There has probably never been a basketball championship with so many superstars. It is true that Dirk Nowitzki and the brothers Pau and Marc Gasol from Spain have already been represented together at a European Championship. But the density of exceptional players at the EuroBasket 2022 with a preliminary round in Cologne and the final round in Berlin is very impressive. Three potential MVP candidates for the upcoming NBA season are fighting for the European basketball crown with their respective national teams: Nikola Jokić from Serbia, Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece and Luka Dončić from Slovenia.
DBB team comes up with three NBA players at the basketball championship
The German team has set itself the goal of a medal, but is going into the tournament as an outsider, especially since Maximilian Kleber, Moritz Wagner, Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaac Bonga are missing four NBA-experienced professionals. Center Tibor Pleiß from Euroleague champion Efes Istanbul is also not there. But with defensive player Dennis Schröder, winger Franz Wagner and center Daniel Theis, national coach Gordon Herbert has at least three NBA professionals available who, together with their teammates, will do everything to trip up the superstars.
With group opponents such as France, defending champions Slovenia, Lithuania, Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina, this will not be an easy task. But Captain Schröder believes in his team: “Our identity and our cohesion are our strengths,” assured the 28-year-old before the first game against France on September 1 (8:30 p.m. / Magentasport) in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena.
The EuroBasket 2022 will be held from September 1st to 18th in Germany, Georgia, Italy and the Czech Republic. The German competition locations are Cologne and Berlin. In Georgia it will be played in Tbilisi, in Italy in Milan and in the Czech Republic in Prague. In the preliminary round, six teams in four groups compete against each other. The first four teams in each group reach the finals in Berlin. There it will continue from September 10th in knockout mode with round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The European champion will be determined on September 18th.
The MagentaSport streaming service broadcasts all games live. The games of the German national team can even be viewed free of charge on the portal. Live broadcasts on ARD and ZDF, on the other hand, are not planned. According to its own statements, ARD will show summaries of the German games at least as part of the current TV program and on the Internet.