German star players break into the witch's cauldron at an untimely time
The Gold Dream is Burst, the Winning Streak Broken. The German basketballers have lost a game at an international tournament for the first time since 2022 and must settle for the "small final" against Serbia. France will face the USA in the final.
"I'm really disappointed right now. When you're so close to making it to an Olympic final, it's understandable," said German NBA star Franz Wagner after his team's surprising 69:73 loss to France. Captain Dennis Schröder and the rest of the team left the court at the Paris Bercy Arena, where 12,454 fans had previously turned it into a blue-white-red frenzy.
"France played very differently and much more physically today than they did in Lille. We had trouble with that," Wagner said after the game that started so well for the basketball world champions. It became increasingly clear that the hosts were not only playing with different personnel and tactics, but also with much more intensity and aggression compared to their shocking round-robin demolition just over a week ago.
Germany, which lost its rhythm at the worst possible time, managed to make a comeback after being down by double digits and even had a chance to win in the final minute. However, the team ultimately missed out on a spot in the Olympic final due to several missed opportunities. "I don't think we played our best game. But that's also part of sports. We didn't give up."
Cursed Second Quarter: The Beginning of the End
When Franz Wagner forced Victor Wembanyama to a turnover after three minutes in the second quarter, France's prodigy had only two points and two rebounds. Germany was leading by six at that point, and Wagner's plus/minus value was the highest of all players on the court at plus-eight. While Wagner was on the bench for almost seven minutes, the DBB offense almost completely stalled - the beginning of the end for the world champions.
Led by an tireless captain Nic Batum, the French defense bit by bit dug in and forced the previously most turnover-free team of the tournament to unusual seven of their total 15 turnovers and a meager eight points in the quarter. It was the worst quarter for the Germans in this Olympic tournament, who only made three of their eleven field goal attempts, while France finished seven times from the zone - six times with dunks or layups. The enthusiastic fans roared their "Équipe Tricolore" to a 33:33 halftime tie.
As in the quarterfinal against Canada, the role players Guershon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier took on the main responsibility in the attack, after head coach Vincent Collet had radically changed his formation and rotation after the embarrassing round-robin loss. Cordinier brought France to within striking distance with eleven of his 16 points before the break, before Yabusele threw his team onto the winning path with eleven of his 17 points in the second half. Germany became increasingly ineffective, with the second and third quarters going 38:25 to the home team. Another run at the start of the final quarter seemed to have already decided everything at a score of 66:53.
The guests fought their way back once more. A fantastic 13:4 run led to a 68:70 score. Then, France missed another shot, with the rebound landing twelve seconds before the end of the game with Franz Wagner, who stumbled and couldn't secure the ball. Germany sent Wembanyama to the line. The young star only made one (71:68) and forced his team to foul immediately to prevent the three-pointer. Schröder missed his first of two attempts (69:71), Cordinier sealed the four-point victory with two successful free throws. "That's tough for us. We deserved to advance to the final," said Andreas Obst. "That's a tough loss, but we have to get our heads back in the game quickly," said Andreas Obst.
In the preliminary round, Wagner and Schröder had dominated the hosts: Wagner with two monster dunks, Schröder with jump shots in a row, even one almost from the mid-court. In the end, Germany's stars had each scored 26 points in the 85:71 blowout victory - the fifth-highest scoring games in the history of the DBB at the games, after Detlef Schrempf, who claimed the top four spots.
Paris is not Lille, and the semi-final is not the preliminary round. Germany's dangerous duo only managed 28 points together. Schröder scored 18 points, but only six of his 18 shot attempts and three of his 11 three-pointers. Additionally, the tournament's best assist provider up to that point only distributed four assists - almost five fewer than his average per game. It went even worse for Wagner: The young star from the Orlando Magic only scored ten points with 4-10 from the field, 2-6 from outside, and no free throw attempts.
It started out great, though ...
Especially bitter is that both began the game exactly where they had left off nearly a week ago in Lille: explosive, efficient, and effective in dismantling the French defense. Both Wagner and Schröder started with seven early points each, helping Germany to a 16:7 lead after five minutes. After that, not much went right: Wagner only made one more field goal, Schröder missed eleven of his fifteen shot attempts in the first quarter.
Germany had gone 13 games without a loss in international tournaments. Their last defeat was on September 16, 2022, in the EuroBasket semi-finals against the eventual champions Spain. Since then, the German basketball team had won the bronze medal game in 2022, all eight games at the FIBA World Cup 2023, and the first four games of this Olympic tournament - sometimes with outstanding performances that had established Gordon Herbert's squad as perhaps the only serious contender to the seemingly invincible and star-studded Team USA in the fight for gold.
"It's not a video game. We don't always play perfectly. We're all humans and we'll learn from this," said Franz Wagner after the loss, and went into more detail about the reasons. "They have long guards, long wings, Wemby, Rudy, Lessort, they play very physically. They were strong, you have to give them credit. But we also didn't play our kind of basketball today. We didn't have our best day, and they're different now than they were in our last meeting. They've made some good adjustments, and they just had a better day today than we did."
Wagner and Schröder were neutralized by the hosts' overly aggressive defense, which should have played into the hands of their teammates. However, Germany found it increasingly difficult to establish their sets, find shooters, and generate offense as the game progressed. The tournament's second-best offensive team up to that point struggled mightily, scoring just 44 points in the final 30 minutes with a meager 34% field goal percentage. The fact that the French led in all hustle statistics ultimately sealed the game in their favor. The hosts scored more points in the paint, off turnovers, in transition, and at the free-throw line.
"Congratulations to France," said a disappointed German coach in conclusion. "We weren't at our best, didn't take good care of the ball. But we fought back, showed a lot of character. It's hard to look ahead right now, but we have a very important game left. We'll start focusing on that tomorrow morning at the latest." Germany faces Serbia in a rematch of the World Cup final on Saturday, who narrowly lost a thriller against the USA (91:95) in the final minutes.
"Despite the loss, Germany will still get to play in a significant match, facing Serbia in the 'small final.' Unfortunately, they won't be competing in the Olympic final against the USA, as France secured their spot with a victory in Paris."
"Franz Wagner and the team had a tougher time against France in Paris than they did in Lille during the preliminary round. This time, they weren't as explosive or effective, facing a more aggressive defense and different tactics from the hosts."
