The two European teams will meet in the men's basketball World Cup final, which is beyond the expectations of many.
On the evening of September 10, Beijing time, in the final of the men's basketball World Cup, the German men's basketball team defeated the Serbian men's basketball team 83-77 to win the men's basketball World Cup. This is the first time that the German men's basketball team has lifted the men's basketball World Cup championship trophy.
In this final, known as "Black Lightning" Schroeder alone scored 28 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, it was under his strong play that the German men's basketball team created the history of German basketball with a perfect record of eight victories. In eight victories, they defeated the US men's basketball team and the Serbian men's basketball team, which made the "journey to the top" of this men's basketball World Cup extremely dazzling.
With his excellent performance in eight games, Schroeder eventually became the most valuable player of this men's basketball World Cup.
The match between Schroeder and Bogdanovic was a highlight of the final.
"I want to play against the United States in the final because we lost to them a couple of times and we have to play better in the final, we can't celebrate anything yet, just get to the final, we still have room to improve." After beating Canada to advance to the final, Bogdanovic said this.
At the time, few would have thought that Germany could stop the United States from reaching the final, after all, the two teams had met six times before the World Series and the United States had never lost. But Germany made history when they beat the U.S. men's basketball team 113-111 with a frantic attack.
Both teams scored 224 points , the highest single-game total of the tournament since 1994. Even though the U.S. team shot 58.5 percent from the field, 48 percent from three-point range, and 95.8 percent from the free-throw line, all three of which were higher than Germany's, it was the losing side.
After the game, Cole lamented: "It's not 1992, players all over the world have become better. It's not easy to win the World Cup or win the Olympics. The German team deserved to win the title and we didn't get the job done. ”
Germany's Wagner Jr. was also heavily defended by Serbian players in the final.
When asked by the media if he could give the German team any advice to beat Serbia, he said: "They don't need my advice, they did a great job. ”
The victory was not only the first time Germany had defeated the U.S. men's basketball team in history, but also the first time Germany reached the World Cup final. At the same time, the German men's basketball team is also the only team that has not lost in this World Cup.
German coach Herbert said: "We discussed it in the dressing room after the game and the win over the United States was a great victory, but we are not yet at the level we want and this group of players wants to win the gold medal. ”
For Serbia, after player Simanić suffered an injury and had a kidney removed, the team went all the way with his will, except for being defeated by old rival Italy in the second round, Serbia has shown its destructive strength in subsequent matches - 112-79 victory over Dominica, 87-68 victory over Lithuania, 95-86 victory over Canada, Serbia led almost all the match, and finally sang to reach the final.
Bogdanovic also broke through very sharply in this game.
Scola lamented: "They are missing Jokic, the best player in the world, and you would think that any team would be much worse without such a player. But Serbia still reached the final and the team never lacked good players. ”
FIBA also launched a vote on who will win the men's basketball World Cup, with Serbia receiving 67.4% of the vote.
But in terms of historical head-to-head, the gap between the two teams is not as obvious as the vote. Serbia and Germany have only met once in the history of the World Cup. At the 2010 World Cup, the two teams played a double-overtime match, and Germany narrowly defeated Serbia 82-81. At the European Championships, the two teams met twice, with Serbia winning both matches. In 2011, Serbia defeated Germany 75-64; In 2015, Serbia narrowly defeated Germany 68-66.
It is worth mentioning that Serbian coach Pešić once coached the German men's basketball team and led the team to win the first major championship in the team's history at the 1993 European Championship.
The "European Showdown" of this men's basketball World Cup has a very high defensive intensity.
As soon as the match began, the two teams were locked in a stalemate. Serbia hit a three-pointer and then scored another to start the game 5-0, but then Schroeder and Wagner Jr. scored to close the score.
Not long after the game started, the Serbian men's basketball team suffered an accident, Dobrich stepped on German interior player Theis, left the court with a broken foot, and the team had to adjust. However, substitute Malinkovic became a surprise player, scoring nine points in a single quarter to help Serbia end the first quarter with a 26-23 lead.
In the second quarter, the Serbian men's basketball team took the lead in changing its tactics and tried to put more pressure on the German team with full court pressing, but the German team erased the point difference through a combination of inside and outside, and the two sides fought to 33 draws. After that, Serbia and Germany switched back to Bogdanovic and Schroeder, respectively, and in the ace-versus-ace matchup, the two sides did not give each other and the score alternately rose. It wasn't until Schroeder's mistake on the offensive end gave Serbia a chance that Bogdanovic took off from outside the three-point line to stretch the gap to four points again. However, in the last four minutes of the first half, Serbia suddenly "lost power" on the offensive end, and Schroeder seized the opportunity to overtake the score.
Schroeder led Germany to the final and has already set a team record.
At the end of the first half, Serbia tied the score with Bogdanovic's free throw, and the two sides tied at 47. At half-time statistics, Bogdanovic scored 15 points, while Germany's Schroeder and Wagner Jr. each scored 14 points. Serbia shot 46.2 percent from three-point range, while Germany also remained at 41.7 percent.
In the second half, Schroeder scored for Germany first, and then Bogdanovic returned with two points, and the two sides once again entered a stalemate. However, Serbia's shooting percentage from the outside has declined, resulting in their offensive efficiency being reduced, and Schroeder seized the opportunity to extend his lead to 12 points at one point. After the third quarter, Germany rewrote the score to 69-57 with a 22-10 offensive climax.
Schroeder performed exceptionally well in this men's basketball World Cup.
In the final quarter, Serbia tried to close the gap by counterattacking quickly. Under their tight defense, the Germans' hands also decreased, and with 4 and a half minutes left in the game, the gap was narrowed to 4 points. However, a bottom-corner three-pointer from Germany opened the gap to seven points.
As time went on, the Serbian players regained their strength in the last minute and a half, making consecutive kills to narrow the gap to three points again. And when the Serbian player missed that three-pointer who had a chance to equalize, Schroeder became a hero of Germany again, first hitting a free throw and then breaking through to score. When the final whistle blew the final whistle, Germany locked the score at 83-77.
In this way, the German team, led by Schroeder, once again made history. In fact, in the semifinals, Germany defeated the US men's basketball team for the first time in history to reach the final, which already set the best result of German basketball in the World Cup, and now, they have made this milestone even more dazzling. And Schroeder and Wagner Jr., who shined on the international stage, will also be expected to perform in the NBA next season.