How Izan Almansa became the breakout star of the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup
World basketball prospects lately competed within the FIBA U19 World Cup, having an unbelievable alternative to showcase their expertise and achieve publicity. Spain heart Izan Almansa took dwelling the event MVP award after recording a mean of 16.9 factors and seven.1 rebounds, taking pictures 61 p.c from the sphere and 89.5 p.c from the charity stripe. Almansa isn’t a stranger to shining towards excessive degree expertise, including this trophy to a case with the U17 World Cup MVP and U18 European Championship MVP in 2022.
Almansa performed an amazing position in serving to Spain seize its first youth World Cup trophy since 1993. Spain was undefeated all through the whole event behind Almansa’s effectivity and high-IQ performances. He was first amongst all facilities in factors per sport, effectivity, free throw share, and area objective share. The 18-year-old from Murcia was the perfect participant on the courtroom each time he checked into the sport. Spain’s offensive and defensive units ran straight via the center with Almansa setting the tone. He would often rating the primary six to 10 factors to begin the sport and pressure an early turnover on the opposite finish.
The dominance that Spain delivered to the event was unmatched. In a few qualifying video games, Spain produced a few of largest win margins, taking down Lebanon 102-20 and Argentina 85-47. Almansa was the driving issue, creating photographs for different stars like Baba Miller, Jordi Rodriguez, and Lucas Langarita. Spain completed the event second in three pointers made, second in steals per sport, fourth in rebounds per sport, and fourth in assists per sport. With Almansa opening up the ground, there have been loads of alternatives for Spain’s guards to knock down threes and tackle defenders one-on-one.
Heading right into a deeper dive of his true ability set, Almansa may be in comparison with a participant just like the Miami Warmth’s Bam Adebayo. At 6’9 he runs the ground with ease, getting reps at each heart and ahead. The staff had confidence in letting Almansa dribble the ball up the ground at instances and he performed very effectively off the wing, having the ability to get to his candy spots on offense. He can knock down a hook shot and has wonderful footwork across the block. A number of the distinctive points are Almansa’s skill to sink in a floater and doubtlessly a fade off one leg inside 15 toes. He was challenged towards among the finest gamers within the event, having to protect guys like Alexandre Sarr, Hansen Yang, and Lee Aaliya. There could also be some thought that he’s barely undersized on the heart place, however his athletic skill and flexibility at his present peak are precisely the traits that NBA scouts are in search of.
Almansa spent the previous two years with the Extra time Elite League in Atlanta, Georgia. Through the event he introduced the choice to affix the NBA’s G-League Ignite roster for subsequent season. With OTE, Almansa averaged 9.9 factors and 9.0 rebounds for the YNG Dreamerz. Following the information, Izan stated “I made that call as a result of I wish to play within the NBA, so I believe that’s the perfect step to take now to get to the league, to work on my ball dealing with, on my taking pictures, and all the things towards good competitors.” He’s at the moment a projected first spherical decide within the 2024 NBA draft and the No. 18 out there prospect, in keeping with ESPN.
The Spanish large man is just going to get higher as he performs with among the finest younger expertise within the G-League. He’ll be working towards alongside high prospects like Matas Buzelis, Ron Holland, and Babacar Sane. Almansa is a really younger participant, however he has a robust resume going up towards skilled expertise for the previous few years, each within the U.S. and internationally. He talked in regards to the U19 event having the ability to put together him for the subsequent step, stating: “It’s going to arrange me as a result of right here they play very laborious, very bodily. Within the NBA, the G-League they play very laborious to so that they’re going to arrange me for that.”
Almansa would possibly even play his title into the lottery dialog in 2024 if he’s in a position to polish his shot and broaden his sport to the three level line. If he can develop into a menace from lengthy distance he can be a high 5 prospect, which doesn’t should imply that he’s hitting 4 threes a sport, however simply having the ability to catch and shoot every so often would assist skyrocket the hype round him. Almansa is in an important place to flourish with Ignite subsequent season and this years World Cup event was only a preview to how good the worldwide prospect can actually develop into.
