Written By Josh Rajunov and Tyler Jacobson
The U16 and U18 Boys’ Basketball teams will play for gold on Monday after both teams secured blowout victories Sunday in the European Maccabi Youth Games.
U16
After Maccabi USA’s U16 Boys’ Basketball defeated Great Britain 94-57, you would think head coach Ryan Trutner would be pleased, right?
Not so much.
Maccabi GB started the game on a 7-2 run in the first three minutes, prompting Trutner to take a timeout and send a message to his team.
“I don’t get to play competitive basketball anymore,” he said. “So when I see guys not putting the effort out there, I get personally offended by that. I don’t have that privilege anymore, and I saw kids taking for granted the opportunity to play in a competitive environment. … That’s one of the most unacceptable things I can see out there on a basketball court.”
The U.S. outscored GB 23-7 the rest of the first quarter.
“Well, we started off pretty slow,” guard Felix Jacobs said. “We didn’t bring the energy. Our second unit really woke us up. They just started bringing intense defense and brought together the offense.”
Trutner’s reason for not being ecstatic after a 40-point win is understandable. He recognizes the high expectations that come with representing the U.S. in basketball.
“They are saying ‘Heck yeah! We’re the U.S., we’re supposed to win,’” coach Trutner said. “I don’t think that’s making them nervous or second-guessing themselves. These kids don’t get affected by [the expectations].”
The U.S. will have to live up to those expectations on Monday against France for the gold medal.
U18
It was a commanding performance once again for the U18 Boys’ Basketball team in a 119-61 win Sunday over a unique Israel team. The U.S. improved to 3-0, winning all of its games the same way: as a team.
“It’s my favorite brand of basketball,” head coach Mark Skelton said. “Team basketball wins championships and team basketball will win us gold.”
And the players have bought into it too.
“My teammates were hitting their threes today, so we were able to score a lot,” guard Jonah Dresner said. “It’s just good to see it from them.”
The U18 Boys will face Maccabi Great Britain on Monday in the gold medal match. Even with an undefeated 3-0 record, Skelton isn’t taking anything for granted.
“If you remember Maccabi history, in 1997, the open team beat the GB team by 40 [in pool play] [but then] lost [to GB] in the semis,” Skelton said. “So you know we’re well aware of Maccabi’s history, but we’re also going to try to not repeat history.”
Josh Rajunov is from Dallas, Texas, and just completed his freshman year at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. You can follow Josh on all of his socials @Josh_Rajunov32 and connect with him on LinkedIn here.
Tyler Jacobson lives outside Philadelphia and recently graduated from the University of Delaware with a Degree in Communications and Media Production. You can follow his work @Tylersj26 on Instagram and here at maccabiusa.com.