By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Reigning World champions Germany have high ambitions for the tournament. They will play in Tampere (Group B) against hosts Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Sweden, and Montenegro, who they face in the opener.
Team captain and leader Dennis Schröder shared his expectations ahead of the first match and spoke about his thoughts on the competition in general.
“We feel good. We had good preparation, great games, and we’re excited to get started tomorrow. The opener is against Montenegro, and we all know how dangerous they can be, especially offensively. I think in EuroBasket in general, every team is dangerous. But at the end of the day, we try to focus on ourselves—what we do. We always try to dictate the game from the first seconds and maintain that throughout the 40 minutes. We’re really focusing on what we can do and what we bring to the table, but of course, we know that everybody is a threat in Europe.”
Germany faced a sudden issue ahead of the opener, with head coach Alex Mumbru being hospitalized in Tampere due to an acute infection. However, Schröder believes the team will remain unaffected, with assistant coach Alan Ibrahimagic stepping in.
“At the end of the day, we all know what the team has done over the last couple of years. Alan coached the U18 European champions, made history with them, and the U19 team became second in the World Cup. So this is just another bump in the road. Hopefully, Alex Mumbru gets healthy quickly because health is the most important thing, and we’ll take care of everything until he gets back.”
Schröder couldn’t provide any new updates on Mumbru’s condition.
“I have been texting with him, but as far as I know, his condition is stable. And yeah, hopefully, he comes back soon,” Schröder concluded at the press conference in Tampere.