Germany’s basketball players have to worry about moving into the European Championship quarter-finals. In the top game against co-favorite Spain there was a clear 60:79 (30:36) for the team around WNBA professionals Leonie Fiebich and Luisa Geiselsöder and after the promising start against Sweden. Edelfan Dirk Nowitzki also did not bring luck in the Arena Inselpark.
“We had our chances,” said national coach Lisa Thomaidis at “Magenta TV”. In the first half they should have worked out a guided tour. But then they would have made too many for the team of uncharacteristic mistakes. “We continue to learn. We have to grow with every game,” she said.
In the last group game against the still winless team from Great Britain, a significant increase in performance in order to achieve the quarter -finals in Piraeus. However, a duel with top favorite Belgium would threaten as a group of groups. Against Spain, Geiselsöder was the best German thrower with 16 points.
Spain dominant right from the start
A day after the clear success against Sweden, it became clear from the start that the Spaniards had a different class. The co -favorite played with a completely different intensity and caught the better start with 8: 2. In contrast, the litters did not want to fall with the German stars Fiebich and Geiselsöder. It was thanks to two three -point throws by Emily Bessoir that Germany was only 16:19 behind after the first ten minutes.
But even in the second quarter, the German team did not find its rhythm. Without the missing Satou and Nyara Sabally and captain Marie Gülich, the hosts had major problems with the aggressiveness of the Spaniards. If the DBB selection against Sweden had made eleven slight ball losses throughout the game, it was already nine against Spain in the first half.
Afraid of Peterson
After the change of sides, the German team initially started with a lot of enthusiasm and came back to three points (33:36). But then Spain pulled away again, to make matters worse injured in the middle of the third quarter playmaker Alexis Peterson. Fortunately, the naturalized American quickly returned to the floor on her 30th birthday.
The German team, in which WNBA champion Fiebich was on the floor, was not on the floor. The Thomaidis team did not have a chance of winning that day in front of 3414 spectators in the sold -out arena.
Spain – Germany 79:60 (36:30). – Best throwers: Carrera (20 points), Vilaro (11), Torrens (10) for Spain. – Geiselsoder (16), Bühner (14), Fiebich (13), Bessoir (12) for Germany. – Spectators: 3414 (in Hamburg)