He made some big baskets down the stretch though.
Dennis Schroder had easily the worst game of his career in Germany's thrilling 81-79 win over Latvia to advance to the FIBA World Cup semifinals.
Schroder himself admitted that postgame.
“Really tough. That’s probably the worst game of my career,” said the Toronto Raptors guard, who had 9 points on a woeful 4-for-26 shooting from the field after Wednesday’s win at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
But Schroder, who went a ghastly 0-for-8 from rainbow country, stayed composed and focused on his other duties as the leader of the German squad.
The rest of the squad, led by the returning Franz Wagner, stepped up with Schroder struggling, and the Die Mannschaft got over the hump.
“I just tried to stay positive. If you make shots or miss shots, you cant control that. What you can control is to be positive and talk to your teammates, as a leader and captain, I can’t have a bad mood,” he said.
There’s no doubt in coach Gordie Herbert’s mind his main man will redeem himself on Friday, when the team meets powerhouse USA in the semifinals.
“Adversity builds strength. He obviously had a really tough day,” Herbert said of the 6-foot-1 cager. “He’s a super tough kid, very competitive. I have no doubt he will bounce back.”
He will need to bounce back, all right. And he will have to do it in a big way as Germany will be going up against a team that appears peaking at the right time.
Germany and Team USA will face off on Friday for the right to play in the final on Sunday.
(MDB)