Germany – Canada
Friendly Game
Berlin, August 9, 19:20 CET
The basketball world could witness as early as Wednesday in Berlin, why Canada is among the favorites this summer, if not the main candidate - for the title of world champions.
The fact that the famous guard Jamal Murray will not be with the team for the first friendly game during the preparations for the World Cup, away to Germany, does not overly worry anyone in the Canadian team. Murray, who became the NBA champion in June and was one of the key players on the Denver Nuggets' road to the title, is recovering from an injury. He will not be with the national team at least for the next ten days. Nevertheless, what a quality team, with numerous NBA stars Canada has!
It is clear that the main offensive option will be guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander, who in the previous NBA season had as many as 31.4 points and 5.5 assists per game! Small Forward RJ Barrett shone for the New York Knicks (19.6 points and five rebounds per game), just like forward Dillon Brooks in the Memphis Grizzlies jersey (14.3 points per game). The names of exceptional athletes and fighters like Phil and Thomas Scrubb, Luguentz Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dwight Powell and Kelly Olynyk absolutely guarantee that Canada has an attacking potential better than any selection at this World championship, which starts on August 25.
Players like Gilgeous Alexander will insist on quick execution with a lot of penetration under the hoop, so Canada is expected to play on a high number of possessions - thus, with an atypically high average attacks per game for FIBA basketball games.
On the other hand, it seems that ž Germany is an absolutely ideal opponent at the moment, that such a game should be played at a fast pace. The Germans were among the teams that played the most effective basketball at Eurobasket last year. The team is without major changes, all the key players are there - and Germany's coach Gordon Herbert (interestingly, he has a Canadian as well as a Finnish passport) will not give up on the recognizable game system.
The game of Germany will depend a lot on the inspiration of playmaker Dennis Schroder, NBA star from Toronto Raptors. Far from being the only dominant attacking option - forward Franz Wagner is only 21 years old, and last season he had close to 19 points per game for the Orlando Magic in the NBA.
There is also an excellent performer from the Euroleague, Johannes Voigtmann at the power forward position, and experienced Daniel Theis at the center position... It seems that Germany's weakness is primarily a shorter rotation compared to teams like Canada. Regardless, whoever is on the court for the Germans - quick play and three-point shooting early in the offense will be the goal.
The Germans easily defeated Sweden 87:68 in the first test before the World Cup, in a match played on August 5. Schroder scored 17 points in less than 27 minutes on the court, and Wagner scored 15 points in the victory. Now they are expected to play with more minutes.
Overall, the duel between these two teams guarantees spectacular basketball with a large number of points. Canada will certainly look for a more "classic" transition with penetration under the basket, while the Germans will shoot more for three points... Since the game is being played in Berlin and Germany team has more experience playing together, we cannot talk about the clear favorite to win this friendly game. However, there is an excellent chance that both teams score over 85, or even over 90 points in this basketball spectacle.