On Wednesday (September 6th, 2023) Germany has the chance to make history in the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup. It would only be the second time that the DBB team qualified for the top 4 – and the Olympic participation could also secure that.
The German national basketball team has only managed to reach a semi-final at a world championship once. Led by the outstanding Dirk Nowitzki, the DBB team was one of the top four teams in the world in 2022. In the end, they came third after losing to Argentina and then beating New Zealand. It was by far the best performance at a World Cup tournament so far.
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A win and then hope for Canada
Now Dennis Schröder and Co. have the chance to repeat this story. Even before the tournament, the team had made it clear that they were aiming for a medal – and underlined these great ambitions with top performances in the previous five games. And they are now putting Germany in a very promising situation with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
The two best-placed European teams will qualify directly for the 2024 Olympics. Serbia is already in the semi-finals and has great chances, Germany could follow suit with a win against Latvia and directly eliminate a direct competitor for the Paris ticket. The decision could even come a few hours later: If Germany wins and Slovenia then loses to Canada, coach Gordon Herbert’s team would certainly be there like Serbia next year.
Previous results no longer matter
The team has this constellation “in the back of their minds”, admitted Daniel Theis. The center is one of the key players in the German team and, alongside Schröder, the leader. Accordingly, he also reminded his colleagues that Germany is still a long way from the big goals. “The preliminary and intermediate rounds are now over for us. You can have played as well as you want up to this point: if you catch a bad day in the knockout phase and are out, you can’t buy anything from it either.” , said Theis.
His trainer Herbert also made it clear: “We’re starting from scratch again.” The 64-year-old also warned against Latvia, which is considered an outsider and a surprise team, but has beaten top teams such as Greece, Serbia (in the World Cup qualifier), France and Spain (in the World Cup tournament) in the recent past. “They’re the best team in Europe that nobody talks about. It’s not going to be a safe bet in any way,” said Herbert.
Will Wagner return?
The return of Franz Wagner would help the national coach. The 22-year-old of the Orlando Magic has missed the last four games with an ankle injury sustained in the opening game against Japan, but he was back in team training on Tuesday (05/09/2023) and was able to participate in the forms of play as well .
But whether Wagner can really play will only become clear shortly before the start of the game against Latvia. “We always look from day to day because we have to see how the foot reacts,” explained Herbert. But even without the NBA star, the DBB team has already shown that it has a good chance of the best result since 2002 and a direct ticket to the Olympics.
2023-09-05 21:32:23
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