The German national basketball team showed an outstanding semi-final for three quarters, but Spain was calmer in the final quarter.
The DBB team lost 91:96 (51:46) to Spain on Friday evening (September 16, 2022) and will now play against Poland for third place on Sunday.
“We definitely could have won that. We lost our position. The Spaniards were really tough and played very well.”said Dennis Schröder, who offered an impressive performance with 30 points. “The tournament is not over, we have one game left.” The option for a medal is still there. Spectators and tournament ambassador Nowitzki also sent a direct message via Twitter: “Don’t lose your head, boys! Get bronze!”
After Herbert’s time-out, Germany turned up the heat
The first quarter showed what everyone had expected anyway: It was going to be a very intense game. The Germans could offensively rely on their leader Schröder, who successfully pulled to the basket time and time again. The fact that the Spaniards were a bit stronger around their best scorer Willy Hernangomez led to a 21:27 deficit for the DBB, which Maodo Lo was able to reduce to 24:27 with a spectacular “buzzerbeater”.
The second quarter didn’t start according to the ideas of national coach Gordon Herbert, who took a break after two successful three-pointers by the Spaniards and various missed German opportunities at 24:33. That helped, but also because Schröder got back on the field and got the German attack back on track.
The DBB also managed to steal one or two defensively and the Herbert team was back in the game. And how: At half-time the scoreboard in Berlin was 51:46 from a German perspective. Just like 19 Schroeder points and five assists.
DBB team works back on the defensive
In the third quarter, the DBB team again made a little too many mistakes, but after a short period of weakness and a few slight ball losses, they showed passionate defensive work again – Nick Weiler-Babb in particular worked tirelessly. This had an effect on the Iberians: the Spaniards no longer hit their few open throws, the Germans got important offensive rebounds and also had the outstanding player on the floor with Schröder. A 57:61 from the German point of view became a 71:61, two late goals from the Spaniards shortened it, it went into the final quarter with 71:65.
In the last quarter of Spain just freezing
Spain now showed all their cleverness, remained calm and equalized again at 77:77. Lorenzo Brown had 29 points and six assists, but it was mostly Alberto Diaz who rebounded, fouled and scored during this period. In addition, the German team now showed nerves: The throws didn’t want to fall anymore, Franz Wagner and Weiler-Babb missed their three-point throws, Weiler-Babb kicked the ball wide. The skins swam away, even the best throwing opportunities remained unused.
A three-pointer from Andreas Obst caused some hope again, but the 83:88 came 33 seconds before the end of the game too late. The Iberians remained sovereign from the free-throw line and just brought the game home. Spain now meets the French in the final, who didn’t give the Poles a chance in the late afternoon.