Even if she was a little scared at the end, theGermany still achieved one of the greatest feats in its history by eliminating the United States, despite being favorites for final victory, at the end of the suspense!
Proof that, as Steve Kerr pointed out ahead of this semi-final, the Nationalmannschaft is now part of the elite of world basketball. She who, let us remember, is still undefeated in this world Cup (7-0), beyond offering a quality game with its well-oiled collective.
” This is a special group. The way we played together, sticking together when things were bad… “, a book afterwards Gordon Herbert, the German coach, who is however not satisfied. “ We’re going to enjoy it this evening then get ready for Sunday. […] We talked about it in the locker room after the match: it’s a great victory, but we’re not yet where we want to be. This group wants to win gold, so there is one more match to win. We will let the players enjoy and then we will move on, so that we are ready on Sunday. »
Words that the “revenant” Franz Wagner (22 points, 5 rebounds) could obviously only confirm at the press conference: “ It’s just a super special group and a historic victory for Germany. We have one left to get and we are very happy to have won today. »
A major “obstacle” for Team USA
For the Magic player, Germany will be able to use its “failure” at home during the EuroBasket (defeat in the semi-final, but bronze medal in the bargain) to go all the way this year, against a team Serbian also very attractive.
” We let it go [l’Euro] and I think it really helps us to play together every summer », explained Franz Wagner, who hopes to encourage vocations on German territory thanks to the journey of his team. ” This is what we already felt before the warm-up match against Team USA in Abu Dhabi [perdu, ndlr] and it was the same last year. We have a big goal this year and from the moment we got together we thought we could beat any team. »
Despite some tremors before the competition, Germany today seems more united and united than ever, both on and off the court. According to Gordon Herbert, this is undoubtedly his greatest strength.
” We have players who care about each other. This is a special group, with a lot of special players and even better human beings. I can’t take credit for all of this, the credit goes to the players », indicated the 64-year-old technician, who even claimed not to know the name of the other finalist of this World Cup, as he is “ focused » on his men.
Then Gordon Herbert concludes without failing to compliment Andreas Obstone of the great architects of the German success with his 24 points (and 6 assists): “ He’s one of the best shooters on the FIBA circuit and he can do even more. The most important thing is that it generates spaces for [Dennis] Schröder and [Franz] Wagner. He delivered a great match, you were able to see his evolution at the Eurobasket, in the Euroleague and he is now more than a shooter, because he is a great defender. »
See you on Sunday, at 2:40 p.m., to find out if this very exciting Germany will succeed in winning its second international title, after the 1993 Eurobasket…
