Berlin connection sparks Germany past France in emotional opener

COLOGNE (Germany) - Hosts Germany withstood the high expectations of opening night of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and fended off France with a crucial 76-63 victory in Group B.

An emotional evening in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,017 spectators started with the German Basketball Federation retiring the number 14 jersey of Dirk Nowizki. A trio of players with strong connections to Berlin made sure that the country's inspirational hero would not have his night soured.

 
Turning point: Germany led by nine points in the second quarter but France came back and took the lead early in the third quarter. Spurred on by the crowd, Germany poured it on with a 19-4 run to take control of the game with a 57-43 cushion. France did not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

TCL Player of the Game: Maodo Lo was named TCL Player of the Game as he collected 13 points, 5 assists, 2 steals without turning the ball once. But Lo wasn't the only ALBA Berlin player who helped carry Germany to victory as his teammate Johannes Thiemann had 14 points and 6 rebounds while Berlin native and former team captain Niels Giffey added 13 points.

Stats Don't Lie: Germany committed only nine turnovers and made all of their free throws to go with 58 percent on two-pointers. Germany also showed their depth as their bench out-scored France's reserves 48-27.

Bottom Line: Germany head into the rest day with the momentum of starting the tournament on a high note against a tough opponent, and Gordie Herbert's team will look to make it 2-0 on Saturday against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Things do not get much easier for France as Vincent Collet's group will take on a Lithuania team that is also 0-1 after they lost a battle to Slovenia.

They Said: "I thought our attitude on the defensive end was outstanding. And number two, I thought the bench came in and really played well - Thiemann, Giffey, Lo, Theis gave us outstanding minutes. It was an outstanding crowd, an amazing atmosphere, unbelievable for us to be able to play and win. We have a chance to put Germany on the map this summer with this EuroBasket in Germany. I think people saw good players who played together and fought. We’re trying to establish an identity, something that our fans can relate to." - Germany coach Gordie Herbert

"We did our job today. The guys coming off the bench did a really good job, played with a lot of energy. We have one victory and we have a second game in two days."
- Dennis Schroder, Germany

"That's how we want to be defined, as a defensive team with a lot of passion and energy and effort. We brought that today. With this defense we can cover up bad stretches on offense." - Johannes Voigtmann, Germany

"We didn't start the right way. We had a good defensive effort unfortunately we couldn’t get an advantage because offensively we couldn’t get an offensive rhythm. Moreover we had so many turnovers to give the Germans an advantage. In the second half, we started really well and even took the lead, but we made some more turnovers which is what we wanted to avoid." - France coach Vincent Collet

"We still gotta focus and work. I think watching the tape is gonna be huge for us to bounce back in the next game. It was definitely not the result we were looking for." - Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, France

"Congrats to the German team. It was a tough loss against a tough team. They played well. One of our weaknesses was our turnovers. At halftime we had 11 turnovers. Even though we tried to come back I think we should have fouled more in the fourth quarter to slow it down. It was a tough game and now we will try to focus on the next one." - Guerschon Yabusele, France

 
FIBA