NBA professional Schröder new captain of the DBB team

Berlin. Following Robin Benzing’s dismissal, NBA pro Dennis Schröder will lead German basketball players to their home European Championship as the new captain.

Center Johannes Voigtmann will represent the 28-year-old point guard, the German Football Association announced. At the start of the first training session before the Hamburg Super Cup on 19 and 20 August, national team coach Gordon Herbert appointed the two to leadership roles.

Herbert has reduced his European squad to 14 players for now. He had decided against old Captain Benzing. It was also due to persistent pelvic and groin injuries, which the 33-year-old had to deal with in the summer, Herbert told Kicker. “To be honest, it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made as a manager.”

“I think I deserve to be there,” Benzing told the German news agency. “Certainly not with the same playing time as before, but as an eleventh or twelfth player”. Benzing, most recently with Fortitudo Bologna in Italy, has played for the national team every summer since 2009. His appearance in the friendly against the Netherlands on Friday night was his 167th international.

The German team prepares for the weekend Super Cup in Hamburg. The preliminary phase of the European Championship (1-18 September) takes place in Cologne and the final in Berlin.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:220816-99-410906/2 (Dpa)