Alex Mumbru started his first training session with a short round of introductions. There were very good reasons for this, because the new national basketball coach was not the only novice; a significant number of the nominated national players also had to first make personal acquaintances. The group that the Spaniard assembled for the two European Championship qualifying games against Sweden had never met in this configuration before. So, in one of his first official acts, Mumbru, 45, appointed Johannes Thiemann as captain, a choice that none of those present had anything to oppose. Along with David Krämer, Thiemann is the only remaining world champion in the team – and given his role in winning the title a year ago, he is the natural leader.
Krämer is his deputy; the guard was not nominated for the Olympic tournament recently. That team consisted exclusively of players who work in the NBA or the Euroleague. Of those, only Thiemann has time right now because he moved from the Euroleague club Alba Berlin to the financially powerful Japanese first division team Gunma Crane Thunders.
:Smart fox for the world champions
How do you replace a coach who has wowed everyone? On Germany’s national basketball team, Gordon Herbert is followed by the Spaniard Alex Mumbru – only experts know him, but he has qualities.
It’s always the same game: Because the time windows for qualifying for major competitions traditionally clash with the Euroleague schedules and the North American professional league NBA has never taken continental desires into account, a B team will play. Deserved professionals such as Ulm’s playmaker Nelson Weidemann or Christian Sengfelder, who plays for the French first division club Dijon, then represent their nation. Including the prospect for the players to vacate their place in the team again next autumn at the European Championships in Latvia, Finland, Cyprus and Poland.
The national players from Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin are missing; they play in the Euroleague
With two wins against Sweden (Friday, 6:30 p.m., in Stockholm and Monday, 7:30 p.m. in Heidelberg, both games free on Magentasport), the German selection could book the European Championship ticket in the group of four with Sweden, Bulgaria and Montenegro early – if the results are appropriate the competition. Mumbru has also nominated three players from the two German Euroleague participants in world champion Andreas Obst from FC Bayern and the two Berliners Jonas Mattisseck and Louis Olinde, which can be seen as a kind of emergency plan. Munich (against FC Barcelona) and Berlin (at Real Madrid) are playing in the Euroleague at the same time in the first comparison with the Scandinavians; participation in the second game on Monday in Heidelberg would be conceivable. If the first comparison were wrong, Mumbru could improve on quality – that’s the plan. The Berliners, who have been hit by injuries, will hardly agree to this. And given the brutal schedule of three games a week, Obst spoke about giving himself a break.
So Mumbru will probably have to make do with the existing staff, with players like Joel Aminu from Rasta Vechta, Elias Baggette from Rostock, Kay Bruhnke, who plays for Basket-Delamode in Lithuania, or Jack Kayil from the Serbian club Mega Basket. Names that should only be familiar to experienced basketball fans, but Mumbru has been on the move a lot in the past few weeks to also present well-known players: above all Tibor Pleiß.
The center with NBA experience was a fixture in the national team for years before he left in 2016 due to a disagreement with then national coach Chris Fleming. Although the now 35-year-old won the Euroleague twice with Efes Istanbul, he has never returned to the German selection – even though he was nominated by Mumbru’s predecessor Gordon Herbert. Pleiß is now playing for the newly rich Italian newcomer Trapani. Against the Swedes, he and the German-American Dylan Osetkowski, 28, will form an experienced duo under the baskets and lead the young players. Osetkowski is known from his Bundesliga time in Ulm, he played with Villeurbanne Euroleague and most recently won the Champions League with the Spanish first division team Malaga.
The pressure for the newly formed ensemble is still great, admits Armin Andres. The vice president of the DBB is responsible for the national team and was the driving force in signing Mumbrus: “He embodies the classic Spanish school, attaches great importance to good defense and plays fast and agile basketball on the offensive. “That’s not far from what Gordon let Herbert play,” says Andres. “Alex was a first-class international player, was world champion and European champion, that alone makes him a person to be respected.”
Of course, the DBB vice-president knows that in the end only results count. The Swedes may not have any big names in the team, but they are a well-coordinated team. The German team found out how dangerous such supposedly weaker opponents can be in the 62:67 defeat in Bulgaria last February, back then under Herbert.
Nevertheless, the DBB selection, which won bronze at the home European Championships a year ago, is the clear favorite. Mumbru formulates his goal accordingly: the title – but then with the world champion squad around Dennis Schröder. Mumbru explained that he was in constant contact with him, as well as with his colleagues who were still absent. They now have to hope for the B selection in order to become the focus again in the autumn. In this case, a round of interviews will no longer be necessary.
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