Dhe German basketball pros made their participation in the World Cup clear ahead of time after the thrilling European Championships in the summer. The team of national coach Gordon Herbert defeated Finland 94:80 (44:36) in Bamberg on Friday evening and will take part in the world tournament in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines (25 August to 10 September 2023). David Krämer (19 points), Christian Sengfelder (19) and Justus Hollatz (18) stood out from the weakened team. Finland has already qualified for sure.
“We have a lot of absences from the NBA and the Euroleague, as well as injuries and illnesses. But that’s a great opportunity for those who are here,” said head coach Herbert at “Magentasport”. The fans were less enthusiastic about the completely renewed squad without the NBA stars around Dennis Schröder before the qualifying game. Only 3927 fans found their way into the hall in Franconia, where the former series champion Brose Bamberg usually plays. Entire grandstands were hung with black curtains. Almost two months after the EM bronze, there is not much left of the euphoria from Cologne and Berlin.
Moderate start
On the floor, the team tried their best for the aggressive Hollatz and local hero Sengfelder. The duo, which had hardly been used at the European Championships behind stars like Schröder, Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis, should now take on the leading roles. “The most important thing is that we play hard and stick together,” said Herbert, who said he was ill for ten days after the European Championships in September.
That worked moderately, at least in the first quarter. The German team was trailing behind for a long time and only really got going just before the break. The eight-point lead at halftime was the highest to date. After that, however, the lead continued to grow, and the German team pulled away decisively in the third quarter.
Not only the Germans had to do without numerous strong players. The Finns have a European star player in Lauri Markkanen, but the power forward is also being challenged in the NBA at the moment. At the European Championships in the summer, Finland surprisingly reached the quarter-finals. In the coming summer, the two nations will travel to Asia for the World Cup. The third place in the table, Slovenia, with superstar Luka Doncic, can hardly be denied the qualification.
On Monday (6:00 p.m. on Magentasport), Germany will be visiting former European champions Slovenia in the World Cup qualifier in Koper, who will have to play without Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. From a sporting point of view, the game will be just as meaningless after the qualification has now been secured as the two qualifying games that are scheduled for the new year against Sweden (February 24) and Finland (February 27) at the end of Group J.
