By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BERLIN, Germany – When Berlin was hosting its first EuroLeague Final Four in 2009, Per Günther could enjoy it while climbing up the ladders in Ulm; seven years later, in 2016, he was still there. His playing chapter in the orange jersey lasted for 14 years, until 2022.
Now, two years after his retirement, he’s living his first Final Four as media. And he feels lucky enough to have made this jump across the court. “Everybody keeps telling me I’m the luckiest person in the world because I came into as a basketball media at EuroBasket 2022 when Germany all of a sudden won the bronze medal, then they won the World Cup”, he first said to Eurohoops.
Moving from national team to club action, he’s excited for his first Final Four. “Now I come to my first EuroLeague Final Four and it’s one of the most-anticipated ones with amazing fans coming in, I’m so excited. I’m also a little nervous that everything is gonna go fine, especially Fenerbahce and Panathinaikos which is gonna be absolutely crazy. I can’t wait to experience it”, he also added.
Having played nine years in the EuroCup in ratiopharm Ulm’s backcourt, he loves “to watch ball handlers and small guards”. When asked tactics-wise which are the things he’s most excited to analyze on the sideline, working for German broadcast Magenta Sport, he pointed at élite guards.
Starting with the Defensive Player of the Year. “The whole Thomas Walkup situation is so interesting to me. As a floor general, Olympiacos will need him to control the pace, to not turn the ball over. But at the same time, Real will make him shoot. To watch somebody how he approaches the game, and how he goes into it to find the balance. What is he gonna do if he misses the first two, as he’s struggling with the shot right now? All these little things, for me it’s amazing”, he first commented.
He also found time to share his opinion on Kendrick Nunn’s impact on Panathinaikos. “And then watch a guy like Kendrick Nunn. I can’t believe how good he was in the last playoff games, adjusting so fast. I was fairly – not critical -, but skeptical that he was gonna come in and had this impact. Can he reproduce because he had a game 5 on his belt, or is this gonna be a stage where he will need some adjustments?”, Per Günther also added.
Future stars and an Olympic summer
Berlin is home not only to the EuroLeague Final Four this weekend, but also to the ANGT Finals featuring some of the most interesting prospects in the basketball landscape worldwide. “I didn’t know ANGT was around. I was having my coffee and I stumbled into the best youth basketball players in the world. This is already an amazing event, and I’m very excited”, he first said.
Among some of the most important youth systems in Europe, there’s also “his” ratiopharm Ulm. “It’s amazing. It looks almost weird if you read the names of the teams out loud like Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, and then ratiopharm Ulm. But I can see that process, I was there for 14 years so I can see them grow. Everybody is excited about a couple of German guys. It’s still where the game is so pure, and they’re so excited to win. That’s already financial, but it’s just a bunch of kids playing together and trying to win. That brings a different sense of fun for me to watch”, Per Günther commented.
Finally, touching on the trajectory Germany has had in the past two years, he shared his joy for what they brought home both in EuroBasket and in the World Cup. “I was so impressed last year when I watched the German national team. I saw all the preseason and preparation games”, he first said.
“You could see, and this is not a cliche, from the first second when they came in, first, they were proud of what they accomplished at EuroBasket. But I think over the summer, over the year, they were disappointed because they could have won gold. They were up 10 against Spain in 2022 and they let it slip. They came in with a full-glazer focus”, he added.
“They didn’t play five bad minutes in preseason, so we were already expecting big things from the team. Obviously maybe not the championship”, he also said before touching on their experience this summer at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“I don’t know if they can recreate that, it’s gonna be so difficult. They have leaders who set the tone like Dennis and Moritz Wagner, and they will try to reproduce that hunger. But it will be so difficult, they’re still an amazing team. They might be even a little stronger than last year, but to have the same mindset… I don’t know”, ratiopharm Ulm’s legend finally commented to Eurohoops.
PHOTO CREDIT: EuroCup