Basketball World Cup | The German basketball players are rolling over Mali

After two weak games, Luisa Geiselsöder (M.) scored a strong 17 points against Mali. Photo: imago/camera4+ The minimum goal has been achieved. With a commanding 83:57 win against Mali in the final group game on Monday evening, the German basketball players are in the knockout phase of the home World Cup in Berlin. The worst case scenario, elimination after the preliminary round, was prevented. National coach Olaf Lange's team has continuously improved after the opening defeat against Spain. The win against Japan on Saturday was followed by an even better performance against Mali - and there are several reasons for that:

Luisa Geiselsöder hasn't had an easy few weeks. She was the only German WNBA player who was able to take part in the entire World Cup preparations since the beginning of August. Unlike her German colleagues in the North American professional league, who were only able to join the DBB team a week before the start of the World Cup, the 1.96 meter tall center player was recently only a substitute player for her team Portland Fire. Because the 26-year-old was hardly getting any playing minutes, she agreed with Portland to let her contract be suspended until the end of the season in order to travel to the national team earlier.

Geiselsöder's lack of self-confidence after the difficult time in Portland was clearly noticeable in the first two World Cup games. You got four points against Spain. Even against Japan, she never really found her rhythm after early foul problems and ended the game with five points. But against Mali the knot finally broke. In the first quarter she played a key role in the German team's good start with six points. And when the German attack faltered a bit after the half-time break, it was Geiselsöder who calmed the 12,550 fans in the arena at Ostbahnhof with five points in a row and extended the German lead again.

“If the head is off, then it works, but unfortunately in the first two games the head was a little too on,” explained Geiselsöder, who scored a total of 17 points and was subsequently voted player of the game. The fact that she got back on track was also due to another winner of the Mali game.

Alexis Peterson-Smalls was out against Japan due to food poisoning. The German development player was “completely flat and dehydrated,” said national coach Lange after the game, dampening hopes of playing against Mali. But the American-born woman, who has been playing for Germany since 2024, was back on the floor on Monday evening - and immediately showed why she is so important for the DBB women.

The 1.70 meter tall Peterson-Smalls is the only player in the German team who is almost unstoppable one-on-one. With her move to the basket, the 31-year-old caused Mali's defense to rotate again and again, thereby opening up space for her teammates. “She organizes the game, is creative and has by far the best ball handling in our team,” Leonie Fiebich praised her teammate, who came off the bench against Mali and contributed nine points and five assists.

With a carefree Luisa Geiselsöder and a healthy Alexis Peterson-Smalls, the cogs in the German team mesh even better - the roles are more clearly distributed. While Geiselsöder and Frieda Bühner, who was once again Germany's top scorer with 21 points against Mali, are responsible for collecting points, Peterson-Smalls shares the structure of the game with Leonie Fiebich, who again showed a strong overall performance on Monday with seven points, nine rebounds and six assists. Captain Marie Gülich brings stability and experience from the bench.

Because all of these key players performed against Mali, it didn't matter that Nyara Sabally, another central piece of the puzzle in the DBB team, had a rather needed day. The third game in four days was apparently a little too much for the 26-year-old's recently recovered calf. Sabally only played for twelve minutes, but was able to rest a bit after the break because her teammates brought the game home with concentration.

In fact, the German team continued to increase their lead after a balanced first quarter and gave Mali no chance to get back into the game. Even the difficult starting position before the last group game, in which both first place and direct elimination were still possible, did not hinder the DBB women.

"I'm very proud of how we rose to the occasion today and how we played for each other," said Peterson-Smalls, pleased with her team's strong nerves. However, there is hardly any time to breathe. Because Spain won against Japan at the same time, the German basketball players ended up in second place in Group A. So one thing is certain: things will continue on Tuesday evening. The DBB team will play against South Korea at 8:45 p.m. for a place in the quarter-finals.

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