New coach Herbert: 30-35 players could play for Germany within next year, Schröder committed to EuroBasket 2022
Germany's new head coach Gordon Herbert said as many as 35 players could represent the country in the next year. He also said Dennis Schröder is committed to playing at FIBA EuroBasket 2022.
Germany’s newly-appointed head coach Gordon Herbert said as many as 35 players could represent the country in the FIBA windows in the build-up to FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and beyond in the next year. The playcaller also said Dennis Schröder is committed to playing next summer in Germany after he sat out of the 2020 Olympics due to insurance issues.
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New Germany head coach Gordon Herbert has been touring the country to better see what pool of players is available to him in the build-up to FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and beyond. The new playcaller, who was given the Germany job on September 6, was in Braunschweig on Saturday, Octobert 16 to watch Basketball Löwen Braunschweig face NINERS Chemnitz.
Both teams have a number of players who could be in the mix to play in the next FIBA window in late November, including Robin Amaize, David Krämer, Luc van Slooten and the Tischler twins Brandon and Nicholas from Braunschweig as well as Nelson Weidemann from Chemnitz.
Herbert spoke to MagentaSport about the current state of his scouting for the national team.
“I talked to Robin (Amaize) a little bit. I’m looking at four or five players in this game. Right now, I am just going around Germany and getting a view of different players and come November there are a lot of moving parts. We need to see who is healthy and playing well and who fits,” said Herbert, whose first game as Germany head coach will be the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifier against Estonia on November 25, 2021 in Nürnberg.
“I have talked to about 45 players. In the next year, there could be 30-35 players represent Germany with the natioanl team. With the situation with the windows, with EuroLeague, the NBA, contracts, there are a lot of moving parts and we have to go window to window to EuroBasket.”
Herbert was also asked if he had talked to Germany’s biggest current star Dennis Schröder, and the coach said the pair have already talked at length.
“I had a good conversation with Dennis. We met for almost three hours. I’ve contacted all the NBA players. I was actually planning on going to the United States and Canada in the beginning of October but I couldn’t get a waiver to go into the US. So I will probably go in the beginning of December. I plan on going to the States twice just to meet with the players. In this job you have to communicate with them and build relationships,” the coach said.
Herbert said Schröder definitely will be a major part of his plans and he told MagentaSport that the Boston Celtics point guard is committed to the national team for the summer. That is big news after Schröder missed the 2020 Olympics and the Tokyo qualifiers last summer due to an insurance issue.
“He’s a difference maker on the baketblall floor. I was really taken aback by our conversation. You hear some things, but I had a great feeling with him. We came out of there with him saying he’s 100 percent committed to representing Germany in the summer time, and we’ll go from there. He wants to represent Germany, it’s an honor for him to represent his country. So I’m really looking forward to having him on the basketball team.”
While Schröder’s spot on the team is set if he arrives, Herbert said there will be a lot of competition for the power forward and center positions.
“There are a lot of good players at the four and five. If all of the players come and are healthy and ready to play, there might be a couple of really good players that don’t make the EuroBasket team. That’s the way it is,” he said. “But it's a good problem to have.”
Herbert was also asked for his thoughts about Oscar da Silva and how he has performed in his brief time at ALBA Berlin.
“He was very, very talented before he went to the States (to play collegiate basketball at Stanford). The last two weeks he has played outstanding for Berlin. Oscar and (Jo) Voigtmann are in the Top 10 in the EuroLeague in index. We’re going to have to see what the situation is like come August. We could have four different rosters.”
The coach said he really hasn’t yet figured out what kind of playing style he will incorporate for the German side when he gets the team together.
“I still have to see what they did at Olympic … how they played. We only have 2.5 days of practice in Nürnberg. We will have to keep it very simple. We want to do one or two things really well. We have a philosophy we want to put in. We’re going to have to be able to adjust that from window to window depending on what our personel is," Herbert concluded.
Germany will be co-hosting FIBA EuroBasket 2022, where they have been drawn into Group B and will face France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Slovenia and Hungary - with the top four teams advancing to the knockout stage.
Germany have been drawn into Group D of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers and will take on Estonia, Poland and Israel. Three of the four teams will move onto the second round of group games.
Herbert coached many years in Germany, with Wurzburg, Frankfurt and Berlin. He also served as a coach with the Georgian national team and took over the Canada team in February 2018 and guided them to qualification for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. Since China 2019 World Cup, Herbert served as an assistant coach in the Canadian national team under head coach Nick Nurse.