The German basketball pros easily reached the final of the Supercup in Hamburg. The team around NBA professional Dennis Schröder clearly won against China 107:58 (49:23) on Saturday and thus remains undefeated in the preparation for the World Cup. In the final this Sunday (6.30 p.m. on Magentasport), the team of national coach Gordon Herbert meets Canada, which also easily defeated New Zealand with 107:76.
The toughest opponents in Hamburg were obviously the temperatures on the floor: “The second shirt was completely soaked with sweat, Halle was brutally hot today. Of course that made it a bit more strenuous,” said Johannes Thiemann from Alba Berlin at MagentaSport. “We still did a good job,” said the 29-year-old. Only occasionally did you “throw the ball away a bit carelessly”.
Thiemann expects a different game against Canada than in the gripping 86:81 friendly win last Wednesday against the same opponent in Berlin. “Canada are an extremely strong team,” warned Maodo Lo, who joined Olimpia Milano from Alba in July. Against China, Franz Wagner was the best German thrower with 20 points. In addition, Schröder, Daniel Theis, Lo and Niels Giffey scored in double figures. “We defended well, put a lot of pressure on,” praised Lo, “everyone played with rhythm offensively, it was a good game from us.”
Playful German team
After the Supercup final on Sunday, Schröder and Co. have two more days off before heading to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. There are two more friendlies against title candidates USA and Greece at the weekend. The clear goal a year after the European Championship bronze is a medal at the World Championships. In the preliminary round, Group E will initially face Japan, Finland and Australia.
Almost two weeks before the World Cup opener against co-hosts Japan, the German team was hardly challenged by the Chinese. Schröder and his teammates had the game under control from the start and delighted the spectators with some spectacular scenes in the first quarter. Franz Wagner already scored the first two points with a dunk, shortly afterwards Johannes Voigtmann put Captain Schröder in the limelight with a dream pass. The fans in the hall of the Bundesliga club Hamburg Towers got their money’s worth so early.
The German team also showed a lot of enthusiasm in the second quarter. One of the highlights was a pass from Franz Wagner to his brother Moritz, which he transformed spectacularly. At the break, Germany was already 26 points ahead of the harmless Chinese (49:23). “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a team that played so dynamically and with so much wit. It almost makes you scared and anxious,” said DBB President Ingo Weiss during the break at Magentasport. “We’re going to Japan with a lot of confidence.”
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Michael Reinsch, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Jürgen Kalwa, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4
There the opponents should be much stronger. Because even after the change of sides, China, which also qualified for the World Cup, was not an equal opponent. Before the final quarter, Germany led with 40 points (81:41), in the last ten minutes the hosts also cracked the 100 point mark.
