Germany is on top of the world

Germany look at the world of basketball from the top. From the throne on which Spain has lived installed for the last four years. He is the new world champion and he is so by all means. He was superior to Serbian In the final of the tournament in Manila (83-77), he knew how to play with more intelligence and determination and was hooked on the success of Dennis Schröder, the player who opened the doors to paradise for him with 28 points and a sensational performance, playing the role of leader that earned him the title of MVP.

For many minutes, Serbia fought against its luck in a match in which Bogdanovic was not enough and Milutinov He barely appeared. The team of Svetislav Pesic did not have the consistency and determination that accompanied Germany, a country that has been working for years to achieve success and that apparently in Manila has the team to sustain itself in the next decade, built with solid foundations: the legacy left by a legend like Dirk Nowiztki.

Iron discipline

It was a final with capital letters. It didn’t take long for the two teams to show many of the virtues that gave them the option to fight for the title. An iron discipline in defense, concentration to shield the rebound and the ability to move the ball and find good positions. The objective was to control the scene, also the rhythm and find the seams of the rival. Thus the first quarter, played at full speed, with very fast attacks, had the stamp of Serbia (23-26), despite the misfortune of the rapid injury of Dobric, a sprained ankle in a counterattack action, which forced him to go to the locker room.

The blackboard Pesic He knew how to disconnect the X factor from Germany, Andreas Obst, one of the keys to the victory in the semifinals against the USA, a lethal shooter who could only score one triple. But the approach of Gordie Herbert, the head of the German team, also worked, because Milutinov He did not have the opportunity to receive the ball near the rim, when he is the second offensive reference of the Balkan team. Milutinov went into halftime with zero points and only two at the end.

The time of the soloists

The finals, in any case, are territory for figures and both Germany and Serbia have some first-class players, who were seen, and some unexpected ones. Did Marinkovic, the Baskonia player, who has not played much in the tournament, and found his inspirational minutes in the first half, just like the very young Nikola Jovic 20-year-old player for the Miami Heat. They also appeared Bonga and Voigtmann on the German side. And, of course, the great soloists appeared.

Bogdanovic He was the one who entered the final first, assuming his role as leader in the group, with penetrations to generate space and his excellent mid-range shot. But Franz Wagner and Dennis Schröder They were in charge of replicating each basket of the Serbian star of the Hawks, especially the point guard with long shots that were very difficult to defend. The consequence was that neither of the two finalists was able to open a gap, which left an absolute balance at halftime (47-47).

Maximum pressure

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The match entered a much more demanding scenario at the restart. The defenses stepped forward. The intensity also went up a notch and the wrists shrank a bit more. The whole game thickened. Serbian He could only add ten points in the fourth, without finding a way out of the collapse that the German defense led to and that left, for example, his starting point guard Stefan Jovic without adding, not a single assist in the first three quarters. A little more clarity was found by Germany, more decisive and intimidating under the hoops, who knew how to find the points of Franz Wagner and de Schröder to build a more than comfortable advantage to face the last ten minutes (69-57).

Seeing so close, Germany he could not avoid the vertigo. He lost his rigor and also his head, his actions were precipitated and, in parallel, Serbia found her unexpected hero in Aleksa Avramovic, the Partizan player, who entered into a scoring trance and gave the game a spectacular turn, stringing together practically four three-point actions that tightened the score as much as possible (79-75, m. 39). But the pressure also affected the box Pesic that accelerated and accumulated a couple of losses that gave Schröder the option to sentence and carry Germany to taste the glory.