Thursday, November 25, 2021
It won’t work like that with the World Cup
Estonia takes the DBB team by surprise and embarrasses them
Three years ago, Germany’s national basketball team won against Estonia with 43 points – but at the start of the World Cup qualification, the new national coach Gordon Herbert experienced a massive disappointment. The outsider prevails, so the pressure at DBB rises early on.
The German basketball players waved friendly into the audience, but Robin Benzing and Co. really didn’t feel like laughing after the sporting embarrassment against Estonia. The national team and the new national coach Gordon Herbert made a huge false start at the beginning of the World Cup qualification. A core team, weakened by numerous failures, lost 66:69 (34:30) against the outsider in Nuremberg and is already under heavy pressure after the first of six group games.
The best German throwers in front of 1000 spectators were Christian Sengfelder (21) and Captain Benzing (13), but it wasn’t enough against the Estonians who were particularly strong from the triple line. Kaspar Treier and Kristian Kullamae (15 each) were most successful for the guests. “We’re all just disappointed,” said Sengfelder. Herbert looked particularly hit. “We gave too many easy throws. It is what it is,” said the 62-year-old. Herbert starts his tenure with a massive mortgage. In order to stay in the race for the 32 World Cup tickets after the false start, a victory for Benzing and Co. on Sunday evening (8 p.m. / Magentasport) in Poland is almost a must.
Herbert, who is supposed to be responsible for the major projects at home EM 2022 and World Cup 2023 in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia in German basketball, had only a few top players available. All seven NBA professionals are not there, the players of master Alba Berlin and cup winners Bayern Munich played in the Euroleague on the same evening. “Of course it’s not easy,” said Vice President Armin Andres. But there are no excuses. “The World Cup is a very important event, a must, so to speak.” The announcement makes it clear how difficult a home defeat weighs against the supposedly weakest group opponent at the start.
Herbert already seems at a loss in the first game
Even the start did not go according to plan. In a very short time, the German team fell 6-0 down. The team, led by the young builder Justus Hollatz, made a lot of slight ball losses, several step errors were emblematic of the messed up initial phase. The veteran Benzing, who contributed eight quick points, was important. After a threesome in the first quarter, the 32-year-old stuck out his tongue demonstratively, he kept pulling the young team with him.
“You can tell they want and the fighting spirit is there. You want to make a difference, but you don’t have the interaction yet. That’s why it’s still a bit bumpy,” said Andres at Magentasport. It was a national team that had to find itself completely new without the absence of almost all top performers. In the newly built Nuremberg Arena, this was achieved for the first time shortly before half-time, when Hollatz contributed four quick points. Germany stood out a little.
But after the change it didn’t get any easier. Karim Jallow set the first exclamation point with an unpolluted dunk, but Estonia simply did not want to let up. The opponent, who had lost to Germany 43:86 in 2018, scored three-by-three this time and temporarily pulled away by six points in the third quarter. National coach Herbert seemed at a loss on the sidelines. In the final quarter, a gripping duel developed with several changes in leadership. In the end, the Estonians stayed cool and prevailed at the last minute.