Editorial

United States U16 Basketball Wins FIBA Americas Championship Gold After Completely Annihilating Canada, 118-36

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The United States U16 Boys National Team grabbed the FIBA Americas Championship gold medal after absolutely obliterating Canada, 118-36. [YouTube/Screenshot/Public — FIBA - The Basketball Channel]

[YouTube/Screenshot/Public — FIBA - The Basketball Channel]

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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Another gold medal for the red, white and blue — and in such flashy style.

There’s no debate about it, the U.S.A. is still the kingpin of the planet when it comes to the game of basketball. Some argue that the rest of the world is catching up, and that might be true to some degree, but it’s clearly the Stars and Stripes who run the show for now.

This is definitely the case when we talk about junior levels, where the U.S.A. Basketball Junior National Teams completely control both sides of boys and girls competition.

A perfect example of that dominance was on display Sunday as the U.S.A. U16 Boys National Team squared off against Canada in the 2023 FIBA Americas Championship finals. Overall, Canada has a pretty good basketball program, producing talent such as Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But if you didn’t know that, you’d think Canada was utter trash as the United States grabbed the gold after absolutely obliterating Canada, 118-36. Yes, you read that correctly.

With a score like that, I’d be tempted to just sit down on the court for a rest. It’s not like things could get much worse.

The contest got started with a 5-0 lead for the Canadians, after which the red, white and blue went on a mesmerizing 27-2 run. At one point, the lead was 54-13, which then turned into a 71-23 advantage for the Americans at halftime. In the second half, it got even worse for our neighbors up north, as the U.S. only allowed them to put up 13 points total.

Leading the way in scoring for the United States was Cameron Boozer with 24 points. If you’re not familiar, Cameron is the son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer and is debatably the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2025.

The dominating victory also made a little history:

Here are the highlights:

This is United States basketball — definitely the standard from where I’m sitting.

Now I get that countries like Spain and Australia are gaining ground, but with the world’s second-best program falling short by over 80 points, I’d say the gold will stay safely in American hands for the foreseeable future. (RELATED: So Dumb! Florida Makes 4-Star Recruit Caleb Odom Do Photoshoot On Glass, Nearly Suffers Severe Injury After Doing Jump)

USA! USA! USA!