1993 Eurobasket Germany Remarkable Underdog story

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1993 Sensational triumph in Munich's Olympiahalle

On July 4, 1993, Dirk Nowitzki was sitting as a spectator in Munich's Olympiahalle. Just two weeks before his 15th birthday, the future "German prodigy" watched the European Championship final between Germany and Russia as a fan with a German flag. He witnessed the only title won by a German national basketball team to date. Germany won the final thriller 71:70 - an unforgettable match to this day.

It was at least a huge surprise, if not a sensation. The men's national team of the German Basketball Association won the European Championship gold in front of their home crowd in 1993. After the final whistle of the dramatic 71:70 victory, unforgettable scenes of celebration took place in Munich's Olympic Hall.

In the run-up to the European Championship, the situation surrounding the German team was not all sunshine and roses. There was a lot of unrest due to quarrels between coach Svetislav Pesic and the eventual European Championship hero and MVP Christian Welp, and as a result, “trouble” with the DBB board. In any case, nothing that made anyone believe in a major success shortly before the European Championship. Since Detlef Schrempf was also absent – ​​officially due to a knee injury – expectations were not too high.

And the sceptics seemed to be right. In the first preliminary round match in Berlin against the Estonians, the hosts were literally "three-pointed" out of the hall. In addition to Estonia's 16 three-pointers in the 103:113 defeat, there was also the disappointment of a half-empty hall with only 4,000 spectators. The 93:64 victory against Belgium was followed by the DBB team's first convincing performance: 79:57 against Slovenia.

But the trembling continued. After the intermediate round defeats against France (56:64) and Croatia (63:70), Germany had its first, rather involuntary "final" against Turkey. With the 77:64 victory against the Turks after being behind at half-time, however, the quarter-finals in Munich were reached

And now the DBB selection got going and ran largely smoothly until the end. The opponents in the quarter-finals were the favored Spaniards, who entered as group winners of the other intermediate round. The intense game went into overtime and it was ultimately Christian Welp who not only scored the winning basket to make it 79:77, but also shone in other ways (23 points, 16 rebounds).

The Germans won the semi-final against Greece with surprising ease. The opponent was only ahead once immediately after the break, but with Germany leading 74:65 two minutes before the end, they had made it to the final (final score 76:73).

Basketball Germany was "awakened" and the Olympic Hall was packed for the final. The last seconds of the game against Russia are what are most memorable. With the score at 68:70, playmaker Kai Nürnberger went to the opponent's basket ten seconds before the end, "passed" the ball to Welp, who dunked 3.9 seconds before the end, was fouled and was awarded a bonus free throw. The center, who unfortunately died far too early, converted it safely and the Russians' last desperate three-pointer only hit the ring of the German basket: Germany is the 1993 European Basketball Champion.