The decision on whether center Daniel Theis will take part in the European Championship will not be made until this Wednesday. National basketball coach Gordon Herbert initially wants to wait and see how the NBA pro from the Indiana Pacers will handle the final training session on Tuesday evening.
Herbert has to name his twelve-player squad for the European Championship with a preliminary round in Cologne and the final round in Berlin on Wednesday afternoon. After that no more nominations are possible. The German team’s first game is on Thursday (8:30 p.m.) against France.
Theis is struggling with knee problems and has therefore missed a large part of the preparation. While the team contested the Supercup in Hamburg and played in the World Cup qualifier in Sweden, Theis was treated in Munich and completed rehabilitation measures.
“Daniel has worked very hard for the last ten to twelve days,” Herbert praised the 30-year-old on Tuesday at the German team’s official press conference. “He will train today and we will make a decision tomorrow at noon.”
Theis’ participation would be very important for the German team because Maximilian Kleber, Moritz Wagner, Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaac Bonga are already missing four NBA-experienced professionals. In addition, another center of international format is not available in Tibor Pleiss from the Euroleague champion Efes Istanbul.