Back in 1992, Michael Jordan and the Dream Team arrived like rock stars at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and won their eight games by 350 combined points.
Since about that time, it has been the expectation of every US basketball team, whatever the level and wherever they go, to not only win, but win big.
Keeping to the script, the United States national team arrive in Dubai to begin their run at the 2014 Fiba Under 17 World Championship tonight, with their first match against Greece at 9pm.
Matching up against 7ft 1ins Greek prodigy Giorgios Papagiannis will be a decent bellwether for a team no rational person is picking against.
While a team such as Greece might boast a future NBA star, or a side such as Spain can possibly claim a handful of future NBA talents, every US player is considered among the best in his age class.
Ivan Rabb, ESPN’s top American college basketball recruit for the 2015 class, is here.
The second- and third-ranked recruits for the 2016 class, Josh Jackson and Jayson Tatum, are on the team. No American on the squad, in fact, is ranked outside the top 50 in his recruiting class by ESPN.
USA Basketball, even this far down the ladder, is stacked.
“We can’t really make wrong choices [with team selection],” said US coach Don Showalter.
“I think all of our 12 [players] have a chance to be that guy to turn a game around in just a few plays. Any time they have a world tournament, they’re obviously being watched by a lot of people, and I think all 12 of our guys can have that factor where people watch them and they raise their level of play.”
There have only been two previous stagings of the Fiba Under 17 World Championship, and remarkably, the US have yet to lose a game at either tournament, finishing 8-0 in each. In the 2010 final, the Americans beat Poland by 31 points. Not to be outdone, the gold-medal winners of 2012 beat Australia in that final by 33.
The bar, such as it is, has been set very high for this group. But Showalter, like any coach, is not yet letting his team entertain the notion that a third straight gold medal is already won.
“It’s always difficult. We have to make the choices [of players] that we feel are going to develop into a team the best. And it takes a while,” Showalter said.
“That’s obviously one of our greatest problems, is to develop a team out of 12 guys that are really good players.
“That’s a challenge for us, to develop a team. They’ve got to play with each other, they kind of have to get to know each other on the court.”
At least year’s Fiba Under 17 Americas championship, the US stormed to their third gold medal in as many staging of that tournament, too, beating Argentina in the final by 46 points.
In the last Under 17 Fiba Americas, the US beat Argentina by 40.
In the first U17 tournament, they finished off the same Argentinians by 14 –which implies they are, somehow, getting better every two years.
In addition to their other top recruits, they bring Malik Newman, No 3 in the class of 2015 and last summer’s Fiba Americas MVP, to Dubai.
He scored 16.2 points per game in Uruguay. Their 6ft 10 ins centre, Diamond Stone (No 4 among 2015 recruits), who scored 13.6 points per game last summer, is with the team as well.
Their other top-10 recruits include 6ft 10 ins centre Henry Ellenson (No 5, 2015), 6ft 9 ins forward Harry GIles (No 5, 2016) and 6ft 6 ins guard Terrance Ferguson (No 10, 2016). That height, across the board, means their guards will be nearly as tall as some of their opponents’ centres.
Showalter’s main task is to get a highly talented-and-touted collection of individuals to play with discipline against what will, at times, be vastly inferior opponents.
Though so far, the closest anyone has ever come to upsetting the Teen Dream Team was Argentina in 2010.
They lost by 12.
jraymond@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
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