So what are peoples views on the prospects for Germany?
I hope Dirk decides to play - do you think he will?
What about Kaman?
Who are the other stars that can shine?
Personally I think it will be really tough for Germany but DN plays then their chances must double <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> Having said that, even without him, Lativa, Russia and the qualifying team will all be pretty beatable so it will be a highly competitive group!
I really like Jagla as a player as I watch a lot of ACB and he impressed me last year but maybe a little less effective this time around
General opinions are that Dirk won't play. That said, Kaman won't player either, since he said that he'd only play if Dirk played.
Quote:Jagla's Life Enriched By Basketball
Jan Jagla is only 27 years old but has already represented Germany at a FIBA World Championship, a EuroBasket and an Olympic Games.
A four-year player at Penn State in the United States, the Berlin-born big man returned to Europe to play professionally and has competed in Greece, Germany and Turkey and is now in his second stint in Spain.
The 2.13m Jagla is currently on the books of one of the most fashionable clubs on the continent, DKV Joventut, a team that is fourth in the ACB and qualified once again for the Copa del Rey.
Basketball has given Jagla a chance to travel around the world.
"The great thing about it is you are seeing so many different cultures, so many different people," Jagla said.
Basketball World News interviewed Jagla in Badalona on behalf of FIBA Europe.
FIBA Europe: Jan, you're in your second season at DKV. How has your game changed since moving to Spain's ACB and how do you describe your role with this club?
Jagla: It's the top level in Europe, if not the world, so you have to adapt and mold your game into what the team needs. I've been trying to do that, work on my defensive skills, hit some open jump shots and just try to do whatever the team needs at the time.
FIBA Europe: This team was really good last year, winning the Copa del Rey and the ULEB Cup. What is this team like now compared to last season when the team had Rudy Fernandez?
Jagla: It's a different team, definitely. A lot of new characters, a lot of new players. But I think we have kind of found ourselves now. We're working a lot better on defense as a team. We still have to work to be a better team on offense, I think, to really be on top of our game. But I think we've come a long way since the start of the season and are beating some good teams. If we keep doing this, keep playing team basketball, I think we can be really good.
FIBA Europe: During the summer, we're always talking about you as a German national team player and now we find you on a team that has players from different national teams. At DKV, you have Ricky Rubio of Spain, Henk Norel of the Netherlands, Luka Bogdanovic of Serbia, Simas Jasaitis of Lithuania. There are Americans like Demond Mallet and Bracey Wright and a Frenchman, too, in Jerome Moiso. How are you able to blend as a team with players coming from so many different countries and so many different national teams?
Jagla: I think it's pretty easy. First of all, you do it since the first day you start playing basketball. There are different nationalities in the beginning, and as you progress through the ranks and as you get to the professional level, there are players from all over the world. I think it's pretty easy, especially with this crowd we have here (at DKV) - a lot of young guys. Everyone just has fun, everyone enjoys basketball so I think it's really easy to form a team with the type of players that we have and the type of characters that the team brought here ... I always feel like we're closer together when you play on a club team than you are with the guys on the national team. I think that's what's important, that everyone likes each other, everyone tries to make each other better.
FIBA Europe: Playing at the Olympics last year in China must have been one of the high points of your career.
Jagla: Absolutely. Phenomenal. To be able to go there, to live in the Olympic village, see the other athletes, be a part of a tournament that is so global, that is so different than anything else on so many levels. Even the World Championship, the European Championship can't compare. There are people from different sports, different backgrounds. Everything is so much bigger, so much more commercial that you can't experience on any other level.
FIBA Europe: Was there one thing in particular that happened last summer at the Olympics that, when you are retired you will look back and think, "Wow, I can't believe that happened"?
Jagla: Sometimes we'd just sit in the cafeteria and look at the other athletes and meet new people, meet people from your home country. Like handball players. You've seen them on TV and they've seen you on TV but there is no common ground. But then at the Olympics, you eat lunch together. It's just such a different feel to it. Just sitting there, making contact with other people - that's one of the great things about it.
FIBA Europe: You played basketball in the United States and have played professionally in countries like Turkey and Spain. Did going to China change your opinions about the country, or dispel any preconceived notions?
Jagla: The great thing about it is you are seeing so many different cultures, so many different people. Hearing what people have to say about different topics is amazing. That's one thing that basketball has given me and I'll always be grateful for. To be able to see the world and travel, and meet people at that level where you're not the tourist, but you are there. You have a common goal and you're talking to people one-on-one. Two years ago, we had already been to China with the national team and we played at the World Championship in Japan, so that was my first experience out there and it was really interesting. It's great to see how people live, how they do things.
FIBA Europe: How did the addition of American Chris Kaman, whose grandparents were German, affect team chemistry last year? How did you feel about it?
Jagla: Chris Kaman was an addition to our team. Anytime you can add a top-level player from the NBA to your team is a good thing. For him, it was a little different - first time in Europe, first time on the European basketball scene. It was something to adapt to for him. The NBA is such a close-knit community and everyone knows what's going on. Everyone kind of does their own thing but comes together for the games. To experience the European thing where you have a roommate wherever you go, everyone eats together and that kind of stuff. The coach is the boss and whatever he says goes. It's not just, "I scored 30 points last night so I'm going to do what I want to do today." I think that was very interesting for him to see but overall it was great to have him in the team. Having him and Dirk (Nowitzki) under the basket was phenomenal.
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Hard defense was always a key for Germany to win. But there was always a big boost in offense in Dirk. If Nowitzki is not playing in Poland they are not the same team.
The problem for Germany is lack of new talents. Requirement to have at least 1 German player in a team in their domestic league does not help. And as it was [url="http://http"]stated by AmareSTAT[/url] those German players don't get any decent minutes. It will hit the team badly once the veterans retire.
I might be lucky enough to speak to Dirk in the next week or two so I guess I will be trying to persuade him to come. Its hard though - asking a player that has been asked every single question ever <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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I think the Kaman thing is the most interesting for me. Whether Dirk can have more pressure because the suggestion is that if he doesnt play then neither will Kaman. I think that is a strange one.
I always struggle to understand players not wanting to play in big tournaments but I guess the body needs a rest sometimes and the NBA season is a long one
Would be great for the tournament if he gave a glimmer of light that he might!
The issue of up and coming German players is a good one. It will be interesting to see how they develop in the next 2-3 years
I also think maybe for not this board but elsewhere, to do a list of teams on the up (maybe G
and teams maybe falling down a level
BTW are you FIBA's Paul Nilsen?
Yes Rikhardur
Hope that isnt a problem....
<img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bag.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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[quote name='Paul Nilsen' date='15 January 2009 - 10:27 AM' timestamp='1232008067' post='13747']Yes Rikhardur
Hope that isnt a problem....
<img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bag.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
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Of course not <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> Welcome aboard! Lucky you to talk to Dirk in a few days time <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':thup:' />
I was wondering if it is possible for Germany to make a big move for Brad Oleson of AG Fuenlabrada for Eurobasket?
He is ripping up the ACB right now and I think qualifies with a German passport obtained a few years ago....
Might be interesting to see if that develops and what his thoughts on this are!
Quote:Nowitzki And Kaman Still Unknowns For Germany
Germany coach Dirk Bauermann still isn't certain if Los Angeles Clipper center Chris Kaman or Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki will play at the EuroBasket this summer.
Kaman, whose great grandparents were German, applied for and received his passport in time for the last summer's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and helped the country reach the Beijing Games.
"It is now too early to make definitive predictions and because of that, I ask for understanding," said Bauermann on the website of the German Basketball Federation.
"What is certain is that this summer, we will see some new faces in the national team.
"I believe that we have in Germany a number of interesting young players who can make the leap ..."
Germany earned a spot at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland by finishing in the top seven of the Final Round that took place in Spain two years ago.
They are in Group B with defending champions Russia, Latvia and the team that wins the Additional Qualifying Round.
Bauermann's men will play their group games in Gdansk.
Before the Final Round tips off, Germany will have numerous warm-up games with one of them against Serbia in the Volkswagen Halle in Braunschweig on August 15.
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Quote:After having successfully integrated Chris Kaman to the German National team after his German background has been discovered by the the magazine Five, the competitor on the German press market BASKET came up with a story about the current Portland Trailblazer Joel Przybilla where the Minnesota native tells the readers that he has besides his already known Polish roots also a link to Germany through his mother.
This gives a possibility for Przybilla to play for either nation in the upcoming Eurobasket if any of the federations goes for a possible nationalization process. The question remains though if Germany is interested in doing so as their current National team coach announced in a recent press conference that the core of the new National team will be built around young guys like Steffen Hamann, Joe Herber, Philip Zwiener, Konrad Wysocki, Jan Jagla, Sven Schultze, Tim Ohlbrecht, Gordon Geib, Heiko Schaffartzik, Dominik Bahiense de Mello or Philipp Schwethelm. Additionally, he will try to integrate the promising 88-89 generation around Elias Harris, Robin Benzing, Tibor Pleiss and Lucca Staiger as soon as this summer. So I donââ¬â¢t know if bringing in another NBA player would be that helpful for the younger ones of these players.
I heard that Poland also wants Przybilla. They really need some good players if they want to get respectable results in my opinion.
[url="http://www.talkbasket.net/news/gunther-to-miss-eurobasket-2009-1941.html"]Gunther to miss Eurobasket 2009[/url]