Serbia’s national coach Svetislav Pesic sees Franz Wagner on a similar level to European NBA superstars Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In an interview with FAZ, the 75-year-old named Wagner as one of the players who will shape the North American professional basketball league this decade: “He has made tremendous progress. For me, he belongs in the same group as those three,” said Pesic.
The coach, who led Germany to the European Championship title in 1993, also praised the German captain alongside Wagner: “In recent major tournaments, we’ve seen that there’s no better point guard in Europe than Dennis Schröder.” Accordingly, the Serbian has high hopes for the world champion at EuroBasket. “When you have two players like that, as Germany does, you can achieve something special,” the former national coach made clear.
DBB team starts European Championship on Wednesday
The German Basketball Federation (DBB) team will start the tournament on Wednesday (3:30 p.m./RTL and MagentaSport) in Tampere, Finland, against Montenegro. Just a few hours later, Serbia will play its opening match against Estonia, with the vice world champions being the big favorites to win the title. This is also due to the presence of superstar Jokic, whom his coach described as a “true role model” because of his enthusiasm for training.
Pesic left his future open: “Today, I’m only planning for the next tournament. I will definitely stay in basketball after the European Championship. In what capacity, I don’t know yet.”
