Story By: KL Chouinard
Twitter: @KLChouinard
Dennis Schröder had 27 points and 8 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for Germany in the EuroBasket quarterfinals as they lost to Spain, 84-72.
Marc Gasol led Spain with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Schröder tried gamely to spark his team in the second half. He made a pair of threes in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter, and then a pair of driving layups in the opening 90 seconds of the fourth quarter. He made 12 of his 23 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 4 threes.
As they had done all tournament long, Germany put together a swarming defensive effort that kept them in the game — except for the part of the third quarter when Marc Gasol could seemingly make any shot from any spot in Spain’s half of the court. Gasol, who made 4 of his 6 attempts from three in the game, gave Spain a comfortable lead with his accurate pick-and-pop shooting. He scored 18 points in the 10-minute quarter.
“Marc made some incredible shots,” German coach Chris Fleming said in a press conference streamed by FIBA. “What can you say? He’s a great player making great plays. We were not able to match that, and that ends up being the game.”
Schröder’s favorite target in the German offense was Boston Celtics rookie Daniel Theis, who scored 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
Spain advanced to the EuroBasket semifinals, while a young Germany team — the youngest in the EuroBasket quarterfinals — finished with their best performance in a European championship since 2011.
“I’m proud of the way guys competed,” Fleming said of his team. “In the three years that I’ve had the opportunity to coach this group, I think that is something that has been a trademark of these guys. They have done it for each other, and they have done it for Germany and I’m really proud that I could be a part of them.”