German basketball players: The DBB team between qualification and home World Cup

DThe animal world is an underestimated treasure trove of metaphors in sport, as is proven by numerous leading wolves, fighting pigs and even cobras from the athletes’ industry. And when a basketball game falls into the “hits and stabs” category that is popular with reporters, it is called a “dogfight.” The final game between the German basketball players in the World Cup qualifying tournament against Nigeria was not a pretty game, but it was a hard-fought, even downright mean game. The 81:73 (35:31) brought the women of the German Basketball Association (DBB) their fourth victory in a total of five appearances.

Not a bad result and who knows what a street fight like that won can be worth for further development in a crucial year for German women’s basketball. From September 4th to 13th, the sport’s elite will meet at the World Championships in Berlin, and the DBB selection has already been set for the home tournament. But the team of new national coach Olaf Lange, 53, was happy to complete the qualification in Lyon under demanding competition conditions: a mini-tournament within a week with second place at the end as preparation for a World Cup that is supposed to mark the big departure. What the German men have achieved with their current successful generation is what the women are also aiming for – or as DBB President Ingo Weiss put it in 2023 when the association secured the World Cup: “Now it’s the women’s turn!”

It is an interesting area of ​​tension in which the DBB women have been moving for several years. On the one hand, a group with recognition value has been found in USA legionnaires such as Leonie Fiebich, the Sabally sisters Nyara and Satou and Luisa Geiselsöder; a team with faces and good stories (Fiebich and Nyara Sabally won the championship in the US professional league WNBA); a bunch of pioneers who advanced to the quarterfinals in 2024 when a DBB women’s team took part in the Olympics for the first time – and who achieved their best result in 28 years with fifth place at the European Championships last year. And at the same time they know: There has to be more to it with all the quality and all the effort. You want a World Cup medal – is that realistic?

The potential that exists was also evident in Lyon in other games against South Korea (76:49), the Philippines (113:80) and Colombia (78:57). Such nations from the middle ranks of world basketball are no problem for Germany; the DBB women, led by Fiebich (15 points, eight assists), also ultimately found solutions against Nigeria’s physicality: thanks to passion and competitive toughness. “Emotionally, it is a very important victory for our team because this group had to prove itself,” said national coach Lange at MagentaSport. The emphasis was on this Group, i.e. the players he had available this time. He would have liked to see others on the floor, but with Satou Sabally, Marie Gülich and Geiselsöder, large parts of the regular starting lineup are currently missing due to injuries. Captain Gülich at least sent a signal by joining the team despite being out.

It’s not enough for the DBB selection against the best teams in women’s basketball

Above all, the lost duel against France (63:85) in Lyon underlined an impression that the Berlin-born Lange is now likely to have after he took over from Lisa Thomaidis just a few months ago: it is far from enough against the best in women’s basketball, but there are no routines in the new system based on speed of action. He “wanted to see how we do against teams where we are weak and where we have to get better,” said Lange after the France game. “I can take a lot from that.” He admitted what everyone saw (“we had no chance”), but pointed to progress: “There used to be moments when we stopped playing. That was different now, we’ve become better mentally.”

Lange, who looks back on a coaching career spanning over 30 years and has already coached the DBB women twice, has brought along a few radical tips. Following the US model, he usually plays without fixed positions, as national player Frieda Bühner revealed in an interview with the SZ. Everything should be in flow, the ball whizzes through your hands at rocket speed, every attack contains a multitude of options. Looks great when it works. Sometimes it seems chaotic when things are sloppy. Friends Geiselsöder and Fiebich recently confirmed that this acceleration tactic suits the players’ preferences and abilities.

The latter, now a secret captain, stood up for Lange as a coach at the association after the surprising separation from national coach Thomaidis (she prefers her job at college) and even asked him to take over. The distances were short, after all, Lange most recently served as an assistant coach at Fiebich’s club New York Liberty. “I thought about it a lot when I played in New York. It just fit,” explained Fiebich in the Sportschau. “He picks up the girls, but he also demands a lot. He knows exactly what he wants and makes clear statements. Nevertheless, he’s easy to talk to, he’s not unapproachable.”

People around the DBB also say that working with Lange has become even more professional: more preparation, more tactics, more attention to detail. To stick with the animal metaphors, the new national coach is not only a leader wolf, but also a worker bee. His next task: dissect the opponents in the preliminary round of the World Cup; the draw will take place on April 21st.