Basketball showdown: Before the EM semi-finals of the DBB team against Spain, the commentators Frank Buschmann ("Buschi") and Florian Schmidt-Sommerfeld ("Schmiso") analyze the German chances in a humorous double interview with ntv.de. It's about Buschmann's basketball comeback, "crazy" German skills, the comparison of the NFL with the NBA and Co. - and famous screams.
Mr. Buschmann, does the whole of Sport-Germany have to worry that you will give up the spoon tonight?
Frank Buschmann: No, not at all. I don't even know what people think. My blood pressure has been 120/80 for many years, I have good blood lipid levels and am fit. Maybe then I have a busy vote. (Whispers) That's because, as a commentator, I love these whispers so much.
You "couldn't rule out gasping" in the European Championship semi-finals of the German national basketball team against Spain (8:30 p.m. / RTL)," you said on Wednesday.
Florian Schmidt-Sommerfeld: As always. (laughs)
Buschmann: Give me a 120:60 for Germany and then nobody has to worry, because I'll comment differently. But how should I be if I commented on a game like the one against Greece on Tuesday like "Professor Haberkupf" did in front of his students. That does not work. I just feel emotions and I want to pass them on. The event makes the comment.
Mr. Schmidt-Sommerfeld: When do you think more about your colleague: when he goes along emotionally with a spectacular basket and freaks out, or when he doesn't say anything at all?
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: In fact, it's generally more dangerous in life when he's quiet (laughs). Jokes aside: Buschi has been screaming through the landscape for so many years that I don't give a damn anymore. He's doing it in the right places. On Tuesday he was almost blissful because he was allowed to experience something like this again.
In 2011, Mr. Buschmann, you gave up reporting on the German national team. What has changed now?
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: He didn't expect a comeback himself. A week ago that would have been unthinkable. The basketball thing was just obvious now, even if he didn't want to see it himself at first.
Buschmann: It was really unthinkable for me on Monday that my home broadcaster RTL would suddenly broadcast basketball. I didn't think about it for a second. Even when the bosses contacted me, it was initially only about my assessment of the possible success of a basketball broadcast that was spontaneously included in the program.
What happened then?
Buschmann: I said that sport is unpredictable and that ratings of one to two and a half million people are possible, but of course not certain. If the game against Greece had gone differently, the odds would have been significantly lower. When I was then asked on Tuesday morning for the evening broadcast, I shrugged and said: I enjoy the team so much, it's the quarter-finals of the European Championship against Greece. I didn't think it was possible what happened. I nearly shed tears long after the broadcast. But it's not about me, it's about the national team, which is a lot of fun for all of us.
Good cue. EM semi-finals against Spain - that happened before in 2005.
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: I was 15 years old then. I watched all the games back then, but because it's been so long my memories are blurred. But the feelings and the screaming bushman are still inside me.
Buschmann: Of course I have a special moment in the semifinals. The ball is with Nowitzki, he has to go there too. Short silence. (Commented) 'In! And now: defend! Defend! … time out.' That was the 74-73 by Dirk Nowitzki on the left wing. If it means tonight - 'Schroeder in the face of Brown. Germany is in the final.' - then I do not mind.
Germany defeated the strong Spanish team 17 years ago. How could it work again this time?
Buschmann: This time there is the stark difference that the German team is totally unpredictable. Everyone knew in 2005, and of course that makes it even bigger from Nowitzki where the ball goes and he still puts it in. That shouldn't detract from the special performance of the team back then, when top players gathered behind Nowitzki, but the predictability may have prevented the really big successes. Today you just don't know what's happening with the Germans. Maodo Lo wasn't a big factor in the game against Greece offensively, but he could overheat against Spain. Dennis Schröder's greatest achievement is that he has learned to share. He understood that instead of carrying 25 kilos in his backpack, he only carried five on his back. Lo, Franz Wagner, Johannes Thiemann, Daniel Theis, Johannes Voigtmann: they are all there and they can all score. We don't have that super figure like Nowitzki did back then, but we have a great leader in Schröder who can rely on his team.
Why won't it be easy against the Spaniards who started the European Championship without a few top stars?
Buschmann: I don't underestimate these Spaniards. I caught myself doing it because it's not the "Golden Generation" anymore. Only Rudy Fernández is still there, he can really hurt an opposing team. There are also three tall players from the NBA, the Hernangómez brothers and Usman Garuba. That's real power!
Similar to Germany, there is no longer one overplayer like Pau Gasol used to be.
Buschmann: Exactly, and the Spaniards also show great team play and are not predictable. Point guard Lorenzo Brown also needs to be watched. His story is particularly exciting because the Spaniards are so proud of their academies: But then they naturalize an American who has only a very moderate connection to Spain and thus to their basketball education. There was huge resistance in the basketball nation, and players also complained. But Brown prevailed and now he carries the team through the crucial stages. I hope that this Spaniard doesn't hurt us terribly.
Mr Buschmann, after the Greece game you said the second half was the "best game ever by a German national basketball team". What's to come now?
Buschmann: The same again, but over 40 minutes.
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: (laughs)
Buschmann: Then the Germans will win against Spain.
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: I find it extremely fascinating that the team always finds a way to win and buy the nerve from the opponent. Like that 20-to-1 run in the third quarter. That was absolutely insane. You always have the feeling that something is going on. Defense is the base, but now the team has shown they can call a shootout.
Are you afraid that there will be a voltage drop after the Greece highlight?
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: After the game in the mixed zone I looked Andreas Obst in the eye, the game was his career highlight and he said to me: "We haven't reached our goal yet. The goal is a medal. " The guys are extremely focused, they want to bring the thing home.
Buschmann: The good thing is that there are cautionary tales. In an emotional atmosphere, the Italians beat top favorite Serbia and then lose to France. Of course, the German players know that. But I still see the danger. Those are people. This big game against Greece, the atmosphere in the hall - it doesn't leave them untouched.
What gives you hope?
Buschmann: I'll go back a long way, Schmiso can't remember it. At the 1993 European Championship, Germany celebrated successes over Greece, Spain and other major powers in basketball. From game to game you thought: More is not possible now, after this success they can't beat the next team. In the end, the team became European champions. Now we have one of the most talented teams in the tournament because that's the spirit that we've inherited. So why shouldn't that be possible?
Keyword spirit and team chemistry: Everyone works hard for the other - why does something like this still have to be emphasized in professional sport when it should actually be normal?
Buschmann: Today, many players sit in the dressing room - where the game used to be discussed - get the first highlight reel sent to them by the agent and post it on Instagram. Sure, times change and I don't blame the players. Today they are I-AGs. But for me as a team athlete, that's big crap. I would forbid that as a coach, but it's definitely not easy, especially in the NBA. While it may sound totally romantic and naïve, when you feel like you have a squad of buddies, you take that 10 percent more your opponent doesn't and kick their ass.
You said that the victory in Greece was "Christmas, Easter and New Year's Eve in one day" for you - what would then be the European Championship title, live on free TV?
Buschmann: As cheap as it sounds: A dream comes true. And maybe that would really kiss basketball Germany awake - sometimes longer than three days. But first comes the semifinals.
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: That would finally be a fresh piece of history. For my generation, the old successes are too long ago and basketball is a young sport. It's time again.
Honestly, did you think the German team could win a medal before the European Championships?
B: No.
Has the team been underestimated?
Buschmann: I didn't underestimate the Germans, I knew about their talent. But you just have to look at the squads of the other teams. Serbia with Nikola Jokic and many Euro League players, Slovenia with Luka "Magic" Doncic, Greece with Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the best basketball players on the planet. Now people come around the corner and say: "The Bushman has no idea, he guessed Serbia". These are the ones who guess when the outcome is known. That totally annoys me. So I didn't know what I could really trust in the Germans, but over the course of the tournament they showed me that they are a great team.
You both played a big part in making the NFL more popular in Germany: Can the same happen with basketball?
Buschmann: Wow, that's difficult, but the answer is no. That won't work in Germany. Unfortunately. Basketball with the national team can become a sporting event that can attract crowds at major tournaments. Of course, that depends on success, because it's not enough to run an event if Poland is playing against France in the final. The NFL is different, it's something distant and unknown. A perfect, show-like and rock-hard sports event with only 18 match days. The NBA, the basketball league, or the EuroLeague have many more games and offer less spectacle. Gameday 27 in the NBA is a fart in space.
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: Back then, NFL fans were initially grateful that the games could be received on free television. I rarely noticed that in basketball. There are often critical voices that say: "First of all, show that I have any idea about it."
Buschmann: In the end it was the awesome product that made the NFL better known in Germany. Not me, not Schmiso, not Patrick Esume, not Björn Werner, not the broadcasters.
Schmidt-Sommerfeld: There is only one relevant league in football. That's it. Nobody even comes close to the NFL, there are no national teams and tournaments. This is not the case with any other sport. So, unlike basketball, it's easier to stay on topic in the NFL. If you're hooked on basketball now, then by October you'll be asking yourself: What am I watching now? BBL, EuroLeague, NBA, Champions League, EuroCup? A television broadcaster cannot channel all of that.
Mr. Buschmann, it is said that you want to stop commenting in 2023. But what if a TV station wants to raise the basketball Bundesliga and the NBA playoffs with you in the coming year?
Buschmann: Wait a minute, I have to clear up a rumor: I just said that I will stop playing football. Maybe I'll do snooker for Eurosport in the future (laughs). I'm still a sports fan and sports enthusiast, so crazy things can still happen. But we have the NBA playoffs in the middle of the night, so I can only advise any broadcaster not to do so. We are not yet far enough for the full program of the Basketball Bundesliga. The only thing where I see a chance would be strong German teams in the EuroLeague and then there will be a broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:15 p.m.
However, I believe that it is possible to further establish the leagues via streaming services. And if something big happens then, a free TV broadcaster can die. Like now at the European Championship semifinals in the evening.
David spoke needy with Frank Buschmann and Florian Schmidt-Sommerfeld
