Germany hit the World Cup. They showed that they are not the only undefeated team in the tournament by chance and reached the final this Sunday in Manila (Philippines) after deservedly beating a troubled United States that did not know how to respond to the balanced German game, superior on the inside and efficient outside. For the first time in history Germany will fight for gold and for the second consecutive World Cup the Americans will not win the title, although of course here they can still fight for a medal and four years ago in China they made a fool of themselves and finished seventh. Although it is already known that for Americans anything other than winning is a fiasco. It is true that they usually put all their effort into the Games, in terms of squad and effort, but also that in this World Cup the majority of teams had casualties.
The defeat against Lithuania was already a warning that the young team led by Steve Kerr was vulnerable and Germany, with four players in NBA franchises, opened the channel showing its shortcomings. Above all, his lack of direction when he made mistakes, insisting again and again on throwing too soon, with little or no circulation. Meanwhile, the German team, which will play for gold on Sunday against Svetislav Pesic’s Serbia, dominated under the boards and always found a solution.
Obst (24 points), Franz Wagner (22) and Theis (21) pushed the rim again and again (94 points Germany at the end of the third quarter) and the expert Dennis Schröder, now with the Toronto Raptors, managed the tempos with wisdom . The Germans, after trailing by one at half-time, entered the final period ten points ahead.
A real test for Steve Kerr and his boys, despite the efforts of Reaves (21 points) and Edwards (23). But if they didn’t close the gap on defense there was little they would be able to do.
They tried by increasing the intensity without the ball, more with their hands than lowering their hips, and managed to give themselves a chance (107-108 with 1m37s left). But Obs hit a triple and Schröder continued it with a basket of two that aborted the American reaction.
This Sunday the old professor Svetislav Pesic awaits the Germans. The 74-year-old coach deactivated Catalan Jordi Fernández’s Canada and led his team to victory 95-86.
For the former Barça coach in two stages, it means returning as coach to a World Cup final 21 years later. Then, in Indianapolis, in 2002, he led Serbia to the title, which defeated Argentina. Canada came in as one of the sensations of the championship, but from the beginning Serbia took the lead.
Pesic’s stiletto was Atlanta Hawks forward Bogdan Bogdanovic, author of 23 points, and who became the top three-pointer in World Cup history, surpassing Juan Carlos Navarro.
With more than four decades on the bench, the coach has coached some of the greatest players in the Balkans such as Divac, Djordjevic, Radja, Bodiroga, Kukoc, Bogdanovic and Stojakovic. Like Serbia, Pesic always returns, since his debut with the board dates back to 1980, when he took charge of Bosna Sarajevo. When this happened, his colleague on the Canadian bench Jordi Fernández had two years left to be born.
Serbia taught a lesson and Barrett’s 23 points, Brooks’ 16 and Alexander’s 15 were useless against an opponent that played more as a team and had 5 players with 10 or more points. That, collective good work, is always the objective of the technicians of the school of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia returns to a final when it entered the tournament with the absences of Jokic, Milic, Kalinic, Bjelica and Nedovic. By the way, Pesic also won a final as German coach. It was in the 1993 Eurobasket. 30 years ago.
