German national team for World Cup Qualifiers window is announced / News - Basketnews.com

Head coach Gordon Herbert will keep two players from his EuroBasket 2022 squad - Niels Giffey and Justus Hollatz. Germany will play against Finland and Slovenia.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The German national team for the upcoming window is announced

German national coach Gordon Herbert has announced his squad for the next 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers window. Three heroes from the EuroBasket 2022 squad are included and form the core of the otherwise very young team.

Canadian coach Herbert is looking forward to the two upcoming games with great anticipation.

"It's a great opportunity to play in Germany again so soon after the EuroBasket, and in such a great basketball city on top of that, and with the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup," he told.

After his team impressed at the EuroBasket in September, they now face two very difficult tasks. Although the team formed around Niels Giffey and Justus Hollatz only needs one more win to be allowed to participate in the World Cup in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines next year, they still don't want to disappoint the hype of the summer.

Discussions have been going on that the players who sacrifice themselves for the qualification windows are only exploited because EuroLeague and NBA stars are nominated in their place in the major tournaments. The main targets are Bastian Doreth and Leon Kratzer, both of whom have over a hundred international games under their belts but have rarely or never played in a major tournament.

Herbert emphasized that this time he has nominated the players that showed 100% commitment to the national team.

"For me, it was particularly decisive which players have also committed themselves to play in the qualifying windows in the past," the coach told. "Especially the commitment of the players who were there last summer but were not in the EuroBasket squad is a big deal for me."

The squad includes the following players:

Robin Christen (ratiopharm Ulm | Forward) Maximilian DiLeo (EWE Baskets Oldenburg | Guard) Bastian Doreth (medi Bayreuth | Point Guard) Niels Giffey (UCAM Murcia | Forward) Justus Hollatz (CB Breogán/ESP | Point Guard) Karim Jallow (ratiopharm Ulm | Forward) David Krämer (Basketball Löwen Braunschweig | Guard) Leon Kratzer (Telekom Baskets Bonn | Center) Dominic Lockhart (NINERS Chemnitz | Guard) Kenneth Ogbe (EWE Baskets Oldenburg | Guard) Jacob Patrick (MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg | Guard) Gavin Schilling (Limoges CSP | Center) Christian Sengfelder (Brose Bamberg | Forward)

At just 18 years old, Jacob Patrick is one of the youngest debutants ever to play for Germany. The son of former Ludwigsburg coach John Patrick knew how to convince Herbert at the beginning of the season and has more than earned his spot on the squad.

The shooting guard, who also plays for Ludwigsburg, proved his ability, especially from the three-point line, from which he hit a strong 52% in the first 4 games. In general, Patrick has been heavily involved in his team's upward trend in recent games. Defensively, he contributes with energy and intensity, and offensively, he still scores just under 7 points per game in the domestic league.

The two opponents of the German team will have to do without their stars Lauri Markannen for Finland and Luka Doncic for Slovenia for well-known reasons. Of course, Germany will also have to do without the experienced EuroLeague and NBA stars.

For Germany, the defense will be decisive in the two games on November 11 against Finland (in Bamberg's Brose Arena) and away in Koper on November 13 against Slovenia.

"We have a talented group together that has great potential to be very good defensively," Gordon Herbert said. Whether Germany will pull off the final victory to qualify remains to be seen.

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