The German basketball world champions achieved tasks that were achievable on paper at the Olympic Games in Paris. One opponent is still pending.
In Group A, the heroes of Manila led by captain Dennis Schröder meet hosts France, Japan and the winner of a qualifying tournament in Riga. This was the result of the draw on Tuesday evening (March 19, 2024) in Mies/Switzerland.
Basketball national coach Gordon Herbert is calm about the draw for the German group at the Summer Olympics. Play it for the world champion coach “It doesn’t matter where you end up”the German group “the second hardest”he said at MagentaSport.
However, successful coach Herbert attaches great importance to the fact that his team does not rest on its success in order to achieve the big goal of winning three medals in three years. “We have to get rid of our complacency. We have to build on what we did last summer and look forward”, he said. Before the World Cup title, the coach had already won European Championship bronze in his own country in 2022 with the DBB selection.
World champion Germany with a “broad chest”
“We are world champions, We’re going there with a big heart.”said NBA professional Daniel Theis. “Of course the goal is to play for a medal. That’s not a question for us.”
The Los Angeles Clippers center is looking forward to the duel with the French, against whom Germany will play twice in preparation: “Playing against the home team is really cool. We had that at the home European Championships too and we know what that means. That’s definitely something to look forward to.”
The final opponent of the German men will not be determined until July 2nd to 7th. Possible top opponents include Latvia and Montenegro, but Brazil, Georgia, Cameroon and the Philippines are also there. Herbert thinks so “interesting, because you never know which team will come out of these qualifications.”
German women against top favorites USA
As clear outsiders, the German women will face the top favorites in their Olympic premiere. With star player Satou Sabally, they had bought their first ever Olympic ticket through a qualifying tournament and were the only debutants in pot four. The team headed by national coach Lisa Thomaidis is in Group C against world champions and defending champions USA, who won the last seven Olympic tournaments, Belgium and also Japan.
Three groups of four were drawn from the pots of three teams each for the men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments. Eight teams have already qualified for the men’s tournament, and four other nations are still buying their tickets at the qualifying tournaments in July.
The German men, who reached the quarter-finals in Tokyo 2021, were in pot one for the draw along with defending champions USA and the winner of the qualifying event in Valencia. In France, national coach Gordon Herbert’s team could face young NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama.
In the group phase, which is played in Lille and not in Paris, in addition to the first two teams, the two best third-place teams in the group also qualify for the knockout phase.
Group overview
The groups at a glance:
Men
Group A: Winners of the qualifying tournament Valencia/Spain, Australia, Canada, winners of the qualifying tournament Piraeus/Greece; Group B: Germany, winners of the qualifying tournament Riga/Latvia, France, Japan; Group C: USA, Serbia, winners of the qualifying tournament San Juan/Puerto Rico, South Sudan
Women
Group A: China, Spain, Serbia, Puerto Rico; Group B: Australia, Canada, France, Nigeria; Group C: USA, Belgium, Japan, Germany