Germany men's national basketball team
| File:DBB.logo.jpg | |||
| FIBA ranking | 14  1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 1934 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | Deutscher Basketball Bund (DBB) | ||
| Coach | Emir Mutapčić | ||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 5 (1936, 1972, 1984, 1992, 2008) | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 5 (1986, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2010) | ||
| Medals |  Bronze: 2002 | ||
| Eurobasket | |||
| Appearances | 22 | ||
| Medals |  Gold: 1993 Silver: 2005 | ||
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The German national basketball team for men is the basketball side that represents Germany in international competitions. It is organized and run by the German Basketball Federation. (German: Deutscher Basketball Bund)
Their biggest successes are the victory in the European Championship of 1993 at home in Germany, the silver medal in the 2005 European Championships and the bronze medal in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.
History
The team is the successor of the West Germany national basketball team, the basketball side that represented West Germany in international competition. Between 1955 and 1973, Germany temporarily competed with an East German national basketball team as well.
Eurobasket 1951
The first German presence in the European basketball championships was at Eurobasket 1951 in Paris. West Germany finished the preliminary round with a 1–2 record, third place in their group. They were again 1–2 in the first classification round, but this combined with a three-way tie-breaker put them second in that group. They then lost the classification 9–12 and 11/12 games to finish 12th place of 18 teams.
Eurobasket 1953
West Germany competed again at the Eurobasket 1953 in Moscow. Their 1–2 record in preliminary pool play put them third in their four-team group, relegating them to the classification rounds. In the first round, they again took 3rd of 4 with a 1–2 record. They then beat Lebanon 58–56 in the 13–16 semifinals to advance to the 13/14 game, in which they were defeated by Romania.
Eurobasket 1955
At Eurobasket 1955 in Budapest, West Germany again was 1–2 in the preliminary round, taking third place of the four-team group to be relegated to the classification tournament. They won one game in the first classification round, losing 3 to take fifth place of the five-team group despite having scored exactly as many points as their opponents over the course of the four games. Their final game was a match-up against Denmark for 17th place, which West Germany won 51–49.
Eurobasket 1957
West Germany competed in Sofia for Eurobasket 1957. They had no success in the preliminary round, losing all three decisions. They were relegated to the classification round, in which they were able to gather a few victories. They finished the round in the fifth position at 3–4, taking 13th place overall.
After German reunification
Until the German reunification in 1990, the team played as the West Germany national basketball team. (Basketball was not a popular sport in East Germany). In decades of competitive basketball, West Germany never had much success, partly also because in that time, the NBA made it near-impossible for German internationals to play on both their NBA teams and the national team. For this reason, important players like Detlef Schrempf, Uwe Blab or Christian Welp often were unavailable in big tournaments.
The win of the 1993 European Championship at home in Germany, thanks to superb clutch play of tournament MVP Welp (who had returned from the USA), came totally unexpected. The team won the election to "Team of the Year" by the German press. There was a huge wave of enthusiasm, but arguably due to lack of infrastructure and professionalism, tangible results were rare. German basketball stayed in the shadows, the next generation of youth shunning the native league while being glued to the NBA with Michael Jordan. The national team never came close to repeat the success.
But then, German basketball got a lucky break when a lanky youth named Dirk Nowitzki tried his luck with the Dallas Mavericks and became a superstar. He created new enthusiasm for basketball in Germany, and in his slipstream,[clarification needed] the national team had a renaissance.
In 2001, Germany played Turkey and was one second away from the final, when Turkey nailed a buzzer beater to send the game into overtime. Turkey won, and demoralized Germany lost the third-place match and ended fourth.
However, success at last came in 2002, when Nowitzki inspired Germany to win the bronze medal in the 2002 World Championships. Nowitzki was also named MVP of that tourney.
One year later, however, the team suffered its worst setback in years. In the Eurobasket 2003, which was also the qualifier for the 2004 Olympic Games, the talented, but inexperienced team blundered through a tournament, blowing late-game leads with appalling anti-clutch play. Germany was eliminated early and failed to qualify for the Olympics.
Before the Eurobasket 2005 expectations were not too high. The German roster was depleted by injury, and remembering the disaster of two years ago, nobody dared to dream of a medal. However, an inspired Dirk Nowitzki powered the team into the finals, eliminating favourites like Spain and Slovenia on its way. In the finals the team was blown out by Greece, but Nowitzki was named MVP again, and the team won the election to "Team of the Year" by the German press again.
In the 2006 World Championship in Saitama, Germany won most of its first-round matches, only losing to Spain. In the knock-out phase, Germany fought a tough match versus underdogs Nigeria, ending in a 78–77 win when Nigerian star Ime Udoka missed a last-second layup. In the quarter-finals, Germany played top favorite USA, and managed to play an excellent first half, trailing only 39–41. However, led by Carmelo Anthony, USA outplayed Germany 20–8 in the third quarter and won 65–85. In the consolation round, Germany lost 73–75 against France, losing a lead in the last 18 seconds with two turnovers.
Germany qualified for the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing, by taking the final spot with the third place in the qualification tournament in Athens, Greece.
International influence
In Germany, professional basketball is known for developing players whose parents or grandparents are immigrants. The national team routinely uses many players who have family roots in Africa, Eastern Europe, United States or others, but have grown up in Germany, speak fluent German and are native Germans by law. The last point is especially important, as the new FIBA rules prevent the use of more than one "naturalized" citizen per country. Famous examples of these allochtonous players are:
- African-German: Stephen Arigbabu, Misan Nikagbatse, Ademola Okulaja, Marvin Willoughby
- American-German: Shawn Bradley, Robert Garrett, Stefano Garris, Demond Greene, Elias Harris, Frank Hudson, Chris Kaman, Patrick King, Mike Knörr, James Marsh, Christopher McNaughton
- Brazilian-German: Dominik Bahiense de Mello
- Canadian-German: Michael Jackel
- Croatian-German: Stipo Papić, Dražan Tomić
- Polish-German: Konrad Wysocki
- Serbian-German: Marko Pešić
- Turkish-German: Teoman Öztürk, Mithat Demirel
While most German players develop through the club system, several players over the years have played U.S. college basketball. Past and present national team players who have done so include:
- Uwe Blab – Indiana
- Shawn Bradley – BYU (born in Germany, was raised in Utah, making a college basketball career a natural progression)
- Patrick Femerling – Washington
- Niels Giffey – UConn
- Hansi Gnad – Alaska-Anchorage (Division II Program)
- Elias Harris – Gonzaga
- Johannes Herber – West Virginia
- Frank Hudson – Glassboro State/NAIA (born in Germany)
- Jan-Hendrik Jagla – Penn State
- Patrick King – Bucknell
- Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff – UH Mānoa
- Mike Knörr – East TEXAS STATE
- Alexander Kühl – UNC Charlotte
- Jens Kujawa – Illinois
- Jürgen Malbeck – Hawaiʻi Pacific/NAIA
- James Marsh – Davidson
- Rolf Mayr – Duquesne
- Christopher McNaughton – Bucknell
- Sven Meyer – Oregon
- Mathis Mönninghoff – Gonzaga
- Detlef Musch – Davidson
- Arnd Neuhaus – Duquesne
- Kai Nürnberger – Southern Illinois
- Ademola Okulaja – North Carolina
- Michael Pappert – Redlands (Division III)
- Ulrich Peters a.k.a. Ulrich Trogele – Wichita State (raised in the U.S.)
- Henrik Rödl – North Carolina
- Detlef Schrempf – Washington
- Julian Sensley – UH Mānoa (born to a German mother and raised in the U.S.)
- Lucca Staiger – Iowa State
- Marc Suhr – UConn
- Gerrit Terdenge – Fresno State
- Christian Welp – Washington
- Kirsten Zöllner – Albany
Notable players
Centers
- Gunther Behnke
- Uwe Blab – former NBA player
- Shawn Bradley – former NBA player; American with dual citizenship through jus sanguinis
- Patrick Femerling
- Hansi Gnad
- Chris Kaman – current NBA-Player; American with dual citizenship, born and raised in the U.S., qualifying for German citizenship through jus sanguinis
- Jens Kujawa
- Christian Welp – former NBA player; hit the winning free throw (completing a 3-point-play) in the 1993 Eurobasket final, and named 1993 Eurobasket MVP
- Tibor Pleiß – Oklahoma City Thunder hold rights
Forwards
- Stephen Arigbabu
- Dirk Nowitzki – current NBA star, 2011 NBA Champion, 2011 NBA Finals MVP, 2007 NBA MVP, 11× NBA All-Star, MVP of the World Championships 2002 and the Eurobasket 2005
- Henning Harnisch – currently vice president of Alba Berlin
- Mike Jackel
- Ademola Okulaja – former player at North Carolina
- Detlef Schrempf – the first German NBA star, former player at Seattle SuperSonics
Guards
- Mithat Demirel
- Michael Koch – currently Head Coach of Telekom Baskets Bonn
- Kai Nürnberger
- Denis Wucherer
- Henrik Rödl – former player at North Carolina and Alba Berlin
Roster
Roster for the FIBA EuroBasket 2015 qualification.[1]
Template:Germany National Basketball Team roster
Competitions
Summer Olympics
World Championships
| Year | Position | Tournament | Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | – | 1954 FIBA World Championship | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| 1954 | – | 1954 FIBA World Championship | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 1959 | – | 1959 FIBA World Championship | Chile |
| 1963 | – | 1963 FIBA World Championship | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 1967 | – | 1970 FIBA World Championship | Uruguay |
| 1970 | – | 1970 FIBA World Championship | Yugoslavia |
| 1974 | – | 1974 FIBA World Championship | Puerto Rico |
| 1978 | – | 1978 FIBA World Championship | Philippines |
| 1982 | – | 1982 FIBA World Championship | Colombia |
| 1986 | 16 | 1986 FIBA World Championship | Spain |
| 1990 | – | 1990 FIBA World Championship | Argentina |
| 1994 | 12 | 1994 FIBA World Championship | Canada |
| 1998 | – | 1998 FIBA World Championship | Athens, Greece |
| 2002 |  |
2002 FIBA World Championship | Indianapolis, United States |
| 2006 | 8 | 2006 FIBA World Championship | Japan |
| 2010 | 17 | 2010 FIBA World Championship | Turkey |
| 2014 | – | 2014 FIBA World Championship | Spain |
EuroBasket
Head Coach history
- Hugo Murero – 1935–1942
- Theo Clausen – 1947–1951
- Anton Kartak – 1951–1956
- Theodor Vychodil – 1956–1961
- Branimir Volfer – 1961–1962
- Yakovos Bilek – 1962–1968
- Kurt Siebenhaar – 1968–1969
- Miloslav Kriz – 1969–1971
- Theodor Schober – 1971–1972
- Dietfried Kienast – 1972–1973
- Pascal Ezguilian – 1974–1976
- Raimondo Nonato De Azevedo – 1976
- Bernd Röder – 1976–1980
- Terry Schofield – 1962–1968
- Christopher Lee – 1983–1984
- Ralph Klein – 1983–1986
- Svetislav Pešić – 1987–1993
- Dirk Bauermann – 1994
- Vladislav Lučić – 1994–1997
- Henrik Dettmann – 1997–2003
- Dirk Bauermann – 2003–2012
- Svetislav Pešić – 2012
- Frank Menz – 2013–2014
- Emir Mutapčić – 2014–present
source[2]
Past rosters
- As Germany
1993 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 16 teams
Christian Welp, Henning Harnisch, Hansi Gnad, Michael Koch, Gunther Behnke, Kai Nurnberger, Henrik Rödl, Stephan Baeck, Michael Jackel, Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff, Teoman Öztürk, Jens Kujawa (Coach: Svetislav Pešić)
2002 World Championship: finished 3rd among 16 teams
Dirk Nowitzki, Patrick Femerling, Ademola Okulaja, Henrik Rödl, Marko Pešić, Mithat Demirel, Robert Maras, Stefano Garris, Misan Nikagbatse, Pascal Roller, Stephen Arigbabu, Jorg Lutcke (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)
2005 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams
Dirk Nowitzki, Patrick Femerling, Robert Garrett, Marko Pešić, Robert Maras, Pascal Roller, Mithat Demirel, Demond Greene, Misan Nikagbatse, Denis Wucherer, Stephen Arigbabu, Sven Schultze (Coach: Dirk Bauermann)
See also
- Germany women's national basketball team
- National basketball games of Germany
- German Democratic Republic national basketball team
References
External links
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