DEBRECEN (Hungary) – Izan Almansa added another piece of hardware to his trophycase as he was named TISSOT Most Valuable Player of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 after guiding Spain to the championship.
Almansa collected 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals and 1 block in Spain’s 73-69 overtime victory against France. For the tournament, Almansa averaged 16.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks. He led the team in scoring, rebounds and blocks.
Almansa is getting used to winning MVP awards after the was named TISSOT MVP of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 as well as the FIBA U18 European Championship 2022.
“I don’t know how it happened. It’s all about my teammates. They passed me the ball and believed in me, so this is for them too,” said Almansa.
Joining Almansa on the All-Star 5 were his Spanish teammate Jordi Rodriguez, Zacharie Perrin of France, Berke Buyuktuncel of Turkey and Mark Armstrong of USA.
Rodriguez averaged 13.6 points on 39 percent three-point shooting, 2.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals. In the Final, he poured in a team-high 18 points including 3 three-pointers.
Perrin fouled out in the Final late in regulation but not before he produced 14 points, 20 rebounds and 2 blocks. For the tournament, the power forward tallied 15.4 points, a tournament-best 10.9 rebounds 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks. He also had the best efficiency rating of the tournament (25.1).
Buyuktuncel flashed his game at both ends all tournament with 11.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocks.
Armstrong meanwhile led USA in scoring with 12.4 points to go with 1.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals.
