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The DBB team travels to Berlin for the round of 16 of the European Championship. The preliminary round in Cologne was not only a great success for German basketball.
The sporting insight: The Germans can keep up with the best in Europe. The good training – including at the flagship club Alba Berlin – is not only reflected in the fact that more and more German professionals are playing in the NBA, the best league in the world. It is also evident at this European Championship, in the technical and tactical understanding of this sport
But also with the prerequisites for a successful team: a meaningful assignment of roles, a clear hierarchy, trust in the teammate, the willingness to stand in for the other. The team showed all of that in this group stage, beating France, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania and most recently Hungary.
Behind all this stands me Gordon Herbert a quiet one, an experienced one Coach, which gives the players the freedom they need for their creativity, despite all the discipline. The players around Captain Dennis Schröder are having fun at this European Championship and they are far from having reached the end of their potential. NBA professional Schröder alone has too often played below his potential.
But this preliminary round in Cologne is not only a sporting benefit for German basketball. More than 235,000 tickets sold. Never before have so many people wanted to see the group games of a basketball championship in one place. 18,000 fans created a unique atmosphere, like the dramatic win after double overtime against Lithuania.
That hasn’t happened in German basketball in the last few decades. It is the best advertisement for a sport that plays a supporting role in Germany. Basketball will only become more of a focus of attention if the Germans still have a long way to go – maybe even up to the desired medal win, which is no longer impossible after this preliminary round.