The Growth of German Basketball: "I think we made basketball a little sexier in Germany"
The Growth of German Basketball
After Dirk Nowitzki retired in 2019, many Germans and pundits feared losing their star big man would spell disaster for the national team and would be placed back in the dark ages of German basketball. After not qualifying in 2012 and 2016, questions arose if they could ever reach the same heights without Dirk, however, the new age German national team looks to be on the rise.
Already, the birth of the Dennis Schroeder era has given new life.
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Germany placed 8th, losing to Slovenia and Luka Doncic, the best they had performed in the Games since 1992. Two years later, Dennis Schroeder led Germany with 22 and 7 to a bronze in the EuroBasket. He would comment on Germany's resurgence, "I think we made basketball a little sexier in Germany." Already in the span of the past few years, the team has rivaled Dirk's era of German Basketball: only qualifying to the Olympics once during his playing career, a Bronze in 2002 FIBA World Championship and a Silver in the 2005 EuroBasket.
The achievements cannot be placed on the shoulders of Dennis Schroeder alone. Schroeder talked about the teams recent performance, "I think the trend is going in the right direction. We have a super team, a lot of quality guys who play in big leagues. We won a lot of new fans who were in the arena and supported us. And I hope it gets bigger."
With other top players including Franz and Mo Wagner, Daniel Theis, our own Nick Weiler-Babb, Johannes Voigtmann and Jonas Botterman. Germany has become known for their impeccable shooting.
This direction remarked by Schroeder has been a struggle to initiate in the past. As basketball is considered Germans' fifth top sport to participate and only 4.2% from 2017-2019 are heavily interested in basketball (statista).
So far it has paid off...
Bayern's U19 Basketball team were NBBL 2017 and 2019 champs, in 2020 runner ups and 2022 semifinalists.
Many of Bayern's own players contributed to a German 5th place in the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in 2017.
Hopefully, the youths recent success points Germany towards the right direction into becoming a European powerhouse.
Bayern hopes to continue their pursuit in developing Germany's top talent and making basketball more appealing.
What are your thoughts on the potential ceiling for the upcoming future of the German national team? Will Germany ever be considered a contender for Gold? How can German basketball expand? And how can Germany and Bayern incentivize young German hoopers to stay in Germany's basketball system?
https://basketnews.com/news-178189-dirk-nowitzki-is-certain-german-basketball-has-a-rosy-future.html
https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2023/1/12/23533932/fc-bayern-munich-basketball-president-herbert-hainer-2022-euro-league-marko-pesic-europe-germany
https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/bayern-munich-open-new-youth-academy-fc-bayern-campus-457366.jsp
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/171072/umfrage/sportarten-fuer-die-besonderes-interesse-besteht/
I think that something that could make basketball an even more popular sport in Germany is if the German teams focused more deeply on developing their players. If their clubs have top-tier academies, analogous to Dortmund's soccer academy, then they can groom the highest talent and help basketball's upward trajectory.
ReplyDelete@Niku I couldn't agree more! Germany and Bayern need to apply the grass roots approach to their basketball development. They cannot rely on foreign players to raise the play and excitement inside of Germany, the process must be done from creating products inside of Germany to compete with the rest of the world and for Bayern to become a powerhouse in Europe.
ReplyDelete-Collin Johnson
I think that Germany has a high potential for their national team in the upcoming years. Not only has Dirk Nowitzki inspired countless Germans to play basketball, but they have a solid roster with the likes of Dennis Schroeder and the two young, upcoming Wagner brothers. Mo and Franz Wagner both represent the effect of Dirk Nowitzki on German basketball, and for that reason I think the promising youth of Germany can help them succeed in the future years to come.
ReplyDelete@Yash having the Wagner Bros has been huge for German basketball, both are young prospects that understand not only germany basketball, but the highest level of basketball at the NBA. Franz is really that guy averaging almost 15 a game as a rookie and Moe was named MVP for the 2020 Olympic Qualifying Round. Germany's youth is looking promising with these two at the helm!
DeleteAfter reading this, it looks like German national team is on the rise, with Dennis Scroeder on the team they have a great future ahead. They also have other young successful German stars on the team as well. Germany seems to have potential to become a contender for gold, if they keep recruiting young stars and encouraging them to join the Basketball system. I feel that is becoming popular among many baskeball leagues and the NBA and this is key to developing a strong team. Germany needs to also develop a strong infrastructure for their team to reach what they want and can in the future. Overall, they have a great potential to be one of the best teams, by utilizing all that was said in this blog!
ReplyDeleteHey @Fenerbahce! So glad you guys commented! Thanks for you support of German basketball, we wish the same for Turkey! We are definitely at a crossroads right now where we are doing the best we can given the popularity of our sport in Germany. However, if our continued success brings in new fans we may have a chance, in the future to contend for gold. How is the future looking for Turkish basketball?
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I really enjoyed reading this post and hope Germany is able to build upon their youth basketball even more! I think there is a great chance that within the next couple decades Germany could be a real contender for a gold medal. As recently as even 2016 it seemed absurd that any other country might beat the United States in Olympic basketball, but with the last 4 MVPs of the NBA being international players this trend is seeming to change. With young, international stars like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic dominating the league, it seems unlikely that the United States continue to dominate other countries in the same way they have in the Olympics.
ReplyDelete@Xander This gets me really excited for the future of basketball! With all these international talents dominating the NBA and placing pressure on once untouchable USA Olympic basketball team. Hopefully this means in the future, USA's best players will participate in playing in the Olympics once again to defend their title as being 'the home of basketball' or the best basketball players originate. It has been sad to see some of USA's most recent international rosters not having the exciting talent and them actually struggling unlike in the past. The Olympic being competitive is good for everyone, especially when I'm bored during the Summer and want more basketball content!
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This post is awesome. I love the outlook by Schroeder on how they made German basketball sexier. As an American, all I hear on social media is how sports are changing and how style of play are becoming different. It is cool to see that it isn't just in America. The game is changing in the same way in Germany (more shooting, people being know to score from farther out instead of old school basketball that was played tighter and closer to the hoop). I think Germany stands a good chance against high competitors if they continue this style of play.
ReplyDelete- Fenerbache (Alec Riggle)
@Alec Basketball is in good hand with the current German team and it's youth. In the past, Germany was unable to handle teams like the US because they just didn't have the firepower to compete, however, now their play is similar to US ball. They also have the benefit of playing more often with each other and under the FIBA rules. This gives me they a chance if they play a really good game to knock off a powerhouse like USA.
Delete-Collin
you did a great job here and I really enjoyed reading your post! When I think of German basketball I can really only think of Dirk and Dennis but I really hope they continue to grow and develop the game overseas which it seems like they are striving for. Although I love seeing the U.S win when it comes to the Olympics, I would like to see someone consistently challenge them to make it more engaging. As Xander commented with the recent surge of young international superstars in the NBA I definitely think in the coming years the U.S could face some tough competition.
ReplyDelete@Harrison I totally agree with you and Xander's perspective! It would intriguing to have a serious challenge for the U.S. if Germany basketball continues to develop and close the skill/talent gap. However, I think the average US basketball player is still a mile away from the average German basketball player. Hopefully in the future, international team can develop and produce talent across the bored to make games interesting.
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I think this is a genius idea. I really like the idea of clubs starting these academy's to help kids learn the sport but also it can help them in life. Most of these academy's give kids a better life as well as giving them the skills to be a good and social person but also them teaching the game and to develop them. If Germany can keep doing this for the next decade or so I do not see why they would not be able to produce high caliber talent like Dirk Nowitzki or Dennis Schroeder. What do you think?
ReplyDelete@Charlie I think the gap may still be longer than a decade to serious compete, however, Germany has gotten to the point where they have the ability if they play a great game can knock off a US team that doesn't have their best talent wanting to play and non existent chemistry. But out of 10 games, US is going to take almost all of them at this point. I still think Germany's development and popularity has still got a while to go, where they can grab more young gifted talents to play basketball instead of other sports and fund their development properly.
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I definitely think that Bayern's strategy of developing their youth academy is the best thing for the future of German basketball, and while it is a long term solution to more success on the court, I think it is the safest way to ensure success and development. Additionally, having role models for the youth, such as Nowitzki, Schröder, and the Wagner brothers, is great in that kids will aspire to be like them. If these German pros could be active in the German community then the love for basketball will spread and the heavy interest will rise from 4.2%.
ReplyDelete@Eli I agree with your solution! Germany basketball as currently comprised with Dennis, the Wagners Brothers and Weiler were to get really hot from 3, they may be able to compete for Gold. However, they are still a bit away from maintaining this success with such a limited pool of German's interesting in basketball. It will come down to if German players are able to make basketball cool enough for the youth to want to play and entertaining enough for fans to fund the development of the BBL.
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Wow, this is amazing news! It's so exciting to see the growth of German basketball and the rise of the new age national team. Dennis Schroeder and the team have done an incredible job, and it's great to see the efforts of Bayern Munich paying off with their youth academy. With the impressive talent pool, I think Germany has a lot of potential to become a European powerhouse in basketball. I'm optimistic that Germany can reach new heights and even contend for a gold medal in the future.
ReplyDelete@Gregory isn't it interesting how the Germany are able to be fairly formidable with their talent, although there talent pool isn't very large. An exciting phenomena: if germans were able to increase their popularity in the sport by double their current to 8 percent, how much more likely is it to have a superstar in the nba and how much better is the average german basketball player because of competition. Overall, like you said, Germany has high ceiling.
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Matthew Andelsman
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting article and I think that German basketball team is rapidly improving. Both Wagners and Schroder offer a lot of variety in their offensive game and can make the team hard to stop. I think it's great that Bayern is committing a lot of money to grow the game of basketball in Germany. Basketball is rapidly growing across the world as the NBA has tried to make the game more global so I believe this is a good investment that can push Germany towards more success. I think it is possible that Germany can make deep runs in tournaments in the future but I don't think they will be able to defeat the United States any time soon.
@Matthew I totally agree! Look at my comment I sent to Charlie, I think we talk a lot about the similar points concerning Germany's current competitiveness toward USA basketball.
DeleteThis is a very interesting article as it discusses the future of one the rapidly growing basketball countries in the world. There is significant potential for basketball in Germany, as very skilled players are starting to develop from Germany such as Dirk Nowitzki, Dennis Schroeder or the Wagner brothers. To help secure this rapid development, the sport should keep being promoted to attract as many players as possible. As competition continuously increases, the skill and talent will exponentially improve.
ReplyDelete@ Blake Your last statement is interesting. USA used to send their college athletes, however, we started to struggle. Then USA sent their superstars or the 'Dream Team' to compete. Now, Internationally there are plentiful of superstars and the average skill of international players continues to rise. With America's best player being semi-resentful to playing in the Olympics fearing injury, international teams are slowly closing the gap between the US.
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It is great to see Dennis Schroeder taking on such a large role with the German team and helping them to reach heights they have not seen in over thirty years. I was not aware that the team had so much talent such as Franz and Mo Wagner as well as Daniel Theis, it certainly seems to me that this team will become a real competitor in years to come. I wonder how the German youth population embraces the sport and if it is rapidly growing/beloved or a less popular sport, I would imagine it is quite popular given the emergence of these players. Do you think that having some type of youth programs such as we see in the soccer world where players are intensely developed from a young age would aid the sport to grow and in turn improve basketball in this country?
ReplyDelete@Jackson that an interesting dilemma for Germans to have youth programs like the one's in soccer because overall German youth development system is not strong enough where some of the youths get shipped to other countries, losing some of the possible chemistry building aspects of staying within their nearby cities in Germany. If Germany development system gets strong enough where they can afford their top talent to be housed inside of their own country in several different club this can produce a real competitive german basketball team.
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