German basketball players win in Poland | Sports

Lublin – With the first victory under the new national coach Gordon Herbert, the German basketball players have reported back in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.

The German team won in Poland with 72:69 (40:30) and thus rehabilitated themselves for the embarrassing 66:69 against Estonia on Thursday. Without all the stars from the NBA and the professionals of the Euroleague teams from Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin, the selection of the German Basketball Federation showed a convincing performance in terms of fighting, but still had to tremble in the end. The best thrower was David Krämer from Braunschweig with 24 points.

With the victory in Lublin, the Germans prevented a complete false start. Even in the next qualification window in February 2022, when Germany competes twice against the still unbeaten Israel, the seven NBA professionals around Dennis Schröder will definitely not be eligible for an appointment. The Euroleague players will probably not be there again because of the overlapping dates.

The 2023 final tournament will take place in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. 32 teams qualify for the final round. The current qualification phase is about getting into the top three of a group of four. The results of the first group stage will also be carried over to the next stage.

Offensive with problems – defensively improved

As with the defeat against Estonia, the German team initially had a hard time in the Globus Arena in Lublin. In the offensive in particular, the completely new DBB team did not succeed very much at first. In return, the guests acted defensively but much better and more aggressively than against Estonia on Thursday, when the Estonians were able to score at will, especially from a distance.

After ten minutes Germany was three points ahead (16:13), but after that the Herbert selection was able to extend the lead. With nine points in a row, Germany set off in double digits for the first time (25:13) and now had the game under control. Poland shortened to seven points shortly before half-time, but then the Braunschweig shopkeeper gave a spectacular three-point lead for a ten-point lead at the break.

After the break, the Poles quickly shortened to five points and were about to turn the game around. But led by Hamburg point guard Justus Hollatz and above all von Krämer, the inexperienced German team survived this critical phase and continued with a ten-point lead in the final quarter. The Poles never gave up there, but Germany won over time.