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The Australia v USA Game
The U19 FIBA World Cup in 2021 was star-packed with future NBA stars like Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren. The USA team included players like Jaden Ivey, Johnny Davis, Patrick Baldwin Jr, and Kennedy Chandler while being led by Chet Holmgren. These players are projected first-round picks, with Davis, Ivey, and Holmgren expected to go in the lottery.
Dyson Daniels led the Australian team alongside Cal Baptist point guard Taran Armstrong. Dyson was the best talent on the roster, leading him to play a heliocentric role and act as the team’s engine.
The Australians were overmatched and outplayed by the USA in the game, losing 66-87. Yet, Daniels managed to turn many heads. He finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Guarded by consensus top 5 pick Jaden Ivey, Daniels used his length, patience, and strong paint presence to push Ivey into the paint and finish over the defense multiple times.
Against the smaller guards such as Mike Miles, Dyson immediately took them into the post, spinning over his shoulder and finishing high with either a floater or a hook, a move we’d later see become his signature in the G League. The corresponding guards struggled to get going on the other side of the floor. Jaden Ivey and Adam Miller combined for 15 points on 5/17 shooting and 1/9 from 3.
Daniels’ poise with the ball despite being in a rather uncomfortable point guard position and his defensive strengths showed the beginning flashes of his rise to one of the more well-rounded wing prospects in this year’s class. After the U19 tournament, Dyson left Australia to play with G League Ignite in Las Vegas, an experience that did not go as smoothly as expected.
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