Germany has qualified for the final of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, at the expense of the perennial favorites from the US.
Germany sealed a 113:111 victory, its first ever win against the US in any basketball match.
German-based Obst shines alongside NBA teammates
NBA stars Franz and Moritz Wagner, Dennis Schröder, and Daniel Theis carried much of the water for Germany, but Bayern Munich’s guard Andreas Obst led the team with 24 points and picked up a handful of assists as well.
Obst also dropped a crucial three-pointer late in the game as Germany clung to a slim and diminishing lead.
“It was the coolest game and the most important game. I’m a bit speechless,” Obst told broadcaster Magenta after the win. “We wanted to play fast … and it worked.”
Former German national team coach Henrik Rödl joined DW TV soon after the final buzzer and was full of praise for the Bayern Munich sharpshooter.
“Our shooting guard Andi Obst was really on fire, scored 24 points for us. He’s a guy who’s very dangerous, but he showed many signs of greatness today,” Rödl said.
The German team has never before reached a FIBA Basketball World Cup final. With now-retired superstar Dirk Nowitzki in 2002, Germany reached the semis only to lose to Argentina. Nowtizki’s response to the result on social media, “Jaaaa,” was short and sweet and probably needs no translation.
“We have some great guys there. We fought until the absolute end,” Franz Wagner of the Orlando Magic said after the game. “It is very, very special and now we have to go win the title.”
US, and Serbia, not at full strength
Despite the US taking a very young team to the competition in Asia, with more veteran players declining to participate in an international competition shortly before the start of the NBA season, the still star-studded squad remained the bookmakers’ favorites going into the tournament.
Serbia await in the final on Sunday in Manila, having beaten Canada in the earlier semifinal thanks in no small part to Bojan Bogdanovic’s 23 points on 66.7% shooting.
But Serbia are without their most famous player, recently crowned NBA champion Nikola Jokic.
Jokic said after his name was surprisingly omitted from Serbia’s squad that he was physically and mentally fatigued after the championship run with the Denver Nuggets and wanted to focus on pre-season preparation.
The game will also see Germany go up against another of its former coaches, Svetislav Pesic, who now stewards his native country.
“It’s a special meeting,” Rödl told DW. “I think we have a good chance. We have to settle down after this great win, to see if we can refocus, but let’s go for the gold.”
Edited by: Natalie Muller
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