Tough Group for Germany at the European Championship
This year, the European Basketball Championship is being held in Lithuania (as we reported). It’s a good choice, because Lithuanians are basketball-crazy: hoops hang in every schoolyard and just about every playground in Lithuania, and Lithuanian basketball players are gradually but surely becoming a major export to Europe’s top leagues and even the US-based NBA, the ultimate destination for any basketball player in the world.
The German national basketball team also successfully qualified for the 2011 European Basketball Championship, which will take place in Lithuania from August 31 to September 18, 2011. Coach Dirk Bauermann’s squad (he also serves as coach of ambitious second-division side FC Bayern Munich) has been handed a tough draw: in the preliminary round, Germany’s big men will face Italy, Serbia, France, Latvia and the defending runners-up in Group B. Head coach Dirk Bauermann called the draw “a tough challenge.” Commenting on the German team’s prospects, Bauermann said: “We’ll have to fight very hard.”
Tough Group for Germany at the European Championship
Date: 30/09/2026
EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania: Germany’s fortunes depend entirely on superstar Nowitzki
Germany’s men’s team performance at the 2011 European Basketball Championship in Lithuania will depend above all on whether the two German NBA pros, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman, take part. As with the Italian and French national teams, which also draw on players from the NBA, Germany is considerably stronger with the two NBA pros than it would be without them. Bauermann is optimistic that Würzburg native Nowitzki, who is under contract with the Dallas Mavericks, will represent Germany at the championship in Lithuania. If both Nowitzki and Kaman are in Germany’s squad for the championship in Lithuania, Bauermann says the men’s team’s goal will be to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.
Christian Bathen
