Olympis: Basketball: Basketball players want to go from Lille via Paris to the top of the world

There are 219 kilometers between Lille and Paris. It takes just an hour from the city on the Belgian border to the French capital by TGV, and about twice as long by car. For the German basketball players, the big goal at the Olympics is the journey from the French north to the global metropolis – regardless of whether by bus or train. Because the group games in Olympic gymnastics are still taking place in Lille. Only those who reach the knockout round are allowed to move to Paris later.

“We’re still on the ‘Road to Paris’, we haven’t quite made it yet,” explained winger Nyara Sabally as part of the German Basketball Association’s (DBB) Olympic preparations. The team is very proud to be at the games. Now they really want to experience the atmosphere in Paris and in the Olympic village, said the 24-year-old, who has been playing for New York Liberty in the US professional league WNBA for two years.

Heavy group caught

The problem: At their Olympic premiere, the DBB women have to prevail in an absolutely fantastic group. The opponents in the preliminary round are the long-time Olympic champions from the USA, who have always won gold since the Atlanta Games in 1996, and Japan, silver medalists at the Games in Tokyo in 2001. At the start this Monday (1.30 p.m.), the Germans have to » “Away game” against the reigning European champions. Many fans from the neighboring country, a few kilometers away, are expected in Lille against Belgium.

National coach Lisa Thomaidis was correspondingly cautious: “I don’t know what our chances are. We’re playing against three of the best teams in the world.” The Canadian sees the Olympics as a fantastic opportunity to compete against the strongest nations. But she also emphasized the steep path her basketball players still have to reach the top of the world. »A year ago we were number 36 in the world rankings. We are now in 19th place. We are way ahead of our plan. We’re not even supposed to be at the games yet.”

It was only through an outstanding qualifying tournament in February that her team secured its first Olympic ticket. In the last game, the Germans prevailed in a thriller against the hosts from Brazil – number eight in the world. For the national coach, the Olympics are still just the beginning: “The games should be our springboard to be among the top ten in the world by the time of the home World Cup in 2026.” A look at the preparation for the Olympics makes it clear why Thomaidis is trying to curb the euphoria a little brake. There was only one defeat in six test matches. But it was clearly against the USA with 57:84 and showed that the German team is still finding itself.

Complicated preparation

This is also due to the top star of the DBB team: Satou Sabally played her first game in more than five months in the test against the Americans. The 26-year-old injured her left shoulder at the qualifying tournament in Brazil and had to undergo surgery, which is why she missed the first half of the season with her WNBA club in Dallas. Her lack of match practice was clearly noticeable against the USA: she only hit 3 of 17 shots. Her sister Nyara and her teammate in New York, Leonie Fiebich, played in the US league until the end. That’s why they were only able to join the German team late in the preparation.

This is unfortunate for the national coaches: “We love that our players are now playing at the highest level in the best league in the world. But of course it’s a challenge when they only come to us a week before the start of the Olympics.” But that’s also the case with the other national teams that field WNBA players.

However, Thomaidis still has to deal with another upheaval at the Olympics: long-time captain Svenja Brunckhorst is no longer there in the important position of development player. The 32-year-old, who will end her career after the games, prefers to take part in the 3×3 basketball competition in the heart of Paris together with national player Sonja Greinacher. Brunckhorst actually wanted to take part in both tournaments, but the DBB didn’t allow that. Logistically, that would also have been difficult.

Debutante quickly convinces

Instead, the development player for the German women is now called Alexis Peterson. The American-born player has only been eligible to play for a few weeks, but she was already able to impress during the preparation. In the test against Nigeria in Berlin, she stood out with 22 points and eight assists. “She does everything we hoped for,” said coach Thomaidis, and center Luisa Geiselsöder added: “You can’t stop Lex. She’s a player who helps us a lot on the field.”

The fast 28-year-old will have to do that so that the German basketball players can make their dream of Paris come true. The many good individual parts of the German team, from the stars from the WNBA, to the new playmaker, to the established forces around center Marie Gülich must now mesh together. Nyara Sabally emphasized that there is great belief in this despite the complicated preparation: “We go into every game to win it. I think we have a very strong team for that.”

Above all, the younger Sabally sister sees the size of the team – five of the twelve players are over 1.90 meters tall – and the associated flexibility in defense as an advantage and even ventured a prediction beyond the preliminary round: “If you are out of the group is out, it feels easier.” Luisa Geiselsöder even went one step further: “We want to achieve the best and if there is a medal, that would be a nice souvenir.” It would be the next souvenir for the German basketball players on their extremely fast journey Rise to the top of the world.