Basketball World Cup 2023, final on Sunday, 10.09.2023
At a time when fears are running rampant in Germany that it will disappoint across the board at the upcoming European Football Championship 2024 in its own country and, moreover, that hardly anything is going right at junior level and with the DFB women, a small glimmer of hope is flickering on the horizon.
But it is precisely this “small glimmer of hope” that could soon light up the fidgety sports sky above the Federal Republic.
If my Germany-Serbia bet is correct – and I’m sure it will be – then you can not only get great odds with German betting companies, but also be happy about “the first star” in basketball!
European Champion (1993), Vice European Champion (2005), European Championship third (2022) and soon World Champion (2023)? Could this be the sequence of the greatest successes of the German national basketball team on the international stage from now on?
Meanwhile, I look back on the semifinal pairings with both a laughing and a crying eye.
Because in both my USA Germany tip and my Serbia Canada tip, I was able to successfully bring through my placed sports bet with the respective sports betting provider in both cases….
However, there would have been so much more possible, for example, I would have trusted the DBB selection not only a dignified performance, but straight to the victory over the basketball great power USA
At the right time Moritz Wagner returned to the national team! But it was his brother Franz who stole the show on Friday with 22 points.
Dennis Schröder, who oscillates somewhere between light and shadow at this World Cup, fortunately also had a sunny day against the USA and sank baskets worth 17 points, while he also distinguished himself as a strong pacemaker with his 9 assists.
It was a heart-stopping final, with the North Americans making up quite a bit of ground in the final period, but ultimately not quite able to make up for the lead the DBB boys had built in the 3rd quarter.
On the other side now await the Serbs, who – and this cannot be repeated often enough – have advanced to the final without their superstar Nikola Jokic.
Serbia won against Canada with 95:86 once again by an outstanding work on the board. If you don’t have long stretchers yourself to stand up to the Balkan ballers in the battle for the free ball, then you don’t even need to compete against them.
The Serbs dominated the rebound duel against the Maple Leafs with 33:22, although they committed a lot of unnecessary ball losses with 17 turnovers.
Good that Moritz Wagner is fit in time for the DBB selection. Because together with brother Franz, the task now is to keep Nikola Milutinov in check in the fight for rebounds – in this point, Germany is clearly better positioned than Canada.
But while the Germans are physically more capable of putting up more resistance at the board than the Canadians, their skills in terms of game-building could also pay off.
Provided, of course, Dennis Schröder has another day like he did against Canada – and not like he did against Latvia. But at least the DBB team can play a perfect game if they want to.
The Serbs, on the other hand, lack a point guard with good hands and overview, so they continue to depend on strong work on the board as well as their tremendous scoring ability in their effective one-dimensionality so far.
This calculation of the Balkan ballers could well work out – after all, they have advanced to the final with this approach. But Germany still has all the means at its disposal to become world champions.
The betting providers know that, too, because according to the Germany Serbia odds, you can count on win odds of about 1.83 to 1.95 on average using a sports betting app.
Although there is only a marginal difference in the odds between the two possible 1/2 scenarios, I still believe that the DBB team will not get a better opportunity to become world champions in the near future.
Germany Serbia Final Tip: German basketball fans won’t like to remember their team’s 56:83 dismantling against Serbia almost exactly a year ago in the DBB Supercup Final.
However, one should be careful not to compare pears with apples here. Because the personnel situation for GER is much more pleasant on Sunday.
In contrast to the aforementioned defeat, Dennis Schröder and Moritz Wagner – albeit still a bit banged up – will be with them this time.
On the other hand, the best player on the floor that night with 22 points, Nikola Jokic, will be missing due to injury, as mentioned.
My Germany Serbia tip: GER will be world champion!
