German World Champions put on a basketball fireworks display
German basketball national team puts on an impressive warm-up game for the Olympics: Against the Netherlands, there are plenty of points and spectacular actions. The audience is excited.
Tempo, dunks, and plenty of points: Germany's basketball players have made great strides for their medal mission at the Olympics. The World Champion team, captained by Dennis Schröder, defeated the Netherlands in a test match in Hamburg with a score of 95:50 (49:25) and presented themselves in strong form exactly two weeks before the Olympic opening match.
Andreas Obst was the best scorer in front of 10,713 spectators at the Barclays Arena in the Volkspark, with 18 points. Schröder scored 13 points, Daniel Theis scored 16, and Franz Wagner scored 15. National coach Gordon Herbert tested his final roster of twelve players for the Summer Games for the first time in Hamburg, with ten 2023 World Championship players. After the two duels against France (66:90 and 70:65), it was the second victory in the third Olympic test.
Hopeless Dutch
Before the Olympics, there are still two more test matches for Schröder and Co. On Friday, it goes to Berlin (8 p.m.) against Japan. The final rehearsal then takes place on July 22 in London against the USA, followed by the Olympic group phase in Lille, where Japan (July 27), Brazil (July 30), and France (August 2) will be the German opponents.
The fans in Hamburg got their money's worth on Saturday evening. Germany's players played cat and mouse with the hapless Dutch opponent from the start. Coach Herbert couldn't resist sending his supposed best players straight onto the court - and Schröder, Obst, Wagner, Johannes Voigtmann, and Theis repaid him in kind. They put on a small basketball fireworks display.
Above all, Theis, who had been missing from the Olympic preparation team until then due to uncertain contract situation, made an immediate impact. Not only did he score the first points for Germany just 23 seconds into the game, but he also showed his immense value to the German team in defense as the anchor. And since Obst stood out in front of him, it was soon 15:3 - Obst (9) and Theis (6) shared all German points at that time.
Spectacular until the end
Anyone who thought the German aces would take it easy against the 53rd-ranked team in the world was disappointed. The German World Champions kept their audience entertained with spectacular actions, time and time again. When Franz Wagner slammed a monster dunk into the basket for a 46:24 lead (19), and Obst followed up with the sixth three-pointer, the arena was electrified.
In the second quarter, Germany kept up the pace. Schröder and Wagner, in particular, continued to show off their skills, causing the German lead to grow further. Moritz Wagner, Voigtmann, and Maodo Lo also contributed to the excitement in the arena, as La Ola was already swelling before the end of the game.
The Olympic Games 2024 in Paris have Dennis Schröder and his German basketball team aiming for a medal, as their impressive performance against the Netherlands indicates. Schröder, alongside players like Andreas Obst and Daniel Theis, scored heavily and delivered spectacular dunks in the warm-up game, leaving the Dutch team helpless.
