OKC Thunder point guard Dennis Schroder and his German team finished the 2019 FIBA World Cup tournament with a victory over Team Canada.
After two devastatingly close losses by OKC Thunder point guard Dennis Schroder and his Team Germany to start the 2019 FIBA World Cup tournament the club finished strong with three consecutive victories.
It may not be what the German’s hoped for but the finish cemented the squad’s placement and guarantees they’ll be invited to participate in the wild card tournaments to determine the final four Olympic berths.
OKC Thunder guard Dennis Schroder won’t be participating in those wild card tournaments but they’ll be hoping to win one of these events in order to secure a berth to the 2020 Tokyo, Japan Olympics.
In yet another stellar performance by the OKC Thunder reserve point guard, he was the best player on the court for either side. Schroder came one assist shy of a triple-double and finished the tournament with three consecutive double-doubles.
In this outing, the Thunder guard delivered a stat line of 21 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists adding three steals and a block. Unfortunately, turnovers were once again an issue as he coughed up the ball five times. Most of his scoring came at the charity stripe where he connected on 10 of 12 opportunities to improve upon his lackluster five of 13 from the field or 38 percent.
Mavericks Maxi Kleber scored 20 points along with Robin Benzing (12 points) who were the only other double-digit scorers.
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As for the match, it was a see-saw battle which witnessed the German team taking the opening and closing frames while Canada took the middle two quarters. Schroder and company opened the match with a 17 to 12 point frame then lost the second quarter 19 to 21 to take a 36 to 33 point lead into half time.
After the break, the Canadians took the third quarter 23 to 20 but Team Germany won the final frame 26 to 20 to ensure the victory.
Much like Team Germany, the Canadian squad coached by NBA Finals champion Head Coach Nick Nurse had high expectations to win an Olympic berth. And although there are more than enough NBA Canadian players like the American squad one after another pulled their name from consideration.
Like Germany, the Canadian Team will hope to nab one of the four remaining Olympic berths. If successful the OKC Thunder could see two players (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort) in Toyko on Team Canada if they manage to gain an Olympic berth. In fact, the Canadians are one of the few National teams who could put an entire NBA roster on the court.
With their three victories to finish the tournament, the German team finished the classification round winning their Group P bracket and end up seeded 18th which was the second-highest of the teams who automatically played in the classification round.