European Championship qualification: Basketball players lose on national coaching debut in Sweden

Basketball world champion Germany suffered a defeat in national coach Álex Mumbrú’s debut. In the ultimately dramatic 72:73 (37:37) in Sweden, even an outstanding performance from David Krämer, who contributed 43 points, was not enough to win. The German selection had to do without all NBA professionals and players from the Euroleague at the European Championship qualifier in Stockholm, as they are also required in their club teams.

In addition to Krämer, Dylan Osetkowski (17) was also in good form for the losing favorite. Krämer from the Spanish club CB 1939 Canarias achieved the second best offensive performance in the history of the German national team. Only Dirk Nowitzki has been more successful in a game in the past with 47 points.

“It would be nicer if we had won. I try to do my best every game,” said Krämer at Magentasport: “We lacked the energy in the end. That was a hard defeat.” Mumbrú added: “Of course I wanted to win. We played well for a quarter, but we didn’t make good decisions in the end.”

The second leg is already scheduled for Monday in Heidelberg, in which the Germans are already under pressure. The best three teams in the group of four will qualify for the 2025 European Championships in Finland, Poland, Cyprus and Latvia. Mumbrú has succeeded successful coach Gordon Herbert, who moved to German champions Bayern Munich.

Kramer cannot be stopped

In front of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria in the audience, only world champion Krämer shone in the first quarter. The 27-year-old scored 16 of the first 18 German points and was unstoppable by the hosts. In the first section, center Tibor Pleiß made his comeback in the national jersey after more than eight years. The 35-year-old had once played alongside Dirk Nowitzki, and now Mumbrú gave him the chance to prove himself again for Germany after a long absence.

It wasn’t easy on the return, because the well-rehearsed Swedes got off to a better start. Without the NBA stars around Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner, many newcomers had to play. Pleiß was by far the most experienced player with his 105 international games before throw-off. The Scandinavians led 26:18 at the first quarter break and shortly afterwards were ahead by ten points for the first time thanks to a good offensive. Only Krämer knew how to convince; his teammates were unable to take advantage of even the best opportunities for points for too long.

The big goal is the European Championships with all the stars

In the first competitive game for Germany after fourth place at the Olympics in Paris, an improvement in performance was enough to equalize at halftime. On the sidelines, Mumbrú followed the action meticulously. The 45-year-old has won almost everything as a player. World champion in 2006, Olympic silver medal in 2008, European champion in 2009 – he belonged to that golden generation in Spain that dominated everything for years. A circumstance that is intended to compensate for his limited experience as a coach. At the start, the focus is on the European Championship qualification, in which Germany had one win and one defeat before the game in Sweden.

Nevertheless, we should go to the European Championships next year. Then Mumbrú wants to work with the best squad for the first time. After the games against Sweden, he will travel to the USA in preparation to speak to the German NBA professionals. Even without the stars, there was unsurprisingly a lack of interaction between the newly assembled team. Just four German players scored points by the end of the third quarter, but the guests still led 56:55 before the final period. It remained dramatic until the end – with the better ending for Sweden.