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With #FIBAU16Europe now in the books at both Division A and Division B level for another year, here are some quick fire takeaways of things we learned or we had confirmed in Skopje and Sofia. (Photo: FIBA)

LEARNED AND CONFIRMED: Joycte and Kosu are absolute studs

Their numbers were beyond eye-popping, but throw in the fact that Juste Jocyte of Lithuania is only 13 years-old and Olairy Kosu the MVP of champions Russia is only 14-years-old and special doesn’t quite cover this duo. They are absolute studs and perhaps never before has this famous tournament seen the two most dominant players as two of the youngest on show. Maybe this should have been confirmed rather than learned as both were on my ‘watch-list’ and in the case of Kosu, I watched her in Zamora last year for BlueStar and was so excited. I am categorizing them as learned because we did learn they are every bit as good as we had hoped – and some more. The 27 points and 14 boards for Kosu in the Final and the 33 points and 9 boards from Jocyte was an apt way for them both to check out. Plus the gold for Kosu and historic Lithuanian silver for Jocyte.

LEARNED: History and #FIBAU17 joy for Lithuania

Jocyte propelled Lithuania to their first ever Final and we will also now get to seem them for the first time at the #FIBAU17 when they will make their debut next year in Romania. Meanwhile it is only right that we look past the headline-maker Jocyte and give credit to those incredible cameos from the likes of Urte Cizauskaite and Audrone Zdaneviciute.

CONFIRMED: Blue Star 30 Campers have got game

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It was tremendous to see so many members of the Gran Canaria Blue Star 30 camp earlier this summer all taking part in the tournaments. But for injury there would have been even more and one big highlight was Karyn Sanford making the All-Star Five for Norway. The do-it-all guard is a nice and smart kid with a lot of talent and okay I am biased as my grandad was Norwegian, but it was super to see her work recognized despite playing for a ‘smaller’ country as the Norwegians made the Semi-Finals! Additionally, there was a bronze medal in the A Division for Elena Buneavida Estevez who shot better than any other Spanish player at almost 60%.

LEARNED: Denmark Beat The Odds

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We knew that Denmark had some talent. But what we probably didn’t expect was for them to actually retain their Division A status in Skopje. Major props to them as this was a massive sub-plot that they managed to defy the odds.

LEARNED: Slovenia showed heart and depth

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When Blue Star 30 camper Sara Garic went down with an injury in preparation, I had feared for Slovenia and was probably not alone in thinking that their promotion dreams may have went up in smoke. Yet despite absence of the classy forward, they won gold in Sofia to take the Division B title and seal a return to the top flight. That was seriously impressive and founded on some great team work and also a standout player in Mojica Jelenc who was crowned MVP, while Hana Ivanusa and Anja Dragar also impressed.

CONFIRMED: Turkey still in trouble at all levels

A few years ago, relegation for the mighty Turkey (then a nation who had risen to the absolute elite of the women’s game at senior level) seemed unthinkable. Yet in recent campaigns, we have seen a glut of Division B campaigns after a number of relegations. Even if they did make a return to the top tier with a 3rd place finish at U18 level, they missed out on promotion at U20 and were relegated by Denmark in Skopje. That means they still have 2 of 3 in Division B for another year. Just not good enough and losing to an emerging nation such as Denmark sharpens the wake-up call. Although I have been warning for at least 3-4 years that Turkish women’s basketball was heading for the rocks at all levels. Nobody listened. I got abuse on twitter and via DM’s. It gives me no pleasure at all to see that my fears have been realized. They need a fundamental re-think from top to bottom – starting with basics of coaching, fitness and skills.

CONFIRMED: France need to re-think their INSEP strategy

Another youth tournament and another offensive abomination from the French. Similarly to Turkey, I have been beating this drum in the past year or two about how boring France have become to watch and how clueless they have become (in general) offensively. All that athleticism and all that talent and in so many youth tournaments, they can’t rack up enough points to win big games. I admire the resources they spend at INSEP but it was a familiar story as they managed just 51 points in the Semi-Finals. France are always the bridesmaid and rarely the brides these days. They do enough to compete which is consistent. But pound for pound, euro for euro or dollar for dollar – they are surely underachieving. And it goes back to last year when I caused that storm about France always being a Volkswagen and never a Ferrari because they don’t have the flair in their ethos at any level to let some wild horses run free.

CONFIRMED: Shooting skills remain a massive problem

Another chestnut from my recent thought-provoking piece on how not enough players, coaches, clubs, colleges, schools, academies and Federations are focusing enough on shooting skills. And, how this is threatening the very survival of the women’s game as shooting percentages continue on a downward trend. While watching the action in Sofia in particular, my eyes were hurting again. I kid you not… that NINE nations shot below 20%. Yes, not below 30% or 25% but below 20%. Jaw-dropping for all the wrong reasons, with North Macedonia going 6 of 60 and Slovakia not changing their approach with 18 of 125. I mean seriously?

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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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