Germany meets Greece in the quarterfinals of the European Basketball Championship. National coach Gordon Herbert can’t really do without Franz Wagner – he just might have to.
On the day before the quarter-finals, national coach Gordon Herbert felt compelled to make a correction. No, said Herbert, Franz hadn’t really trained with the team. “He threw a bit at the end.” Franz, of course, was Franz Wagner, the carefree one, the discovery of this European championship.
Herbert’s words were not such good news for German basketball. Against Greece (Sportschau broadcasts the game live in the audio stream from 8.30 p.m.) Herbert can’t really do without someone like Wagner – he just might have to.
Germany is a country with basketball fever these days – and now the country has ankles. Like Wagner, his left ankle hurts, it’s an uncomfortable memory of twisting his ankle when he defeated Montenegro in the round of 16. Whether he can play in the quarterfinals is open.
Schröder raves about Wagner
The German national team is writing some nice stories at this home EM, a particularly nice one told by the still very young and yet so grown-up Franz Wagner, 21. Dennis Schröder, the captain of the DBB selection, has just in a sports show interview talked about the NBA professional Wagner.
The success at this European Championship has a lot to do with Wagner, says Schröder. Wagner, Schröder sees it, just has to “Keep it up and he’ll be one of the best, he has the potential.”
Question marks also behind Voigtmann
The use of Schröder’s deputy captain Johannes Voigtmann is also unclear. He missed training with a cold. Nick Weiler-Babb, on the other hand, has been training with the team again, having missed the round of 16 with a shoulder problem. National coach Herbert says: “We have to see how the situation is tomorrow.”