On Sunday, the German national basketball team had to deal with a question on the field for the first time that will also be important for the upcoming European Championship: How do you stop Luka Dončić?
Nobody else plays this sport as cheekily, as cleverly, as entertainingly as he does – in his case for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA and for the Slovenian national team.
Christopher Meltzer
Sports correspondent in Munich.
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At 18, he led his country to EM gold in 2017 and now wants to do it again.
In the preliminary round in Cologne it is also against Germany.
And from a German point of view, one has to say: The first answer is encouraging.
On Sunday Germany won 90:71 against Dončić and his Slovenians in Munich.
It was not only a test, but also a World Cup qualifier.
Because the Germans are in first place in their group, other questions were the focus in Munich.
Just 57 seconds passed before Dončić converted his first three-pointer.
Then the fans celebrated.
It can be assumed that many of the 6136 spectators were in Munich to see him.
He collected 23 points in 31 minutes.
A high on Sunday, but certainly not the best for Dončić.
He was mostly defended by Nick Weiler-Babb.
A defense specialist who was born in the USA but has also had a German passport for a few weeks.
Weiler-Babb should improve the national team in such games and against such players.
He did that on Sunday. Because there was little effort in the Slovenian game – or to put it another way: a lot of arrogance – the duel was no longer close in the second half at the latest.
In the European Championship game in Cologne, that's not a bold prognosis, it should be different.
That didn't change the fact that the appearance of the Germans was encouraging.
Dennis Schröder collected the most points (17) and most assists (10), but Franz Wagner (16 points) had the most influence.
The NBA player advanced on offense and defense.
It will depend on him in Cologne, which is not a bold prognosis either.