Luckily there is modern technology, otherwise you would sometimes not even get the essentials. At the European Basketball Championships, as usual, TV microphones protrude into the team meetings during time-outs – so interested parties were able to experience that Lisa Thomaidis was not impressed. “No intensity and absolutely no bite,” the national coach accused her players during the third group game against Great Britain.
She was right, the German basketball players had once again maneuvered themselves into a deficit. Above all, the appeal of the Canadian, who has only been in office since April, brought about an upswing: After half-time, her players suddenly started a 16-0 run, the game became a thriller, and in the end it was 62:61.
For the first time since 1997, a DBB team has won two games in a tournament. Such recourse to the archive of women’s basketball is needed to classify what the German selection is currently doing at the European Championships in Slovenia and Israel.
After three games (defeat against France, narrow victories against Slovenia and the United Kingdom) and the possibility of reaching the quarter-finals, the majority of positive things can be observed: apart from a few phases in which the offensive seems blocked, the selection around Leonie Fiebich and Marie Gülich considerable powers of resistance. It is not unlikely that Germany will make it into the top eight on the continent against Slovakia in the intermediate round on Tuesday (6 p.m., Magentasport).
National coach Lisa Thomaidis is also a psychologist at the European Championships: When her team is struggling, she finds the right words.
(Photo: Lucas Kröger/dpa)
“We showed we were physical and we really wanted to win,” said leader Fiebich, 23, after the match against Great Britain. A sudden boost in willpower also appealed to the national coach. “Coming back nine points down was a courageous win for us,” said Thomaidis. “Our defense is a cornerstone of our success, it frustrates opposing teams.” In fact, the German defense is one of the best in the EM, someone always throws themselves in between, constant attention is guaranteed.
At the front, the ball does not always run smoothly in longer attack sequences, and a painful number of balls are lost. 57 turnovers are the highest in the tournament so far, there is a lack of calmness and experience to overcome the pressure of the opponents with speed. After all, winger Fiebich has now bitten into it as a source of ideas. She recently found her form with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. She sat out the first game because of knee problems – they haven’t been fixed by a long way, but she’s doing it somehow, she says. Fiebich does not want to reveal exactly what injury is plaguing her. After two cruciate ligament tears in the past, she is forewarned.
In any case, she thinks: “We are on a great path and are still learning.” The native of Landsberg, recently voted the best player in the Spanish league, is hopeful. “I think every game we made a step forward in different aspects, that will help for the next game.” There, her trainer Thomaidis will probably grant a lot of playing time again together with Gülich, Luisa Geiselsöder and Emily Bessoir – all four are around 1.90 meters tall. A great lineup never hurts in basketball.