Recap
The “wake up call” from the defeat to Lithuania, in the last game of the second phase, worked very well for the Americans. In the quarter-final against Italy, they appeared very focused from the start (something that happened for the first time in the tournament) and easily won 100-63. Coach Kerr expressed his pride in the reaction of his players after the defeat to Lithuania while expressing confidence that everyone in the team will show up with the same energy in the semi-final.
Germany may have played with fire, in the quarter-final against Latvia, but they didn’t “burn”. Coach Herbert chose to live or die in the final minutes of the game with his star, Dennis Schroeder, who had probably the worst game of his career, shooting 4/26. Fortunately for the Germans, Bertans missed a three-point shot at the end, and they won 81-79. They remain the only undefeated team in the tournament. Franz Wagner came back (with a clear limit on his playing time) and helped a lot with 16 points. He trained normally and is expected to be available today as well, stressing that he feels good after the sprain he picked up in the opener against Japan.
The USA will dominate in this match, they are much younger and have a much bigger rotation.