Angela Salvadores, Spain

[sybarite]

The US U-17 FIBA team just beat Spain in the finals, 79-77. The tournament MVP was Angela Salvadores, 5-9 guard of Spain who scored 38 in the finals. It was Salvadores vs the US. Frankly, she gave the best single performance by a guard that I have ever seen in one of these tournaments.

She picked Asia Durr's pockets consistently and was two steps quicker than anyone on the US team. I think Lauren Cox had 20 for the US and was the ONLY player who really showed up. Curiously, they picked Joyner Holmes and Katie Samuelson for the All-Tournament team, neither of whom should have started for the US. Slow and awkward.

Salvadores could hit the three almost at will, and she could penetrate at will. She just didn't have anyone to dish to. She was a terror on outlet passes, seemed more likely to get them than our guards.

I also thought Lopez, their center, had more pure athletic ability than our centers. She blocked shots and rebounded much better. Durr was OK at best. Cox is the only player that excited me on the US, and she is a bit slow. But, she plays at both ends of the court. Has a good four to six foot bank shot.

I thought that Spain was quicker at every position than we were. They had long-range shooters. They just didn't have any inside shooters who could make a rebound. It is gun or done. They were quicker than our guards, by a lot.

 

[sybarite]

Mulkey didn't play enough (3 minutes) to get a feel for what she can do. She doesn't look totally lost, but she was in over her head. It kind of made you wonder why she was on the team. She is obviously a project, and she may become pretty good. She does seem to have better footwork at this stage than DeHaan. But, these girls were much too quick for her.

Apparently, Samuelson and Holmes made the All-Tournament team based on their numbers in earlier games against lesser teams. Katie was simply too slow to guard these girls, and she was in foul trouble all night. She did hit a nice three-pointer. But, she was ineffective at using her height advantage.

Holmes seemed to be a match, but was not particularly outstanding in the final game. She was around.

Cox wasn't particularly graceful, and she didn't exhibit a long range shot. She was very effective at using her body to get rebounds (she is not a little girl), and she was very adept at blocking shots. Her offense comes from six-foot bank shots from the side of the backboard, probably at a 45 degree angle. She was adept at it. She was the US best defender and board worker, as well as scorer. Didn't have all the wasted motion of some. Apparently, she did not score a lot in the earlier games. When it counted, she did.

Durr is not what I had heard. She is confident and handles the ball well. But, she is a step slow as compared to the Spanish guards, and she was not a good shot from more than about fifteen feet. She took some ill-advised shots, and she made some ill-advised passes. She seemed disinterested at times. She has to have a lot more energy to be the #1 prospect that I had heard that she was. Cox had by far the best performance of any American player in this game.

Isn't Romero from Spain? What is it about Spanish Guards? Salvadores could take OU to a national title game if she played like she did. She is so much quicker than Durr that there was no comparison. She knew that she could beat any defender that the US put on her, and she dribbled wherever she wanted. She could get into the lane about six feet from the basket at will. She couldn't make a layup among the trees (was OK on breaks), but there was nobody on her ream that worked to get open for a layup when she got there. If they had simply got open, she could have hit them with open shots. She actually hit a three-point shot with about forty seconds left to pull Spain to within one, but they waved it off due to an illegal screen. It would have been her 41st point. She did come back for a two pointer to pull Spain to within two at the end, but they just let her score with about seven seconds left. She was, by far, the best player on the floor.

Due to the announcer's errors, you never really knew the score or how many points anyone had. He kept making errors.

Lopez looks to be someone who can possibly be a good shot blocker and rebounder inside. I didn't see much on offense, but she gave our bigs problems when they tried to get a shot off. We were bigger than they were, but she was almost as big, and she was quick off her feet. I don't know how much of a project she would be.

I think Spain had four guards who would be probably D-1 starters. They were quick and can shoot.