MVP Dennis Schroder Leads Germany to EuroBasket Title | Locked On Kings

MVP Dennis Schroder Leads Germany to EuroBasket Title | Locked On Kings

New Sacramento Kings point guard Dennis Shruder is a bad man. He leads Germany to a Euro basket title over Turkey coming up clutch and also winning the MVP award of the entire tournament. On today’s show, Philip Rossman Reich from the Locked on Magic podcast joins me to break down this title run for Germany because of course Orlando Magic star France Vagner is a teammate of Dennis Shruder on that German national team. Let’s break this down right here on Locked on Kick. You are Locked on Kings, your daily Sacramento Kings podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time. Time for another episode of Locked on Kings. Hello and welcome to Locked on Kings, your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all off season long. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Now, download the app today. My name is Matt George. I have the privilege of being your host here. I’m a Sacramento sports anchor and reporter for ABC 10 News. And before I get to my conversation with Philip from the Lock on Locked on Magic podcast, we’re excited to break down this uh this Euro basket title run by Germany. Let me just share with you a few of the numbers. Dennis Shruder played 34 minutes of Germany’s 88 to 83 win over Alprin Shangon and Turkey in the Euro Basket title game today. Shruder scored uh uh where is it? 16 points on five of 11 shooting. shot four of eight from three-point range. He was clutch for Germany in this game, scoring the final three baskets to put this game away. He also dished out 12 assists, uh got grabbed three rebounds, and also had a steal in this victory. Dennis Shruder was a beast this entire tournament. That’s why he was named the MVP of the Euro Basket tournament. Uh his numbers were simply sensational. These numbers do not include these averages do not include uh today’s game. But before coming into this game today, the title game today, Shruder was averaging 20.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game in this tournament. How can that not fire you up for Shruder, the new starting point guard for the Sacramento Kings? And one of the things that Philip and I are going to dive into is how does this apply to the NBA, right? We can’t just, even though it’s not NBA basketball, and of course NBA is the greatest league on the planet, international basketball is supremely talented. We can’t just dismiss this as, oh, it’s it’s not in the NBA, so it doesn’t really matter that much. Look, I know Dennis Shruder has been a bit of a journeyman in the NBA. He’s bounced around the league, especially recently. However, internationally, he’s one of the best players in the history of Germany, and he’s got a Hall of Fame level resume just from his play internationally, and now he can add a Euro Basket Championship and an MVP award to that. But enough about me just blabbering about it. Let’s dive into it. Philip Ross Rossman Reich of the Locked On Magic Podcast. He joins me right now. And to celebrate Eurob basket Germany winning the championship once again, we’re joined by the new host that that gets to talk about Dennis Rutder, uh Matt George of Lockdown Kings getting his maybe his first taste of the Dennis Rutder experience. I know uh Magic fans have never had it firsthand, but we’ve watched enough German basketball to know, but um obviously like crazy game, crazy g crazy game. especially that finish. Dennis Shruder stepping up, winning MVP of the tournament with the two humongous shots that put Germany up by three late. Um, I want to start here just like absorbing the ending of this game. Like what what what were your thoughts as as as Dennis Shruder was was proving himself to be the captain of team Germany here? I mean, I I thought it was the perfect way for the MVP of the entire tournament to to put the final stamp on it, right? And what was crazy is I mean he’s he was so fantastic at distributing and getting his teammates involved, right? You finished with 12 assists. So you you know that and of course he’s got so many weapons, right? Like Isaac Bonga having a phenomenal game and of course as you Magic fans know very well when Fran Vagner there who is I mean I know Dennis Shruder has is the MVP and and the de facto leader of this team because he plays that point guard position but for my money the most talented player on that team is is Fran Vagner. So Dennis has plenty of players to to to throw the ball to, but when it was winning time in the fourth quarter and you just needed your the MVP of the tournament to to close things down against Turkey, uh Dennis was able to do it, right? And yes, from the Sacramento Kings standpoint, we’re we’re new to Dennis, right? But we’re we have no problem immediately claiming him a champion as our own. Might be the closest thing it Well, it is the closest thing that the Sacramento Kings are going to get to a championship anytime soon. So, what I mean, but what an amazing run by Germany as a whole. It does feel a little extra sweet that it’s over Alpin Shangon in Turkey for a couple reasons. Number one, Jackson Gatlin of the Locked on Rockets podcast. It’s always nice to to to get one up over him. And then number two, Alprin Shangun is is often compared to Damont Sabonis in Sacramento and Shangun’s better. Why would you want Sabonis over Shangon? So to there that adds a little extra uh a little extra fun and flare to this for Sacramento. But what an incredible tournament. Dennis Shruder was incredible. Uh that German team is is is scary scary for anybody to face. Yeah. Uh I I will as as as a uh as being the journalist that we are, uh invitation was was issued to Jackson Gatlin and he decided to sit this one out uh just like kind of kind of get the emotion. We love Jackson to death. But I won’t lie, I posted the uh don’t ever question the heart of a champion video. It was nice to put that one over a over a Rockets player, too, because to me, that’s that’s what stood out about this Germany team. Like, us Magic fans have been watching this Germany team for the last four years, four summers now. We’re all eager for France to get a summer off next year. Um, but to me what always stood out and this is where I think Dennis is is just so vital for that German national team. Like there are certainly some idiosyncrasies I think people know about Dennis Shooter and why maybe he hasn’t had the successful NBA career that he’s had in FIA that every time Germany was kind of pushed and tested in this tournament, it just never felt like they blinked. It just never felt like they were, you know, bothered by being down to Slovenia or struggling with Portugal in the knockout rounds. you know, the the group stage was the group stage, but they always they always felt like they understood like if we keep doing our thing, we’re and trusting each other, we’re going to have the spurt that we need to win the game because of the talent that they have, the size that they have on the wings especially and because of a player like Shruder who I think for whatever reason in FIA especially just rises to that moment and you know again I agree with you. I think I think Fron is the most talented player and we can maybe talk a little bit about we’ll talk a little bit about impressions of Fron but the story today is Dennis Shruder the captain of this team led led this team when Turkey had them on the ropes several on several occasions making those huge shots to win them this tournament and make this monumental victory for for the national team. Yeah, I think one of the tricky things to do uh with with any international competition, be it Olympics or Eurob basket or or whatever, is okay, how does this apply to the NBA? Because it’s without question, the NBA is the greatest basketball league in the world. It’s not close. However, international basketball has gotten substantially better than the dream teams of old in in Team USA’s history, which I think a lot of people think about, which oh, USA just always wins the gold medal and they run over everybody. Like, that’s that’s just I look at the amount of international talent that’s taken over the NBA. Like, let’s let’s start with this stat. Germany’s margin of victory in this tournament, in this tournament, Euro basket was greater than the US in the last three Olympics, right? like and that this is this was like I don’t want to say Germany dominated this tournament because I don’t think that’s true and they had a bit of an easier path. They didn’t have to play Giannis in Greece. They didn’t have to play Joic in Serbia. They played Donic in Slovenia. They, you know, and Turkey is a very good team, a surprise team that made the final, but this is a juggernaut German team. like this is a team that un that kind of knows how to play this game and and frankly like has an athleticism an athletic level that I think a lot of the other teams in Euro basket specifically don’t have and and struggle to match up with. Yeah. And I saw people undermining Germany for the win over Finland. Like it’s Finland, but I mean Lowry Markin was absolutely sensational in Finland coming off of that massive win just to even get there. Like yeah, the international basketball is at a superb level right now, right? and the and you can just another example of that is the amount of international talent that’s come over to the NBA and they’re just cleaning up on MVP awards, right? So, we can’t just disregard things. Now, what we can do is is try and connect the dots as best we can while recognizing the differences and in the in the case of Dennis Shruder and Philip, you can help me out with this too, right? You you see Dennis Shruder recently in the NBA and he’s bounced around the league so much and he played really really well for Detroit at the end of last season. The Pistons weren’t able to hold on to him. the Kings uh ended up bringing him in on on a three-year deal. But if you’re looking at Dennis Shruder’s resume from just the international play for Germany, I mean, we’re talking about a Hall of Fame level career, right? So So what I’m trying to put together through my limited time of calling Shruder a Sacramento king is how much of that international play can apply, not will, but can apply to the starting point guard and an essential position. You can make an argument that Dennis Shruder will be the glue that makes the Sacramento Kings stick together or not with their Demar De Rozan and uh Zack Lavine and Deonta Sabonis le core. Yeah, I I mean I think with with Shruder specifically like like you’re right like part of the problem with these international teams is like they don’t have the depth that like certainly the US has and so you end up having guys who are sort of role players and again like there there are obvious allstars and MVP candidates but you have guys who are playing bigger roles for the national teams than they might for their for their regular teams and so you have to figure out like what can scale up or scale up or scale down or what needs to be scaled the right way. Um, I think with Shruder, Shruder is a scorer first and I think we see that in these games and and you know, we’ll talk a little bit about about the Fron side of things here in a minute. Uh, I would know Magic fans are always very frustrated that this is still Dennis Shruder’s team. He’s the captain. He’s he’s kind of the, you know, the the torch was passed from him from Durk to him. He’s kind of carried this team through some really lean years for German basketball where they’re, you know, young guys are coming up through the ranks and now they get France. You know, Fron is, you know, probably going to be an all-star this year. Um, especially with the new format. Um, and you’re going to have a lot and you have a lot of other guys coming through through the ranks and so Shruder is very much a veteran. Everybody defers to him and there’s like this clear pecking order on the German national team, but everything kind of runs through Shruder and you’ll have games where he makes a lot of mistakes and and like he did in the semi-final against against France in the Paris Olympics last year. And then you have games like these where he’s just in control of everything. And I think when you look at his NBA career, like he probably shouldn’t be your leading scorer. I I think we could all agree on that. He won’t be and he won’t be. But he works really well when when he’s kind of in control when when you give him some freedom to make those decisions. And and I think what was really fun about Shruder’s tournament this year was the first time it really looked like he was trying to get to make sure others were involved or or as or more involved. like he wasn’t hunting his shots as much and and I think that happened a little bit in the second half of this game on Sunday, but the end of the day like he had what I think it was a Euro basket final record 12 assists in this game. he had multiple games where he had these multi-ass assist games. And so you if he could find a way to find that balance again and be this great distributor and still be a threat to be a primary score or have a primary scores mindset that could be really beneficial for him and I think help him grow. And and if you look at Shruder and his career like ever since he started playing for this German national team when they got fron and and they started competing for for medals they’ve looked a lot stronger. uh he he’s that he’s he’s looked a lot stronger when he comes back to the NBA. Really, the only place he struggled was Golden State when you take the ball out of Stephen Curry’s hands at all with another point guard. Like that didn’t make sense. Everywhere else, he’s had some measure of success even though he’s been bouncing around the league a little bit. Yeah. Shruder, if we’re talking about the assist numbers in the distribution, right, he had five games in the Euro basket tournament where he had seven or more assists. four of those came in the final five games that they played right in in winning time which to me is encouraging from the Kings standpoint because when I’m applying it to Sacramento and it’s very much a core of of not I mean Shruder’s important piece but the core is the Lavine and D Rozan and Sabonis and especially with Lavine and D Rozan specifically their best year together in Chicago was when Lonzo Ball was healthy so when you had a distributing point guard so as great as the scoring is from Dennis Shruder and the Kings will need that and will lean on that from time to time. It’s the distribution of Shruder that I think is is very important and I’m not saying that Shruder knows that and was playing that way specifically in the Euro basket tournament to prepare for the NBA. I think he knows how important Euro Basket is by itself and how separate it is. But it was at least for me, Philip, encouraging to see that side of Shruder’s game. And I’m glad there’s a there’s a a similarity between Magic fans and and Kings fans in that sense. Kings fans want to see Shruder distribute because that’s what they need in Sacramento. Magic fans want to see Shruder contribute because Fron Vagner needs to get his shots and of course Vagner had his 18. Yeah. Yeah. And we’ll let’s let’s let’s transition then to the Fron side of things and and and impressions of Fran Vagner as he makes his mark on the Surro basketball team. Germany gets two players on the All-Star 5. We’re going to jump into that coming up here in just a moment. Like I said at the top of the show, this episode of the Lockdown Kings podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’tmiss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. You can use FanDuel because it fits however you are playing and however you like to bet. Whether it’s player props, building a same game parlay if you’re really locked into one game in particular, or even jumping in live as the action is unfolding in front of you. It makes every game more exciting. Whether you’re watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup, it’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s the best way to add a little more energy to Sundays and of course a little more money in your pocket. So, if you’re ready to play, download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. This is Philip Rossman Reich, the host of Locked On Magic. Back here with Matt George, the host of Locked on Kings, recapping Germany’s big win to win the gold medal at Euro Basket, Germany’s first Euro basket uh gold since 1993. First time that the World Cup champion is also the Eurobasket champion, which makes some sense because the US occasionally wins the World Cup. Um but the first time that their uh Euro basket World Cup double since 2009 when Spain wins as as as we all know basketball’s a simple game. There’s five players to a side and Spain always wins. Um that may that may not be true anymore. Maybe Germany Germany now they may have taken the mantle as as they claim the Euroba title. Uh I want to make one more note before we switch over to France here uh about Dennis Dennis Shruder before we move on because again he’s the MVP hero of the game. We’re going to give him the love. Um, the one thing I would say about Shruder 2 is he is fearless. Like I I I think, you know, I think we as a public and as a media and as a fan base, we get a little too into like clutch play. Like I’m not a big proponent of like, oh, it matters that someone has the guts to score in the clutch or all that stuff. Like all 40 minutes of a Euro basket game, all 48 minutes of an NBA game are important. Um, but you know, when you get into the playoffs and you get into these decisive games, like those shots have a little bit more pressure on them, I’m not going to ignore that they are important. And I think Dennis Shruder has proven really throughout his career, but certainly with the national team, that he is unafraid of those moments and he is unafraid to take those big shots. And you know, again, like I I think he is transitioning into a new phase of his career where he’s going to be a little bit more of a distributor and a little bit more of that kind of traditional point guard, but that scorer’s instinct’s never going to go away. And and especially in the NBA today, like that’s still really valuable. Yeah. And and to kind of put a bow on this too from the Kings perspective, like it’s it’s definitely valuable to have guys that are willing and able to take those shots, but I think Shruder is also looking at the Sacramento Kings and know, okay, I got to kind of get in line because Demar Rozan is probably going to be the number one guy to take those shots. He’s made a career out of it. Then you have Zack Lavine probably right behind him who’s more than capable of filling it up, especially if that final shot needs to be a three-pointer. So I Dennis will definitely he will have his number called at some point to to come up clutch or have a big clutch. And also people don’t understand too the clutch doesn’t necessarily have to be the final shot, right? Shruder can score three straight buckets and then D Rozan hits the game winner if that’s what it comes down to. So it’s always valuable to have those guys, but I would hope that Shruder recognizes in Sacramento that that the distribution is the main thing. Being the point guard is needed. And look at look at what he’s look at what he made Daniel Ty look like in this tournament. Like Daniel Ty like God love him. Happy that he got his gold medal. They missed Bo Vager a lot this tournament. They really missed Isaiah Hartenstein a lot this tournament. But and then I say that but Daniel Ty made that huge three made that huge three that gave Germany the lead late. Um Dennis Shruder is an excellent pick and roll point guard too. like him and him and Damonte Sabonis are going to be a lot of fun to watch together because Shooter will play off of him and and move off the ball and and just as much as he’ll set Sabonis up with some good passes, too. Let’s flip over then and talk about France Vagner. He he ends up with 18 points in this game. Really carried the team through the first half of this game. Scored 16 of his 18 in the first half. I think he was only one for two in the second half. It was kind of weird uh what happened the second half, but um tour, you know, I I don’t know how much of the whole tournament you ended up watching, but what were your overall impressions of where Fron is Fran is at and and kind of where he where he fits into kind of the star landscape in in the NBA from watching this tournament? Yeah. So, Philip, I think you remember this, but Fran Vagner is a bit of a sensitive subject for me because I wanted him in Sacramento so bad. And of course, the Magic took him one pick before the Kings uh in the 2021 NBA draft. And I I have it on pretty good authority. Granted, that front office is long gone, but I’ve pretty good indications that the Kings were 100% going to take Fron Vagner. There are there are probably 29 other front offices who would say publicly they would have taken Fron Vager in including Golden State who probably should have taken him instead of Jonathan Kuminga a pick before the Magic which is always good to stick it to the Warriors for sure but either way like it’s because of Fran Vagner and Paulo Beno too big fan of Paulo but it’s because of Fran Vagner that I watch Orlando Magic basketball and I call myself an Orlando Magic like quiet supporter. Uh, and and Fron was in this entire tournament because I checked in from time to time, of course, mainly watching for Shrutder, but Fron was this entire tournament exactly what I believe him to be for the Orlando Magic. I mean, he might not be the guy always in the spotlight, but the way that he carried Germany through the first half of this game when things were struggling like that is that is what a star does. And you look at his numbers throughout this tournament, 22 points, 21 points, 24 points, 23 points, 23 points, 22 points. I mean, he is just the steady, consistent, offensively scoring presence that constitutes a star in in basketball standpoint. So, he might not have had the big moments. He might not end up with the MVP award, but he’s standing up there next to Dennis Shruder, right? Not just as a champion, but as part of the the the the star five, the starting five essentially Euro baskets all NBA first team, right? Like that’s that’s what he’s up there for. Like it’s like I said at the very beginning, Dennis Shruder, this might be Dennis Shruder’s team. He might be the MVP and might have had the like closed out this game. But to me, Fran Vagner is without a doubt the most talented basketball player on this this German team. And like you talk about translating to the NBA, that’s what I believe him to be in Orlando. So, if I were a Magic fan, I I I would easy for me to say from the Kings perspective, but I would feel just fine about Vagner not getting the final three buckets and not winning the MVP award because if you watched, you knew who who was the star of that team. Yeah, I I I and I I agree with that. I mean, I think, you know, it’s it’s been three straight summers. This is the fourth straight summer, I think, of him playing international basketball. And I think there’s just there’s there’s always this sense of like you’re spending your entire summer preparing for these pressure games instead of like working on your game. And look, he had time to work on his game like these these things happen very late in the summer. Um being in these national tournaments like is such a big boost for him and I think it’s been a big boost of confidence for him. It was a big boost of confidence for Tristan Dilva who had a really had 13 points in this game in this championship game and played really well uh toward the end. I think what a lot of Magic fans want to see is they want to see the fronds that took over when Paulo Bankro was hurt and wanted to be the guy. And I’ve always had this, you know, like I’m a big believer that like guys have roles and and your personality is kind of your personality. And one of the reasons why I think Fron and Paulo work so well together is like Paulo wants the tough shots. Like he’s like, I’m going to take the superstar shots that everyone thinks are superstar shots. And I think Fron is willing to take those shots, but it’s not like his nature to say like, “Oh, I’m taking over this game. We need a bucket. Give me the ball. Get out of my way. I’m going to score.” He has these moments and and he has these spurts obviously, and he had them in this game as well. But I think Fron is just happy to see the team winning and and doing whatever the team needs to win. And you know, to some extent, like some of it is a leadership thing, like you want him to be more assertive, to be a leader because he’s one of your team’s best players. But it’s hard to tell Dennis Shruder who’s been like the best, you know, the lone NBA player on the German national team for the last 10, 12 years, like, hey, it it’s my team now. That that kind of that kind of torch thing, that kind of torch, you know, car relay has to be done naturally. And it almost looked like it was being done in the first half of this game because like you said, you know, again, it doesn’t matter when you score the points. All the points count the same to the end of the game. Germany is out of this game. They’re down 13-2 right out of the gate and and Turkey was hitting every shot and Fran scored the first five points of the game and and kind of settled everyone down a little bit and just provided that constant drum beat to get Germany back into this game and that’s really valuable too and you know I think while I think a lot of Magic fans wanted to see Fran shoot a little bit better from three, he was one for five or one for six from three in this game and had an up and down three-point shooting. Like he looked better but didn’t look where they where the Magic want him to be or where he needs to be. But he still did a lot of other things really well in this in this in this tournament. He he moved the ball really well. Ran some point, got them into their offense, was used as a screener a little bit more than I think we’ve seen him in the NBA. They posted him up a little bit more. Um he was I thought he was an excellent rebounder, which he, you know, isn’t f you know, he he rebounds fine, but is not like a dominant rebounder. Fron is perfectly capable and willing to do the little things that help a team win. And at the end of the day, like it’s successful because he won the gold and still was all, you know, all tournament team. When we come back from this quick break that we have to talk about, I want to respond to something that you said there when you were you were talking about Fron as as kind of being the second fiddle a little bit. And I actually think it’s a term of endearment for him. So I remind me because I I want to give uh Fron some deserved flowers for that because that’s not always easy to do. Yeah, let’s let’s let’s let’s go ahead. go ahead and and take take that quick break and give those flowers here in just a moment. This episode of the Lockdown Kings podcast is also brought to you by 5Hour Energy. 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Matt the This is Phil Ross Reich, the host of Lockdown Magic. Gotta got to come back from break. Gotta do all that stuff. Joined by Matt George of Lockdown Kings. together. We are locked on Germany, I guess. Um uh since uh since Nick lost locked on Slovenia, we we I guess we’ll take on the mantle for locked on Germany here. Um Natt, you had you had something to say about the way Fron kind of defines the stardom. Yeah, I understand completely uh if if a Magic fans and even like I would say just the national media cong conglomerate that wants to that is always looking for more wanting to see kind of that star power out of France in terms of hey take over this is your team be that guy show me what you can be as the number one I understand that completely but there’s like there there’s only so many of those players that can do that at a superstar level to where they’re not just putting up empty numbers, they’re actually hoisting Larry O’Brien trophies, right? Like the we’re talking about the the all-time greats. For me, it is not a negative at all to have somebody like France Vagner who can recognize the situation that he’s in with Germany, like you talked about, and it’s not always easy to go up to Dennis Rutder, who’s who’s been like the guy there since Durk left, and go, “Hey, like this is this is my team now.” or go to Paulo Ban Carol, the number one overall pick in Orlando, even if Paulo is younger than than Fron or was drafted after Fron and go, “Hey, this is my team in Orlando. Get in line.” Like I to me that would be more of a negative than a positive if he were to be that way. But the fact that he can be this impactful and effective when he knows, the opposing teams know, everybody knows that it’s not his team necessarily, but he’s more than capable of looking like it in the box score on any given night. Like that’s that’s such a that’s such a benefit for the Orlando Magic to have going forward to where like I if if I were I look at it the same way that like Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum in Boston, right? if if if the Orlando Magic turn into a a potential title contender, and I hope they do, and it’s Paulo Bankro that’s that’s leading the way and and they’re hoisting a title, and he’s named the MVP because he was the Jason Tatum uh for for Orlando. But France Vagner is the Jaylen Brown who was right there also averaging around 20 points and was arguably the reason why they won the title in the first place. had more of those big moments during the actual series itself. That’s a wonderful problem, I guess, to have. So, more more good players is not a bad thing, right? 100%. You could always do with more talent, especially when depth is so important in the NBA today, right? Uh I I think France Vagner is is sensational and the fact that like any given night you have to worry about game planning for Paulo, but you always have to keep the corner of your eye on France. And we saw in Sacramento France lit the Kings up from three-point range in Sacramento last season. Like the only game he did. It’s like the only game the Magic did. Like for for whatever reason, both games last year between the Magic and the Kings were like, “This is like the one night we shot well, guys. We’re sorry.” The the Kings are the Robbitas into the NBA. If you’re not shooting well, come play the Come play the Sacramento Kings. You’ll you’ll turn it around. They don’t play any perimeter defense. So why are you guys all the way on the West Coast? Like come come east. No. Um Yeah. No, I I I think that’s that’s really fair to say. And you know, I think what stands what’s really stands out about Fron is he he finds ways to impact the game. Like I would say like that first half he had his hand prints all over the game. Like he he looked like a superstar was going toe-to-toe with Alurn Shen. I know Shengun had the foul trouble in the first half. Um he looked he looked like he was like I am going to make sure we’re not going to lose this game. Like we’re we’re going to win this game. And you know, I I I think Magic fans and frankly, you know, if Germany had lost this game, this probably would have been the narrative we would have been talking about on my show. We probably wouldn’t be doing this combined episode if they lost. Um, but I would have probably been talking about like, you know, Germany needed to pass the torch and Dennis Shruder didn’t let go of it. This like this was, you know, they they did not get Fran involved enough and and you know, some of that is like Turkey has some sizable defenders. Some of it is they were taking it away from him. Some of it is they had to play small and so they were, you know, playing Fron at center a little bit more and using him as a screener and that may have freed some other things up. Um, and so there’s just still a little bit of like Fron needs to be a little bit more like, hey, give me give me the rock here. It’s my turn. Especially like in Orlando, he’s going to be on the ball a lot more. There’s there’s no Dennis Shruder to like say I’m the point guard. This is the play we’re running. It’s it’s it’s no Fran is bringing the ball up this time. It’s it’s it’s his show to run. And that’s kind of how the Magic are partially going to operate this season. Um, but but there’s still a little bit of like, you know, Fron like you know there’s still a little bit frankly like I don’t think Fron realizes how good he is. Like like in transition he is unstoppable and and you want to get him out and running as much as possible. And I think he realizes like when he’s out on the run like no one’s going to stop him. everywhere else. I think Fron is still un still doesn’t quite understand how good he is quite yet and and just what he can do and what that means for his team. And look, he’s on two winning teams right now. Germany is a consistent medal contender in every tournament there and they expect to win gold every tournament they’re in now at this point. Um the Magic are entering a season where they’re expecting to win a playoff series. They’ve been in the playoffs two straight years. He’s on winning teams. he’s good enough as he is and it’s just everyone’s it inch it itching for him to just be better and continue to grow and improve. The last question I have before we wrap up, and this applies to both of our teams, is how how do we feel this benefits or hurts in any kind of way these two guys and the start of training camp in a couple of weeks? Cuz there’s easily you could look at the the perspective or the side of like they’ve been playing all summer. Are they going to be a little bit gassed, a little bit exhausted? I look at it from the perspective of hey man, they can they can take these two weeks hopefully get a little bit fresh, hit the ground running. you’ve already been playing super highly competitive basketball, so you don’t have to ease into the season or work the rust off in training camp and beyond. Like I’m looking at Dennis Shruder. I want him to walk into the Kings practice facility on day one of training camp and go, “Yo, you’re looking at the the Euro Basket MVP and Euro Basket title win or better wearing that. He better be wearing that MVP hat at me.” 100%. Like, hey, let’s go. Like, let let’s let’s get going right away. Like, that’s what I want. I want to see that become leadership. And I wonder if Fron Vagner, he walks into Orlando, goes, “Yo, I I just want a title. Like, let’s let’s keep this momentum going.” I think it could be a really good thing for both these guys. Yeah. So, yeah. Um, like, so when Steve Clifford was the coach in Orlando, he was like entering the 2020 season. So, Orlando like made got back to the playoffs in 2019. Evan Forier went off and played in I think that was the Euro Basket or the World Cup. It was the World Cup that summer. He played in the World Cup. Had the best World Cup he’s had for France. best the highest scoring average he had for France. And we asked Steve Clifford about it and he was like, you know, I love it when my guys go play in Euro Basket because they’re playing a highle games. You know, they’re coming to camp in shape. Obviously, there’s that risk for injury, but there’s a risk for injury everywhere. They’re they’re they’re training. They’re playing pickup games. I’d honestly rather them play highintensity organized basketball with referees and coaches watching out for them than just playing pickup kind of on their own where there’s no like control or or whatever. Um you know and obviously there were some injuries. Bal Koulabali is going to miss the start of the season for the Wizards. Bdon Bdonovich suffered a potentially very serious injury for the Clippers. Um injuries are part of part of life. They happen. Um, but they they come into the season much sharper and ready to go. I I actually do have numbers for you here. I I I I pulled this yesterday. Um, Fron Vagner’s been to three of these tournaments already. Um, he went to Euro Basket in 2022 and averaged 15.4 points per game there. They won the bronze. He came back in the first 20 games of the season, he averaged 19 and a half points per game and shot 50% from the floor. That was 18. He scored that was that was almost a point per game more than he scored the rest of the season than he than he scored for a season average. Same thing happened um after the World Cup. He averaged uh n uh 20.7 points per game in his first 20 games of that season, which was one point per game more than he did after the 2020 that than he did for the entire season um coming out of the 2023 World Cup. And obviously the same thing happened last year when he kind of had to take control with Paulo out so early. There might be an effect later in the season. You might need to manage some some fatigue as you get deeper into the season, but these guys come to camp ready to play. And if you’re a team that’s looking to get off to a hot start and looking to start, you know, kind of sprinting out of the gate, these guys are ready. They’re they’re, you know, they don’t, you know, they don’t, you know, they’ll take some time to recover, but they’re not going to need to find their legs early in training camp. not going to need the win sprints that, you know, I don’t even know if teams run win sprints anymore in training camp because these guys just stay in shape and they’re already in the the building like running and working out together already. They’re ready to go for the season. And so teams that have a lot of these guys playing in these international tournaments, I think you could find generally throughout the league, they’re the ones that start out fast or faster than you you expect them to. Well, man, what a fun way to start our September, huh? first half of September ends with uh with Germany winning the early titles. And now we uh turn our attention to training camp and I hope those numbers that you read for France Vagner, I hope Dennis Shruder can can have kind of that same success. The Kings need somebody to help them get off to a hot start because they have a tough schedule right out the gate. But hey man, that’s the NBA. Every game’s a big game. Every game is tough. Yep. Absolutely. And and and as you mentioned, you might be you might be a the Magic might be your East team. The Kings are my West team. We we are big. We we want the Sacramento Kings to do well. Light that beam. The Tower Beam Alliance is in full effect. We will be I’ll be pushing people to vote for Kings players. Uh and hopefully said uh now that they got the world versus the US versus the international players, you know, definitely definitely an open door for Sabonis to get in for for France to get in. They’ll they’ll have all-star worthy seasons whether they get in or not. It’s just it’s just the quirks of of the league and however they’re going to organize this thing, which we have no clue how they’re going to organize this thing. Um, Matt, always great to talk to you, man. Uh, congrats to all of our German listeners who who may or may not who may be listening to our various podcasts. And we’ll be keeping an eye on Dennis as I’m sure you’ll be keeping an eye on Fron and Tristan uh, throughout the rest of of the season. Hey man, have a good good season this year. Good luck to the Magic and uh, we’ll we’ll be on enemies twice a year, but other than that, friends always. Yep. Yep. I’ll feed his end.

Matt George and Locked On Magic host Philip Rossman-Reich break down Germany’s EuroBasket title win over Turkey, led by EuroBasket MVP and new Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder!

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MVP Dennis Schroder Leads Germany to EuroBasket Title
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCer6XxOVaMbmW2HBLpuLkzQ

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