LILLE (France) - Everybody loves the underdog, as 27,000 fans at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium cheered Japan on through 40 minutes. However, the underdog could not pull of an upset on the first day of the Olympics.
Germany picked up where they left off last summer, storming through a 97-77 win to kick start their campaign towards third straight podium finish. They were third at FIBA EuroBasket 2022, won the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, and look dominant in Paris 2024, too.
Turning point
There wasn't a specific turning point, as Germany grabbed an early lead and kept balancing back-and-forth between single and double digits. However, the biggest highlight of the game belonged to Japan, when Rui Hachimura went up for a poster dunk.
That did not slow down Gordon Herbert's men. They kept going with their well-oiled machine of an offense, scoring 52 points in the first half, then charging towards a 19-point lead with seven minutes left to play, more than enough to avoid any kind of late game drama.
Game hero
For a part of the second half, Germany kept going back to Franz Wagner every time down the floor, and once he gets the ball on that left 45 spot, he's just picking ways to beat you one-on-one or two-on-two.
Franz kept delivering to keep Die Mannschaft on top, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while also grabbing 6 rebounds.
Stats don't lie
With two Wagners (Franz and Moritz), and two Johanneses (Thiemann and Voigtmann), plus Daniel Theis, coach Herbert has one of the most powerful frontcourts out there.
Japan were always going to be troubled by those guys, and they could not keep up for 40 minutes, as Germany created a 46-20 advantage in points in the paint.
Also, the fact that they can spread the minutes among them helped Germany to a 38-7 margin in points from the bench.
Bottom line
It's the same old, same old for Germany, Dennis Schroder playing the point god with 13 points and 12 assists, Theis and Moritz Wagner combining for 33 points between them, and Isaac Bonga coming off the bench for 11. Perfect way to start the Olympics, getting the job down without any stress at all.
As for Japan, they can be proud of their effort. Rui Hachimura finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Yuta Watanabe had 16, while Josh Hawkinson collected 13 points and 11 rebounds. The crowd enjoyed the way Tom Hovasse runs this team, but they are now hoping they can upset that same crowd, as they have the hosts France up next.
They said
"(Facing Germany) is a great challenge, but I love that. They are really good. We know their plays probably just as well as they do, once we see a sign, we got it, but it's just stopping it. That's it. It's just stopping what they do, that German engineering, man... They are just very methodical at what they do, and then their bench is deep. Daniel Theis goes out, and Moe Wagner comes in, that's a different challenge. Franz, you can't stop him in the NBA, it's hard for us to stop him, as well. But I thought we did well, though. We hung in there, we didn't back down, we made them work for it. We're getting better, and we're on the right path." - Japan head coach Tom Hovasse
"We had a good couple of weeks of preparation, we knew it was going to be a hard game. Japan never give up, even when they were down 15, they came back to 8 or something. So we knew we couldn't relax, we couldn't save any energy because they play 40 minutes. We did a very good job afterwards. But I think one of our biggest strengths is that we never underestimate opponents." - Daniel Theis, Germany
We know what we are capable of - Dennis Schroder
"This is the biggest tournament in the world. There's a lot of quality people, players and talents in this tournament. But at the same time, we know what we are capable too, just try to go game by game, stay as a team, enjoy and take every game separately and try to get the win." - Dennis Schroder, Germany
Quick notes
This was Germany's second best scoring game in Olympic history. They had 99 points against Nigeria in 2021
Daniel Theis had 18 points on 100 percent shooting from the field (7/7) and the free throw line (2/2). The last player to score at least 18 without a miss was Dwyane Wade against China in 2008 (19pts, 7/7 FG, 5/5 FT)
Rui Hachimura is the second Japanese player with multiple double-doubles, this was the second one in his Olympic career. Norihiko Kitahara also had two double-doubles for Japan, but Hachimura became the first one to get 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in a single game
FIBA