2023 Stanford MBB commit Kanaan Carlyle helps USA win gold in Mexico
Earlier this month, the United States’ Under-18 men’s basketball team won the gold medal in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Tijuana, Mexico. 2023 Stanford men’s basketball commit Kanaan Carlyle was on the team and did his part, averaging 4.0 points, 1.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 1.0 turnovers, and 0.67 blocks per game on 36.0% shooting from the field, 26.67% shooting from 3-point range, and 100.0% shooting from the foul line on two attempts. Carlyle also shot 50.0% from 2-point range on 10 attempts. Carlyle played a total of six games (13:31 minutes per game) and had a total plus/minus of +78 for a +13.0 average per game.
Team USA went 6-0 during the tournament. During the group phase, they went 3-0. Against the Dominican Republic, they won 116-48. Against Ecuador, they won 123-41. Against Puerto Rico, they won 100-55. In the quarterfinals, Team USA defeated Mexico 92-64. In the semifinals, they defeated Argentina 98-60. In the gold medal game, they defeated Brazil 102-60. It was one-way traffic for Team USA all the way through this tournament.
As far as Carlyle’s performance is concerned, his shooting numbers weren’t the best. Especially from the perimeter. He was decent inside and on a very small sample size, he did make both of his free throws. It does look like his perimeter shooting is something that he needs to focus on. Ideally, he’d have higher assist numbers, so distributing the ball seems to be something he can improve on as well. On the positive side, he didn’t turn the ball over too much, he was active defensively, doing a nice job of forcing turnovers and blocking shots. And then on top of that, he had a good plus/minus. The team definitely did better when he was on the floor.
Talking big picture, the chance to play for Team USA is obviously a huge honor for Carlyle and the fact that he was selected to the team in and of itself is a big deal. Playing in international events like this is always good and this is an experience that should serve Carlyle well as he heads into his senior year of high school and ultimately his freshman year at Stanford.
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