Ireland U16 men head for classification bracket following Finland loss

Ireland’s U16 men have finished the group stages of the FIBA European Championship without a win following a 70-49 defeat to Finland this afternoon but can take encouragement from the fact the competed in what looks like the toughest group in the tournament.

Ireland matched their opponents throughout the first and lead for the majority. Luke Seltzer picked up where he left off against Ukraine, bagging five-points, Pharrell Osagie made back-to-back shots, Jakub Malecki, Cillian O’Connell and Declan Gbinigie also got in on the act in a very well-rounded performance from the team to start the contest. The issues came with Finnish adjustments thereafter.

There’s a reason Ireland’s opponents qualified second from the group, only losing to Germany in the process. They have four good perimeter defenders in Suutela, Kuhalampi, Kaivos and Abbey and as the game progressed, it forced Ireland to become more one dimensional on offense, which led to some turnovers and a low overall shooting percentage from the field, 24%. Ignoring the scoreline, it’ll be these controllable statistics that the coaching team will want their players to improve upon ahead of their meeting with Norway.

Ireland dealt with Finland’s threat in the paint much better than recent contests. At least twice in the group, Ireland have been outscored significantly in this regard, but not this afternoon. Their big men stood up inside and played physically. Ireland also outworked their opponents at times in transition, picking up 16 steals in the contest, creating 12-points from turnovers. As mentioned, Ireland failed to score as proficiently as last time out, Seltzer the only man reaching double digits, but Joshua Osayanrhion once again proved a force on the board, grabbing seven. Declan Gbinigie was also effective on the glass, picking up five rebounds and facilitating three assists.

More crucially plenty of floor time was given by the coaching team. Ten players got over 12-minutes of action against one of the best teams in this bracket. That’ll bode well for their overall development as players, which is what this is all about in the medium to long term.

Ireland will now play Norway in the classification round. The Norwegians finished bottom of Group C, containing Sweden, Portugal, Great Britain and Bosnia & Herzegovina. That match takes place Thursday at 4:15pm.

Ireland Top-3 Scorers:

Luke Seltzer (11), Cillian O’Connell (8), Pharrell Osagie (8).

FIBA U16 Men’s European Championship Result:

Ireland 40–79 Finland

FIBA U16 Men’s European Championship Fixture:

Ireland v Norway, Thursday August 18^th, 16:15, Venue: Sofia, Bulgaria.