The German national basketball team is a long way behind against outsiders Bosnia-Herzegovina, but a superior second half ensures a clear victory. It's the second triumph in the second game.
Thanks to an impressive improvement in performance after the break, the German basketball players also won their second game at the European Championship. Two days after the surprising success against Olympic silver medalist France, the team around captain Dennis Schröder defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cologne with 92:82 (42:47) and took a big step towards the round of 16.
The best pitchers in the German team were playmaker Schröder and Franz Wagner, each with 18 points. Key player Johannes Voigtmann (ten) also played well again. In front of 18,000 spectators in the packed Lanxess Arena, the Bosnians, who had won against Hungary at the start, convinced NBA center Jusuf Nurkic with 21 points and Dzanan Musa (30).
"It's awesome. It makes you want to play here. The fans are incredible," said Johannes Thiemann, who was once again valuable, after the success at Magentasport. Starting weak can happen. "It's all the more important to come back like that and play like that in the second half." Leader Schröder was also satisfied with the reaction. "After the break we came out with the right mentality. We were the ones who attacked." On Sunday (2.30 p.m. / Magentasport and in the ntv.de live ticker) Germany will continue. Then co-favorite Lithuania in Cologne is the next opponent.
Herbert had changed his starting formation in one position. NBA professional Daniel Theis moved into the top five. But like against France, the German team got off to a weak start and acted nervously at first. Especially offensively, Schröder and Co. often made wrong decisions and had to take so many difficult throws. The non-club NBA professional Schröder scored six points in the first quarter, but he was unable to give the German game any real contours.
As in the opening game, it was the players from the bench who kept the hosts in the game. Maodo Lo and Johannes Thiemann scored important points, after ten minutes Germany was only two points behind despite a mixed performance (18:20).
Security in the German game did not come in the second quarter either. With three slight German turnovers, the Bosnians got easy points, so that the gap grew again to nine points. The German team fought back again and again and impressed with a spectacular dunk from Theis on a pass from Schröder, but Herbert's selection never really got going. Seven turnovers in the first half hampered the flow of the German team, who deserved the break and were consequently behind.
Especially NBA center Nurkic from the Portland Trail Blazers didn't get Germany under control for a long time, the star of the Bosnian team already had 17 points in his account at the break. The only positive from a German point of view at halftime: the deficit was only five points. "We gave up easy free throws and lost the ball a few times. We have to do better in defense," said Andreas Obst at "Magentasport" during the break.
And that's what the German team did. Schröder and Co. came out of the dressing room with a completely different energy and thus got through the sold-out arena. With a 12-0 run, the German team turned the game around and took the lead for the first time ever. Germany pulled away by up to ten points, but then two important players, Wagner and Voigtmann, had four fouls on the bench. However, Germany also survived this hectic phase and went into the last quarter with a twelve-point lead. There, Obst hit some important threes and provided a comfortable cushion. In addition, replacement center Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann shone with a spectacular block and his first points of the tournament.
(This article was first published on Saturday 03 September 2022.)
