You can see the sweat on the forehead of Johannes Thiemann, the German international.

It's already late in Cologne when he stands in the arena's interview zone.

"Well," says Thiemann - and then doesn't really know what to say.

He's just been asked about the player who made his forehead sweat.

What do you think when you see Luka Dončić with a basketball in his hand?

Christopher Meltzer

Sports correspondent in Munich.

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"Well," says Thiemann, "you think to yourself: Now I'm trying to defend." He doesn't say "defend" but "try to defend".

And that's probably all you need to know about Luka Dončić from Slovenia.

That evening Dončić, 23 years old, demonstrated to the more than 18,000 people in the arena that he cannot be defended.

Not in the North American NBA.

And not in Europe, where he is currently playing the European Championship with the Slovenian national team.

For his first big show in this tournament, he chooses the German team that previously won all three group games.

But in a duel with Dončić, the Germans do as well as the Roman soldiers in a duel with Obelix.

Dončić knows what he is doing

The comparison isn't that terribly wrong either, because Dončić really plays as if he had fallen into a magic potion as a child.

With his 36 points, he not only decides the game this Tuesday (final score: 88:80), but possibly even the group (intermediate score: 1st Slovenia, 2nd Germany).

And anyone who was in the arena knows that the Roman soldiers should count themselves lucky that, unlike the German players, they were beaten up by Obelix and not by this Luka Dončić, because: He's not only very strong.

He's also very mean.

Johannes Thiemann is still speaking in the interview zone.

It's now the fourth quarter as Dončić is constantly in front of him with the basketball.

You have to know: It's not Thiemann who wants to defend Dončić, but Dončić who wants to attack Thiemann.

Why Thiemann?

He's four centimeters taller than Dončić and has been playing with Alba Berlin in the Euroleague, the second-best basketball competition in the world, for several seasons.

But Dončić knows what he is doing.

He plays like he has the brains of the class geek and the body of the class bully.

When he out-dances Thiemann and throws the ball back through the ring, he can't help but smile.

That's the Dončić way: a basket shouldn't just be a basket, but also a small humiliation.

Thiemann walks out of the interview zone with sweat on his forehead.

And if you didn't know, you'd have to think that just thinking about Luka Dončić made him sweat.

Where Johannes Thiemann speaks, Johannes Voigtmann is already standing in front of it and says: "You have to decide: what do you want?" He means the options you have against Luka Dončić.

Option A: Defend against him with two men to prevent him from throwing the ball through the ring himself (usually for two points).

Option B: Defend against him with one man to prevent him from making those precise and spectacular passes that then throw his teammates through the ring (usually for three points).

The Germans choose option B – and fail because it is Dončić who chooses the options he wants.

Thiemann, Voigtmann, Dennis Schröder - it's always him who grins afterwards.

"We'll look at it and hope that we'll meet them again sometime," says Voigtmann.

"Then we have to find a way to stop this somehow."

There's certainly no shame in not finding a way in this game.

That's what happened to most of those who stood in Luka Dončić's way in Europe.

At the age of 18 he won the European Championship.

At the age of 19 he won the Euroleague.

"We won't be upset," says Voigtmann.

You can also see it this way: The Germans only lost to Slovenia by eight points and missed a lot of free three-point shots.

Or like this: With a win over Hungary this Wednesday (8:30 p.m. on MagentaSport), they can finish first in their group if France wins against Slovenia (5:15 p.m. on MagentaSport).

They are in the round of 16 this Saturday (6 p.m. at MagentaSport) one way or another.

And the good thing is: you certainly won't play against Luka Dončić there.

Late in the evening he sits on the arena's small press podium and says: "I haven't had a good game here yet." Why not?

Some say that he lacks the motivation for the preliminary round.

This is supported by the fact that he complains to the referees in many moments - and grins at the opponent in a few moments.

As Luka Dončić stands up on the podium, Germany playmaker Dennis Schröder sits down.

He says: "Luka has a good game today." And if you take him literally, something else has to come.

Because Dončić played a good game, probably a very good one, but from his point of view not a very, very good game.