Germany hit the World Cup. He showed that he is not the only undefeated team in the tournament by chance and is in tomorrow's final in Manila (Philippines) after deservedly overcoming a beleaguered United States who could not respond to the balanced German game , superior on the inside and efficient on the outside. For the first time in history, Germany will fight for gold and for the second consecutive World Cup the Americans will not get the title, although they can still fight for a medal; four years ago in China they made a fool of themselves and finished seventh. Although it is already known that for Americans everything that is not winning is a fiasco. It is true that they usually put all the meat on the grill at the Games, in terms of staff and effort, but also that in this World Cup most of the selections had casualties.
The defeat against Lithuania was already a warning that the young team led by Steve Kerr was vulnerable and Germany, with four players in NBA franchises, opened the channel at times, showing their shortcomings. Especially his lack of direction when bad data came, stuttering again and again to launch very early, with little or no circulation. Meanwhile, the German team, who will play for gold against Svetislav Pesic's Serbia, dominated under the board and always found a solution.
Obst (24 points), Franz Wagner (22) and Theis (21) nailed the hoop again and again (94 points Germany at the end of the third quarter) and the expert Dennis Schröder, now in the Toronto Raptors, controlled the tempos with wisdom The Germans, after trailing by one at the break (60-59), reached the last period with ten points.
Quite a trial by fire for Steve Kerr and his boys, despite the efforts of Reaves (21 points) and Edwards (23). But if they didn't close the gap in defense, they could do little.
They tried to increase the intensity without the ball, more with their hands than by lowering their hips, and managed to give themselves a chance (107-108 with 1m37s left). But Obs nailed a 3-pointer and Schröder followed it up with a two-pointer that ended the U.S.'s comeback. "We are no longer in 1992. Now everyone is very good and it is not easy to win the Olympic Games or the World Cup," declared Steve Kerr after the match.
This Sunday the old professor Svetislav Pesic awaits the Germans. The 74-year-old coach shut down Canada from Catalan Jordi Fernández and led his team to victory 95-86.
For the one who coached Barça in two stages, it means returning as a coach to a World Cup final 21 years later. Then, in Indianapolis, in 2002, he led Serbia to the title, which beat Argentina.
Canada was launched and as one of the sensations of the championship, but from the beginning Serbia took the lead. Pesic's stiletto was Atlanta Hawks winger Bogdan Bogdanovic, author of 23 points, who became the top three-pointer in World Cup history, surpassing Juan Carlos Navarro.
With more than four decades on the bench, the coach has managed some of the biggest players in the Balkans such as Divac, Djordjevic, Radja, Bodiroga, Kukoc, Bogdanovic or Stojakovic. Like Serbia, Pesic always returns, as his debut on the board dates back to 1980, when he took charge of Bosna in Sarajevo. When this happened, his colleague on the Canadian bench was two years away from being born.
Serbia taught a lesson and Barrett's 23 points, Brooks' 16 and Alexander's 15 were of no use against an opponent that played more as a team. This, the collective track, is always the objective of the technicians of the school of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia returns to a final when it entered the tournament with Jokic, Milic, Kalinic, Bjelica or Nedovic out. And by the way, Pesic also won a final as the German coach. It was at the 1993 Eurobasket. 30 years ago.
