The German basketball players celebrate an intoxicating start at the home EM. In the win against France on Thursday evening (September 1st, 2022), the focus is not on the NBA players, but on the strong, united performance of the team. The team around Dennis Schröder now wants to take the sparked euphoria into the rest of the tournament, with Bosnia-Herzegovina waiting for the next difficult task on Saturday.
This is probably how those responsible at the German Basketball Association (DBB) imagined it when they planned the grand opening of the European Championships in their own country: First, Dirk Nowitzki, the greatest German basketball player of all, will be honored. The jersey with the number 14 is slid under the roof of the hall, and the memories are shared with the Federal President and guests of honor from the NBA.
And then Nowitzki’s successors ensure a brilliant start on the floor. With a win against France, one of the proven tournament favorites, which sparks a euphoria that can make a big difference at a home tournament.
The fact that this then happened as if on order, also as far as the sporting part of the evening is concerned, was not necessarily expected in advance: the preparations of the German team were too restless: long-time captain Robin Benzing was removed from the squad early on, NBA professional Moritz Wagner signed up for the European Championship at short notice because of an injury. With Dennis Schröder and Daniel Theis, two other top performers were injured and had to take a break during the preparation.
Opening victory for DBB team in the “death group”
Before the EM kick-off was mainly from the “death group” (Federal coach Gordon Herbert) the speech and the strength of the opponents, especially the French around NBA giants Rudy Gobert. But as if they had only been waiting for it, the German team brushed aside all skepticism in the 76:63 win against France: with an outstanding performance, especially on the defensive. And after initial nervousness also in attack with increasing determination to take advantage of the great opportunity for a successful start to the European Championship.
Johannes Thiemann then explained the strong, cohesive team performance with the complicated preparation, which meant that the team had grown together even more. “Everyone puts themselves at the service of the team. That’s what sets us apart. We have a deep connection. And we’ve also learned from the past.”said Thiemann and meant the disappointed expectations at the past major tournaments.
Of the big man by German champion Alba Berlin, voted most valuable player in the final series, was the best player on the floor: Thiemann scored 14 points and six rebounds and grabbed especially in defense: not only against Gobertbut also against France’s director Evan Fournierthe second NBA star that the fast Thiemann after the switches repeatedly took over in defense and successfully interfered with the conclusion. Fournier was in the end with seven points just as little a factor as the early unnerved Gobert (Eleven points), which was completely taken out of the game by the German defense.
Not NBA players shine, but Thiemann, Lo and Giffey
Before the tournament, the focus of the German team was mainly on the NBA players: on the often critically eyed leader Schröder, the young hope Franz Wagner, and above all on the ailing one center Theis, who is considered indispensable for the team under the basket, but only gave the green light for an assignment the day before the opening game.
But against France it was others who carried the German team to victory: the players from the bench who were not in the starting lineup contributed 48 points. In addition to Thiemann, Berlin’s playmaker Maodo Lo also shone, actually backup for playmaker Schröder, who then announced after Los’ unleashed performance that the Berliner would be the next German player to move to the NBA.
Giffey on atmosphere in Cologne: “Pushed Us”
At the beginning of the second half, the national coach sent his two directors Lo and Schröder onto the floor together – and thus heralded the strongest phase for the German team, which ultimately gave the game the decisive direction and also finally carried away the 18,000 spectators in the Cologne Arena.
“The hall always pushed us, even in the difficult phases“Said Niels Giffey afterwards and raved about it “amazing atmosphere”. Giffey, who had a difficult year at Zalgiris Kaunas, was one of the positive discoveries of this game, sinking three of his four attempts from beyond the three-point line.
Opening with Nowitzki inspires the DBB team
In the end, the DBB team let themselves be carried away by the special atmosphere at the start of the European Championships, the hype surrounding Nowitzki before the game seemed to inspire them: Nowitzki himself had the players with him when they entered the field high fives received. “It was a great experience for us today, as well as for the fans“, Maodo Lo summed up the mood of the evening.
In addition to winning against such a highly regarded opponent, it is particularly important that the team has shown an identity, especially in defence: “That gives us confidence, also for the rest of the tournament, and we can build on that“, emphasized the Berliner and also looked straight ahead: “We have to refocus now and take this momentum with us, that’s clearly our goal.“
Thiemann warns of Bosnia-Herzegovina
With Bosnia-Herzegovina, one of those opponents awaits you on Saturday, who were previously considered a must if you want to survive in the strong preliminary round group with France, Lithuania and Slovenia and reach the minimum target of the round of 16. Johannes Thiemann also warned against one “very dangerous game” and recalled that the Bosnians also defeated France in World Cup qualifiers.
The German team only needs to look at their own history to protect themselves from overflowing euphoria: At the EM 2013, the DBB team also made a sensational start against the French around Tony Parker, only to subsequently experience a complete crash , with the preliminary round knockout “We mustn’t think that just because we beat France we’ve already won the tournamentsaid Thieman. “It was just the first win. But we’d like to get a few more.”