Do you have a Kenner League-sized hole in your heart? Am I the only one who is desperate for any form of semi-competitive summer league basketball to wildly overreact to?

Well, thank the basketball Gods for giving us the FIBA U19 World Cup featuring (not as big) Julius Halaifonua playing for New Zealand. The All Blacks finished fourth in the tournament, losing to the dominant eventual champions, the USA, in the semis before running out of steam against Slovenia in the third-place game.

But it’s the game against the US that I want to focus on. New Zealand got pummeled in that game (to put it mildly). They looked totally outmatched and overwhelmed by the strength, size and athleticism of the US, except for one guy.

Julius.

He finished as NZ’s leading scorer with 15 points on 7/14 shooting, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Aside from the stats, what stood out most was that he just looked comfortable playing against high-major peers. He was primarily matched up against highly-touted transfer, Morez Johnson Jr., who played his Freshman year at Illinois before moving to Michigan, where he’ll try to replace at least one of the departed twin towers of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf. He also saw a lot of time against Daniel Jacobsen, the 7’4 Sophomore monster for Purdue, who will look to be a regular contributor after playing only two games as a Freshman.

Is it unrealistic to look for hope in a game his team lost by 60? Maybe! But this is what we have, and it’s real basketball against true high-major opponents.

Here are a few clips from Julius’ game against the US that mostly have me irredeemably hyped for #JuliusSzn, along with a few that show where he might have room to grow. After a weekend of watching, I am pretty convinced that Julius is going to be a legitimate contributor on next year’s team (I actually have slightly wilder predictions that I will save for the podcast).

The first thing that jumps out about Julius’ play in this tournament is how polished his offensive post game is. He was absolutely cooking smaller Swiss and Slovenian defenders. He’s very comfortable playing with his back to the basket on the low block. Against the US, New Zealand had trouble getting him the ball in the post, mostly due to ball pressure on NZ’s guards. Julius adjusted and had a couple of really nice elbow jumpers that came off great reads.

Julius’ Jumper

In this first clip, you’ll see him set a good screen (though the guard is rushing a bit) and make a great move off the catch to get to the elbow and knock down a jumper over Morez Johnson. It’s all really fluid and decisive. The second clip is another good read. He recognizes the defender is in a really deep drop, and instead of rolling to the rim, he pops out to the extended elbow and hits another rhythm jumper. His shot looks good. He did not really extend beyond the three-point line during this tournament, but in the couple of games he played last season, he looked comfortable taking the three. If he has that shot in his arsenal, his ceiling goes way up because of how good he is in the post.

Lower Body Strength

I love this next clip. Julius sees he is cross-matched and immediately goes to the block. He gets and holds position with his lower body, despite a heavy lean from the defender. Once he gets the post pass, he has a great feel for where the defender is and forces the help and foul with a great dropstep. He did this a lot to smaller defenders throughout the tournament.

Offensive Polish and Great Hands

Here’s a series showing off his hands and offensive game around the rim. The first clip is a great catch, as he taps it to himself and goes right into his shot. He misses the bunny but just back rims it. The second is another solid catch into a rip through and touch finish. Everything is happening at pace. The last clip is the one that really pops. He handles the intense ball pressure from the US on the DHO (dribble handoff), something that he did consistently (and no one else on his team really could). He sets a good screen (again). The US tries to double off the screen, sort of, and he finds the space on the roll. He makes a great catch, mid-turn, and gets an easy dunk. He makes this look really easy, but it’s not. It’s all done under a lot of pressure and very quickly. This is all feel and polish.

The Total Package

This is the one that got me unreasonably hyped. It starts with a solid defensive set for Julius. He plays the pick and roll well, despite getting put in no-man’s land between the ball handler and the roller. NZ played him in a drop most of the time, which he handled pretty well. He then makes a nice recovery to contest and alter (maybe block?) the shot at the rim – lots to love there. Then, on the offensive end, the US switches, and he takes the smaller defender down to the block and establishes solid position. Instead of going right to the rim, he feels where the defense is oriented and forces the double to come before making an A+ pass to the cutting guard for a wide-open floater. Again, he makes it look so much easier than it is. It’s a great read, at pace, and GREAT pass. I think he has sneaky upside as a passer.

Solid Defensively, Work on the Hands

A couple of defensive clips, I think, show his upside (lower body strength) and where he needs to improve (hands). In both of these, he does a really nice job pushing the 7’4, 240-pound Jacobsen off of his spot. He’s doing all of that with his lower body, which consistently jumped out to me. He gets in trouble with his hands. They are either in the wrong position, wrapped around the opponent, or he’s relying on them to help maintain position. This was a significant reason he was in foul trouble for much of the tournament, and it is the biggest area of weakness right now. The good news is he is sound enough defensively that he shouldn’t have to use his hands so much. Hopefully, the staff can work with him on maintaining more verticality and keeping his hands back.

Defensive Upside

Here’s another example. The lower body and positioning are good. The hands are not. Bonus clip on this one, the USA runs a nice BLOB (baseline out of bounds play) to get Jacobsen an easy lob. Jacobsen has to come down with the ball and Julius makes a great recovery block.

Are you hyped yet? Drop your thoughts in the comments and tune into the Finger WAG Pod for more breakdown of Julius’ tournament run