Gordon Herbert? One could have come up with this name during the busy summer break of German basketball. Shortly after returning from the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where the selection of the German Basketball Federation (DBB) was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Slovenia, head coach Henrik Rödl separated.
Mo. – Fr. at 4 pm; Sa. – So. at 6 p.m.
A farewell after the announcement. Two weeks later, the DBB comes around the corner with the Canadian Herbert. The association should have reached an agreement with the coach on Friday. On Monday he presented it at a press conference in Hagen, the headquarters of the DBB. “I am delighted that we have been able to sign an excellent coach in Gordon Herbert. It was very straightforward. His philosophy coincides with ours. We have come to an agreement with our first preferred candidate, ”said DBB President Ingo Weiss.
A place with a signal effect. Herbert will not float between worlds, but live in Hagen, as a full-time coach looking after Germany’s best players around the clock. Part-time models were ultimately not considered because German basketball is facing three tests at the international level, which can or must be seen as great opportunities: next year, the European Championship with the most important games in Germany. Then the world championship will follow in 2023. That’s why Herbert received a two-year contract. If he qualifies for the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024, the collaboration will continue. “We want to be on the podium at the Olympics and European Championships,” said Herbert.
On the move in all worlds
Why Herbert? The fact that the DBB were also spoiled for choice is not surprising in view of the national team potential. The talent density is greater than it has been in a long time. The established professionals have plenty of experience in the North American professional league NBA and in the strong Euroleague. They play a role there and do not go to waste without match practice on the bench. Behind this group, the 1998/99 generation is pushing for more responsibility, with players like Franz Wagner, who recently landed in the NBA, on the back of their necks.
Who wouldn’t want to develop this promising ensemble at European Championships, World Cups or the Olympic Games? The DBB also opted for Herbert because the Canadian has been or is in all worlds of basketball. Born in 1959 in Penticton (British Columbia), Herbert discovered the sport as a player, made it to a professional in Finland with 1.98 meters and gained second citizenship, joined the Bundesliga after his debut in Würzburg as a highly valued coach, especially the Skyliners Frankfurt, where he was engaged three times and worked for a total of ten years.
In 2004 Herbert won the German championship with the Hessians. In 2016 his colleagues voted him Trainer of the Year. The Frankfurters were reluctant to let Herbert move to the Canadian national team in 2019.
From the point of view of the DBB, the 62-year-old fulfills the association’s claim to be able to address the national players distributed in all basketball corners of the world. Herbert knows the national players Johannes Voigtmann (CSKA Moscow) and Danilo Barthel (Fenerbahçe Istanbul), accompanied their development in Frankfurt until they made it into the European elite. The fact that Dennis Schröder, Daniel Theiss, Maxi Kleber, the Wagner brothers Moritz and Franz, Isaak Bonga, Isaiah Hartenstein play in the NBA makes it seem sensible to hire a national coach with an intensive relationship with the Anglo-American basketball side.
Herbert worked after his time as co-coach of the Canadian selection and before a trip to the Russian league that ended in the spring as an advisor to the NBA club Brooklyn Nets. So it’s no wonder that DBB approached Herbert and quickly came to an agreement: He has proven his competence, his knowledge of the Bundesliga is as fresh as the relationship with important players. “Gordon meets all of our requirements. He knows the league, the players, the youngsters, he knows which accents have to be set, he has international experience. This is a very good day for German basketball, ”said the Vice President of Competitive Sports, Armin Andres.
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He is familiar with the problems involved in interacting with the NBA clubs when it comes to setting up for tournaments of the European and World Federation. If Herbert succeeds, like his predecessor Rödl, in winning the egos in the German selection for a unifying teamwork, then the door to significant successes would be open to the Germans for a while.
“It’s wonderful to be part of German basketball,” said Herbert on Monday. “The association is very professional. The infrastructure for the national team is very good, the players are very good, an incredible group between the ages of 24 and early thirties. And the offspring are coming. It was an easy decision for me to accept the offer. We have a group of players who are very capable. We have to make sure that the best players come to the national team. My job will be to take the team to the next level. “
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