Final stop Paris-Bercy. The miraculous Olympic journey of the women’s national basketball team came to an end on Wednesday. After victories over European champions Belgium and Japan, silver medal winners from Tokyo 2021, the French women stopped the players of national coach Lisa Thomaidis. The 71:84 defeat in the quarterfinals in front of 13,000 spectators was no surprise. Germany is ranked 29th in the world rankings. France is in ninth place.
“I think we’ve come a long way,” said center Marie Gülich, “but this defeat has also shown us our weaknesses and what we need to work on.” The German Basketball Association’s (DBB) project to lead its selection team to the top of the world is only just beginning. However, the association is counting on rapid development and has organized two major tournaments for the next two years. In 2025, part of the preliminary round of the European Championship will be played in Hamburg. In 2026, the World Championship will be in Berlin.
More athletic, faster, more aggressive
What the Germans need to take the next step was clearly evident against France. The French team’s advantage was already apparent in the first quarter: more athletic, faster, more decisive under the basket.
The German selection played on equal terms with the favorites in the first quarter, but both initially scored points in very different ways. Point guard Alexis Peterson (15 points) represented the Germans’ game of trying to play from the outside.
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But inside, under the basket? Two hits from eleven attempts in the first ten minutes (15 of 40 in total) reflected a lack of finishing, while France converted seven of eleven two-point shots in this phase (20/38).
The ability to pass to teammates in all positions made it easier for the French build-up players to advance the ball throughout the game because, thanks to a clean passing game, they were not forced to play solo and could patiently let the ball run.
Sabally cornered
The DBB women, on the other hand, fell into the trap again and again in the offensive against an aggressive swearing, making 13 of the 20 turnovers already in the first half (33:45).
Far too much. Satou Sabally, who was made for difficult moments with her assertiveness as a winger, allowed herself to be cornered too often, losing one ball after another: two shots before halftime, two points – from free throws. Only in the last few minutes did she add another ten.
Before the quarterfinals, Sabally averaged 21.7 points in three games: “I’m sorry I couldn’t help the team today.” She had only been able to play a match again shortly before the tournament after a shoulder injury. The Dallas Wings winger didn’t look fit. With a more effective game through the centers at the beginning, she might have been free to find her game.
There was no relief from the bench. France had more depth to offer. Six players scored three-pointers, Marine Johannès (24) shone with a strong rate (56 percent). 53 of the 83 points were scored by this extended “second five.” The German team scored 22 – two at a time.
Lisa Thomaidis did not go beyond a small rotation with seven Germans. And yet there were moments when the game could have turned. Because Nyara Sabally, the most successful German (20), recovered from a concussion, at least scored from the free throw line (15), France did not pull away.
But every time the Germans seemed to be on their way to getting into a rhythm, they failed because of themselves. Another ball loss, another missed layup. If you want to reach the semi-finals, you can’t afford to make too many mistakes. “We have the talent,” said Marie Gülich (11), “we saw that in the tournament. We just have to put it together. It’s a question of experience.”
