Pre-Game
The two clear favorites of group E faced off in the 2nd game of the group stage. Germany beat Japan convincingly in their 1st game (81-63) and Australia also handled business by winning against Finland (98-72). The matchup would not only determine the likely winner of this group but also have implications on the 2nd round group stage, where the results from the first group stage (all 3 games) are taken into the 2nd round. So potentially going 3-0 without a loss into round 2 makes a difference in comparison to going 2-1 and carrying a loss over.
The Game
The game was a close and hard fought battle with a slim edge for Germany (86-83), that came down to the final plays. Germany had the better start, building their largest lead of 11 points early (16-5, mid 1st). Australia would regain the lead late in the 3rd Qtr (65-59) but a 13-1 run for the Germans saw them back in front (72-66) with 8 minutes to play.
The 4th quarter was a back and forth battle and tied at 81 it was a driving layup from Dennis Schröder that saw Germany take a 2pt lead. That was followed by Australia´s Josh Giddey going just 1-2 at the foul line to make it 82-83. Back to back turnovers from Schröder and Patty Mills left 4 seconds on the clock where Germany found Maodo Lo for a layup from the inbounds play to give them a 3 pt lead. Australia´s final half-court 3-pointer, to send it to overtime by Josh Giddey, missed the target to end the game giving Germany the 86-83 win.
What we saw from Germany:
- Missing Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner due to an ankle injury it would be clear that another scorer had to rise up and it was Maodo Lo, off the bench, with 20 points on 4/8 from the 3pt line
- Dennis Schröder had a big night with 30 PTs, 8 ASTs & 4 STLs on 10/19 shooting. He was their leader to took full control offensively, made plays and also took on the 2nd half defensive assignment on Patty Mills
- Germany´s shooting balance was almost even (31 2s & 30 3s) and super efficient inside the arc with 64.5%. They got to the rim a lot, especially in the 2nd half when they punished Australia´s switching defense time after time
- Both teams defended well as the shotmaking in this game was just superb but Germany found a way to create 9 steals and Australia had just 4, a slight difference which makes an impact in a close game that comes down to possession per possession.
- Sometimes the deciding factor in a game are nuances like free throws, where Germany made 12/15 (80%) while Australia made just 9/16 (56.2%) and left 7 potential points off the score-board
- Germany got solid contributions outside of Schröder and Lo with Isaac Bonga scoring 9 PTs & 3 ASTs, Johannes Voigtmann had 7 PTs, 6 REBs & 4 ASTs, Daniel Theis finished with 9 PTs & 4 REBs
What we saw from Australia:
- Apart from a slow start that they recovered from very fast thanks to Patty Mills scoring their first 13 points Australia played a very good game. The only issue outside of the above mentioned free throws was their defense at times, where they switched a bit too much against Schröder and Lo and got burned
- Offensively they focused on scoring inside and attacking the rim (23/40 on 2s, 57.5%) but also shot the 3-pointer very well (9/19, 47.4%)
- They won the rebounding battle 32-27, dished out 18 assists and limited their turnovers to just 13, all really solid numbers
- They had some problems distributing their offense against a stingy German defense. Only Patty Mills (21 PTs, 6 ASTs) and Josh Giddey (17 PTs) were in double figures and Giddey couldn´t facilitate like he usually does and finished with only 3 ASTs
- Without the injured Jock Landale as their main Center they rotated between Nick Kay and Xavier Cooks in the 4th quarter a lot and the more mobile Cooks was a +12 in the game while Nick Kay had trouble switching (as mentioned above) and was a -12 in the game. More Cooks and less Kay could´ve been a solution in the 4th Qtr but that´s easily said in hindsight
Going Forward
Germany took care of business in their last group game against Finland, winning 101-75 and moved into the 2nd group stage undefeated at 3-0. The Germans now face Slovenia (3-0 record) with All-NBA 1st Teamer Luka Doncic and Georgia (2-1 record), looking to secure one of the top two spots.
Australia faced an all or nothing game against Japan and handled it well, winning 109-89 to advance with a 2-1 record. Australia also faces Georgia and Slovenia and will look to secure one of the top 2 spots.
This 2nd group stage will be interesting as Georgia will likely be overmatched against both Australia and Germany and might not win a game in the 2nd round. That leaves the matchups of Slovenia against Germany and Australia as the likely deciders in the group with only 2 of those 3 teams having a chance to advance to the quarterfinals and keeping their hopes for a medal alive. It will be an interesting 2nd round in Okinawa where the pressure and tension will surely rise as the competition intensifies.
