Daniel Theis with full commitment against the Georgian Tornike Shengelia. Dennis Schroeder watches Photo: picture alliance/ AP Photo
From BZ/dpa
The first half was hard fought. But thanks to a strong third quarter, Germany easily defeated Georgia in the intermediate round. But superstar Dennis Schröder hobbled off the field.
Fourth World Cup game, fourth victory for the German national team. 100:73 (43:41) the team around NBA star Dennis Schröder beats the bravely fighting Georgians. Top scorer: Berlin’s Maodo Lo, who scored all of his 18 points in the second half.
Berlin’s Maodo Lo had the best scenes in the second half, scoring 18 points Photo: picture alliance/ AP Photo
But big concerns Dennis Schroeder: He hobbled across the field in the third quarter and kept touching his lower back. Then he went straight into the dressing room, then came back to the German bench for the last few minutes. national coach Gordon Herbert tried to calm down: “I don’t have any information yet. But he came back to the bench, which was a good sign. That can happen, every team has to go through it.”
Against outsiders Georgia, Germany showed their weakest tournament performance in the first half. Without Franz Wagner, who is still missing due to an injury, the German selection found no rhythm in front of 5852 spectators. Herbert: “I didn’t like the first half, the worst 20 minutes. It wasn’t us. The usage wasn’t right. The second half was better.”
After the change of sides, Schröder and Co. increased significantly and pulled away decisively in the third quarter. Albas Johannes Thiemann after the game: “Georgia plays very physically. We were a bit sloppy. That punished Georgia. We talked a lot about it during the break.”
On Sunday (1.10 p.m. / Magentasport) the German team meets Slovenia with superstar Luka Doncic.