The German national basketball team has started preparing for the European Championship semi-final against Spain. Now the DBB team wants to hit the big time.
The parties turned out to be a little smaller. Both after the exhilarating and historic 107:96 victory against Greece, which advanced Germany to the semi-finals, and Dennis Schröder’s 29th birthday on Thursday, the DBB team did not celebrate bigger. Anyway, national coach Gordon Herbert had already made it clear that the story about his credit card, which captain Schröder had asked for – following the example of Italian coach Gianmarco Pozzecco – was a joke.
Seriousness is maintained, even more so with the kick-off of preparations for the semi-final against world champions Spain. On Thursday, all twelve players took part in training, including Franz Wagner, Nick Weiler-Babb and Johannes Voigtmann, who have been ailing lately. The mood is good, self-confidence is high. But in the meantime, so are the expectations.
“Before the European Championships, a medal was the goal. Of course we want gold now,” says Daniel Theis. After Slovenia, the next top favourite, bowed out of the tournament. To leave the weekend without a medal would be a disappointment in view of the current euphoria and the rest of the field of participants after the elimination of the next top favourite, Slovenia.
But the duel with the Iberians will by no means be a foregone conclusion, even though the three-time European champions have undergone a radical change and some of the faces of the golden generation from the 2010s are no longer there. “Spain has an incredible basketball culture. They play good basketball. It’s a semi-final, so of course it will be a tough game,” expects Johannes Thiemann. Schröder emphasises: “The whole team is ready. “
