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Born in Canada, spent a lot of time in Finland, head coach of the DBB selection since 2021
Photo: Hendrik Osula / picture alliance / dpa
He then had to make it clear after national basketball coach Gordon Herbert had said something wrong in the intoxication after the Germans' beguiling quarter-final victory against Greece (107:96).
"Dennis never asked me for my credit card," the coach now revealed, grinning slightly, and he looked like a boy who had screwed something up.
"That was a joke."
Gordon Herbert and the credit card - this story tells a lot about the Canadian, who could lead Germany to its second European Championship title after 1993.
However, it starts with a different coach: Italy's Gianmarco Pozzecco.
The coach was so ecstatic after his team's round of 16 win against Serbia that he not only jumped into the arms of Greek superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in the catacombs.
He later gave his players his credit card outright.
The action went viral.
When coach Herbert was finally asked after the German semi-finals how he would enjoy the success, he answered: "I only know one thing: I will not give my players my credit card." There was laughter in the press room, then the fateful, much-quoted lie , about national team captain Dennis Schröder: »Dennis wanted my credit card.
I didn't give them out.
I've been divorced three times, the players wouldn't have liked the limit anyway."
It's one of those Herbert moments that have increased over the course of the tournament.
In which the pronounced humor of the sometimes stoic, almost apathetic Herbert shines through.
A sense of humor so dry that his sayings sometimes have to waver through the room for two or three seconds before it becomes clear that what was said was not meant to be taken seriously.
"He's incredibly calm, incredibly composed," said vice-captain Johannes Voigtmann.
'It's very pleasant for a player.
You have the feeling that he never loses his patience, never his calm, even in tricky situations in the game.«
"Gordy" has been Herbert since September 2021, Gordon says he only calls him his mother, coach of the national team.
He has known German basketball for much longer.
The 63-year-old, who has been coaching across Europe since the mid-1990s, was on the sidelines in Würzburg and Frankfurt between 2000 and 2004.
In 2010 he was hired again by Bundesliga club Frankfurt and stayed there for nine years, with the exception of one position at ALBA Berlin (2011 to 2012).
In 2016 he won the Eurocup with the Skyliners and was named Coach of the Year in the Basketball Bundesliga.
He wants a team that is hard to play on
When he was asked about his goals in the DBB podcast when he took office, he replied: »The most important thing for me is a team identity.« He immediately mentioned possible cornerstones of this identity: »Toughness, selflessness, great emotions.
A team with energy that is hard to play with.«
A year later, it can be stated that the formation of identity has progressed well under Herbert.
While the top favorites Greece with Antetokounmpo, Serbia with Nikola Jokic and Slovenia with Luka Doncic are all eliminated, Germany is in the semi-finals of the European Championship: as a team without an absolute superstar, but with many good players who harmonize on and off the court.
"We didn't have this team chemistry in the past," said leader Dennis Schröder recently of the sports show.
“It's different this summer, and of course I'm celebrating that extremely.” There are many reasons for this good atmosphere.
One of the bigger ones is Herbert, who, according to player circles, seems to cultivate a mix of closeness and distance.
On the one hand there is Herbert, the sovereign.
A quiet, monotonous man with a deep, gruff voice.
He keeps gestures and facial expressions to a minimum, his announcements are clear and direct, with little room for compromise.
This Herbert exudes great calm and control, authority, but also seems unapproachable in this role.
He may remind some of the stereotypical high school coach from Hollywood movies;
the oldie, who is slightly annoyed by life, who at first seems unbearably odd, before you find out in the course of the film what a big heart he has.
On the other hand, there is the joking, fatherly-calm Herbert.
who gives his team a day off after the quarter-finals, without rules.
This Herbert is an open communicator who gives space for individuality.
"He knows exactly how to approach different types of players in order to get something across," said youngster Franz Wagner.
Herbert's coaching DNA is defensive, little is more important to him than disciplined defending and rebounding.
Offensively, he relies on conventional system basketball, but above all Schröder, Wagner and Maodo Lo can break out.
"He finds a good balance between organization and creativity," says Wagner.
»That gives us freedom and ease in the game, but at the same time a structure.«
With this mixture, which according to Voigtmann »simply fits«, Herbert has an important part in the home tournament that went well, which brought new attention to German basketball – sometimes unexpectedly.
The day after the semi-finals and the credit card story even one of his ex-wives wrote to him, the coach said.
"That's really true."
