The 2015 continental champion, U18 Real Madrid, returns to Bavaria this week looking to defend its title in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Munich. If successful, Madrid will book a ticket to the ANGT Finals for a sixth consecutive year.

Looking to stop Madrid from qualifying in the tournament, which runs from Friday through Sunday, will be quartet of German sides – host U18 FC Bayern Munich, U18 ALBA Berlin, U18 Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt and U18 ratiopharm Ulm – as well as U18 Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv of Israel, U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens of Greece, and U18 Partizan NIS Belgrade of Serbia.

The eight teams are split into two groups of four and will play a round-robin style format within each group at the Audi Dome in Munich. The group winners will face off on Sunday for the ANGT Munich title and join ANGT Valencia winner U18 Valencia Basket as the second team qualified for the ANGT Finals in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain in May. The second-placed team from each group in Munich will play for third place, the third-placed teams for fifth place and the fourth-placed teams for seventh place, also on Sunday.

Group A includes host team Bayern, Maccabi, Partizan and Skyliners. Bayern is playing in the ANGT for the sixth straight season and hosting a qualifying tournament for the second year in a row after having played previously in Rome, Kaunas, Belgrade and Coin from 2014 to 2017. Last season Bayern became the first German team to reach the championship game of a qualifier, but ended up losing to Madrid for a 2-2 record. Bayern was later given a wild card for the ANGT Finals, where it went 0-3. Maccabi is back in the ANGT after missing out last season. The Israeli powerhouse was seventh at ANGT Belgrade in 2017 after losing in the semifinals of ANGT L'Hospitalet in 2016. Partizan has been a staple of the ANGT Belgrade tournament but now comes to Munich after reaching and losing the ANGT Belgrade final to host team U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in 2012, 2015 and 2018. Skyliners will be playing in the ANGT for the second time after going winless in Kaunas in 2017.

Group B is topped by Madrid and also includes ALBA, Panathinaikos and Ulm. Madrid took the ANGT Munich crown last season after winning the qualifying tournaments in Coin in 2017 and L'Hospitalet in 2015 and 2016. The Spanish giant won the continental trophy in 2015 thanks to Luka Doncic. Its loss to Ulm last season in Munich snapped a 21-game winning streak in ANGT qualifying games, dating back to the final of the 2013 ANGT L'Hospitalet against U18 Divina Seguros Joventut Badalona. ALBA returns to Munich, where the team finished third last year, matching the club's placing from ANGT Belgrade in 2015, which was followed by a fifth-place showing in Belgrade in 2016 and sixth place in L'Hospitalet in 2017. Panathinaikos will appearing in the competition for just the second time after going winless in L'Hospitalet in 2017. Ulm will also be playing for a second time, and the second time in Munich, after going 2-2 last season for seventh place, including the aforementioned win over eventual ANGT Munich winner U18 Real Madrid.

Madrid aims to keep ANGT Munich crown

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U18 Virtus Bologna fell just short of winning the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier Valencia title. One big reason – literally and figuratively – that the Italian side reached the title game was the play of center Gora Camara, who shined bright in his second go-around in the competition.

Camara led the ANGT Valencia in rebounding with 15.5 boards per game and was second at the event in performance index rating at 24.0 to go with 12.3 points and 1.3 steals per game. Those numbers helped Virtus to the title game, where it lost to host U18 Valencia Basket, and they resulted in Camara in winning the MVP award.

"My team helped me to win the MVP title," Camara said after the 82-71 loss in the championship game, where he struggled with foul problems and was held to just 8 points and 8 rebounds in 18:12 minutes before fouling out. "I wanted to win the EuroLeague title, but we can't change the past. Valencia was probably more ready than us and the next time we have to be more ready to win."

Despite heading home with the bitter taste of defeat against Valencia, it was a special honor for the 2.14-meter big man from Senegal.

"It was important for me to win the MVP award. It could have been better if we also won the tournament. At least we have something to bring home. I won the MVP award because I did all I could for my team to win. I didn’t come here to win the MVP, but to win the tournament," he said.

Part of Camara's showing in Valencia was collecting 15 points and 26 rebounds against U18 Movistar Estudiantes Madrid. That rebound total broke the all-time ANGT single-game mark of 24 previously held by Jonas Valanciunas and Marko Pecarski. 

"I got a lot of rebounds because I knew that it was important for the team to win. I didn't believe that I got 26 rebounds," said the big man.

Camara, who will turn 18 years old in April, was playing his second ANGT after lining up for the Italian club at ANGT L'Hospitalet last season when he averaged 6.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for a Virtus team that finished sixth. Those final numbers could be considered disappointing after Camara's first game saw him collect 16 points, 23 rebounds and 2 blocks against U18 Torrons Vicens L’Hospitalet. He totaled just 10 points and 15 rebounds combined in the final three games. 

"Last year in L'Hospitalet I didn’t show my potential. This year I had the opportunity to show my real potential and I gave to my team all I could give," said Camara, who had only been with Virtus a couple of months by the time of last season's L'Hospitalet tourney.

Camara arrived in Bologna shortly before the 2017-18 season and did so without speaking any Italian.

"At the beginning, it was very difficult, because I didn't know the language, but now my Italian is better, and that helps me play better," Camara said.

The Dakar native has only been playing basketball since 2015 and learned the game in Senegal at the Dieda Basketball Academy. Camara came into the ANGT Valencia happy to be healthy after missing about two months this season with a pinched nerve in his leg after being kicked during a game earlier this season. He has already played in three games in the Basketball Champions League for Virtus' top team and has tallied 1 point, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in 20 minutes of total action in late October and early November.

"The Basketball Champions League games helped me play better in the tournament. I can see that the players here have less experience than me because I played with the first team in the Champions League," he said.

Camara has been working hard on his game as well as his education, the commitment to the latter which kept him from playing for his native Senegal this past summer when the country reached the final of the FIBA U18 African Championship 2018 and thereby qualified for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

"Last summer I went back to Senegal, but had to come back to study. There is a chance to play the U19 World Cup. Senegal would like to bring me there, but it depends on the season," Camara said.

That would be a big chance for the big man, who has already shown that he can excel in Europe's top youth club competition – even more so his second time around.



Camara shines brightly at his second ANGT

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Gora Camara, who helped U18 Virtus Bologna reach the championship game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier Valencia, was named the tournament's MVP on Sunday. Camara led the event in rebounding with 15.5 boards per game and was second in performance index rating at 24.0. He also was 11th in scoring with 12.3 points and collected 1.3 steals per game while shooting 55.9% from the field. The 2.14-meter Senegal-born center was held to 8 points and 8 rebounds in Virtus's 82-71 loss to host U18 Valencia Basket in the championship game as he struggled with foul trouble.

Joining Camara on the All-Tournament Team were Marc Garcia of champion Valencia, Ariel Hukporti of U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg, Tom Digbeu of U18 FC Barcelona Lassa and Aleix Haro of U18 Divina Seguros Joventut Badalona. Garcia averaged 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals with a PIR of 11.3. He played a huge role in Valencia winning the crown with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for an index rating of 30 in the victory over Virtus. Hukporti ranked second in the tournament in scoring and rebounds with 18.0 points and 15.2 rebounds and was tops in index rating at 26.7 and in blocks with 1.8, while also averaging 2.5 steals. Digbeu collected 14.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals for an index rating of 15.8. Haro ranked third in scoring with 17.8 points, second in assists with 5.0 and fifth in index rating at 18.8 to go with 2.0 steals while hitting 85.2% of his free throws.

Camara named ANGT Valencia MVP

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There were no wide eyes for Kymany Houinsou at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier Valencia. The LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne guard made his first endeavor into international basketball this weekend with the start of a journey that promises to be literally "adventurous".

The 1.91-meter Houinsou did not act like he was the youngest player in Valencia; the 14-year-old averaged 5.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.3 steals through the first three games of the event.

"It's exciting, but there is no age for me. It's just competition," said Houinsou, who was one of four players on the ASVEL roster born in 2003 or later.

Playing against older competition is nothing new for Houinsou. In 2017, he helped ASSM Pfastatt win the French U15 national championship - at just 13 years of age.

"I was very happy and very proud of my team because nobody expected us to win," he said of the crown.

That title came under the tutelage of veteran coach Jean Luc Monschau, who won two ProA crowns with SLUC Nancy, but decided in 2014 to move down to coach youth basketball after nearly 30 years of coaching professionally.

Houinsou chose this past August to move from Pfastatt near Mulhouse to Lyon and play for ASVEL.

"It's exciting because for me it's the best club in France and it's Tony Parker's club, so we have the best players in France along with CFBB," Houinsou said.

The athletic playmaker did not stay at the U15 level with ASVEL, but has played all season instead with the club's team in the U18 league. He knew things in Valencia would not be easy.

"I had to be ready to play on the court because the guys are older so I needed to be ready," said Houinsou, who has averaged 6.0 points over eight games in the French U18 league.

Regarding what he wanted to do for ASVEL in Valencia, he said: "Just do what you have to do, bring energy, play defense, scoring, passing and play with heart."

Basketball has been part of Houinsou's life for a long time already. He recalled going to games of his father Sam Houinsou in the lower leagues in the Mulhouse area and playing since he was 3 years old.

Houinsou’s earliest role models were his father and Michael Jordan. "My dad showed me tapes of Michael Jordan," said Houinsou, whose newer role models are Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

Houinsou’s father hails from the West African country of Benin and came to France when he was 14 years old. His mother arrived in France from the Caribbean region of Guadeloupe when she was 3 years old.

When looking ahead to the bright future that Houinsou has, it seems only fitting that his first name is Kymany, which has African origins and means "adventurous traveler".

"Yeah, that describes me," the composed youngster said.

Houinsou really doesn't have to look far for role models for his next step. He only needs to look at ASVEL's top team where 17-year-old Theo Maledon has already averaged 7.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the ProA and 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists in the 7DAYS EuroCup.

"I want that too. He’s one of my role models," said Houinsou, who envisions himself as a tall point guard down the road. "I want to play in the French national team and be a professional player and one of the main guys at ASVEL.

Houinsou will celebrate his 15th birthday on January 6, meaning he is just about 11 months younger than Luka Doncic was when he debuted in the ANGT in L'Hospitalet in the 2014-15 season. "Everything is possible," was Houinsou’s response to that historical comparison.

Everything is possible looking ahead for the "adventurous traveler".

Houinsou's 'adventurous travel' with ASVEL begins in Valencia

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The 17th edition of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament tips off between on the last weekend of the year with two past champions headlining the competition's first stop ever in Valencia, Spain. The club that has championed the sport in that region over decades, Valencia Basket, is hosting the event from Friday to Sunday, December 28 to 30. U18 Divina Seguros Joventut Badalona, the 2013 continental winner, and FC Barcelona, the 2016 champions, will start the quest for a second title in Valencia, with the winner of the tournament qualifying for one of the eight spots in the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain next May.

The eight teams in Valencia will be broken into two groups, playing a round-robin format in each. The group games will be played at the L'Alqueria Del Basket, Valencia's state-of-the-art facility that is Europe's largest practice center, with nine indoor and four outdoor courts across 15,000 square meters. The placement games will be played at Pabellon Fuente de San Luis, the home of Valencia Basket's team in the 7DAYS EuroCup.

The two group winners will face off in the ANGT Valencia championship game, with the victor then qualifying for the ANGT Finals next spring. The second-placed teams from each group will face off for third place, the third-placed teams from each group will play for fifth place, and the fourth-placed teams from each group will battle for eighth place.

Group A includes Barcelona, host U18 Valencia Basket, U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg and U18 USK Future Stars Prague. The Group B quartet is Joventut, U18 Movistar Estudiantes Madrid, U18 Virtus Bologna and U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.

Barcelona enters ANGT Valencia with the goal of getting back to the ANGT Finals after missing out last season following two previous trips, including winning the continental crown in 2016. Barcelona and Joventut met in the final of the last two ANGT L'Hospitalet qualifying tournaments, with Barcelona winning in 2017 and losing in 2018. That will be one of the big questions of this new ANGT Valencia qualifying event: Will Barcelona and Joventut face off again?

Ludwigsburg is back in the competition after missing last season and the German club would love to keep Barcelona from the final. Ludwigsburg hopes to build on its best-ever finish in four participations to date, third place at the 2017 ANGT Belgrade. Prague is also back in the ANGT after not participating last season, which snapped a streak of eight seasons dating back to 2010 for the team from the Czech Republic. The 2010 campaign was also the last time that host Valencia played, when it went winless at ANGT L'Hospitalet as Power Electronics. The club also played in 2008 as Pamesa Valencia.

In Group B, Joventut will be fighting to raise the first ANGT Valencia trophy, having won the ANGT L'Hospitalet crown last season. Joventut may not have as much crowd support as it had in L'Hospitalet, a Barcelona suburb like Badalona. ASVEL is back in the competition for the second straight season after it finished third in L'Hospitalet last season. The French club also competed in 2009, 2010 and 2015. Estudiantes did not play in the event last season after finishing in third place at ANGT Coin in 2017. The club also played in 2008 and 2010. The other team in Group B is Virtus, which finished sixth at ANGT L'Hospitalet last season. This will be the Italian club's sixth appearance in the competition.

Past champs headline first ANGT in Valencia

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The 17th edition of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament will culminate at the Final Four in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain next May. Long before that, fans can start enjoying the best that basketball's U18 generation has to offer with four qualifiers that pave the way to the Finals. The four winners of the qualifiers will each earn a ticket to be among the eight participants in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Valencia Basket will host a qualifier in this 2018-19 edition, marking the first time that the three-time EuroCup champion club will have Europe's elite U18 players in its city. Munich, Kaunas and Belgrade will be the other hosts that decide which teams win and qualify to the Finals.

A total of 32 different U18 teams will participate across the four qualifiers. Each city will host eight teams competing in two groups of four during the first two days, with the first-, third-, fifth- and seventh-place games being held on the last day.

The Valencia qualifier will take place in L'Alqueria del Basket, which is the largest practice facility in Europe. A total of nine indoor and four outdoor courts can be found across the 15,000-square-meter, state-of-the-art installation that was inaugurated in September of 2017. A total of 49 different male and female teams, ranging from U12s all the way up to Valencia's EuroCup seniors, practice at L'Alqueria del Basket.

The first qualifier – in Valencia, Spain from December 28 to 30, 2018 – will feature 2016 champion FC Barcelona Lassa, 2013 champion Divina Seguros Joventut Badalona as well as LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, Movistar Estudiantes Madrid, Porsche Ludwigsburg, USK Future Stars Prague, Valencia Basket and Virtus Bologna.

The second qualifier – in Munich, Germany from January 25 to 27, 2019 – will feature 2015 champion Real Madrid as well as ALBA Berlin, FC Bayern Munich, Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt, Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, Partizan NIS Belgrade and ratiopharm Ulm.

The third qualifier – in Kaunas, Lithuania from February 8 to 10, 2019 – will feature three-time champion CSKA Moscow, two-time champions CFBB Paris, Rytas Vilnius and Zalgiris Kaunas, as well as DBA Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Stellazzurra Rome and Torrons Vicens L'Hospitalet.

The fourth qualifier – in Belgrade, Serbia from February 22 to 24, 2019 – will feature 2014 champion Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade as well as Cedevita Zagreb, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Mega Bemax Belgrade, Olympiacos Piraeus, Petrol Olimpija Ljubljana, Spars Sarajevo and Umana Reyer Venice.

In honor of the 40th anniversary that the L'Hospitalet U18 Tournament will celebrate this season, Euroleague Basketball is collaborating with the local organizing committee to host elite U18 teams from across Europe. Torrons Vicens L'Hospitalet will also compete in the Kaunas qualifier to fight for a spot at the Finals in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The alumni of the Euroleague Basketball U18 Tournament Finals make up a who's who of current stars. These include: Arturas Gudaitis and Nemanja Nedovic (AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), Thomas Heurtel (FC Barcelona Lassa), Luigi Datome and Marko Guduric (Fenerbahce Istanbul), Alexey Shved (Khimki Moscow Region), Dario Saric (Philadelphia 76ers), Klemen Prepelic (Real Madrid) and Jonas Valanciunas (Toronto Raptors).

The newest future stars of Euroleague Basketball will take the spotlight, ready to demonstrate their talent, ambition and teamwork, in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament.

2018-19 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier hosts, participants announced

The KINEXON tracking system was put to the test during the recent Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals in Belgrade, Serbia, to measure detailed movements of players and game officials throughout the four days of competition. The use of the KINEXON tracking system is another example of Euroleague Basketball embracing the latest technological innovations and seeking ways to integrate them for the betterment of players and fans alike.

The players and game officials were fitted with KINEXON's small and lightweight sensor between their shoulder blades. Using unique radio frequency technology, the sensors recorded and transmitted position and movement data accurate to the centimeter, which allowed KINEXON to track the speed, acceleration and jumps of the players.

Even though the KINEXON system was put to use during all 13 games over the weekend, for better comparability the numbers reported correspond to the 12 games of the group rounds before the championship game. A total of 93 players wore the sensors that gathered all the data. Included among the findings was data showing that all players in the ANGT averaged a distance traveled of 3.2 kilometers per game. Also, the average jump height per player was 30.2 centimeters while the average metabolic work per game was of 271.58 kilocalories burned. Top athletes at ANGT Finals reach maximum speed values of up to 27,8 km/h, and jump as high as 83 cm.

KINEXON real-time tracking system brings performance insights to ANGT Finals

The Kinexon tracking system will be in use at the 2017-18 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals to measure detailed movements of players and game officials as the former vie for the title of European junior club champion, in parallel with the 2018 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade, Serbia. The use of the Kinexon tracking system is another example of Euroleague Basketball embracing the latest technological innovations and seeking ways to integrate them for the betterment of players and fans alike.

The players and game officials will be fitted with Kinexon's small and lightweight sensor between their shoulder blades. Using unique RF technology, the sensors will record and transmit position and movement data accurate to the centimeter, which will allow Kinexon to track player movements including speed, acceleration and jumps.

In the future, this technology may be used in real time to provide coaching staffs with up-to-the-second information, to allow medical staffs to monitor and evaluate players' condition, and to create integrated data and graphics for television broadcasters and social media platforms.

Kinexon to track player movements at U18 Tournament Finals

The first tipoffs during the Final Four in Belgrade this week will be at the city's historic Aleksandar Nikolic Hall when the 16th annual Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals open bright and early on Thursday, May 17. Five past U18 continental champions are part of the eight-team field, which also includes one newcomer to Europe's most elite youth club competition. The eight teams will be hoping to hoist the trophy in the championship game on Sunday, to be held at Stark Arena just hours before a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion will be crowned on the same court.

The teams are broken down into two four-team groups. Each group will play round-robin games and the first-placed team in each will face off in the Sunday's championship game. Group A includes reigning champion and two-time winner U18 CFBB Paris, 2012 champ U18 Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, 2015 winner U18 Real Madrid and 2017 finalist U18 Mega Bemax Belgrade. Group B is made up of 2014 champion U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, 2013 winner U18 Divina Seguros Joventut Badalona, first-timer U18 FC Bayern Munich and U18 Stellazzurra Rome. There is free admission to all the games.

With three former title-winners together, Group A is expected to have plenty of fireworks.

Reigning champ CFBB will be looking for crown number three after also taking the trophy in 2010 – then under the name INSEP. The French academy is making its seventh appearance overall, and fourth consecutively, in the ANGT Finals. CFBB received a wild card for the Belgrade spectacle as title-holder after finishing fifth at the ANGT Kaunas qualifying event. CFBB ended U18 FMP's attempt for a three-peat in 2010 and this year is shooting for the first repeat since FMP went back-to-back in 2008 and 2009.

Group A also features some revenge games. CFBB's victory in the 2017 ANGT championship game came over Mega, so the Belgrade team will be extra motivated to knock off the French side this time around. Mega is making its third straight appearance after receiving a wild card following a third-place finish at the ANGT Belgrade qualifying tournament. The 2012 continental champion Lietuvos Rytas missed the 2017 ANGT Finals but is back for its sixth showing in the final round of games after winning ANGT Kaunas. Lietuvos Rytas beat U18 Fenerbahce in the 2012 championship game after having lost to FMP in the 2009 title bout. The other Group A team is 2015 champion Real Madrid, which is appearing in its fifth straight ANGT Finals and sixth in total. Madrid, which lost in the 2014 ANGT championship game to Crvena Zvezda, will be out for some revenge, too, after losing to Mega in the first game of group play last year to miss out on returning to the final. Madrid qualified for Belgrade after winning the ANGT Munich event.

Group B is topped by 2014 champion Crvena Zvezda, which is playing in its eighth straight ANGT Finals after winning eight straight ANGT Belgrade titles. Zvezda reached three consecutive ANGT championship games, winning in 2014 before losing to Real Madrid in 2015 and to Barcelona in 2016. In the 2017 ANGT Finals, Zvezda lost all three group games and will be looking to use the home fans to get back to its winning ways.

Joventut won the continental crown in 2013 and came back to the ANGT Finals in 2014 as reigning champ. This year is the first time that the Spanish club has made it back to the big stage, thanks to claiming the trophy in the ANGT L'Hospitalet. Group B also includes the only debutant as Bayern Munich makes its maiden journey to the ANGT Finals after reaching the ANGT Munich final and receiving a wild card. This is just the third time that a German team is taking part in the ANGT Finals after U18 ALBA Berlin hosted the event in 2009 and 2016. And the final team in Group B is Stellazzurra, which reached the ANGT Finals for the second time after playing in Madrid in 2015. Stellazzurra was granted a wild card after finishing second at the ANGT Kaunas, where the Italian club became the first team in competition history to beat U18 Zalgiris Kaunas as the host team in Kaunas.