Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Deadline madness in basketball
When the national team lacks all Bayern professionals
For the new national basketball coach Gordon Herbert, his debut will be a bitter puzzle: Because the schedule brings with it an absurdly absurd clash, Herbert has to start his era with a wildly mixed team. The problem is old and there is no solution in sight.
Such a jumble would be completely unthinkable in football. Just imagine: Hansi Flick and his national team have to do without numerous Bayern and Dortmund professionals in qualifying for the World Cup because they compete in the Champions League on the same evening. Instead, the DFB fills its team with players from Freiburg, Mainz and Augsburg. What sounds utopian and absurd in terms of sporting competition is once again a reality in basketball, which has been known for the chaos of appointments for years.
Germany will play for the debut of national coach Gordon Herbert on Thursday (7 p.m. / Magentasport) in Nuremberg against Estonia – at the beginning of the World Cup qualification for 2023, the professionals of FC Bayern, who play at 6 p.m. at CSKA Moscow on the same evening, cannot be there. Herbert cannot nominate either: All seven NBA players, the players from Alba Berlin and the other professionals who are active in the Euroleague for foreign clubs. “It’s difficult with the national team windows during the season and the conflict between Fiba and the Euroleague. But as a coach, it’s my responsibility to adapt to the situation,” said Herbert. There isn’t much left.
A “never ending subject”
“That should stop,” said Andrea Trinchieri, Bayern coach, on the ongoing issue that made him resigned. “We have to come up with a program that is smarter, that takes everything into account.” After two Euroleague home wins in a row, the Munich team are now hoping for a coup in Russia. “It’s not good for the national teams and for the clubs,” said Trinchieri, criticizing the dense and overlapping positions. But that is a “never-ending topic”.
On Monday, the German Basketball Association (DBB) announced that the Euroleague players would probably not be available “despite ongoing efforts”. Not even for the second game on Sunday evening in Poland, which would have been feasible because at least the national leagues are paused for the World Cup qualification. “It’s really a lot for players who play in the Euroleague and then all summer. That puts you under stress,” said Herbert. Constantly appearing in all competitions, on some evenings at best in two places at the same time: That is the principle of basketball that the world association Fiba and the Euroleague have been grappling with for years.
“Players hardly have any air”
Therefore professionals from Bamberg, Frankfurt, Hamburg or Crailsheim have to judge Estonia. “The positive thing is that we can test young players for Germany. They get a chance to present themselves and gain experience at a young age,” said the 62-year-old Herbert, who does not complain about the adverse circumstances, but simply is working. Despite all the failures, the goal is clear: One of 32 World Cup tickets for 2023 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, for which two group phases have to be survived by February 2023.
DBB Vice President Armin Andres also sees the overall situation as problematic. For professionals from Bayern or Alba, there are 34 Bundesliga and 34 Euroleague games to begin with, followed by the playoffs, before they soon move on to the national team. “I think the problem is that everything is played on the back of the players. They hardly have any breathing space to take the recovery phases. That will be a problem in the future,” said Andres. The trainer and the official suspect: There won’t be much left of the team that will play against Estonia in the new Nuremberg Arena on Thursday at the home European championships in summer 2022.