Vechta (dpa) - The German national basketball team started with a respectable success in the European Championship qualification.
The team of national coach Henrik Rödl won in Vechta against France with 83:69 (41:34) and showed a refreshing performance even without the NBA professionals around Dennis Schröder. The best thrower in the German team was Robin Benzing with 20 points.
Germany is competing in the qualification because the team is already qualified as a partial host of the 2021 European Championship. Other opponents are Great Britain and Montenegro. On February 24th, the British will face Newcastle. It will be really important for the German selection in Croatia at the Olympic qualification tournament in June.
Due to the dispute between the associations and the Euroleague, both teams had to give up their players from the teams in the European premier class in addition to the NBA professionals. In addition to NBA star Schröder, Rödl also lacked the Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin players.
In the starting line-up there were only three players in Ismet Akpinar, Robin Benzing and Andreas Obst, who also participated in the disappointing World Cup in China last summer. The first five was completed by Karim Jallow and Maik Zirbes.
Five months after the completely screwed-up World Cup, the German team first noticed that it hadn't played together like this before. The French, who, unlike Germany, still have to qualify for the European Championship next year, got off to a better start and were always in the lead in the first quarter. The Rödl team could not be shaken off and was only one point behind after the first ten minutes (15:16).
In the second section, France only moved to seven points (26:19). But the DBB selection was not unsettled and fought back. When local hero Philipp Herkenhoff even put the hosts in the lead for the first time in the middle of the second quarter (31:28), the Rasta Dome cooked. Rödl, not uncontroversial since the World Cup fiasco, clenched his fist on the sidelines and pushed his team further forward. The reward: The German team led the break with 41:34.
After the change of sides, Germany even moved up to 15 points, mainly because captain Benzing hit hard from a distance. In the meantime, the guests dropped back to five points, but thanks to a small sprint, Germany went to the final quarter with an eleven point lead. There, the French increased the defensive aggressiveness once again, but the German team withstood the pressure and ultimately won highly deservedly.
Information about the German squad on the DBB homepage
Information about the EM 2021 on the DBB homepage
Information about the EM qualification on the FIBA homepage
