Germany routed Japan on Sunday, 97-77, and will now look to stay the course. Can the 2023 FIBA Champs continue their winning ways?
Catch the game on Wednesday, July 31st, at 3:30 AM, Manila time.
Germany (1-0)
Starting five:
- Dennis Schroder
- Andreas Obst
- Franz Wagner
- Daniel Theis
- Johaness Voigtmann
The Germans have come into the tournament with a lot of confidence. Why wouldn’t they? They are the reigning FIBA champions. Such was in full display in the with over Japan, as the team collectively shot 53.5% from the floor, only committed five turnovers, and had five players scored in double digits.
As expected, point guard and veteran Olympian Dennis Schroder strutted his stuff, providing a double-double of 13 points and 12 assists with only one error. He was then complemented well by the other NBA guys, Franz Wagner, who had a game-high 22 points and Daniel Theis, who supplied 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds on a spotless 7-of-7 shooting. Franz’s older brother and Orlando Magic teammate Mo, along with ex-NBAer Isaac Bonga, meanwhile, led the bench attack, with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
We saw the same energy and play during their FIBA run, and we shouldn’t expect anything less moving forward. They look good in this matchup too.

Brazil (0-1)
Starting five:
- Marcelino Huertas
- Georginho De Paula
- Leo Meindl
- Bruno Caboclo
- Christiano Felicio
The Brazillians struggled to contain France in their opener, and fell, 78-66. In fact, with terrible shooting (40.4%) and ball handling (20 TOs), they were lucky to only lose by 12.
The first key is to have that reliable scorer. No one went above 14 points vs. France, and if we see a repeat, on Thursday, they are looking at another L. The second is defense; they will need a ton of effort on that end considering all the NBA-level talent on the other side.
Ex-NBAer Marcelinho Huertas (11 pts, 5 ast vs FRA) and Leo Meindl (14 pts, 3 threes vs FRA) will be the two key guys, with the former leading the facilitation and the former providing the primary offense. Yago Santos (2 pts, 6 ast, 2 stls, 14 mins) and another former NBA cager, Christiano Felicio (14 pts, 6 ast), showed something off the bench on Sunday, and they could be X-Factors.
PICKS:
Spread: Germany (+13)
Over/Under: Over (167.5)
