The German national basketball player Franz Wagner was full of anticipation before the start of the home European Championship.
“Of course I’m extremely keen. It’s at home in Germany. That doesn’t happen that often, you have to look forward to it and enjoy it while it’s there,” says the NBA professional from the Orlando Magic at “Sport1”.
The 21-year-old winger was also optimistic about the chances of being selected by the German Basketball Association (DBB).
“We have an extremely talented team,” said Wagner, adding: “We can’t have too much respect. We’ll play against really good players and teams where you might not expect us to win.”
DBB start on Thursday against France
The European Championship starts for the German team on Thursday with the first game of the group phase in Cologne. At 8:30 p.m., national coach Gordon Herbert’s team meets Vice Olympic champion France.
Despite a few injury-related absences, Wagner and Co. recently beat Slovenia around superstar Luka Doncic in the World Cup qualifier with 90:71 (33:31).
The team thus nurtured the hope of entering the final round of the European Championship, which begins on September 10th with the round of 16.
