“We are here for something big, that much is clear”: With this statement, captain Dennis Schröder made clear the ambitious goals of the German team immediately before the start of the Basketball World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. And in fact one can hope that the DBB’s series of World Cup bankruptcies will come to an end in the next two weeks or so.
Germany’s basketball players want to end the World Cup doldrums
Germany has only won one medal at a basketball World Cup so far: bronze in 2002 in the USA. The team was led back then by a certain Dirk Nowitzki, who in the following years was to develop into one of the best NBA players of all time and was only inducted a few days ago into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, the basketball hall of fame in Springlfield, Massachusetts became.
After the place on the podium things went downhill for the DBB: In 2006 the quarter-finals against the USA was the end of the line, in 2010 it even ended the preliminary round with a defeat against Angola and in 2014 the team didn’t even qualify after a bad European Championship.
Four years ago in China, then national coach Henrik Rödl confidently announced: “We have the best team that Germany has ever had.” Just a few days later, his side lost to the Dominican Republic and were knocked out of the tournament again in the preliminary round.
But what Rödl said so carelessly in 2019 is now a reality according to many experts. With a squad weakened by cancellations and injuries, the DBB fighters under their new coach Gordon Herbert won the bronze medal at the European Championships last year. And this year, the Germans are in a much better position: With Dennis Schröder, Daniel Theis and the brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner, the team has a framework of NBA professionals that has proven to be extremely stable in the preparatory games.
Even the World Basketball Federation sees it that way. Shortly before Schröder and Co.’s opening game on Friday (2:10 p.m./Magentasport) in Okinawa against co-hosts Japan, Fiba published the third edition of their Power Rankings, based on the nominated squad and the most recent impressions from the preparatory games: The DBB -Selection climbed three places in the rankings to sit second behind the USA – a position which, if confirmed in Manila on September 10, would be a dream come true for the Germans.