The German basketball players may have to do without their captain in the Supercup final against Serbia. NBA professional Dennis Schröder unhappily twisted his ankle shortly before the end of the 101:90 against the Czech Republic and hobbled out of the hall into the dressing room after converting the two free throws. “Everything is ok,” said the NBA professional at first, but left an open game in the final against Serbia this Saturday. “I don’t know if I’m going to play yet,” said the point guard. “He is questionable,” confirmed national coach Gordon Herbert.
A failure of Schröder for the European Championship with a preliminary round in Cologne and the final round in Berlin (September 1 to 18) would be the worst case for the national team. In advance, two NBA players, Maximilian Kleber and Isaac Bonga, had to pull out injured. At the beginning of the preparation, Moritz Wagner got it and Daniel Theis currently has to take a break. The personnel puzzle for Herbert is already difficult enough that a failure of Schröder would hardly be able to be compensated.
But the injury didn’t look that dramatic late in the evening. Schröder stood in the hall with his family for quite a while and also answered a few questions. “It was a step forward,” Schröder summed up the game. After returning to the hotel, he should be examined and treated more thoroughly.
Schröder is very likely to take a break against Serbia on Saturday so as not to take any risks. Finally, the two World Cup qualifiers in Sweden (August 25) and in Munich against Slovenia with superstar Luka Doncic (August 28) are next week, before things get really serious on September 1 in Cologne against France at the European Championship. “We know we still have to improve, especially defensively,” said the 28-year-old point guard.
