Is Germany approaching European Championship form?

The focus of the German basketball players is mainly on the EURO Basket from the beginning of September, where the DBB giants first want to complete a successful preliminary round in Cologne. Before that, however, there are still two games in the World Cup qualification and the DBB Supercup on the agenda this weekend. In Hamburg, the German team will meet the Czech Republic team on Friday

There are many parallels in these two teams. The Czechs also play the preliminary round at EURO Basket in front of their home crowd. Both teams also competed at the Tokyo Olympics last year and had good results in the World Cup qualifiers. Their current condition is also almost identical.

Therefore, two teams will meet on equal terms in this semi-final. Therefore, it is not easy to make a concrete prediction in this duel between Germany and the Czech Republic, even if the betting providers tested are of the opinion that the German team must be considered the favourite in this duel.

The next match follows one day later. The winner of this duel will meet the winner of the match between Serbia and Italy in the final. For the German basketball players, it will be important to spark euphoria for the upcoming games and especially the European Championships with good matches at the Supercup. If that succeeds and the crowd is fully into it, then you can think about betting on a home win in this match between Germany and the Czech Republic.

Germany – Statistics & current form

The European Basketball Championships in Germany are the main goal for the team of national coach Gordon Herbert. However, the important World Cup qualifying games against Sweden and Slovenia are still on the agenda. The DBB Supercup is therefore the last test before the weeks of truth. Coach Gordon Herbert has almost completely nominated his European Championship squad so that there are no more excuses.

Seven wins in a row

The last few international matches were very successful for the German team, purely in terms of results. However, it has to be said that the opponents were not from the top shelf. Still, you first have to win seven international matches in a row. Sounds like you need to keep an eye on the odds for a German win in this semi-final between Germany and the Czech Republic.

Not all that glitters has been gold in the last two test matches, though. Against Belgium and the Netherlands, who are both well behind the German team in the FIBA ranking, there were only very narrow victories. Against the Belgians, the score was 87:83, and against the Dutch, Gordon Herbert had to be satisfied with a 68:66 victory after a strong defensive performance.

Before this Supercup, the national coach has reduced the squad to 14 players. Before the World Cup, two more have to be sorted out. Captain Robin Benzing also fell victim to the last cut. He is no longer in the squad, nor are Kenneth Ogbe and Leon Kratzer. Added to this are the absences of the injured Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga and the cancellation of Maximilian Kleber.

Predicted squad of Germany:
Giffey, Hollatz, Jallow, Krämer, Lo, Obst, Schröder, Sengfelder, Theis, Thiemann, Voigtmann, F. Wagner, Weiler-Babb, Wohlfahrt-Bottermann – coach: Herbert

Czech Republic – Statistics & current form

The Czechs want to aim high in the next weeks. At the EURO Basket, they get to play their preliminary round in front of their home crowd in Prague. Apart from the title contender from Serbia, there is no over team in this pool, so the move to Berlin for the main round should only be a formality. Likewise, qualification for the World Championships in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines should be doable.

Multiple exclamation marks from the Czechs

After all, the Czech team reached the quarter-finals at the 2019 World Cup in China and also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. In the FIBA ranking, the Czech Republic is even placed ahead of the German team. The current form is very good with five wins from the last five games, especially since they also had to play two very strong opponents in Croatia and Lithuania.

There may therefore be one or two experts who will predict a Czech victory before the clash between Germany and the Czech Republic. There was a more than convincing 95:83 victory against the Croats last Saturday in Pardubice. Especially Martin Peterka from the Braunschweig Lions was convincing with 18 points.

The lynchpin of the Czech game, however, is long-time NBA pro Tomas Satoransky, who is now under contract in Barcelona. It remains to be seen whether Vit Krejci will be part of the team at the Supercup in Hamburg. The point guard from Oklahoma City Thunder is said to have joined the team by the time of the European Championship, which makes the Czechs even more unpredictable.

Predicted squad of Czech Republic:
Auda, Karnik, Vesely, Pulpan, Hruban, Satoransky, Vyoral, Peterka, Bohacik, Sehnal, Palyza, Jelinek, Kriz, Kyzlink, Krejci – coach: Ginzburg

Germany – Czech Republic Direct comparison / H2H-Balance

Since 1999, the national teams from Germany and the Czech Republic have faced each other in a total of six duels. All of these games were won by the DBB men. Therefore, Gordon Herbert’s team is also favoured in this semi-final of the DBB Super Cup. This tournament also saw the last encounter between the two opponents.

A year ago, however, the Supercup was played in a group phase. Germany triumphed after defeating Italy, Tunisia and the Czechs. The DBB men won clearly against the Czech Republic with 95:62. But we can’t imagine that it will be similarly clear this Friday in the Barclays Arena.

Germany – Czech Republic Tip

The direct comparison makes it clear that Germany must be treated as favourites in this encounter. After all, the DBB men have won all their matches against the Czechs. However, the team of Israeli coach Ronen Ginzburg has been very strong recently and has won five matches in a row. Among others, they won against the strong teams from Lithuania and Croatia.

Germany even has seven victories to its credit, but did not have to play any opponents from the top shelf. The narrow victories against the Netherlands and Belgium were by no means impressive, even though Gordon Herbert has assembled a strong squad.

As another European Championship host, the Czech selection is just as euphoric and emotional as the German team. The conditions for both teams are almost identical in the next weeks until EURO Basket. We expect a close game and in the end decided to play the betting odds on a handicap win (+5.5) for the guests between Germany and the Czech Republic.