Dennis Schröder Led Germany To The FIBA World Cup Gold Medal Over Serbia

After defeating Team USA on Friday, there was some wonder as to whether Germany would have any letdown in the gold medal game of the 2023 FIBA World Cup against Serbia. You could tell how much beating the Americans meant in their postgame celebration, but it became apparent early on Sunday that Germany had been able to quickly refocus on the task at hand.

In the first half, the two teams went back and forth in a game that remained level at 47-47 at the break, with both teams following the lead of their top stars as expected. Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner led the way early for Germany, while Bogdan Bogdanovic continued his sensational tournament for Serbia.

However, in the third quarter the Germans started to flash their lockdown defense, limiting Serbia to 10 points in the quarter, and followed that effort to pull away to a 12-point advantage. On the offensive end, Schröder left Serbia searching for answers for his pace in getting to the rim, collapsing the Serbia defense and, even when they did keep him from finishing himself, opening up Serbia in rotation for Germany’s crisp passing (that likewise killed the USA team) to pick them apart.

Serbia would battle back to close the deficit to one possession, with Bogdanovic (17 points) and Aleksa Avramovic (21 points to lead Serbia) pulling them back into the game.

With Serbia within a basket in the final minute, Schröder went to work, putting the dagger in with yet another drive and finish at the rim, as he authored an exceptional performance with 28 points to carry Germany to their first World Cup gold.

After some late free throws, the celebration was on for Germany after a 83-77 win, capping off a magical World Cup that saw them go undefeated through both group and knockout round play.

They were the most complete and consistent team at this year’s World Cup, able to win games that were low-scoring as well as shootouts, as evidenced by the vast difference in the scores of the semifinal and final. Their comfort in seemingly any kind of game or any situation was remarkable, led by veterans Schröder and Daniel Theis, with the Wagner brothers injecting some youth into the squad, and the likes of Andreas Obst and Johannes Voigtmann playing their roles to perfection around the stars.

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By: Robby Kalland
Title: Dennis Schröder Led Germany To The FIBA World Cup Gold Medal Over Serbia
Sourced From: uproxx.com/dimemag/germany-serbia-fiba-world-cup-gold-highlights-dennis-schroder/
Published Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2023 14:59:52 +0000