Basketball World Cup
Coach Herbert before the World Cup final: “Once in a lifetime”
Success came to the German national basketball team with national coach Gordon Herbert. photo
© Michael Conroy/AP/dpa
Gordon Herbert is 64 years old. The veteran coach has never experienced such an important basketball game. He prepares his players accordingly for the final.
On Sunday (2.40 p.m./ZDF and MagentaSport) it will be against Serbia with former national coach Svetislav Pesic in the Mall of Asia Arena for World Cup gold. There, Dennis Schröder and Co. defeated the top favorite USA in a spectacular game 113:111 in the semifinals on Friday.
Herbert didn’t allow himself any moments to enjoy, even though his goal of winning a World Cup medal with at least silver has already been achieved. “It started immediately after the USA game. There is no time to celebrate and no time to feel good in any way,” said Herbert, who started as national coach in 2021 and ended a 17-year medal drought at the home European Championships last year . At that time there was bronze behind Spain and France.
This time, nobody should finish ahead of Germany if Herbert has his way. We would therefore like to correct an error from 2022. “Franz Wagner said it: Last year we let things slide a bit after the win over Greece. That’s how it was in the following game against Spain. The important thing is: We have to learn from it. We won’t let up this time,” announced Herbert . After the recovery of the 22-year-old Wagner, all twelve professionals are fit and ready for the final.