Can anybody beat the United States? That's the main question going into the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship (8-16 August) as the USA go for a third straight title in the third edition of the event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Americans actually haven't lost in the history of the competition, twice going 8-0 in taking the hardware in 2010 in Hamburg and 2012 in Kaunas.
And the next group of USA players are ready to join in the footsteps of previous U17 world champions like Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond, Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor.
The USA are the prohibitive favorites to hoist a third trophy, and the most likely players who fans will look back in five or 10 years and say 'I remember him playing at the U17 World Championship' are Malik Newman and Ivan Rabb.
Those are just two of the great players on the USA team, which gives the Americans their biggest strength. Head coach Don Showalter admitted that other countries may have a starting five that can match his, but it's the depth of the team that makes the difference as the reserves come on and eventually wear down opponents.
So, the question remains, can anybody beat the United States?
There will be a group of teams going into the tournament believing that the USA's U17 Worlds winning streak will end in Dubai.
Serbia, for example, have a chip on their shoulder after losing to Spain in the Final of the 2013 U16 European Championship and knowing that their U19 national team challenged the Americans at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.
The Serbs are loaded with talent, featuring the guard trio of Vojislav Stojanovic, Aleksandar Arinitovic and Stefan Peno. Stojanovic and Arinitovic were leaders on the Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade team that won the Nike International Junior Tournament at the Euroleague Final Four.
Greece, meanwhile, have a quartet of players who were at the U18 European Championshipand guided that team to fourth place and a spot at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship. The U17 captain Vasileios Charalampopoulos made the U18 Euros All-Tournament Team while big man Georgios Papagiannis was one of the most dominating centers in the U18 tournament.
Australia have a trio of players 2.05m or taller and a balanced group around them as they shoot to match the second place finish from 2012 in Kaunas.
Canada were initially thought of as a team that could compete for a spot on the podium, but they will have to play a bit smaller as they are missing one of their main big man. And the group will also have to make up for the absence of Justin Jackson.
Italy and Spain will both be tough teams to beat in Dubai as well. Italy actually join Greece as first-timers in the competition as well as Angola, Puerto Rico, Japan, the Philippines and hostsUnited Arab Emirates (UAE).
The format for the tournament has changed with all teams advancing from the Group Phase into the knock-out stage of the Final Phase, where they will be seeded according to their group standings as they bid to reach the Round of 16
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