BERLIN (Germany) - Germany enter FIBA EuroBasket 2022 with high hopes based on their potential but also facing the major question mark of how far can superstar guard Dennis Schroder carry them. This time though one of the Wagner brothers, Franz, will be here to bring some extra NBA sparkle to the team.

Germany will be hosting EuroBasket seven years after co-hosting FIBA EuroBasket 2015, where Schroder played alongside Dirk Nowitzki in the latter’s farewell tournament but the team failed to get out of the Group Phase.

The 1993 European champions, whose last medal was silver in 2005, have continued to develop talent, and this summer’s German team includes four players who played last season in the NBA. Those advancements resulted in Germany reaching the EuroBasket Quarter-Finals in 2017 for the first time since 2007. Germany could not build on that success at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 though, crashing out of the First Round and placing 18th.

Schroder missed the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 and Germany went to Croatia with low expectations. Still, they surprised everyone and booked their ticket to the Olympics. After Tokyo, Germany parted ways with head coach Henrik Rodl and handed the reins to Gordie Herbert. The transition seems to have gone smoothly as Germany cruised into the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers with a 5-1 record.

Franz Wagner will make sure the family name is represented at FIBA EuroBasket 2022, following his impressive rookie NBA season

Schroder played the Qualifiers in June and July this summer and showed his excellence, including torching Poland for 38 points. Schroder has two strong point guard backups with Maodo Lo and Justus Hollatz. Lo was the main force in getting Germany to the 2020 Olympics and can play off the ball as well. Hollatz, for his part, has already made the jump to the Spanish ACB league at the age of 21.

Herbert knows he can pair any of those playmakers with any of Nick Weiler-Babb, David Kramer, Andreas Obst or Kenneth Ogbe in the backcourt and that off-guard trio will provide outside shooting and the ability to get to the basket.

Small forward Franz Wagner meanwhile urgently hopes to guide Germany to the Knockout Stage in his home city of Berlin. The younger Wagner brother wowed many with a strong rookie NBA season with Orlando, flashing his scoring ability with a 38-point explosion in late December. Niels Giffey, who has been a proven winner at the club/college level, will also likely have an important role.

Despite Franz Wagner missing the final cut due to injury, Germany have a strong and deep frontcourt, giving Herbert the luxury of mixing and matching his bigs depending on the opponent. Johannes Thiemann, Christian Sengfelder and Robin Benzing will share the minutes at the power forward spot while at center, Herbert can count with NBA rim protector Daniel Thies, inside-outside threat Johannes Voigtmann Leon Kratzer and Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann.

Germany will be out to show that the China 2019 embarrassment is out of their system, and they are much closer to the team that qualified for the Olympics. They will also have the home fans behind them, for as long as they stay in the tournament.
 

 IN THE LAST 10 FIBA EVENTS

  (QUALIFIED AS CO-HOSTS) COMPETED IN THE FIBA EUROBASKET 2022 QUALIFIERS - 4th IN GROUP G (1W - 5L)

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