By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dennis Schroder celebrated his return to the Lakers by winning the bronze medal in Eurobasket 2022. Germany beat Poland 82-69 and Schroder completed the tournament in style.
To be exact the leader of the German national team had 26 points on 7/10 FG and made all the big shots when it counted the most.
Johannes Voigtmann added 14 points, nine rebounds, and six assists for the winning side which once more shot with a solid 41% (15/37) in threes to make things happen while shooting just 18 two-pointers and making half of them.
“That was the goal of the federation, of coach Herbert and for the team and it’s an unbelievable feeling to win a medal in a Eurobasket”, said Schroder after the game.
“I am extremely proud of this group, the commitment they made, it’s been 17 years since Germany won a medal and it’s fitting that Dennis’ number is 17”, added coach Herbert. “It was an unbelievable honor to coach these guys. We are a bit disappointed, after beating Greece we hoped that we could get a bit more, but this is sports”.
The game started with Germany getting a solid first-quarter lead (19-14) and Poland trimming it to one point (21-20). However, the hosts with a 13-0 run (34-20) got things under control and led by 13 at halftime (36-23), while Poland had 0/10 threes.
Poland managed to cut the lead to five (54-49) making six threes in the third quarter and finally tied the score at 57 with less than eight minutes left in the game. Still, Germany stayed in control and with a 16-7 partial score (73-64) entered the last three minutes with a solid advantage.
With one more big three, Schroder made the score 76-66 and the game was over.
Michal Sokolowski with 18 points tried his best for Poland, but the team of coach Igor Milicic couldn’t keep up until the end, having already achieved in this tournament much more than expected.
“That’s pretty tough, ’cause we were so close to this bronze”, said Sokolowski, “in the first half we couldn’t find our flow in the offense, and in the second when we got close, they hit all the big shots”.
“My players are still superstars for me, for what they achieved”, added coach Igor Milicic for a historic run of Poland, that included a win over Luka Doncic’s Slovenia in the quarterfinals but not an elusive medal.
On the contrary, this is the third Eurobasket medal in German basketball history after the gold in 1993, and the silver in 2005.
“I think we made basketball more “sexy” and more trendy”, explained Schroder about the influence of this success on German basketball, while also underlining the potential of the German national team for the future and honoring the past.
“I hugged Robin Benzing after the end of the game because he sacrificed so much for this team all those years, even if in this summer things didn’t work out (ed.note: he was not on the final roster of the team) and I’ll see if we can find another medal. If not, my bronze medal will go to him'”, said Schroder for his gesture toward 33-years old Robin Benzing who was just a spectator in this game.
“See you next year”, concluded coach Herbert, referring to the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
Photo: FIBA.BASKETBALL