basketball
DBB team celebrates EM bronze – “We’re just getting started”
Also wants to be the leader at the celebrations after winning the medal: DBB captain Dennis Schröder. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
After the successful medal mission at the home European Championship, the German basketball players threw themselves into the deserved party night. But bronze in Berlin is said to have been just the beginning.
Dennis Schröder started preparing for the party while he was still on the press podium. “I’ll try to call my DJ for a moment, maybe we’ll find a location where we can celebrate,” said the captain of the German basketball team after successfully completing the medal mission at the European Championships in Berlin.
The 82:69 win against Poland brought the German team bronze, their first medal at a major tournament in 17 years. At that time, Dirk Nowitzki led the German team to silver at the European Championships in Serbia.
The party continued in the cabin. Schröder switched a live stream on his cell phone and briefly let the fans take part in the party in the dressing room. “We have made German basketball sexy again. The trend is going in the right direction,” said the 29-year-old Schröder, who was the best German player at the home tournament.
The NBA professional could be sure of the support of Maodo Lo and Johannes Thiemann. After all, the series winners from Alba Berlin have plenty of experience when it comes to celebrating titles in Berlin. “We’ll find something,” said Thiemann mischievously. When asked about the number one party beast, all the players answered in unison: “Andi Obst!”
DBB team ensures an inspiring basketball summer
But the rest of the team also wanted to really let it rip after the medal, which had hardly been thought possible before the tournament. Finally, the German selection was rewarded with third place for an inspiring basketball summer, in which Schröder and Co. played their way into the hearts of German sports fans and even enticed a broadcaster, RTL, to make a free TV comeback.
The structure of the team should be there again next summer when the World Cup takes place in Asia, for which Germany is almost certainly qualified. A year later, the Olympic Games in Paris are the big goal.
“It was an incredible honor to coach this team. We fought, but we also enjoyed it,” said national coach Gordon Herbert, for whom the first tournament as Germany’s head coach was a complete success. “If you look at the successful national teams, they were together for a long time before they were successful. We’re just starting out with this group.”
Lots of congratulations
There was also a lot of congratulations from the outside. For Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the protégés of head coach Herbert are “the greatest”, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) explicitly thanked “for this basketball festival”. Former world champion Toni Kroos was impressed by the performance of the basketball players. “To get up again like this 2 days after losing the thriller in HF (including a great disappointment) is a sensation! Be proud @DBB_Basketball!”, wrote Kroos. All of Germany is proud.
For the pros, it’s now off to the clubs. The next international matches are in November in the World Cup qualifiers against Finland (10 November) and Slovenia (13 November). A win would be enough to secure a ticket to the 2023 World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The NBA professionals around Schröder and young star Franz Wagner will then not be available because of the current season there.