that stepped out in Zaragoza and took bronze – inspired by the likes of Wang Jiaqi and Xu Han. Your man Mike Flynn was there to see this team live and in the flesh. He is the go-to guy for this China team. Their main source of joy is likely to come from Zheng Ming and Liu Yutong this time around. The one consistency is that they will play hard, be physical and never let up until the buzzer.

Mali are the only team that USA will be facing in this opening stage that are Continental champions like themselves. Their Group rivals went 6-0 in Beira, Mozambique at last year’s FIBA U16 Women’s African Championship.

That was a campaign founded on a stunning 21.8 points per game from Aissetou Coulibaly. Does that name ring a bell? It should do, because she was one of the most productive players in Zaragoza at the last edition of the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup when Mali became the first nation from Africa to post three wins. Watch out for Sika Kone too – she made the All-Star Five last summer with Coulibaly.

Like China, there is no doubt that Mali will bring the physical side of the game to the table and with that in mind, get on Amazon and get your preferred mouth guard sorted before you worry too much about the technical aspects. But then hey, you have to try and make it scrappy as an underdog team right? It therefore goes without saying that the officiating when USA face these two opponents will determine a lot.

Keep it locked to @basketmedia365 for more on #FIBAU17 leading up to the tournament this summer!

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Paul Nilsen lives and breathes women’s hoops. He’s is a freelance writer working for the sport’s world governing body FIBA where he pens a weekly ‘Women’s Basketball Worldwide Column’ - as well as providing daily content on major club competitions, international tournaments and the women’s youth game. He has an extensive network of contacts across the globe, including an array of elite play-callers and players. Also a qualified coach and referee, he is a big supporter of Blue Star Media and joined as a blogger during the fall of 2016.

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