The round of 16 of the EuroBasket brought their share of surprises this weekend, but the Germans and Greeks did the job to validate their ticket to the quarters. As a result, we end up with a very heavy duel between the band of Giannis Antetokounmpo and a Mannschaft fully supported by its Berlin audience. No need to tell you that you will have to be there tonight at 8:30 p.m., live on Canal Plus Sport.
The most beautiful poster of the eighth? Perhaps, in any case storyline level difficult to do better. On the one hand, we have probably the most dominant player on the basketball planet who wants to take Greece to the top of Europe for the first time since 2005. On the other, we have an attractive Germany team since the start of the competition and who wants to continue to thrill his public, public which will undoubtedly be boiling hot this evening at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. At stake, a place in the last four and a confrontation either once morest Spain or once morest Finland if Lauri Markkanen continues to take himself for Kevin Durant. Suffice to say that it will fight hard from the first to the 40th minute, from the first to the 12th man.
We saw it once more this weekend, nothing is easy in this Euro. France needed a miracle not to come home, Nikola Jokic’s Serbia has already returned home, and our future evening opponents sweated a little to reach the quarters. Against the Czech Republic, the Greeks had to wait the last ten minutes to make the difference behind a Giannis in steamroller mode following three quarters very far from his standards. The Germans preferred the opposite scenario, outclassing Montenegro in the first half as expected before getting scared once morest a Kendrick Perry in Stephen Curry mode. There, tonight, the air pockets will be prohibited because in front it will not do any favors.
Bad news for the Germansthey will probably have to manage without their nugget Franz Wagner, hit in the ankle once morest Montenegro. Nothing official for now and we’re going on a game-time decision, but it doesn’t feel very good for him. And given the madness he has been able to achieve since the start of the Euro, it does not feel very good either for Germany. His probable absence will inevitably put even more pressure on Dennis Schroder, who will have to transform into Dennis the Menace for the Germans to have a real chance of passing. That’s good, because on the other side of the Rhine we believe in him much more than on the other side of the Atlantic.
“He is our main leader. He is at the center of our game, both in attack and in defense. Dennis has gained experience over the years, it shows in his play at this tournament. […] He is one of the best point guards in Europe, across the world. He guides us to victory. It’s fun to play with him. German basketball can be happy to have it. »
– Maodo Lo, via FIBA
It’s been years since Germany played a game of this magnitude. Since 2005 and the silver medal won at the Euro behind the immense Dirk Nowitzki (defeat in the final once morest… Greece), Germany has not reached a single podium. So a victory tonight once morest the Greeks – among the big favorites of the tournament – might simply represent a turning point for German basketball. But do Schroder and his pals really have the shoulders to stop a Giannis on a mission?
The rosters
Germany : Niels Giffey, Justus Hollatz, Maodo Lo, Andreas Obst, Dennis Schroder, Christian Sengfelder, Daniel Theis, Johannes Thiemann, Johannes Voigtmann, Franz Wagner, Nick Weiler-Babb, Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann
Greece: Dimitris Agravanis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Nick Calathes, Tyler Dorsey, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Michalis Lountzis, Georgios Papagiannis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Ioannis Papapetrou, Kostas Sloukas
The journey of the two teams
- Germany – France : 76-63
- Germany – Bosnia: 92-82
- Germany – Lithuania: 109-107
- Germany – Slovenia : 80-88
- Germany – Hungary: 106-71
- Germany – Montenegro: 85-79
- Greece – Croatia: 89-85
- Greece – Italy: 85-81
- Greece – Great Britain: 93-77
- Greece – Ukraine : 99-79
- Greece – Estonia: 90-69
- Greece – Czech Republic: 94-88
Germany – Greece, quarter-final of EuroBasket 2022, at 8:30 p.m. in a boiling room in Berlin. We don’t know what you’re doing tonight, but we can’t offer you better.
