The German basketball players will again have to do without their players from the Euroleague teams in the first of two World Cup qualifying games against Israel. NBA pros are also absent, as is often the case.
National coach Gordon Herbert’s 14-player line-up for the match in Israel on 25 February (13.30 hrs) will not include players from Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin, as both clubs will be playing in the European Champions League the day before.
But Herbert could still nominate players from Munich or Berlin for the second clash with the Israelis, who are still unbeaten after two matchdays, on 28 February (7.30pm) in Heidelberg, provided the German Basketball Federation reaches an agreement on a secondment with the two clubs. “We are in talks with the clubs. We are in agreement with the players, they want to play. Now I hope that we also come to an agreement with the clubs,” said DBB Vice President Armin Andres.
Herbert assembles his squad on Sunday in Frankfurt
For the time being, however, Herbert will largely rely on the squad that surprisingly lost to Estonia at the start of the World Cup qualifiers and then won in Poland. “We have good continuity from the last window despite injuries and despite some players on Covid’s record,” Herbert said. “With the game in Israel, we have a first big challenge ahead.”
Herbert will assemble his squad in Frankfurt am Main on Sunday, from where they will travel to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The top three in the group qualify for the next group stage. The World Cup will take place in 2023 in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
Three out of four nations per relay remain in the running for a ticket to the 2023 World Cup after the first group stage, in the Philippines, Japan as well as Indonesia.
The squad at a glance
Robin Benzing (Fortitudo Bologna/ITA), Bastian Doreth (medi Bayreuth), Philipp Herkenhoff (ratiopharm ulm), Justus Hollatz (Hamburg Towers), Bennet Hundt (EWE Baskets Oldenburg), Karim Jallow (ratiopharm ulm), Michael Kessens (Telekom Baskets Bonn), David Krämer (Basketball Löwen Braunschweig), Leon Kratzer (Telekom Baskets Bonn), Dominic Lockhart (Brose Bamberg), Len Schoormann (Fraport Skyliners), Christian Sengfelder (Brose Bamberg), Lukas Wank (FRAPORT SKYLINERS), Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann (MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg)
