International tournament top scorers: Scoring prowess doesn't always lead to team success / News - Basketnews.com

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So far, in this year's Olympic basketball tournament Luka Doncic tops all scorers with 28.3 points per game. Slovenia has won all three games and safely made it to the quarter-finals. Rui Hachimura ranks second on the list with a 22.3 points average.

Unlike Slovenia, Japan lost all three games and ended their fight for the medals. Patty Mills is third with 21.7 points per game. Australia went 3-0 in the group stage and are through to the knockout stage. Ricky Rubio of Spain is fourth (21.3 PPG), with Nigeria's Jordan Nwora (21.0 PPG) rounding out the top 5 scorer's list.

As can be seen, individual scoring performances don't necessarily translate into team success. So BasketNews suggests looking into what history has to say on this matter. Let's have a look at the all-time greatest scorers in three different international tournaments and the results of their team.

Nikos Galis. 1987 EuroBasket.

The Greek scoring machine was an unstoppable force despite his diminutive stature. He was a top scorer in 6 different international tournaments. Galis' best individual performance was at the 1987 EuroBasket, where he averaged 37.0 points and helped his team win the gold medal.

The final game was a great demonstration of how good Galis was in this tournament. Greece met the Soviet Union national team led by Alexander Volkov and the NBA Hall-of-Famer Sarunas Marciulionis. Greeks managed to beat the Soviet Union in overtime by only 2 points 103 –101. Niko Galis scored 40 points and led Greece to their first EuroBasket championship. Galis was also named the tournament MVP.

Oscar Schmidt. 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Schmidt is a Brazilian basketball legend. He demonstrated his talent and offensive capabilities in the tournaments such as the Olympics and FIBA World Cup. Many wondered what Schmidt could have done had he played in the NBA. His performances in the international tournaments were of NBA caliber, but the desire to represent his country was more significant.

In Seoul, the 2.05 m forward averaged 42.3 points, 1.6 assists, 7.8 rebounds over 36 minutes in eight games. The nearest competitor was Andrew Gaze, with "only" 23.9 points. To this day, this is the highest scoring average of any international tournament. Not surprisingly, Schmidt also holds the all-time Olympic record for most points in a single game. Brazilian scored 55 points against Spain at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Despite these astonishing numbers, Schmidt did not lead his team to the ultimate glory. In 4 out of 8 games, he scored more than his average (42.3 PPG), yet his team lost three of those games. Even the 55 points performance was not enough to beat Spain. In the crucial quarter-finals matchup against the Soviet Union, Schmidt scored 46 points, but again that was not enough to secure a victory. In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Brazil finished 5th, showing that individual performances do not always guarantee a place on the podium.

Luis Scola. 2010 FIBA World Cup.

The Argentinian legend started his career with the national team in 2002. Eight years later, Scola reached his peak and averaged 27.1 points to top all scorers at the 2010 FIBA World Cup. He is also the record holder of the most points scored for Argentina in a game (37).

Scola's 27.1 points average was undoubtedly the most impressive individual performance of his international career. Throughout the tournament, the Argentinian scored more than 27 points in five games, winning four of them. This shows how hard the Argentina national team relied on Scola's performance. Unfortunately, he could not lead his country to medals. Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals, with Scola only scoring 13 points. In the consolation bracket, Argentina won both games and finished the tournament in 5th place.

Kevin Durant. 2010, 2012, 2016.

So, perhaps the answer lies somewhere in the middle. There needs to be a great team surrounding an equally great individual scorer. Kevin Durant is one of the best scorers that have stepped on the court. The 2.08 m forward participated in three international tournaments. On all occasions, he was his team's top scorer and led his team to gold.

In the 2010 FIBA World Cup, Kevin Durant averaged 22.8 points and earned tournament MVP honors. 2012 London (KD - 19.5 PPG, Team USA - gold) and 2016 Rio de Janeiro ((KD - 19.4 PPG, Team USA - gold) were no exception. These numbers show a spectacular consistency that distinguishes Durant as a deadly scorer and great team leader. However, this year he's only second on Team USA in scoring (14.3 PPG, Jayson Tatum is No 1. with 16.7 PPG). What place will the Americans finish?

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