As expected, national basketball coach Gordon Herbert is relying on his world champions in the Olympic summer. On Tuesday (04.06.24), the Canadian nominated all twelve gold medal winners from Manila for the start of preparations on June 30, as well as Leon Kratzer (Paris Basketball), Oscar da Silva (FC Barcelona), Louis Olinde (Alba Berlin) and Nick Weiler-Babb (Bayern Munich).
“We have clearly decided on the twelve players from the World Cup team. We also decided on four other players so that we have options in the various positions,” said Herbert before starting his farewell tour. The 65-year-old is leaving the German Basketball Association (DBB) after the Summer Games in Paris.
Herbert wants to “reduce the squad to twelve players as soon as possible. Due to the long seasons, it will be crucial who is healthy and who is not.”
Wagner brothers, Theis and Schröder present
NBA finalist Maximilian Kleber (Dallas Mavericks), who had declared his withdrawal early on, is missing from the squad, as is Isaiah Hartenstein (New York Knicks). Instead, alongside captain Dennis Schröder (Brooklyn Nets), the brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic) and Daniel Theis (Los Angeles Clippers) from the NBA are back.
The DBB team will play five international matches before the Olympics. On July 6 (Cologne) and July 8 (Montpellier) they will play against France, on July 13 (Hamburg) against the Netherlands, on July 19 (Berlin) against Japan and finally on July 22 (London) in the dress rehearsal against the NBA stars from the USA.
The squad at a glance
Isaac Bonga, Niels Giffey, Andreas Obst, Nick Weiler-Babb (all Bayern Munich), Oscar da Silva (FC Barcelona/Spain), Justus Hollatz (Anadolu Istanbul/Turkey), David Krämer (Fundacion CB Granada/Spain), Leon Kratzer (Paris Basketball/France), Maodo Lo, Johannes Voigtmann (both Olimpia Milan/Italy), Louis Olinde, Johannes Thiemann (both Alba Berlin), Dennis Schröder (Brooklyn Nets/USA), Daniel Theis (Los Angeles Clippers/USA), Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner (both Orlando Magic/USA)
