Sport Basketball
Next victory – Germany celebrates World Cup record start
Status: 29.08.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Third win in the third World Cup game: Germany’s Daniel Theis on the ball
Source: dpa
Germany’s basketball players also win their third preliminary round game at the World Cup and give Finland no chance. Now the duel with perhaps the biggest star of the tournament awaits.
The German basketball players made a record start and took the next big step on the way to the finals in Manila. Led by captain Dennis Schröder, the Germans clearly defeated Finland 101:75 (47:39) in Okinawa on Tuesday and secured their third win in the third World Cup game.
After a few initial difficulties, Schröder contributed 15 points, this time he was able to lean back early in view of the clear lead. Isaac Bonga (15) replaced Franz Wagner, who had an ankle injury.
“It was our wishful thinking that we would take three wins with us,” said center Daniel Theis. “We’re now making sure that we give Franz enough time until the next game.” After two days off, national coach Gordon Herbst’s team won’t be called on again until Friday. “We take self-confidence with us. The rest days are very important,” said Bayern Munich’s Andreas Obst, who scored eleven points this time.
Now against superstar Luka Doncic
The group victory had already been decided before the game in front of around 6037 spectators – including Dirk Nowitzki again. The intermediate round is on Friday and Sunday, the opponents will most likely be Georgia and ex-European champion Slovenia with NBA superstar Luka Doncic. The final decision in partner group F will not be made until Wednesday.
also read
It was only the second time that Germany’s basketball players opened a major tournament with three wins. It premiered a year ago at the European Championships at home, also with national coach Herbert. It has never been successful at a World Cup, not even with Nowitzki.
The Canadian coach decided on Tuesday to do without the 22-year-old Wagner again. “He trained in the gym yesterday, that was a good sign. Today he worked in the pool. We have to see how he looks on Wednesday and Thursday, ”said Herbert at Magentasport.
National coach Gordon Herbert can once again look back on a flawless record
Source: dpa
The upcoming two rest days should help the ailing Orlando Magic pro. Wagner sat again in his dark tracksuit in the Okinawa Arena. The young hope did not radiate any real joy at the end of the bench.
Against the winless Finns, Germany allowed themselves the weakest start of the tournament so far. Unlike against Japan (81:63) and Australia (85:82), playmaker Schröder was closely guarded by the European Championship quarter-finalists and doubled early. Bad passes and misses were the result of an offensive that was static in the first few minutes.
False start corrected quickly
Only with a few changes did more movement come into play. Bank players who were weak in the preparation such as Bonga, Johannes Thiemann and Niels Giffey made an effort and converted shots. The false start was quickly corrected, with a 16:2 run the Herbert team overtook the Finns in the second quarter and ensured a preliminary decision. As in the first two group games, the ensemble around NBA professional Lauri Markkanen allowed many easy points. After the break, the Germans continued to pull away, and the game was decided early on.
also read
After three wins in five days, Germany can now take a breather for a moment, the toughest preliminary round group of the tournament was mastered with flying colours. However, the situation in the intermediate round can also become complicated after the flawless group stage, there is a risk of three-way comparisons with Australia and Slovenia. Only the top two teams from the intermediate stage make it to Manila, where all finals matches from the quarterfinals onwards will be played next week.
also read
