Nearly two months before the home European Championships, Germany’s basketball players look ready. Forward Dennis Schröder is setting a record, and many more hopefuls are expected to join the team. And tournament ambassador Dirk Nowitzki is already jokingly teasing the competition.
As his teammates came back into the hall already showered and changed, Schröder was still strolling across the parquet in white basketball gear. The NBA pro simply didn’t have time to change after his 38-point record. Hundreds of autograph and photo requests, interviews in German and English, plus congratulations from his national team colleagues: Everyone wanted Schröder, who not only brought the World Cup ticket for 2023 closer with his spectacular show in Bremen, but above all also raised immense hopes for the home European Championship summer.
“I think the team chemistry is right. We showed that again today in the fourth quarter. We want to take the momentum with us and do the same at the beginning of August,” Schröder commented after the 93:83 against Poland, in which he not only set his own best mark in the national jersey, but also one for World Cup qualifying games in Europe. The 28-year-old went to the basket, hit threes and took complete responsibility – something national coach Gordon Herbert would probably also like to see at the European Championships (from 1 September).
“We need the individual talent. Dennis put in a tremendous performance,” said the 63-year-old Herbert, who praised the NBA pro and Johannes Voigtmann for their leadership skills in the recent international window. Before the players said goodbye again for four weeks on Monday and left for all directions, Herbert gave them a compliment. “We are very proud of this team. They have sacrificed themselves magnificently,” the coach said. This was “outstanding”.
Thinking about the past decade of basketball, the summers were not always marked by positive headlines: Nowitzki’s DBB-ending with the preliminary round elimination in Berlin, World Cup-flop against the Dominican Republic or an insurance dispute preventing Schröder’s participation in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. This time, many things seem ready. And that’s also down to Schröder, who has a lot to make up for after difficult years in the NBA and visibly enjoyed the dip in the screaming crowd on Sunday night.
“Dennis was outstanding. They wanted him to throw, but he had the confidence,” Bamberg’s Christian Sengfelder said of the match-winner, who virtually decided the game single-handedly in the fourth quarter. The chances of a ticket to the 2023 World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines are excellent thanks to the recent five-game winning streak, but there are other goals this summer.
On 28 August in Munich (World Cup Qualifiers) and on 6 September in Cologne (European Championships) they will play against Slovenia with NBA star Luka Doncic. German basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki watched Doncic – his successor with the Dallas Mavericks – on Sunday night in Sweden and joined in when the home fans chanted “Overrated” at his free throws. Nowitzki had a great time during the flying visit to his wife’s home country, and the two Texans-by-choice Nowitzki and Doncic will meet again in September at the latest.
For head coach Herbert, who can count on even more NBA pros at the European Championships, all that is far away. Asked about the Slovenians, he said: “I haven’t thought about August yet. My thoughts were only on this window. That’s all my concentration was on.” And when the national coach was asked what the players were doing now four weeks until the hot preparation phase begins, Herbert let it be known: “I don’t have any idea yet.” But the players would certainly take some time to recover.
