Superman Doncic, Slovenia silence doubters, hand Germany first loss

COLOGNE (Germany) - Slovenia don't take kindly to doubters and the reigning champs showed why they are major candidates to repeat at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 with a strong 88-80 victory over Germany, handing the Group B hosts their first loss.

The whispers of doubt had crept in surrounding Slovenia after losing to Germany 90-71 on August 28 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers and then coming off a 97-93 defeat at the hands of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday.

But Luka Doncic took Slovenia on his broad shoulders and carried them home in Superman style.

 

Turning Point: Slovenia began to take control late in the first quarter and built a 14-point lead 31-17 and the gap was 44-36 at the break. The Slovenian side scored eight straight points spanning the final two quarters for a double-digit lead 66-55. Germany fought to within five points only to have Doncic make enough plays to keep Germany at bay. The final seconds were marked by German captain Dennis Schroder being ejected from the game after an unsportsmanlike foul with 10 seconds to play.

TCL Player of the Game: Luka Doncic was in superhero form as he collected 36 points on 14-of-25 shots to go with 10 rebounds and 4 assists. The 36 points were the best tally for a Slovenian in a EuroBasket game, topping the previous mark of 35 from Goran Dragic in the 2017 Final against Serbia.

 Stats Don't Lie: Slovenia held Germany to just 39 percent shooting and made 61 percent from two-point range. The Balkan nation also scored 38 points in the paint compared to 18 for Germany.

Bottom Line: The standings in the group will be decided on the final game day and Slovenia face a major test against France, who are also 3-1. Germany meanwhile look to rebound and travel to Berlin on a high note as they face already-eliminated and winless Hungary.

They Said: "The first game we played there, they were really better. They killed us on the rebounds. But today we fought, we fought really good. The whole team was ready. Everybody who stepped on the court fought, if they played one minute or 30. So I’m really proud of this team." - Luka Doncic, Slovenia

"We forgot about the last game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today we were the old Slovenia team. We showed fight from the first to last minute. We had a great leader today in Luka, who was on a mission. We really needed that game because our goal is to be first in the group stage." - Luka Blazic, Slovenia 

"Luka had an amazing game offensively and he did a great job defensively as well, but I think we really came together as a team. Everybody did their job and I think it's a great bounce back from last week.This reminded us this is how we have to play if we want to compete in this tournament." - Mike Tobey, Slovenia

"It was a hard fought game for both teams. We had a lot of mistakes. On the offensive end we didn’t push the ball. Luka had a good game, made a lot of shots. We lost by eight. We will take all the positives from this and move on." - Dennis Schroder, Germany

"We got behind the eight ball right away in the first quarter and were playing catch-up the whole game. We fought, we never gave up. It took a little while to get into the game. We came back a couple of times. We just couldn’t get over the hump. Our players fought well and we’ll learn from this and move on." - Germany coach Gordie Herbert

  
FIBA