Jimmy Chitwood
Hall of Famer
in case any of you might be missing it (and since it's not been aired on any American television that i'm aware of, who can blame you?), the FIBA U-19 World Basketball Championship is going on right now. here's a run-down of what's gone on thus far ...
16 teams from around the world originally qualified for round-robin pool play, with four 4-team groups. pool play is over, and entering the elimination round of the tournament only 8 teams remain: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Lithuania,Poland, Russia, Serbia, and USA.what is so special about the remaining 8 teams? only 1 team has any black starters ... the USA. in fact, besides team Urban States of Africa, thereis only 1 black player remaining in the entire tournament, Australia's Owen Odigie, who comes off the bench.
how is this possible? according to allthe "experts," blacks are the best basketball players in the world ... so, again, how is this possible? where are the black African teams? with all the African "phenoms" who were drafted in the most recent NBA Draft, wouldn't you expect them to be represented in this worldwide, merit-based tournament if they are, in fact, the best players from around the world? in fact, though, neither of the two teams that qualified from Africa (Egypt and Tunisia) have a single black player on their rosters. "weird," huh? additionally, France, arguably the most "diverse" team in Europe, didn't even qualify for the tournament. so what's the deal?
while the "experts" try to explain how these inconvenient facts really don't mean what they appear to mean, 7 all-White starting lineups will be vying for the World U-19 Championship. and, unless team USA (which only has two White players on the roster) wins again (USA is the defending champ), another all-White team will win the World title. Serbia won in 2007, Australia won in 2003, Spain won in 1999, and Greece won in 1995. before 2009, the USA hadn't won since 1991. another inconvenient fact is that the only non-all-White team to ever win the tournament is the USA. "weird," huh?
another "weird" fact is that only three teams that qualified for the World Championship besides Team Urban States of Africa had any black players at all: Australia (1), Brazil (2), and Canada (4). if blacks are the best players in the world, how is that possible?
yet another "weird" piece of information is that the best player on the USA team just might be small forward Doug McDermott, who plays for Creighton. McDermott is the third-leading scorer on the team, the third-leading rebounder, has played the second most minutes, and amazinglyhas just 1 turnover.
finally, the best player in the whole tournament is Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas. the #5 pick overall in the most recent NBA draft currently leads the tournament in scoring (20.7 ppg), rebounding (13.3 rpg), blocked shots (3.5 bpg), and double-doubles (5), and is second in field goal percentage (58.7%). not surprisingly, he's a White man.
also, for anyone who might think that with all these non-affletes playing basketball, it is a "boring" below-the-rim affair. well ... not exactly.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta9cqMQ3ZRA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGM2fglJ5k&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0_pYJ5quFw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJg1yqA_vXE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
16 teams from around the world originally qualified for round-robin pool play, with four 4-team groups. pool play is over, and entering the elimination round of the tournament only 8 teams remain: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Lithuania,Poland, Russia, Serbia, and USA.what is so special about the remaining 8 teams? only 1 team has any black starters ... the USA. in fact, besides team Urban States of Africa, thereis only 1 black player remaining in the entire tournament, Australia's Owen Odigie, who comes off the bench.
how is this possible? according to allthe "experts," blacks are the best basketball players in the world ... so, again, how is this possible? where are the black African teams? with all the African "phenoms" who were drafted in the most recent NBA Draft, wouldn't you expect them to be represented in this worldwide, merit-based tournament if they are, in fact, the best players from around the world? in fact, though, neither of the two teams that qualified from Africa (Egypt and Tunisia) have a single black player on their rosters. "weird," huh? additionally, France, arguably the most "diverse" team in Europe, didn't even qualify for the tournament. so what's the deal?
while the "experts" try to explain how these inconvenient facts really don't mean what they appear to mean, 7 all-White starting lineups will be vying for the World U-19 Championship. and, unless team USA (which only has two White players on the roster) wins again (USA is the defending champ), another all-White team will win the World title. Serbia won in 2007, Australia won in 2003, Spain won in 1999, and Greece won in 1995. before 2009, the USA hadn't won since 1991. another inconvenient fact is that the only non-all-White team to ever win the tournament is the USA. "weird," huh?
another "weird" fact is that only three teams that qualified for the World Championship besides Team Urban States of Africa had any black players at all: Australia (1), Brazil (2), and Canada (4). if blacks are the best players in the world, how is that possible?
yet another "weird" piece of information is that the best player on the USA team just might be small forward Doug McDermott, who plays for Creighton. McDermott is the third-leading scorer on the team, the third-leading rebounder, has played the second most minutes, and amazinglyhas just 1 turnover.
finally, the best player in the whole tournament is Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas. the #5 pick overall in the most recent NBA draft currently leads the tournament in scoring (20.7 ppg), rebounding (13.3 rpg), blocked shots (3.5 bpg), and double-doubles (5), and is second in field goal percentage (58.7%). not surprisingly, he's a White man.
also, for anyone who might think that with all these non-affletes playing basketball, it is a "boring" below-the-rim affair. well ... not exactly.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta9cqMQ3ZRA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGM2fglJ5k&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0_pYJ5quFw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJg1yqA_vXE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/tube]
