Pyro in the Cologne Arena, that too. When Dirk Nowitzki’s jersey was hoisted forever and ever under the hall ceiling, fireworks shot over the heads of the spectators, there was hissing and when the smoke had settled, the lights went on. In celebration wardrobe Nowitzki could hardly stay on the floor, so he made his way to the side, where the basketball players of the current German national team ran towards him. He high-fived them all and then a few of the opposing French, and off we went.
“It wasn’t planned that way, but we had to warm up,” Franz Wagner would later report: “That was a cool moment, that pushed us again.” One goes, the others run and beat France at the start of the European Championship 76:63 – the almost 18,000 people present had to process this parallelism of events first. It was an evening with special emotions, it was also a bit cheesy and because you don’t have to ask the people of Cologne to sway twice, there was something like a basketball carnival on the Schäl Sick des Rheins.
The reason: Germany started this tournament in a way hardly anyone expected. With one of the best performances since the Nowitzki years; that time in the mid-nineties when the Würzburger dominated the game in Europe. Today’s team does not have Nowitzki, but instead a mixture that was too much for France: on the defensive with almost ideal coordination, with hands in the faces of almost all French shooters, if necessary also with a desire for tactical fouls – the French rejected a lot, they mostly rejected their free throws. And on the offensive with ideas from the magic box, a threesome intoxication in the final act and a squad as deep as the Mariana Trench.
A surprising win against France, that’s what happened at the start of the European Championship in 2013
“Maodo Lo carried the team, Johannes Thiemann and Niels Giffey were also great,” Dennis Schröder described the contribution of the bank employees, “everyone has their place in the team.” The numbers read accordingly after the game: 13 points for Lo (whom Schröder promptly promised an NBA career), 13 for Giffey, 14 from Thiemann, eleven from Schröder, eight each from Daniel Theis and Franz Wagner. The NBA man from Orlando stopped at almost every questioner on the way to the dressing room to work off his adrenaline during the recap.
With a lot of smoke and noise, Dirk Nowitzki’s jersey with the number 14 on the back was heaved under the roof of the Cologne hall.
(Photo: Federico Gambarini/dpa)
A game like that can be particularly memorable for a 21-year-old, but he tried to be sober. “We played physically, rebounded well,” said Wagner. National coach Gordon Herbert said something similar, saying that “the energy was outstanding”. He himself could hardly explain how he managed to set up his team like this after a rather shaky preparation. But his players tried.
“Today the throws were made,” said Giffey, who actually hasn’t had a good year. Little time on the field in Lithuania, he almost lost his place at the DBB. Doesn’t matter. “Now this is the moment we’re in the mood for,” said the former Alba Berlin captain. He hit his threes more accurately than he had in a long time and he even dared to post and throw Rudy Gobert over France’s Eiffel Tower.
A pretty surprising win against France, that’s what happened at the start of the European Championship in 2013. After that, however, you lost to Ukraine, Belgium and Great Britain and were eliminated. But this appearance should be more sustainable, because the team seems to have developed a spirit, they obviously want to shape a cool narrative – and not fall apart like at the 2019 World Cup in China.
The Germans now know how good they can be at this European Championship
“You grow together with games like this,” said Johannes Thiemann. So there was one last finding: the Germans now know how good they can be, they had puzzled over this for a long time this summer. They won almost all the games beforehand, but there was always something: sometimes someone dropped out, sometimes long-time captain Robin Benzing was thrown out of the squad, sometimes Dennis Schröder had to do too much on his own.
Now they have beaten European champions Slovenia with Luka Doncic in the World Cup qualifier and swept the dreaded French out of the hall; both results were clear. So is Germany a tiny contender for a medal at this European Championship, an underdog who can amaze Europe in the final round at home in Berlin? Maybe. There are signs of a mini-hype, the fans happily roared every throw into the basket – and when Maodo Lo twirled, “ooohs” and “aaahs” sounded through the hall.
But now Bosnia awaits on Saturday, having clearly won their opening game against Hungary. A team with colossuses like NBA breaker Jusuf Nurkic and somewhat unorthodox game organization. “Very dangerous,” warned Thiemann. After all, he knew more than the national coach. Gordon Herbert openly admitted: “I actually don’t have any information about this opponent yet.”