Germany are one of the five European teams who enter the Second Round with a perfect record. The Germans have been impressive beating Serbia (who are fourth in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike. have finished runners-up at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 and FIBA EuroBasket 2017 as well as taking home an Olympic silver medal from the Rio 2016 Games) twice in the First Round.

In September, they face another unbeaten team in Greece and a troublesome Israeli side.

The Germans have already shown resilience and a refusal to lose, having been down at half-time on three occasions, only to rally and maintain their unbeaten record.

Stats Breakdown

Germany are deadly from deep, nailing 40.4% of their threes. Only Lithuania match this clip and no other European team shoots over 40%. But the Germans are not overly reliant on outside scoring. Their 23.5 attempts from behind the arc per game ranks just 20th in the region. Impressively the 9.5 they hit ranks fifth out of the same group.

Despite having NBA talent on the roster, there is very much a reliance on the overall team contribution. The German bench have averaged 41 points per game in Round 1, again tied for first in Europe and equating to 48.8% of the team’s average score.

Despite having no dominant rebounder (Maxi Kleber leads the team with 6.5 per game, but has only played in two games) and ranking 16th out of 32, this isn’t too much of a concern. Germany are top five in field goal percentage, drastically reducing their offensive rebounding opportunities and it’s therefore no surprise that they rank 23rd in this category.

Key Players

Dennis Schroder leads the Germans in points per game with 23, which is also good enough for second highest in the European region, but, in averaging 15.8 ppg, Robin Benzing himself has been excellent so far. The captain's scoring efficiency has him flirting with the 50-40-90 club, with only his 88% free throw percentage holding him back. His accumulated point total of 95 across the first six games is more than any other forward in Europe.

Nine of Germany's 18 players have averaged between 5 and 8.8 points. And 11 are averaging between 1 and 2.5 assists. This is a team that's sharing the load and still has a couple of stars like Maxi Kleber waiting in the wings ready for the big dance next August/September in China.

Next Games

Germany travel to Tallinn to take on Estonia in game one of Window 4, returning home to host Israel in the second game.

Estonia (FIBA World Rank 47)

Estonia qualified for the Second Round with a 2-4 record and statistically, are perhaps the easier opponent for Germany to get round two started on the right foot. Victory, though expected, is not a guarantee. Both of Estonia’s victories in Round 1 came on their home floor.

Things could get ugly; the Germans commit 24.3 fouls per game (fourth most in Europe so far) and for most teams that would represent an opportunity to earn easy points at the line. Unfortunately, Estonia are having significant struggles at the charity stripe and are the only European team to have scored less than 60% of their free-throws, making just 57.6%.

Israel (FIBA World Rank 35)

Israel should prove more of a challenge for Germany, particularly on the inside. The Twin Towers of 6ft 8in (2.04m) Richard Howell and 6ft 10in (2.09m) Jake Cohen provide a physically imposing presence. As Israel's top two scorers (11.7 and 13.4 respectively) and rebounders (5.7 and 4.8 respectively), the duo are capable of mixing things up in the post.

Rebounding can easily swing a game’s outcome and perhaps this is Israel’s one chance at emerging victorious. They have the advantage of their strength under the glass, but with Germany’s top five FG%, disrupting their efficient shooting will be no easy task.

FIBA