CAIRO (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - John Calipari has guided the United States to five victories in five games at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017. The USA coach took some time to talk about Africa hosting the event; what makes the United States so strong at this level; how good Hamidou Diallo could be; and what impact playing at this event has on future NBA players.













Coach Calipari, you coached the Dominican Republic senior national team, and you are coaching the U19 USA team right now. This is the first time that a FIBA youth men's competition is taking place in Africa. As someone who knows international basketball, what do you think about the game coming to Africa?

I'm telling you… I have coached some kids from Mali, so when you look at this, African basketball is getting better. We beat Angola. But Angola is getting really good. They are missing their best player (Bruno Fernandes) who is right now in Maryland doing some summer school work there. And about Egypt, we have been handled with some great hospitality. Everywhere we have gone it's been unbelievable. The fans are cheering for us, which I didn't think would happen - not for any other reason than we're the favorite and you root against the favorite usually. But they're rooting for us. So it's been great. It's been a great experience.

Well, we're not unbeatable.

USA haven't lost since the Quarter-Finals at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2011. What do you think makes USA so unbeatable at this level?

Well, we're not unbeatable. Again, you have teams like Spain, like Canada. I've watched Canada lose by a point and have the game won against USA. One of the games went to overtime. The world of basketball - and it is the world of basketball, it's not just the United States - is the world. What's happened is when you put 19-year-olds together, anything can happen. We've got 17-, 18- and 19-year-olds on our team. So anything can happen.



Hamidou Diallo played at the FIBA U18 America Championship 2016 and played a big role there. He came to Kentucky and practiced with the team this season. There was NBA Draft consideration but he decided to come back to Kentucky for next season. What do you think about his prospects about long term maybe being someone that we could watch on the USA senior national team one day?

That would be my hope. He was with us half a year. He didn't play one college basketball game. That was the unknown about what do I do. It looked like he would be a late first-rounder. And they (NBA teams) told him he'd be playing in the G-League. I don't think that appealed to him. He wants to be a top-five, top-10 pick. That's what he wants. Well, you have to earn that on the basketball floor. And that's what he chose to do. But people watching him from last year to this year are saying oh my gosh. He was good last year, but now you're looking at him and he's really doing some stuff here. I'm pleased with him, I'm happy for him, and he's performing at a high level.





(HAMIDOU DIALLO ON THE USA SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM ONE DAY) WOULD BE MY HOPE.



A lot of NBA great players have played in this tournament in the past. What is the biggest impact that this tournament gives those players on the road to their success?

The game is a little bit different. It's played more European style. If you watch us play, I am coaching European style. You would think I am coaching in Serbia. But that's how I coach in the States. So it's more of a movement game, more of a spacing game, a driving game, a three-point shooting game. It's just a different way of playing. These kids coming here and being able to perform against these kinds of players and these kinds of coaches - there are great coaches in this tournament - it's a big time advantage for them.

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