- "No video games": Bitter news for Olympic basketball players
Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner stood on the court, dejected, amidst the jubilant French celebration after their Olympic dream ended. The cheers of 2.24-meter giant Victor Wembanyama stung the German basketball champions the most. The longing for the Olympic final remained unfulfilled for Schröder's team after the dramatic 69:73 (33:33) loss, in a bitter way.
Instead, the German Basketball Federation's team will now fight for the bronze medal on Saturday (11:00 AM) in Paris. Their opponents will be either the NBA stars from the USA or Serbia. "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.
Little time until the bronze game
France took revenge in impressive fashion in front of 15,000 ecstatic fans for their clear defeat in the preliminary round in Lille. Schröder was the top German scorer with 18 points. Coach Gordon Herbert, who is leaving after three years, said before his last game: "I don't think we played our best game. But that's part of sports. We didn't give up." The Canadian is joining FC Bayern afterwards.
Crucial in the thrilling final phase were Franz Wagner's slip-up and Schröder's missed free throw. "That's hard for us. We deserved to advance to the final. It's a hard loss, but we have to bounce back quickly," said Andreas Obst, who was not a factor this time unlike in the successful World Cup semi-final against the USA.
For the German team, which experienced a performance drop in the second half, it was their first loss in a tournament game since the lost semi-final against Spain at the 2022 home European Championship. Last year's World Cup team under coach Herbert had stormed to the title without a loss.
Nowitzki back in the hall
"For a German team to become European Championship bronze medalists, World Champions, and then reach the Olympic semi-finals – I never would have thought that was possible," basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki told the German Press Agency before the duel with the host. In his era, Germany won bronze at the 2002 World Cup and silver at the 2005 European Championship. Nowitzki didn't get past the preliminary round at the Olympics.
The former NBA champion was also in the first row for the semi-final. He saw a German team that, unlike in the quarter-final against Greece, was alert from the start. Schröder and Franz Wagner took control immediately, and Germany quickly went up 11:2. The World Cup champion initially had the game under control in the surprisingly not sold-out Bercy Arena.
Wembanyama starts slow
The French, with NBA center Rudy Gobert initially on the bench like in the quarter-final against Canada, struggled at first. Basketball prodigy Wembanyama found no rhythm and had no points or rebounds in the first quarter.
Without the 20-year-old giant from the San Antonio Spurs, the hosts found their rhythm. Germany took the game too lightly, allowing France to close the gap to two points (16:18). Herbert reacted and brought in Nick Weiler-Babb and Isaac Bonga for fresh energy on defense. By the end of the first quarter, Germany was up 25:18.
Knockout defense on both sides
But France was a completely different opponent this time than in the clear 85:71 win for Schröder and Co. in Lille a week ago. The hosts had given the Germans a lesson in impressive fashion. This time, coach Vincent Collet's team fought back with tough defense.
In the German attack, not much came together in the second half, with the world champions only managing to score eight points. At halftime, the French had equalized at 33:33, largely thanks to the significant improvement of the 7'2" Wembanyama, who scored seven points.
The world champions struggled offensively in the second half, with Franz Wagner, who had been outstanding in the first matchup with France with 26 points and spectacular dunks, barely able to get past the aggressively defending French.
Going into the final quarter, Germany was six points behind, and their offensive struggles continued. Led by Guerschon Yabusele, France pulled away, with Wembanyama hitting a three-pointer to give France a 10-point lead (63:53).
Buoyed by their fans, France went on a scoring run and abruptly ended Germany's gold medal hopes. A late comeback, led by Franz Wagner's three-pointer in the final minute, wasn't enough to bridge the gap.
I'm not completely convinced that our offensive strategy worked in the second half.Franz Wagner acknowledged, "I'm not sure we played our best game, but we'll learn from this."
