Expert knowledge for the clueless: why a basketball game is so fascinating

Expert knowledge for the clueless
Why a basketball game is so fascinating

The German national team writes a basketball fairy tale at the home European Championship. Next opponent on the way to a longed-for medal is Spain. The team has been hyped around the country, but what actually makes this sport so fascinating?

Some things in basketball just can’t be explained that easily. Why, for example, does a player set off fireworks from the line of three in one game and only produce bricks (bad throws) in the next game? Even the greatest legends of the sport have no explanation for this. “The basket looked like an ocean and I just threw stones in it,” said Allen Iverson, who has scored 24,368 points in his NBA career. That’s – a little explanation for people who can’t assess it – very, very many. Allen Iverson (known as “The Answer” because he always responded to an opponent’s basket with his own), you can deduce that, so he’s seen the ocean a lot. But there are also those days when the ocean is a puddle and the rock is a boulder. I want to say: Nothing goes together on days like this.

The German national basketball team swam through this ocean as a collective on Tuesday evening. Your opponent from Greece, on the other hand, despaired of the puddle. The quarterfinals of the European Basketball Championship were one of the most spectacular in this tournament format. And it sparked hype in the country about the team of captain Dennis Schröder, about NBA super talent Franz Wagner, the giant Daniel Theis and whatever their names are (which you can read again by the way). The game against the Greeks told the whole story of the fascination of this sport. Because there is probably no other lawn in the world, no other parquet or ice where things can change as quickly as in basketball. If a commentator warns five minutes before the end that the game is still a long way from being decided despite a ten-point lead, then he’s not artificially keeping the tension high, then he’s right.

A game can turn so quickly

Yes, there have been things like that in football too. In 1999, FC Bayern lost the Champions League final against Manchester United within seconds. A few weeks ago, Borussia Dortmund wasted a 2-0 lead over Werder Bremen. Games to remember. Because they are so rare. Unlike in basketball. Every fan knows this: Don’t trust even the biggest lead. Hardly any other sport thrives on momentum like this duel between the baskets. A blocki.e. a thrown ball, a stealso a stolen ball, a Fast breaki.e. a quick attack or counterattack, or a Alley-Oopi.e. a pass caught in the air and usually converted directly by dunking can tip a game at any time.

Germany demonstrated that impressively against Greece. When the team around NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled the game to their side seconds before the break, with two points per Goal tending (i.e. an irregular defense of the ball) and a monster three-pointer from the center line (yes, that also gives “only” three points), the DBB team countered at the beginning of the third quarter with an ice-cold three-pointer from Andreas Obst and a crashing block by Johannes Voigtmann against Antetokounmpo. Germany was swimming in the ocean of happiness. Greece sat by the puddle of the desperate. The game was decided with a 20:1 series.

Basketball is a game of runs, i.e. the runs. Two or three good offensive actions, plus one or two stops, i.e. successful defences, and six, seven, eight, nine points can actually be made up within a minute. One reason: the shotclock. A team has 24 seconds to complete an attack. Slowing down the pace, playing the ball through your own ranks first to calm yourself down again – impossible. If a coach wants to stop the opponent from running, he has to take a time-out. Each team has the following choices: Two timeouts during the first half of the game (i.e. first and second quarters), three timeouts during the second half (i.e. third and fourth quarters). One exception applies: more than two time-outs per team are not allowed in the last two minutes.

The foul as a tactical means

Another means of choice: this foul. Each player has to give five of them before the game ends for him. With the unauthorized attacks, some opponents can quickly take away the desire to gamble. If the foul comes in the throw, there are free throws. With players like Shaquille O’Neal, that was a good idea. The legendary NBA colossus could demolish baskets with his strength. But what he couldn’t do was sink balls from around 4.2 meters into the basket without any resistance. A phenomenon that continues to this day. It’s often the taller players who struggle with this discipline. Incidentally, there are also free throws if a team commits five fouls per quarter. Then it automatically goes to the line and there is no more throw-in. But not every foul is a normal foul. Technical fouls (usually because of complaining) and unsportsmanlike (excessively hard attacks) will be severely punished. The second is already over for the player. Just like for Antetokounmpo and Schröder in the duel on Tuesday.

In the evening it is now up to Germany against Spain to reach the European Championship final. The team had to wait 17 years for this moment. From 8.30 p.m (live on RTL, Magentasport and in the ntv.de ticker) is it ocean or puddle. To the bitter end. Because you play until someone wins. Each overtime lasts five minutes. There is no equivalent to a penalty or penalty shoot-out. Who throws the first stone?

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