Almar

[yoda]

2 kinda bogus fouls on Almar, he sits down and the game changes quickly

In the last 2:03, Italy goes on a 10-0 run

so.... Almar re-enters and they instantly stop Italy's run with a 3-pointer
but then Italy drains a long buzzer-beater to open a 25-22 score after 1st quarter

Italy came in shooting just 24% (32-132) from 3-pt in their 5 games thus far, but they are hot today, hitting 5-7 so far

[yoda]

Almar doing a little of everything.... even stuff that doesn't show in usual stats, like causing bad decisions by opponents and forcing turnovers.
5 min into the 2nd quarter, Iceland leads 40-38 with Almar getting 9 pts, 4 rebs and 5 assists plus at least 3 or 4 turnovers forced...
(triple-double alert!)

[yoda]

Iceland is 11-18 from 3pt
Italy is 8-13 from 3pt

[yoda]

Very exciting game, back & forth, lots of scoring...

HALFTIME SCORE 50-50

Almar 13 pts, 5 reb, 5 asst ... but saddled with 3 fouls

Stats:
Iceland 18-33 (55%), 13-22 from 3-pt (59%), 1-1 on FT, 15 reb, 13 asst, 12 TO
Italy 18-31 (58%), 8-15 from 3-pt (53%), 6-9 on FT (67%), 15 reb, 11 asst, 11 TO

surprisingly, the crowd sounds like there's more people cheering Iceland than Italy.
The travel distances would be 6,000 miles from Iceland vs. ~1,200 miles from Italy

[yoda]

Almar is 5-7 from 3-pt!!!

the teams get one request per half for video review - and it can be used at any time, not just the final minute.
Iceland used their appeal and it overturned an incorrect out of bounds call, which almost led to a 7-point play
because there was a flagrant foul on a made 3-pointer by Almar
.
.
then a technical foul on the Italian head coach and Iceland takes a 57-54 lead

[yoda]

drat - a 4th foul on Almar with 8 min to go in the 3rd quarter, leads to a big run by Italy...
they take a 10 pt lead before Almar gets back in late in the 3rd quarter.

refs going bananas calling fouls on Iceland...

[yoda]

Iceland has gone cold, largely due to 8 personal fouls and two technicals in a 4-5 minute span in the mid-3rd quarter
Score went from ahead 57-54 to down 83-65 to end the 3rd quarter
Almar has 18 pts, 5 reb, 5 asst but 4 fouls


Iceland is not very deep - so when their best 2 or 3 players sit with fouls, it changes the game dramatically

[yoda]

now with starters back in - even with 3 who have 4 fouls and 2 more with 3,
Iceland is making a little comeback. 90-81, but Italy still hitting 3's (13-28 )

looks like Iceland will likely play Sunday for 11th place,
Game will be 5:30am (Illinois time) - vs. loser of Slovenia vs. Spain

[yoda]

Final score
Italy 98 - Iceland 86
Almar 27 pts (6-13 from 3pt), 7 reb, 7 asst, 3 steals

Almar played >half the game with 3 fouls and 40% of it with four fouls...


*** in the Belgium-Israel game, the best player in the tourney, Belgium's Thijs De Ridder, a player very much like
Almar and extremely skilled but also very experienced with a couple years playing in a pro league at the highest level,
suffered a collision and probably broken hand just 3 minutes in their game - which resulted in a 67-46 loss to Israel
who will now play Greece or (likely) France for the overall championship.
De Ridder's and Almar's numbers in this tourney are nearly identical around 20ppg & 9rpg, with both hitting 36% from 3pt

[yoda]

Almar is one of the younger kids playing ……..Most of the players competing are 19 and 20, and there are also some who are 21 years old.
The U20 designation is open to all players 20 and younger as of Jan.

Not exactly true. There are no 21 year olds at all in this classification. U20 requires a birthdate on or after 1/1/2003, so the oldest players in this competition are slightly older than 20 1/2.
Check it out, there’s 16 teams with 12 players each, and there’s a dozen or more with Jan. 2003 birthdays, but none with a 2002 birth date.
The oldest guy playing was born 1/1/2003 - https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u...-Ad%C4%B1guzel

Almar is 18 1/2, and he …..,
as well as a total of 7 of their 12 players on Iceland’s young roster, have 2004 & 2005 birth dates, so they can still play U20 next year. If Almar had been born 4 days later than his 12/28/2004 birth date, he could have even played U20 the next two years.


Iceland, being such a small nation, simply cannot easily put together a team with much depth and experience - they are forced to use their best 18 & even 17 year olds. This really hurts them on defense, and really especially hurts them when their starters are saddled with fouls. It was on full display today when a team, Italy, who had averaged just 64 points per game (16 points per quarter)
thru six games, suddenly puts up 33 points (scoring at a 130 pt/game pace) in one quarter when Iceland's starters saw lots of time on the bench due to fouls.

btw - the final game pairings are not yet set- Iceland plays at 5:30am Central,
the winner of Slovenia/Germany which is currently tied 43-43 in the 3rd quarter

[yoda]

the Slovenia-Spain game is tied 63-63 and headed to overtime
Iceland plays the loser tomorrow (Iceland played and beat Slovenia in the Group stage)

one of the Spanish players, Pablo Tamba, just made a spectacular reverse dunk
It ties the game at 65-65 if you want to scroll & find it - but Tamba
will play for a certain Division I head coach that you may know - https://ucdavisaggies.com/sports/men...lo-tamba/17320

[yoda]

Spain beats Slovenia 75-72
Jim Les' guy Pablo Tamba was the hero for Spain with 17 pts overall but 4 pts, 2 reb and one block in the 5 min overtime

Iceland plays Slovenia again tomorrow morning

************************************
************************************


BTW- if you like team sports, here's a couple other competitions to watch for:

The FIBA 2023 (International Basketball) WORLD CUP - The top 32 National Teams in the world start pool play in 8 groups August 25
(Rosters are not all finalized but it is possible that Koch Bar & Ville Tahvanainen will be playing)

https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023

Here's the schedule- https://www.fiba.basketball/basketba...n-schedule.pdf
The teams to watch for are South Sudan (Koch Bar), USA, Canada, and Finland (Ville)

FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup begins July 20
32 teams, Group play in eight 4-team groups, USA is Group E with Netherlands, Portugal & Viet Nam.
https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tou...ew-zealand2023

https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup

Just an FYI- The US women are ranked #1 in the world, Germany #2, Sweden #3, England #4, France #5, Spain #6,
Canada #7, Brazil #8, Netherlands #9, Portugal #21, Viet Nam #32.

[yoda]

Iceland loses final game to Slovenia 90-75, badly outrebounded 47-26. Almar 10pt, 5reb, 4 asst, 2 blk, 2 stl

https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u20/2023/game/1607/Iceland-Slovenia#tab=overview

even at 18-20 y/o, just hard to compete without size & physicality.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Iceland loses final game to Slovenia 90-75, badly outrebounded 47-26. Almar 10pt, 5reb, 4 asst, 2 blk, 2 stl

https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u20/2023/game/1607/Iceland-Slovenia#tab=overview

even at 18-20 y/o, just hard to compete without size & physicality.

So have you been watching these games? My fear about Almar is that he's been playing at a very low level of competition and doesn't have the athleticism, quickness or physicality to compete at the college level for at least two years...like Sticks, Hannah, and a few others we've had who developed after 2 or 3 years. What's your opinion after watching him yoda? Can he give us anything as a freshman?

[yoda]

Of course I have watched. Time will tell how he does vs DI talent. But he largely carries a weak team, guards opponents 2 yrs older & 4 in taller & consistently puts up both offensive & defensive numbers that compare to the best 20 y/o’s in Europe. He may be a yr or 2 from playing against 23 & 25 y/o’s in the MVC but I’m a big fan.