Germany national basketball team
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| FIBA ranking | 9th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National federation | DBB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | Bronze: 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eurobasket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | Gold: 1993 Silver: 2005 Bronze: 1971 |
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As of 2005, the biggest successes were victory in the European Championship of 1993 at home in Germany, the silver medal in the 2005 European Championships and the bronze medal in the 2002 World Championship.
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[edit] History
The team is the successor of the West Germany national basketball team,the basketball side that represented West Germany in international competition.
[edit] Eurobasket 1951
The first German presence in the European basketball championships was at Eurobasket 1951 in Paris. West Germany finished the preliminary round with a 1-2 record, third place in their group. They were again 1-2 in the first classification round, but this combined with a three-way tie-breaker put them second in that group. They then lost the classification 9-12 and 11/12 games to finish 12th place of 18 teams.
[edit] Eurobasket 1953
West Germany competed again at the Eurobasket 1953 in Moscow. Their 1-2 record in preliminary pool play put them 3rd in their four-team group, relegating them to the classifiation rounds. In the first round, they again took 3rd of 4 with a 1-2 record. They then beat Lebanon 58-56 in the 13-16 semifinals to advance to the 13/14 game, in which they were defeated by Romania.
[edit] Eurobasket 1955
At Eurobasket 1955 in Budapest, West Germany again was 1-2 in the preliminary round, taking third place of the four-team group to be relegated to the classification tournament. They won one game in the first classification round, losing 3 to take fifth place of the 5-team group despite having scored exactly as many points as their opponents over the course of the four games. Their final game was a matchup against Denmark for 17th place, which West Germany won 51-49.
[edit] Eurobasket 1957
West Germany competed in Sofia for Eurobasket 1957. They had no success in the preliminary round, losing all three decisions. They were relegated to the classification round, in which they were able to gather a few victories. They finished the round in the fifth position at 3-4, taking 13th place overall.
[edit] After German re-unification
Until the German reunification in 1990, the team played as the West Germany national basketball team. (Basketball was not a popular sport in East Germany). In decades of competitive basketball, West Germany never had much success, partly also because in that time, the NBA made it near-impossible for German internationals to play in both their NBA teams and the national team. For this reason, important players like Detlef Schrempf, Uwe Blab or Christian Welp often were unavailable in big tournaments.
The win of the 1993 European Championship at home in Germany, thanks to superb clutch play of tournament MVP Welp (who had returned from the USA), came totally unexpected. The team won the election to "Team of the Year" by the German press. There was a huge wave of enthusiasm, but arguably due to lack of infrastructure and professionalism, tangible results were rare. German basketball stayed in the shadows, the next generation of youth shunning the native league while being glued to the NBA with Michael Jordan. The national team never came close to repeat the success.
But then, German basketball got a lucky break when a lanky youth called Dirk Nowitzki tried his luck with the Dallas Mavericks and became a superstar. He created new enthusiasm for basketball in Germany, and in his slipstream, the national team had a renaissance.
In 2001, Germany played Turkey and was one second away from the final, when Turkey nailed a buzzer beater to send the game into overtime. Turkey won, and demoralized Germany lost the small final and ended an unlucky fourth.
However, success at last came in 2002, when Nowitzki inspired Germany to win the bronze medal in the 2002 World Championships. Nowitzki was also named MVP of this tourney.
One year later, however, the team suffered its worst setback in years. In the Eurobasket 2003, which was also the qualifier for the 2004 Olympic Games, the talented, but inexperienced team blundered through a tournament, blowing late-game leads with appalling anti-clutch play. Germany was eliminated early and failed to qualify for the Olympics.
Before the Eurobasket 2005, the expectations were not too high. The German roster was depleted by injury, and remembering the disaster of two years ago, nobody dared to dream of a medal. However, an inspired Dirk Nowitzki powered the team into the finals, eliminating favourites like Spain and Slovenia on its way. In the finals the team was blown out by Greece, but Nowitzki was named MVP again, and the team won the election to "Team of the Year" by the German press again.
In the 2006 World Championship in Saitama, Germany won most of its first-round matches, only losing to Spain. In the knock-out phase, Germany fought a tough match versus underdogs Nigeria, ending in a lucky 78-77 win when Nigerian star Ime Udoka missed a last-second layup. In the quarter finals, Germany played top favourite USA, and managed to play an excellent first half trailing only 39-41. However, led by Carmelo Anthony, USA outplayed Germany 20-8 in the third quarter and at last won 65-85. In the consolation round, Germany lost 73-75 against France, choking a lead in the last 18 seconds with two easy turnovers.
[edit] Notes
In Germany, professional basketball is known for creating a slew of players whose parents or grandparents are immigrants. The national team routinely uses many players who have roots in Africa, Eastern Europe, America or others, but have grown up in Germany, speak fluent German and are native Germans by law. The last point is especially important, as the new FIBA rules prevent the use of more than one "naturalized" citizen per country. Famous examples of these allochtone players are:
- African-German: Stephan Arigbabu, Misan Nikagbatse, Ademola Okulaja
- American-German: Robert Garrett, Stefano Garris, Demond Greene, Marvin Willoughby
- Balkan-German: Stipo Papic, Marko Pesic, Drazan Tomic
- Canadian-German: Michael Jackel
- Turkish-German: Teoman Öztürk, Mithat Demirel
While most German players develop through the club system, several players over the years have played U.S. college basketball. Past and present national team players who have done so include:
- Günther Behnke — Kentucky
- Uwe Blab — Indiana
- Shawn Bradley — BYU
- Bradley qualified for Germany by his birth in the country; however, he was raised in Utah, making a college basketball career a natural progression.
- Hansi Gnad— Alaska-Anchorage (Division II Program)
- Johannes Herber — West Virginia
- Jan-Hendrik Jagla — Penn State
- Ademola Okulaja — North Carolina
- Henrik Rödl — North Carolina
- Detlef Schrempf — Washington
- Julian Sensley — Hawaii
- He was born and raised in the U.S., qualifying for Germany through his birth to a German mother.
- Christian Welp — Washington
[edit] Famous players
[edit] Centers
- Gunther Behnke
- Uwe Blab - former NBA player
- Shawn Bradley - former NBA player; American with dual citizenship, having been German-born
- Patrick Femerling
- Hansi Gnad
- Jens Kujawa
- Christian Welp - former NBA player; hit the winning free throw (completing a 3-point-play) in the 1993 Eurobasket final, and named 1993 Eurobasket MVP
[edit] Forwards
- Stephen Arigbabu - currently playing for Alba Berlin
- Dirk Nowitzki - current NBA star
- Henning Harnisch - currently Team Manager of Alba Berlin
- Mike Jackel
- Ademola Okulaja - former player at North Carolina
- Detlef Schrempf - the first German NBA star
[edit] Guards
- Mithat Demirel
- Michael Koch
- Kai Nürnberger
- Denis Wucherer
- Henrik Rödl - former player at North Carolina and Alba Berlin, currently Head Coach of Alba Berlin
[edit] Current squad
| Position | Player | Current Club |
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| Guard | Mithat Demirel | Galatasaray |
| Guard | Robert Garrett | GHP Bamberg |
| Guard | Johannes Herber | ALBA Berlin |
| Guard | Pascal Roller | Deutsche Bank Skyliners |
| Guard | Guido Grünheid | RheinEnergie Cologne |
| Guard | Steffen Hamann | GHP Bamberg |
| Forward | Demond Greene | ALBA Berlin |
| Forward | Jan-Hendrik Jagla | Türk Telekom B.K. |
| Forward | Dirk Nowitzki | Dallas Mavericks |
| Forward | Ademola Okulaja | Khimki |
| Forward | Sven Schultze | Armani Jeans Milano |
| Forward | Julian Sensley | |
| Center | Patrick Femerling | Panathinaikos |
| Center | Robert Maras |
[edit] External links
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International basketball
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