After the EM coup without a star player
Sabally accepts national team for Olympic dream
6/30/2023 at 8:32 am
Thanks to the surprisingly successful European Championship, the German basketball players are only one step away from participating in the Olympic Games for the first time. At the tournament, the best player was missing in Satou Sabally – who has now announced early on that she will return to the national team.
The German basketball players can count on their star player Satou Sabally for the last step on the way to a ticket for the summer games in Paris. “I’ll be there for qualification. I want to go to the Olympics,” said the 25-year-old from the WNBA club Dallas Wings in a press round. “I’m looking forward to it, I’m super excited.”
The selection of the German Basketball Association (DBB) had secured a starting place for a qualifying tournament in February at the European Championships with sixth place. Sabally was absent after a long, intense season – she had first reached the playoffs in the WNBA with Dallas, but had failed there at eventual runner-up Connecticut Sun. She then moved to Turkey, reached the final of the Euroleague with Fenerbahce Istanbul and won the Turkish championship.
“Want to add that extra spark”
In spring she now wants to return to the DBB team. “You laid the foundation. I want to provide that extra spark,” said the Berliner, who was recently named to the starting lineup of the WNBA All-Star Game for the first time. The strong performances in Ljubljana/Slovenia left a lot of impression on Sabally. “We are so experienced. We have Marie Gülich, Svenja (Brunckhorst, ed.), Leonie Fiebich. Big names,” said Sabally: “I knew that they would be successful, even without me. I’ve never been successful doubted.”
Germany is “in the mix as far as the future of European basketball is concerned, even though we weren’t complete. That’s a great sign.” “Only positive things can be drawn from the EM success. I’m proud of how they rocked the tournament. It was amazing to see the team chemistry.”
DBB President Ingo Weiss had previously expressed his hope that Sabally and her two-year-younger sister Nyara, who plays for New York Liberty, would take part in the qualification. “I firmly assume that they will be there. There is nothing better for both of them than qualifying and being able to take part in the Olympic Games. As soon as the topic of national coach has been clarified, we will hold talks.” The contract with national coach Lisa Thomaidis expired after the European Championship. Both sides can imagine further cooperation.