- Basketball Gala in the Witch's Cauldron: Germany Group 1
The German basketball team secured the group victory with a spectacular performance against Olympic hosts France and further underscored their gold medal ambitions. The World Cup winners won the eagerly awaited duel with the French in the cauldron of Lille 85:71 (48:27) and finished the preliminary round undefeated.
In front of 27,000 spectators at the sold-out Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the two NBA professionals Franz Wagner and Dennis Schröder each scored 26 points, making them the outstanding players in the team of national coach Gordon Herbert. Above all, Germany - apart from a brief phase in the last quarter - showed an outstanding performance defensively and held the selection around wonder child Victor Wembanyama to only 27 points in the first half.
"We have definitely taken a step forward," summarized captain Schröder. "That was a very good game from us." The point guard was particularly proud of how his team reacted to the loud fans of the French and the whole atmosphere. "We enjoyed it," said Schröder about the home crowd for the opponent. "Many would pull back, but our team is built in such a way that we take it positively, sportingly and give everything."
Quarter-final draw on Saturday evening
Who the German selection will face in the quarter-finals on Tuesday in Paris will be decided late on Saturday evening. 45 minutes after the last preliminary round game between Serbia and the South Sudan (21.00 Uhr), the draw for the quarter-final matches will take place in Lille.
The qualified teams will be distributed into four pots. Possible German opponents are currently Greece with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serbia with Nikola Jokic, or the South Sudan. Top favorite USA will initially be avoided by Germany if the NBA stars win their group as expected on Saturday. A duel between Germany and USA could only take place in the final.
Mega atmosphere in Lille
The atmosphere in the stadium in Lille was incredible. When swimming star Leon Marchand also won his next gold medal in the approximately 200 kilometers away Paris ten minutes before the start of the game, the spectators went wild for the first time. An hour before the game, the fans in front of the converted football arena had already sung the Marseillaise.
"This is what we play basketball for," Schröder said before the duel. "27,000 people are against you. There's nothing better than playing against the favorite in their hall," the point guard said. "That will be a mega experience. There will be a lot of fire in it," center Daniel Theis had predicted.
Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner dominate
And the German team was really up for this experience and showed their best performance so far in the tournament. The World Cup winners were fueled by a part of the women's team, which had already qualified for the quarter-finals, from the start. Above all, Schröder and Franz Wagner were really eager for the duel with the host.
The two NBA professionals scored the first 18 points of the German team together. Only with the 19:16, Isaac Bonga, another German player, scored from the free throw line. After the first quarter, Germany had built a small lead (24:18), also because Wembanyama was not a decisive factor for the French at first and remained scoreless in the first ten minutes.
Basketball players live in the Olympic village
In the second period, Germany really turned it on and led the French at times. In the arena, it became noticeably quieter, at half-time the selection of the German Basketball Federation was leading by an incredible 21 points (48:27).
The short discussions about whether the basketball players are allowed to live in the Olympic village in Paris or not seemed to have rather spurred on Schröder and Co. The question had already been clarified well before the start of the game: The basketball players are allowed to live in the athletes' village.
After the break, Schröder and his team never seriously threatened against France, despite the hosts narrowing the gap. The German team now heads to the French capital brimming with confidence.
The German team's impressive victory over France during the Olympics has further strengthened their gold medal ambitions for The Olympic Games. With the quart-final draw set for Saturday evening, Germany could potentially face opponents like Greece, Serbia, or South Sudan in Paris for the quarter-finals.
