The German men’s basketball team has won its third game in preparation for the European Championships. In the Supercup semifinal against Turkey, the DBB team was largely uninspired, especially in the first half. In the end, it was once again the German star duo who had to save the day.
After six years in Hamburg, the traditional annual Supercup found a new home at Munich’s SAP Garden. However, the 11,500 spectators in the sold-out arena saw another disjointed German team. The top performance that had been promised for the full 40 minutes failed to materialize, at least on offense. With the exception of Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner, Germany presented itself as worryingly uninspired at times, as it had in its second test match against Slovenia.
Turkey punishes Germany for weak first half
Turkey, which is also aiming for a top spot in the upcoming European Championship tournament, got off to a bold start in the Super Cup opener. Under the basket, Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengün (25, 9/11) caused problems for Daniel Theis, who was still finding his form in his debut after injury. As in their second test match against Slovenia, the German starting five looked uninspired for long stretches of the game. Justus Hollatz (10, 4/7) came off the bench to score two three-pointers and provide some much-needed points.
The German team’s offensive fireworks failed to materialize in the second ten minutes as well. They scored only two points in the first six and a half minutes. The only reason they didn’t lose sight of Turkey was because they fought their way back into the game defensively. It also helped that Turkey sank only one of its eleven three-point attempts before the first break. Some of the few highlights of the first half came from Turkey’s big man Adem Bona, who collected three blocks in the first two quarters (five in total). The teams went into the break with a meagre 28:35 lead.
Schröder and Wagner bring the DBB team back into the game
After the break, Germany came back onto the court with renewed vigor, although they still had to rely on Schröder and Wagner for most of their offense. Midway through the quarter, Tristan da Silva tied the score (42:42) with the first German points that did not come from the top duo. However, the rhythm was quickly broken again after Schröder (22, 7/9) and Wagner (17, 6/15) took a seat on the bench. The second string managed only two free throws by Thiemann in the final three minutes of the quarter. The absence of the injured Lo was clearly noticeable. Mumbrú did not play Anderson at all in the game.
The final quarter remained closely contested. Both coaches brought their starting line-ups back onto the court and the intensity remained very high, especially for a test game. With three minutes to go, Theis scored his first field goal of the game – a three-pointer that put Germany ahead 67-64. On the Turkish side, Sengün increasingly took the game into his own hands. A layup plus a foul reduced the deficit to one point, before Schröder made it +2 again shortly before the end. In the last possession, Larkin missed the shot for victory with a three-pointer.
