Tuesday, August 03, 2021
Olympia-off against NBA superstar
European champions don’t give DBB team a chance
The third attempt for the German basketball players in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games is also over. The team of national coach Henrik Rödl has to travel home after the defeat against European champions Slovenia.
Germany’s basketball players failed in the Olympic quarter-finals against the powerful European champions Slovenia around NBA superstar Luka Doncic. With the 70:94 (37:44) in Saitama, the team of national coach Henrik Rödl missed the first-time qualification for a semi-final at summer games.
While the Slovenians are fighting for a place in the final against France or Italy on Thursday, the overall good summer ended in disappointment for the selection of the German Basketball Association. The best thrower was Maodo Lo with eleven points. Doncic came to 20 points and shone with eleven assists as a ball distributor.
“When you lose a game like this, you’re disappointed at first. But it doesn’t take long before you can sit back and say: that was a very special summer,” said Rödl, but still had to acknowledge: “That was an opponent we couldn’t get it under control in the end. ” Danilo Barthel added: “It’s not easy to hold your head up straight after a defeat.” Nonetheless, he went “home with a good feeling that all the work was worth it,” said the winger: “We represented basketball Germany well, so we’ll have a very good feeling a day or two away.”
The Slovenes, who were unbeaten in the group stage, got off to a strong start and presented the German team with major problems with their uninterrupted defense. On the offensive, however, the 22-year-old Doncic did not find his way into the game as he did before. Against Argentina, the Guard, who took over the leadership role from Dirk Nowitzki at the Dallas Mavericks and is currently one of the best players in the world, scored 48 points alone. Now he only hit three of his ten throws by half time and posted six points. That didn’t bother the Slovenes much, however, as other players like Zoran Dragic stepped in and quickly ensured a comfortable lead.
Heated second half
In the second quarter, the Germans came into the match better and after three successful three-pointers from Maodo Lo took the lead within just 78 seconds (32:31). When it no longer worked from a distance and there was a lack of playful solutions, the Slovenes pulled away a little more clearly until the break.
The DBB selection stood in front of empty stands in the Saitama Super Arena for the third time ever in the round of the best eight at the Olympics. 1984 in Los Angeles there was the end against hosts USA, eight years later in Barcelona the Commonwealth of Independent States was a size too big. In Japan, a win in the preliminary round against Nigeria was enough to qualify for the knockout phase as one of the two best third-placed players in the group. The other two encounters against Italy and the medal candidate Australia were lost.
It got more heated against Slovenia in the second half. Lo sustained a bleeding wound from it, Doncic got an elbow in the face on the opposite side and discussed allegedly contentious situations with the referees several times. The favored European champion defended a lead of around ten points without wasting too much strength. Until the final phase, there was never a feeling that Germany could come dangerously close again. Instead, the Slovenes played their extra class – and in the end caused a clear defeat for the German selection.
.
