Successful start of “Jugend forscht”: The German basketball players have also made a successful start to the World Cup year with their second suit.
The newly formed team of national coach Gordon Herbert defeated outsiders Sweden 73:66 (40:31) in Frankfurt am Main and defended the lead in qualifying thanks to their ninth win in eleven games. Despite the short joint preparation, Germany at times radiated a lot of enthusiasm and dominated the rebounds.
“It was difficult. It was a bit static, but we found a way. Our defense was very good,” said Herbert at “MagentaSport” and praised his inexperienced players: “It’s great that they’re gaining this experience. It’s a big difference to a BBL game.”
The best DBB throwers in front of 5000 spectators were David Krämer (13 points), Karim Jallow (11) and Leon scratches (10). On Monday (5:30 p.m./MagentaSport) the duel with the tied Finns for group victory awaits at the end of qualifying. But results are irrelevant in this course for the national coach: After all, the European Championship third has long since qualified for the World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines (25 August to 10 September).
“It’s not about winning or losing,” said Herbert as a route. It’s about “giving our young players experience on the international stage”. He had to do without the NBA stars around Dennis Schröder due to scheduling conflicts, as well as the players from the German EuroLeague clubs Alba Berlin and Bayern Munich. “This group is the future,” said the head coach.
Hardly any conclusions for the Basketball World Cup
Of the European Championship bronze medal winners, only Justus Hollatz and Johannes Voigtmann, who played for Milan in the EuroLeague the day before, were on the floor. With Jason George, Jonas Richter and Nelson Weidemann from Chemnitz, three players celebrated their debut. Richter opened with a three, but otherwise there were initially a few coordination problems, both offensively and defensively.
The substitution of center Voigtmann immediately brought dominance under the baskets and thus the narrow lead after the first quarter. Defensively, the DBB selection acted more grippy in the second ten minutes, and a lot more worked up front – Leon Kratz scored the crowning glory of the strongest phase with an alley-oop. We went into the break with a nine-point lead.
After the change of sides, Herbert’s protégés allowed themselves to be a little more negligent, but the skittish Swedes hardly ever punished them. The gap leveled off at around ten points. It wasn’t until the beginning of the final quarter that things got a bit more exciting after two quick counter-attacks by the Scandinavians, but Germany quickly recovered.
However, the game hardly allows any conclusions to be drawn for the World Cup, only a few of the professionals will be there in Asia. In any case, the tournament planning can only really pick up speed after the group draw on April 29th – from then on the hot phase starts.
Germany – Sweden 73:66 (40:31). – Best pitchers: Kramer (13 points), Jallow (11), scratches (10) for Germany – Spiers (13), Andersson (11), Pantzar (11) for Sweden. – Spectators: 5003 in Frankfurt/Main