After four nail-biting games, the clear victory against outsiders Estonia was the first convincing qualifying game by Germany’s basketball team. NBA star Schröder is self-critical.
After Dennis Schröder’s return to the national team, national coach Gordon Herbert left the floor in Tallinn satisfied. The clear 88:57 victory at outsiders Estonia was the first signal to the competition after four nail-biter games in the previous qualification.
“We did a great job on defense. We played together as a team on offense. Many of us played well, »said basketballer Schröder after the victory, which guarantees the German team participation in the second World Cup qualifying phase from August.
With the fourth win in a row, the Herbert team has not only made the defeat against Estonia forgotten, but also consolidated the lead in the relay with Poland, Israel and Estonia. If another win against Poland is achieved in Bremen on July 3 (6 p.m. / Magentasport), the starting position for the second phase should be ideal. Participation in the 2023 World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines would then come closer and closer.
Still a lot of room for improvement
Even before the European Championships at home (September 1st to 18th) there could be a showdown in August with European champion Slovenia and NBA star player Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. Then Schröder, who delivered 14 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, will also have to improve. ‘It looked awful. But it gets better, the next game is on Sunday, »said Schröder about his own performance. Four out of 17 hits from the field and zero out of eight threes leave plenty of room for improvement.
For the other players behind Schröder and center Johannes Voigtmann, the game against Poland will be a kind of casting. Not much is likely to be left of the squad in the current international window in August when captain Robin Benzing, point guard Maodo Lo from champion Alba Berlin and several NBA professionals around the Wagner brothers Franz and Moritz and NBA finalist Daniel Theis join the Herbert team.
