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Former Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament champion U18 Zalgiris Kaunas will headline the first-ever ANGT Dubai with an eight-team field in the United Arab Emirates’ largest city also including powerhouse U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and first-time participants U18 Aris Midea Thessaloniki and U18 Dubai Falcons Basketball Academy. The winner of the March 22-24 tournament will be the third team to lock up a ticket to the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Berlin following ANGT Podgorica winner U18 Real Madrid and U18 FC Barcelona, which finished first at the ANGT Belgrade. 

The eight teams have been divided into two four-team groups and they will face each other in round robin style. The two teams finishing first in their respective groups will square off Sunday in the first-place game at the Coca-Cola Arena, with the winner of that game advancing to the ANGT Finals. Group A has ASVEL, Aris, Dubai and U18 ratiopharm Ulm while Group B consists of Zalgiris, U18 Valencia Basket, U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna and U18 Next Generation Team Dubai. 

ASVEL is competing in the competition for the 10th time and seventh in a row. Last season the French team lost to U18 Joventut Badalona in the ANGT Patras first place game. Ulm has played in the last six ANGTs with the German team finishing a best third place in 2020-21 Valencia. Last season, Ulm ended the ANGT Munich in sixth place with a 1-3 record. The Aris senior team is playing in the BKT EuroCup this season for the first since the 2015-16 season, while its youth team will be making its ANGT debut. Also making its debut will be local host side Dubai, which also played in the U19 ABA Adriatic League this season. 

The favorite in Group B will be the only continental winner in the field, 2003 and 2007 champion Zalgiris, which also finished as runner-up in 2005, 2006 and 2011. The Lithuanian side has participated in the ANGT competition every season since its inception in 2002. The last time Zalgiris won a qualifying tournament came at the ANGT Kaunas in 2018-19. Zalgiris lost to U18 Real Madrid in the ANGT Munich first-place game last season and then went 1-2 at the ANGT Finals. Valencia will be playing in the ANGT for the eighth time and the third in a row. The Spanish club won the ANGT Valencia in 2018-19 and had 2-2 records in taking fifth place the last two seasons at the ANGT Belgrade. Valencia knocked off Virtus in the 2018-19 Valencia first-place game, which was the last time the Italian club played in the competition. Virtus will be making its eighth appearance. The fourth team is the NGD select team which will be coached by Petteri Koponen. 

The three-day event will tip off on March 22.

Zalgiris, debutants highlight first-ever ANGT Dubai

The FC Barcelona talent put up some monster numbers in lifting his team to the ANGT Finals.

ANGT Belgrade MVP Jakucionis has taken his leadership to another level

[Kasparas Jakucionis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/kasparas-jakucionis/012197/) already possessed an MVP award from a Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament last season. But the U18 FC Barcelona guard stepped up his all-around game to add another from the ANGT Belgrade.

Jakucionis showed just how versatile his game has become in nearly registering a triple-double in Barcelona’s 104-85 victory over U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in the first-place game. 

“I am happy that I can do my best, but I am more happy that the team won,” said Jakucionis, who scored 24 points to go with 11 rebounds and 9 assists for a performance index rating of 37 against Milan.

It would have been the eighth triple-double in ANGT history. 

The Lithuanian averaged 17.0 points on 27-of-27 free-throw shooting, 7.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.2 steals and 6.0 fouls drawn for an average PIR of 29.2 in the tournament.

<center>blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1st place winning team at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AdidasNGT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AdidasNGT</a> Belgrade U18 <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCBbasket</a> also had the MVP of the tournament, super talented prospect Kasparas Jakucionis 👀👏<br><br>The future is bright for Barcelona! 📈🔥 <a href="https://t.co/DBHP210rHh">pic.twitter.com/DBHP210rHh</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1764545817480692215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I’m doing great. I can lead the team. But with only me, we would lose. We need the whole team,” said Jakucionis, who last season won the ANGT Zadar MVP after tallying 19.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals for a PIR of 25.0. 

“He used to be a scorer but now he is an all-around player,” said Barcelona head coach Carlos Marin about Jakucionis. “He can get rebounds, he can score from three, He can lead the team, setting them up with good passes. He has developed his game at the highest level, trying to match the physicality of the first team. He keeps improving but also the other guys around him. He’s a great player.”

The 1.93-meter guard has dominated this season for Barcelona’s second team in the Spanish fourth division, averaging 20.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals. He also registered a triple-double of 26 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists against Navas on February 11.

That excellence along with injuries to Barcelona’s guards on the pro team resulted in Jakucionis getting some experience with the professionals. He made his Spanish ACB League debut last season on April 19, 2023, hitting a three-pointer for 3 points in 30 seconds against Granada. At 16 years, 10 months and 18 days old, Jakucionis was the third-youngest player to debut for Barcelona behind only Eric Vila (16 years and 6 months) and Dame Sarr (16 years, 6 months and 18 days).

This season he made his only three-point attempt in scoring 3 points in 3 minutes against Girona on November 26. On January 12, Jakucionis made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut, playing 1:34 minutes against Zalgiris Kaunas, hitting his only shot for 2 points to go with 1 rebound in front of the home fans at Palau Blaugrana. 

The first basket of Kasparas Jakucionis's EuroLeague career

First basket of Kasparas Jakucionis's EuroLeague career

“It was really nice to play against Zalgiris,” said Jakucionis, who hails from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, and came to Barcelona in the summer of 2021. “I had practiced a few days before and they said I would be registered because there were no other players to play. I was really happy that I got the opportunity. I tried to use it.”

About hearing his name called to enter the EuroLeague game, he said: “It was weird. It was the first time in a EuroLeague game. There were a lot of people and it was just a different game - a professional game and atmosphere.”

Jakucionis played his second Spanish League game of the season nine days later and shot 2-for-2 on three-pointers for 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in 3 minutes against Granada.

About playing with the pro team, Jakucionis said: “It was an amazing feeling. It’s a different level and I understand that I have to work a lot more to reach that level.”

U18 FC Barcelona head coach 

“He used to be a scorer but now he is an all-around player.”


Jakucionis is practicing less often with the pro team now because Barcelona’s injured players have returned. Still, he learned a lot from his time with the top team, especially from his fellow Lithuanian Rokas Jokubaitis as well as Jabari Parker and Willy Hernangomez.

“They just give me more confidence and advice about what I should or shouldn’t do on the court and off the court. We also talk about life,” he said. “How to make better decisions, what to do on defense if I get lost or something, they help me to get back.” 

Jakucionis’s experience with the pro team helped him lead the U18 team in Belgrade.

“We completed the objective for now, but we still have another goal to go in Berlin,” Jakucionis said referring to Barcelona booking its ticket to the ANGT Finals in Berlin in late May. “We will celebrate a little for now but then work again hard in practices.”

Jakucionis and Barcelona will be returning to the ANGT Finals and looking for the big prize - to win the continental trophy. 

“We want to win. That’s it.”

ANGT Belgrade MVP Kasparas Jakucionis was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Denis Badalau of Milan, U18 Partizan Belgrade guard Savo Drezgic, Abdramane Siby of U18 Mega MIS Belgrade and Aleksa Stanojevic from U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade.

MVP Jakucionis leads ANGT Belgrade All-Tournament team

Kasparas Jakucionis had double the reason to celebrate at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade as he took home the Most Valuable Player trophy after helping U18 FC Barcelona grab first place in the event.

Jakucionis is used to collecting ANGT hardware after the Lithuanian was named MVP of last season’s ANGT Zadar tournament. The 1.93-meter guard nearly registered the eighth triple-double in ANGT history in Barcelona’s 85-104 victory over U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in the first place game with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists to go with 2 steals and 8 fouls drawn for a PIR of 37. For the tournament, he averaged 17.0 points including a perfect 27-of-27 on free throws, 7.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.2 steals and 6.0 fouls drawn for an average PIR of 29.2. Of all players at the ANGT Belgrade, Jakucionis ranked second in PIR and assists, third with 7.2 defensive rebounds, tied for fourth with 6.0 fouls drawn, seventh in steals and eighth in scoring.

Jakucionis was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Denis Badalau of Milan, U18 Partizan Belgrade guard Savo Drezgic, Abdramane Siby of U18 Mega MIS Belgrade and Aleksa Stanojevic from U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade.

Kasparas Jakucionis is ANGT Belgrade MVP

In the first-place game, Badalau collected 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks for an index rating of 27. For the tournament, the 1.97-meter forward tallied 21.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 5.5 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.5. The Romanian talent was second in scoring, tied for second with 4.8 offensive rebounds, fourth in rebounds and sixth in PIR.

Drezgic made the ANGT Belgrade All-Tournament Team for a second straight edition as he produced 19.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.8 steals, 8.5 fouls drawn and a 32.5 PIR. He was tops in index rating and fouls drawn, third in scoring, second with 7.5 defensive rebounds, tied for second in steals, fourth in assists and eighth in rebounds.

Mega's 2.14-meter center Siby finished with 18.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.8 blocks for a PIR of 28.8. The Mali-born big man was fifth in scoring, second in blocks, third in PIR, third in total rebounds and tied for fourth in fouls drawn with 6.0. 

Stanojevic led the select team with 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.2 blocks for a 23.5 average index rating. He was tied for second in offensive rebounds with 4.8, fourth in PIR, third in blocks, sixth in rebounds and 10th in scoring.

The ANGT Belgrade MVP All-Tournament Team

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ANGT Belgrade: U18 FC Barcelona beats Milan 85-104 in the final

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