For the first time, Germany is basketball world champion. It’s a title that came suddenly, but is anything but coincidence. It is the result of around ten years of development in German basketball, including an important rule change.
Johannes Thiemann really didn’t know what to say as he walked through the catacombs of the World Cup arena in Manila with the gold medal around his neck. A few minutes earlier, the Alba Berlin forward had jumped across the parquet with his teammates from the German national team, put his hands in front of his face, overwhelmed, and shortly afterwards was handed the golden trophy. Johannes Thiemann became basketball world champion on Sunday evening. Now he stood there, grinning broadly and said: “That’s crazy, just crazy. I can’t figure it out, I don’t understand what just happened here. It’s just unbelievable. Fucking world champions.”
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Ten year start-up
Actually, Thiemann’s word-finding problems weren’t surprising. How can one put into words such an unexpected, for many sensational, but definitely historic success? After all, the German team had just become world champions not for the third or fourth time, but for the first time in their history. It is the greatest success in German basketball history that Johannes Thiemann and his teammates celebrated on Sunday evening 83:77 victory over Serbia secured. A success that is based on a good ten years of development – in the national team, but especially in German club basketball.
It has been exactly ten years since Niels Giffey, a long-time teammate of Johannes Thiemann and a native of Alba Berlin, put on the national team jersey for the first time. The then 22-year-old Giffey made his debut in a test match in the run-up to the European Championships in the summer of 2013. After defeats against Ukraine, Belgium and Great Britain, the German selection was eliminated in the preliminary round. In other words: Progress failed due to nations that have about as much to do with the world’s top basketball players as Germany recently had with a victory in the Eurovision Song Contest.
“Becoming world champion at some point wasn’t even on the list of things I could have imagined,” said Giffey after he achieved exactly that on Sunday in Manila. So how could this happen? How could a national team that had its best players reject them for many years not even play a World Cup semi-final against the USA will be televised, become world champion? The magic words are continuity, the “commitment” often quoted by captain Dennis Schröder, but above all, the promotion of young talent and, more cryptically, the 6+6 rule.
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A hugely important rule
Let’s start at the back, with the said 6+6 rule. This was introduced in German basketball in 2012, shortly before the aforementioned 2013 European Championships. The rule that still applies essentially states that at least half of every team in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) must consist of German players. Conversely, in 2012 this meant that instead of relying almost exclusively on good and cheap players from abroad, as in previous years, the German clubs suddenly had to train German players. “This rule is extremely important,” said Johannes Thiemann on Sunday with found words and explained: “Not only so that young players can play, but also so that they can take responsibility and play in the roles that we need here.”
A new basketball generation
Johannes Thiemann, like Andi Obst, the hero from the semi-finals, comes from the youth program in Bamberg. Dennis Schröder and Daniel Theis, who first played well on Sunday and then celebrated emotionally, matured into professionals in Braunschweig before landing directly or indirectly in the North American NBA. Niels Giffey went through the entire youth program at Alba Berlin, as did Moritz and Franz Wagner a few years later. The brothers were discovered in one of Alba’s elementary school groups and grew up in Prenzlauer Berg before moving to college and then to the NBA.
They symbolize a new generation of basketball in Germany that didn’t exist even ten years ago. “We now have a focus on promoting good German players in the German league. Players who shouldn’t just stand in the corner, but who really play.” This applies to young players like the Wagners, but also older players like Giffey, Thiemann and Maodo Lo, who have grown in their role at Alba in recent years.
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Definitely not a coincidence
Like Dennis Schröder, they have all made a commitment to the German national team over the past few years. This was the only way to create the team chemistry that became perhaps Germany’s greatest strength at this World Cup. National coach Gordon Herbert also played a key role here. The Canadian, who once also spent a season at Alba Berlin, found exactly the right way to deal with his players, especially Dennis Schröder.
“What Dirk Nowitzki used to be, Dennis is now. He found his identity, took over, became MVP,” Herbert said on Sunday. Shortly before, he had been sitting on the floor at the edge of the court in Manila, breathing heavily, completely empty, while his players celebrated on the floor. The first World Cup title for German basketball players. A world title that came very suddenly, but is definitely not a coincidence.
Broadcast: rbb24, September 10, 2023, 10 p.m
