England Advance to Semis, Future Stars 2011 Day 1 Recap

Future Stars 2011 tipped off on Friday, with the England Under 18s advancing to the semi-finals for the first time in the tournament’s history after a victory over the US Select team.

Despite returning from competing in Belgium on Thursday night, the England U18 side dispatched of a worse-than-expected US Select team without too much difficulty, winning 78-72.  They were unable to remain undefeated as the Netherlands team they faced in the evening were just too strong and ran out 85-65 winners.

Their 1-1 record means they finished second in Pool B, behind the Netherlands and will face Slovenia, who won Pool A, in their semi final tomorrow.

Speaking to Hoopsfix after their second game, Head Coach Steve Bucknall felt fatigue was taking it’s toll on the team:

“We’ve had a very tough week in Belgium, but I think we did ok in the first game against the American team, they were quite physical and athletic. I think it was perhaps a bridge too far really this game (against Netherlands), playing two games in a day within two hours practically, the effort was there, not sure about desire, but the effort was there, I just think it was a bridge too far.”

“The guys they want it, I know that, but as a coach you want perfection. You’re not gonna get it, I know that, but you desire perfection from your team and we have a long way to go.”

The newly appointed England Under 18 Coach then went on to talk about their semi-final opponents Slovenia:

“They’re possibly the best team here, it’s gonna be a good game. They’re a good team, we know, but I think these guys, on their day are capable of competing and that’s what we have to do.”

Elsewhere, London United-Harefield Academy shocked Sweden with an 88-85 overtime victory thanks to a Robert Gilchrist 3 pointer with 4 seconds remaining. LUHA will now also advance to the semis, where they will face the Netherlands, leaving Sweden and the US Select team to battle it out for 5th place.

The schedule for day 2 is as follows:

15.00 – Sweden v US Select (5/6 Place Game,1st leg)
17.00 – Netherlands v London United Harefield Academy (1st Semi Final)
19.00 – Slovenia v England (2nd Semi Final)

Future Stars 2011 Day 1 Full Results & Leading Scorers

Game 1
Slovenia beat Sweden 70-60
Scorers: Slovenia-Rupnik 23, Dimec 15, Rosc 8/Sweden-Person 18, Eliasson 12, Andersson 11, Borg 10
Game 2
Netherlands beat US Select 95-73
Scorers: Netherlands-Schaftenaar 19, Van Der Ark 11, Hammink 11, Hope 10/US Select- Stokes 21, Bond 13, Bell 12
Game 3
London United-Harefield Academy beat Sweden 88-85 (OT)
Scorers: LUHA-Robert Gilchrist 29, Ryan Martin 21, Caylin Raftopoulos 13/Sweden-Borg 20, Andersson 15, Person 11, Schuszler 11
Game 4
England beat US Select 78-72
Scorers: England-Elliott Sentance 18, Raphell Thomas-Edwards 16, Simeon Esprit 15, Josh McGinn 9, Jack Crook 7/US Select-Riddick 19, Bell, 17, Bond 13
Game 5
Slovenia beat London United-Harefield Academy 83-63
Scorers: Slovenia-Osolnik 18, Rupnik 16, Dimec 12, Kastelic 12/LUHA-Ryan Martin 36, Robert Gilchrist 15
Game 6
Netherlands beat England 85-65
Scorers: Netherlands-Candiff 18 (6 threes), Averink 16, Schaftenaar 10/England-Simeon Esprit 13, Jordan Spencer 12, Raphell Thomas-Edwards 12, Josh McGinn 9, Elliot Sentance 7

Notes

• England are nursing a few injuries, with Jamie Batish not suiting up today, and John Stewart being announced out for the remainder of the tournament (hamstring) having played just 1 minute of the first game. A number of other members of the team seem to be nursing niggles with ice etc on the bench.
• England starters vs US Select: Josh McGinn, Simeon Esprit, Raphell Thomas-Edwards, John Stewart, Dale Francis-O’Brien and vs Netherlands: Josh McGinn, Jordan Spencer, Simeon Esprit, Ross Wilson, Raphell Thomas-Edwards.
• Standout player of the day today for me was Slovenia’s point guard Luka Rupnik, some of the passes he was making were ridiculous. Real crowd pleaser, but has substance with the style!
• It should be noted that London United-Harefield Academy are not fielding predominantly Under-18 players on their squad. This generation of Under 18 players are 1993 born (or younger), whilst LUHA’s core three players; Robert Gilchrist (1990), Ryan Martin (1991), and Caylin Raftopoulos (1992)  are all older.
• Perhaps to be expected, Robert Gilchrist has been a walking talking highlight reel, bringing the top two highlights of the day with his gamewinner against Sweden, as well as a nasty one handed facial on one of their big men earlier in the game (he’s also had a fair few alley oops, a nasty putback and countless blocks).
• Sweden have suffered the blow of not having Marcus Eriksson playing today due to what appears to be an ankle injury. It remains to be seen whether he ends up playing in either of Sweden’s remaining two games (where I expect they will beat the US Select team comfortably).

Did you attend Day 1 of Future Stars? Thoughts?