Despite strong leader Dennis Schroeder, the German basketball players suffered their first loss, setting up to win medals at the World Cup. On Sunday, the national team lost their second Super Cup final endurance test in Hamburg to fellow World Cup favorites Canada with a score of 112:113 (101:101, 49 :45) after extra time. Just four days ago, Germany beat North America in Berlin 86:81.
“Matches like these are important for us before the World Cup,” said Andreas Obst. magenta sports“We slept a few times in defensive positions and we didn’t prepare things offensively either. We were very passive at certain stages.
After the Super Cup, the national team players had two days off before returning to Abu Dhabi for two more friendlies against Greece and the United States (August 19/20). The World Cup (until September 10) for Germany begins on August 25 in Okinawa against hosts Japan. The other two opponents in the tough preliminary group are Australia and Finland.
The Chinese players topped Schroeder & Co. in less than 40 minutes on Saturday, and incredible three-pointers were rained down, but the Asian players are not real touchstones for the World Cup. Unlike in Canada. “It will be a different match,” predicted patriot Mudu Lu with visions of the first duel.
He must be right. Unlike Berlin, when Canada let Germany play in the first half, they pulled out aggressively. Although Franz Wagner shone early with the stick and the 3-pointers to take a 10:5 lead, Canada continued to put defensive pressure on the hosts, who sometimes had to make hard shots. But apparently unimpressed with David Kramer, who only slipped into the World Cup line-up at the last minute, hitting a crazy triple to make it 26:20 with the last siren of the first quarter.
Kramer’s volley, which boiled the Inselparkhalle, was part of a 10-0 draw that threatened to eliminate Germany, just like in Berlin. But Canada didn’t play that long and picked up their points reliably after the German conversion and on the line. Canadian NBA player RJ Barrett (31 points) was particularly difficult to control, while Schroeder, on the other hand, made himself more and more present, dribbling quickly towards the basket and throwing fouls.
After the break, Schroeder really stepped up the pressure, beating the leaders twice in record time and extending the lead to 10 points. This time, Germany didn’t suffer a third quarter slump like in the first game against Canada.
Instead, this time Germany surrendered with an 87:78 advantage in the final quarter. Schroeder, who had to be benched for his fifth offence, saw Canada crawl again and, thanks to Barrett, turned things around in the final two minutes and forced overtime. There, the North Americans finally caught up.
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