Dorith: DBB is one of the ‘four best teams in the world’

Basketball player Bastien Dorith played his last international match with the national team last November. This was his 96th appearance for DBB. Nine months later, national coach Gordon Herbert’s team is going from success to success in the current World Cup and qualifies for the intermediate round of the World Cup against Slovenia and Georgia. Dorith now follows the matches as a fan and believes his former teammates can win the World Cup.

Dorith about the national team: “I know I have nothing to lose there”

In the nine months since Dorith’s last international appearance, a lot has happened in the Nuremberg-born player’s career. The 34-year-old left Midi Bayreuth following relegation in the summer and moved to his hometown club, Nuremberg Falcons. He is no longer in the national team either. “I know I haven’t lost anything,” he frankly admitted in an interview with BR24Sport. After all, the national team is now “full of NBA and EuroLeague players, and that’s just a different number.”

Dorith: It’s amazing how this national team has developed

Without him, national coach Gordon Herbert’s team reached the intermediate round of the World Cup. “People thought that after the European Championships last year, where they won bronze, there was no way we could really top the tournament. Now we find ourselves in the World Cup where we face Australia, one of the medal contenders. […] “We won again,” says Dorith happily. “We have to say that we also have a chance to win a medal at the World Cup, which is great, how this national team has developed and we can be really proud of that.” “

Dorith’s expectations: At least the World Cup semi-finals

If Durith succeeds in achieving his goal, the journey in this tournament is not over yet. “We will definitely find ourselves in the semi-finals and win a medal,” says the new addition to the Nuremberg Falcons squad with certainty and goes even further: “We are now simply one of the four best teams in the world and then you can also get the gold medal.”

As is the case every year, Dorith’s top favorites are the United States, who are “the team with the best depth.” Despite the absence of stars such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. In addition to Canada, there are also Spain and Slovenia, which Dorith considers to be on par with Germany.

The last time there were such high expectations for the German national team was four years ago. The 2019 World Cup ended with the defeat of German basketball with an exit in the preliminary round. “It went completely wrong,” says Dorith. “I think it had to happen and the team learned a lot from it.” He added: “This team has developed even more thanks to the wonderful European Championships last year, and the self-confidence and self-image of everyone has become so much greater, to the point where they say to themselves: Hey, we’re not doing that.” “You should hide from everyone.”

Dorith’s criticism: Basketball gets too little attention

But DBB’s recent successes have yet to find their way to the general public, Dorith complains. “I think it’s a bit of a shame that despite such a big event in basketball, public perception is limited,” complains the 34-year-old, who misses “wide media coverage.”

“At the end of the day, we are a fringe sport, but we have a really interesting national team that has already had more wins than the German men’s national team in the last two World Cups.” The former national player can’t resist this advice.