Germany Takes the World Basketball Crown!!!

It was an incredible night of top-notch basketball, with a well-played, epic final game; and an entertaining and very enlightening finals night package. Germany and Serbia tested each other to the very last minute, but in the end, only one had to emerge winner. And when the final buzzer sounded, it was Germany finally imposing its will on a stubborn, yet worthy adversary in Serbia. Germany won 83-77, but not after a herculian, heroic Serbian effort. While for the bronze medal, Team USA made a 4-point miracle comeback in the dying seconds of regular time to tie Canada, but only to fizzle out in overtime play. Canada won 127-118 in an expected high-scoring ballgame, relegating the world’s most powerful basketball nation USA to 4th place.

The Germany – Serbia finals was a basketball spectacle showcasing the best in defense, the best in team offense and the subtle coaching chess moves that would appeal to high IQ basketball fans. As expected, both teams showcased a highly-physical, tough-as-nails defense. The score was tied 49-all at halftime, despite Serbia’s having lost their top forward Ognjen Dobric barely 2 minutes after the start of the game due to an unfortunate twisted ankle. Dobric was supposed to be Serbia’s main foil against Germany’s top-gun – and eventual tournament MVP – Dennis Schroder. His absence in the Serbian rotation was considered a significant blow to the Serb cause.

Germany then went on a tear in the 3rd quarter, building up an 11-point advantage when the Serbians lost their focus in a 4-minute span. Aleksa Avramovic tried to take over the game for the Serbians almost singlehandedly, scoring points, providing pesky defense on Shroder, and giving help defense when the Serbians decided to play small-ball in the final quarter. (I would venture to say that Aleksa has the talents to be a starting point guard in the NBA today. He reminds me a bit of the late Drazen Petrovic, who could shoot from outside, and could slash the middle with ease; but Aleksa is a far better defender than Drazen.)

Unfortunately, Serbia’s main man, Bogdan Bogdanovic, was under the weather, although he played well in the first half. Hounded no end by Schroder, he simply faded in the critical last minutes, hence Aleksa had to take over. But the 12-point advantage at the last quarter was just too big a lead to erase. With more than a minute left, Germany’s lead had been cut down to only 3 due mainly through Aleksa’s heroics. But Serbia failed to take advantage, and then Dennis took matters to his own hands. A powerful drive, more free throws, and the Germans would win pulling away.

As expected, the game would be characterized by good, tough defense; and patient, find-the-open-man, create-the-size-and-space-advantage team offense. It was a wonderful experience watching 2 unselfish teams go head-to-head, although the Serbians lost their focus on this briefly in the 3rd quarter. Were it not for that singular loss of focus, the Serbians could have been fighting from an equal footing in the final minutes.

As for the fight for the bronze medal, Shai Gilgeous Alexander took control of the game in overtime, after Team USA’s fantastic miracle comeback in regular time. It was simply a show of individual talent as Team USA worked on nothing but isolation plays in the end, as though each player on the hardcourt wanted to showcase his abilities for a possible hefty contract. This is where Team USA lost. While they obviously had much, much better NBA talents than Canada, SGA made sure the Canadians would demonstrate a much better TEAM effort.

The world’s greatest basketball nation, USA, lost due to the following reasons: a) a notorious lack of sense of urgency that would see them always take the backseat at the start, before settling down to defend more intensely in the endgame; b) an evident lack of size which led to the debacle in the rebounds stats; c) an over-reliance on glitz-and-glam iso offense, with little or practically no regard for the defense; and d) simple overconfidence. The late great Kobe Bryant said: “Hard work outweighs talent – everytime.” He prophesied the coming of age of basketball in countries across the globe. He knew that if Team USA didn’t work hard enough, then other countries would surely make them pay in the near future.

Indeed, basketball is a team game. It is not a game of individual talents, but of how these individual talents contribute to a whole. Germany’s ascencion as the world champions in basketball is a clear lesson in team chemistry, in recognizing team hierarchy, in respecting team authority, in discipline and more. In short, basketball will always be a beautiful team game. Making it a “me” game will be disrespectful, and will not lead you far.

Kudos to the German team. Much respect to the Serbians as well. Congratulations to the organizers of the FIBA World Cup 2023! And see you, global basketball fans, in the Olympics!

Cover photo courtesy of Tempo. Other courtesy of FIBA. Basketball, Philippine Star and Tiebreaker Times.