MANILA, Philippines – Germany plans to remain a basketball force to be reckoned with, forward Franz Wagner said following their 88-77 win over Serbia Sunday night to clinch the FIBA World Cup championship.
“We are here and we are here to stay. You know, we can still get better,” Wagner told reporters after the victory.
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Wagner, who bounced back from an injury and came back in the final phase of the competition, is optimistic for the future of German basketball.
“We are gonna be here a while,” he added.
The Orlando Magic player acknowledged that the level of competition is high in the World Cup despite them going undefeated in the tournament.
And it all boiled down to the gold medal game, where Serbia cut Germany’s 12-point lead to two, 79-77, with less than a minute remaining. But Dennis Schroder converted on a clutch layup to help seal the win for the Germans.
“It’s really tough. The competition level is so high. The whole game wasn’t really easy. I think the guys that went out all did a great job,” Wagner said.
“All 12 guys did a great job of playing basketball and sticking together and I think that’s a huge part of why we won as well,” he added.