GER - Germany spots still up for grabs

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BERLIN (FIBA World Championship) - Robert Garrett and Guido Gruenheid are two of as many as six players fighting to avoid being the last two cuts for Germany's final roster at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

German coach Dirk Bauermann named the pair between his team's practice games against Canada last weekend, but would not disclose the other players who are still battling to earn a place in the 12-man squad for the tournament in Japan.

"There are five or six guys who are fighting for their spot, but they will get their chance," he said.

Bauermann, who will take 14 players to the Berlin Supercup this weekend, still has five games to make his final selection for Japan and set his line-up and rotation.

He said the emphasis is on defence: "Players have to know and understand that they will get more time if they excel on defence. It has a certain value for us."

Gruenheid was missing from Germany`s defeat against Canada last Friday, but showed his qualities in the win against the North Americans on Sunday -
something that did not go unnoticed by Bauermann.

"He gave us some physical play in the paint and we have been missing a physical rebounder," the coach said.

"He didn't score a lot, but he played good defence and that's an important positive."

Johannes Herber also scored points with Bauermann through his defensive presence and versatility on the wing.

"He can play the two and three and can even bring it up," said the coach. "Defence is his strength. Players with a defined strength, especially when it's on defence, have a value.

"And they will be rewarded. Joe is a very good defender who can take an opposing player out of the game."

Bauermann also praised Jan-Hendrik Jagla, who scored 15 points off the bench in the win over Canada.

He said: "You can see how important playing time is. You can see he's mature and may have come because we didn't take him with us last summer (to the 2005 EuroBasket).

"We told him why we didn't bring him and he took that on board and worked on the things."

The coach is also really happy with the progress of Julian Sensley, a Hawaiian who was naturalised just before the team's Mallorca training camp got underway last month.

And he considers Sensley good enough to figure for Germany for the next decade.

"Other than (Ademola) Okulaja, there's not really a three in Germany, somebody who's big, can rebound, defend, go to the basket and hit the three-pointer," he remarked.

"Johannes (Herber) is the next guy, but he's too small and more a two than a three.

"Julian really fills a vacuum and he could fill it for the next 10 years. We decided to really give him a good look and see how he can help the team."

Sensley scored 13 points in 17 minutes in the second Canada game, but the 23-year-old is still acclimatising to the European way of doing things.

"Everything is still new for him, he's never been to Europe," continued Bauermann. "The national team is a new concept, as is German being spoken at dinner."

One of the main positions Bauermann is still mapping out is point guard, where Pascal Roller, Steffen Hamann and Mithat Demirel are fighting for the starting spot.

"All three have defined strengths and weaknesses and we just have to decide which two will play more," Bauermann added.

"But we're far from that. We still need to see which player works best with the other guys and that will be the job for the next few games."
While Hamann plays club basketball for Bauermann at Bamberg Brose Baskets he does not believe he will be given preferential treatment.

"After last summer when I couldn't play, I have an extra motivation to play at the World Championship," said the 25-year-old, who sat out the 2005 EuroBasket after knee surgery.

"Dirk as a coach knows me inside and out, but I don't know if that's really an advantage for me."

PA Sport