The German basketball players won their last test match before the European Championship. The team of the new national coach Lisa Thomaidis won on Sunday (June 11th, 2023) in Pordenone against hosts Italy with 70:65 and thus celebrated a successful dress rehearsal for the European Championships in Slovenia, which begin this Thursday.
Thomaidis had her entire squad available for the first time in preparation. Svenja Brunckhorst moved into the starting line-up as point guard and directed the game cleverly. The best thrower in the German team against the Italians, who also qualified for the European Championship, was Leonie Fiebich with 17 points. In addition, the Spain legionnaire secured ten rebounds and thus created a so-called double-double.
national coach Thomaidis: “Withstood the pressure”
“We withstood the pressure and took a lot from the game. We were quite calm at the end,” said Thomaidis and highlighted the performance of Sonja Greinacher (16 points), who last played at the 3×3 World Championship: “Sunny was outstanding in her first game after returning.”
National coach Lisa Thomaidis saw a win against Italy in the last test match before the European Championship.
From Italy, the German team will continue to Slovenia this Monday. In the preliminary round, the selection of the German Basketball Federation meets co-favorite France, hosts Slovenia and Great Britain.
“Our goal is to get out of the group”, said Thomas. At least third place is necessary to then fight in a crossover game with the second in group D for a place in the quarter-finals.
The German team is taking part in a EuroBasket for the first time in twelve years. The preparations for the tournament in Israel and Slovenia (June 15-25) ended with two wins and three losses.