The European Basketball Championship shines with stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jovic. The German team around Dennis Schröder hopes for the first medal since 2005 at the home European Championship – everything important for the European Championship 2022.
24 teams, four host countries – the mode
For a long time, the European Basketball Championship was held every two years. Since 2017, the Eurobasket, as the tournament is marketed by the world association FIBA, has been held in a four-year format, as has the World Championship. Due to the pandemic, the final round of the European Championship, which was actually planned for 2021, was postponed to 2022. It will now take place from September 1st to September 18th, when the final will take place in Berlin.
24 teams are fighting for the European Championship title, divided into four preliminary round groups with six teams. The four best-placed teams from each group, i.e. a total of 16 teams, advance to the knockout stage, which begins with the round of 16.
Since 2015, the EM has been awarded to several venues, since then there have been a total of four countries in which a preliminary round group is played completely, the knockout round then takes place completely in one of these four countries.
Home European Championship for Germany – with games in Cologne and Berlin
As at the EM 2015, Germany is one of the co-hosts, the preliminary round group B with the games of the German team takes place in Cologne. The other three preliminary round groups will be played in Georgia (Tbilisi), Italy (Milan) and the Czech Republic (Prague).
The knockout round from the round of 16 will take place entirely in Berlin this time, so for Germany it’s a real European home championship. The first since 1993, when Chris Welp, Henning Harnisch and Co. sensationally became European champions in Munich, so far also the only major title for German basketball.
Antetokounmpo, Doncic, Jokic – the stars
In the NBA, the best basketball league in the world, more and more European players have become superstars in recent years. That’s why there are more NBA superstars to be seen at the 2022 European Championship than ever before.
Led by Serbians Nikola Jokićthe “big man” of the Denver Nuggets was last in the NBA twice in a row Most Valuable Player (MVP) chosen.
The title of the most valuable player of the season had twice in a row before him Giannis Antetokounmpo to get. One of the most spectacular players in the world, his team, the Milwaukee Bucksalso led to the NBA title in 2021.
Of the “Greek freak“, as the force of nature from Greece is called, was also voted the most valuable player in the NBA final series, the first European after Dirk Nowitzki.
France is led by Monster Athlete Rudy Gobert. A rook, especially on defense, one of the best defensive players in the NBA for years. Gobert is extremely agile and fast in the zone, despite his height of 2.16 meters – another reason why it is so difficult to get past him.
Also Luka Doncic is shown on all Eurobasket advertising posters. The Slovenian has established himself as an absolute superstar in the NBA, at least since he Dallas Mavericks after the era of Dirk Nowitzki, turned it into a real title candidate again.
One of his nicknames: “Luka Magic”, a nod to the legendary lakers-Playmaker Magic Johnson, who was a driver with a gifted vision, but also a scorer who was almost impossible to defend. Just like Doncic, who has long been a national hero in Slovenia.
Serbia, Slovenia, France, Spain – the favourites
Serbia was chosen as the top favorite for the title in advance, as was the case at the past European Championships. However, after a strong start to the tournament, the Serbs started to falter again and again as soon as it came to the knockout games. They were torn apart by Argentina at the 2019 World Cup.
The Serbs missed the Olympic Games in Tokyo completely, failing to qualify in their own hall against Italy. That’s another reason why the team, which is being coached by the old master maker Svetislav Pesic, is out for reparations. The last European Championship triumph so far was more than 20 years ago, in 2001 when the rest of Yugoslavia was selected together with Montenegro.
Slovenia arrives as the defending champion, again led by superstar Doncic. The offensive machine has long since proven in Europe that it can lead teams to titles: in 2018 he said goodbye to Real Madrid with the Euroleague title in the NBA, as the best player in the Final Four. A year earlier, at the age of 18, he had also won the European basketball crown with Slovenia.
The decisive man in the final victory against Serbia is there again this time: Goran Dragic, MVP of the last European Championship finals. The 36-year-old NBA veteran is the second mainstay in a Slovenian team, which is also well represented across the board and thrives on its unity.
France, most recently European champion in 2013, is once again one of the favorites for the title. Even if important pillars like Nicolas Batum, Nando de Colo and Frank Ntilikina will be missing. The French are currently the European nation that has the most players in the NBA. Among other things, just Gobert and playmaker captain Evan Fournier, who will lead the team at the European Championship.
With Viktor Wembanyama, the French also have one of the greatest talents in European basketball in their squad, the 2.19-meter center is already being traded as a safe top pick for the 2023 NBA draft. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the last major tournament so far, France was only stopped by the USA in the final.
Spain comes as the current world champion, but with a different line-up: In addition to the injured director Ricky Rubio, two long-time leaders, Marc Gasol and Sergio Rodriguez, are no longer there. After the cancellation of Sergio Llull at short notice, only Rudy Fernandez, the other Real Madrid icon, is still on board from the successful Spanish team, which also dominated European basketball in the 2010s.
Even without Gasol is “La Roja“We still have an impressive line-up, especially in the big positions: with the brothers Juancho and Willy Hernangomez and the young star Usman Garuba. The Spaniards could even afford to leave the best player in the Euroleague, Nikola Mirotic, at home.
Also Lithuania you always have to keep in mind that the basketball-crazy country is still one of the top European nations, also thanks to a much-noticed youth work program. The current stars are Jonas Valunciunas and Domantas Sabonis, son of basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis. Valuncianas in particular is a dominator in the zone, but the great strength of the Lithuanians is above all the balance of the squad, with many dangerous long-range shooters such as Marius Grigonis or Rokas Giedraitis.
The German team – despite the hammer group, the goal was a medal
The selection of the German Basketball Association (DBB) can rely on the home advantage in Cologne and hopefully also in the subsequent knockout round in Berlin. However, as in Berlin in 2015, the DBB team caught a very difficult group: With France as the opening opponent, Slovenia and Lithuania, the German team had to prevail against three tournament favorites in the preliminary round.
In view of these opponents, victories against the other two group opponents, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary, are a must. Otherwise, the team of national coach Gordon Herbert should probably say goodbye to the tournament after the preliminary round. If possible, the DBB selection should also manage to leave at least one of the three favorites behind. Should they advance as fourth in the group, the next big chunk and a duel with the top team from the parallel group, Spain or Turkey, threatens in the round of 16.
The German team, on the other hand, probably has the most talented generation since the era of Dirk Nowitzki. Despite a few failures, Dennis Schröder’s team believes in a chance of a medal, which the association has also set as a goal. Since the silver medal at the European Championships in 2005, the DBB team has not had anything to gain from major tournaments.
The EM at the sports show
The games will be broadcast live on the Magentasport streaming service. The ARD will show summaries of at least all German games as part of the current TV program, on the radio and on the digital channels of the sports show.
There will also be detailed background reporting on the ARD digital channels, with analyses, interviews and a podcast by Sport inside. ARD basketball experts, including the NBA Overtime crew, will be on site at the tournament and will report.