Germany’s 113-111 semi-final victory over United State was among the most exciting games in recent FIBA history, comparable to USA’s Olympic wins over Spain in 2008 and 2012 and Turkey’s wins at home to reach the final in 2010.
Germany made 68 percent of their two-pointers and 58 percent overall (including 13 of 30 from beyond the arc). They had six players in double-figures: Andi Obst had 4 threes and 24 points; Franz Wagner scored 22, Daniel Theis added 21, and incoming Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroeder finished with 9 assists and 17 points, including clutch shots down the stretch.
With Schroder leading the attack, Germany committed only 10 turnovers against US defensive pressure.
USA made 65 percent of twos and 58 percent overall. Anthony Edwards scored 23 points, Austin Reaves added 21, Mikal Bridges had 17 and Jalen Brunson notched 15.
The brawnier Germans had 12 offensive rebounds and outscored USA 25-8 on second chance points.
The game set a FIBA record for most points in the first half (119), with USA up 60-59. Germany broke loose by outscoring USA 35-24 in the third quarter. But Team USA, who had overcome a 16-point deficit to beat Germany at an exhibition game in Abu Dhabi last month, roared back in the fourth quarter. Down by 10 midway through the fourth, US fought back to within one point but couldn’t wrestle the lead. It was the highest scoring FIBA game since 1994 when USA beat Russia 137-91.\\
“Tonight is just amazing for basketball, for German basketball,” said Obst, the Bayern Munich guard named TCL Player of the Game. “It was really tough and it means so much to the group. We fought every second and now we are happy to be in the final.”
“This is a special group. The way we stuck together when things got tough and we had players who made some huge plays,” said Germany coach Gordie Herbert, who became their head coach in September 2021, leading them to 2022 EuroBasket bronze. A native of Penticton, British Columbia, Herbert played on Canada’s Olympic team in 1984, coached Finland in 1994 and then coached in Germany, Austria, France, Greece, Russia and Georgia. He was an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors in 2008-09.
Franz Wagner said he had a “crazy feeling” when the buzzer sounded. “This is a super special group, obviously a historic win for Germany. For me this is just the second summer with the national team, but for almost everybody else, they’ve been playing for the national team for multiple years, and got years of experience on this level and playing together, too. We grew from (FIBA EuroBasket 2022), playing together more times every summer definitely helps.”
“We were able to beat one of the best teams in the world. It was a hell of a battle,” Germany’s center Johannes Thiemann said. “It’s so much fun, I especially like those games. This is what you dream of. You want to perform at a big stage and it doesn’t get bigger than this.”
Edwards of USA said Germany was more physical and dominant in the paint, where they got 50 points. “We got out-rebounded all night.”
“If you give up 113 points in a 40-minute game, you’re not going to win many of those,” said Reaves. “Anytime you lose sucks.”
“They played great, start to finish, and they had timely buckets,” said Brunson. “They found a way to stick to their game plan and win the game. We obviously didn’t come to play … from the start.”
“They’ve got a lot of big strong guys,” USA coach Steve Kerr said. “They put a lot of stress on your defense and just give them credit, they outplayed us. We weren’t ever able to make them feel us defensively.”
“I give Dennis Schroder a ton of credit, he’s a really tough guard to handle, he’s quick, he can get the ball and penetrate constantly and that compromises your defense,” added Kerr. “We also made some mistakes. It sounds crazy, but the first offensive rebound on the game, you gotta box out. Right from the beginning, you gotta set the tone. And then Obst hit a three of that offensive rebound, and the game opened up for him. He was the key in the game.”
Former USA star Carmelo Anthony, who watched courtside along with fellow FIBA Global Ambassadors Pau Gasol and Luis Scola, called it an upset. “Let’s just be quite frank, we don’t want to sugarcoat it, it’s an upset. When you have that gold standard, that’s how it goes, anything other than that is an upset. That’s good for the sport, for FIBA, for basketball, for the fans to let everybody know that the rest of the world is here to play. We don’t think we can’t lose. The fear of losing is what drives us, what keeps us going and wanting to win after a loss. I don’t think those guys came into this World Cup thinking this was gonna be a clear shot. We’re developing these young guys and these young talents, to be able to compete around the world this year, next year, next couple of Olympics. We take our losses and our wins, we move on.”
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