German coach Rodl looking forward to Kiel-Kratzer-Wagner trio
HAGEN (FIBA U20 European Championship 2017) - Germany reached the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U20 European Championship last summer for the first time in history. An intimating low-post trio of Niklas Kiel, Leon Kratzer and Moritz Wagner will go a long way to getting the team back to the U20 top four - or more - this summer in Crete.
Germany head coach Henrik Rodl has named his team for the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 and that inside presence will likely be one of the team's biggest strengths.
| Germany's preliminary roster for FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 | ||||
| George Beyschlag | Luis Figge | Haris Hujic | Karim Jallow | Marcel Kessen |
| Niklas Kiel | David Kramer | Daniel Mixich | Till Pape | Jonas Richter |
| Tim Schneider | Armin Trtovac | Lukas Wank | Garai Zeeb | |
| On call: Lucien Schmikale, Jacob Knauf | Cleared: Leon Kratzer, Moritz Wagner | |||
While Kiel was included on the 14-man preliminary roster, both Kratzer and Wagner were cleared from participating in the team's first training camp from June 10-14 in Kienbaum.
Despite only being 19 at the time, the 6ft 9in (2.07m) power forward Kiel started 14 games for Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt in the past season, averaging 6.4 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.
Kratzer, a force in the blocks at 6ft 11in (2.12m), had 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds while appearing in 19 regular season games for the German league playoffs finalists Brose Bamberg. He also averaged 14.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in the German second division, ProA.
The 6ft 11in (2.11m) Wagner emerged as an NBA Draft candidate playing at the University of Michigan and averaging 12.1 points and 4.2 rebounds, including 26 points in the NCAA Tournament game against Louisville.The duo of point guard Georg Beyschlag and Karim Jallow played in the German ProB playoffs for Bayern Munich while both David Kramer and Till Pape got some playing time this season for the regular season champions Ratiopharm Ulm.
Kratzer, Beyschlag and Jallow are three of five nominees who played at the FIBA U20 European Championship last summer as bottom-level players born in 1997. The other two were Luis Figge and Tim Schneider.
Figge, Kramer, Kratzer and Kiel all played together at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2015 along with fellow U20 nominees Marcel Kessen, Lukas Wank and Garai Zeeb.
Germany are drawn into Group A of the U20 European Championship 2017 along with Czech Republic, Sweden and hosts Greece. The tournament runs from 15-23 July in Crete.
FIBA
