Im Moment - Der Weg der 3x3-Damen zu den Olympischen Spielen in Paris

You're playing for the highest honour for an Olympic ticket in front of full stands. We were in the tunnel and said: ‘Come on, let's spoil this party for them’. Against Hungary. in Hungary. We need one more step. That's a shot I practise a lot. I've seen Svenni take this shot so many times in practise. And that's why I have both hands up, because there was no reason for me why Svenja would miss this shot. You don't have to be a Zen Buddhist, but you have to live in the moment. It's still unbelievable. And that's why it means everything to us. IN THE MOMENT The 3x3 women's journey to the Olympic Games in Paris It all takes too long until we have something, so we should dribble out, or you attack again straight away and we do a weak action here, but we have to get into things faster somehow. It all takes too long. 1, 2, 3 Germany. Somehow I needed a change. I still wanted to play basketball but I didn't feel like playing in the German league anymore. I was kind of done with five-on-five, it was always kind of the same thing for years. I think I might have lost a bit of passion for it and then the opportunity came up with 3x3 which was also Olympic, and then it was clear to me from summer 2021 that I wanted to commit to it. The starting point was when we got a spot for the European Games in Minsk in 2019, pretty soon after I started the job at the DBB. So I called Sonja Greinacher, Svenja Brunckhorst, Ama Degbeon and Satou Sabally and asked if they were interested in a new version of basketball, one where you can also get to the Olympic Games and where you can maybe make a bit of noise in women's basketball and they were keen. It was a lot of fun. So we won against Romania and I remember that the supervisor came up to us and he was like: "You're a good team but you have no idea what you're doing." So we were doing the checkball on the side and stuff like that. I got there and as someone that comes from the five-on-five where everything is super structured, you play systems and so on and suddenly everything goes super fast. I felt like I was running around like counterfeit money at first. I think that was the starting signal with the sports funding centres to set up a whole project and Svenja, Sunny and I started the whole thing. The base in Hanover plays a huge role. Summer 2021 we all moved here and I think it was important for us to have a place where we could practise together every day, where we can build up this project. Where we could somehow grow as a team and Hanover was a perfect match, here with the OSP. Another, absolutely central point: Samir Suliman. To be able to bring him in a bit more Being able to say: ´hey, we have someone who is willing to go down this path with you as a team´ and above all, we have found the right person. The one who embodied this like no other ever could. That may be very purist, but that is my great intrinsic motivation to be able to take part in the Olympic Games. I really felt well welcomed from the team. At the beginning, of course, the other three were much closer as they had already been here for two years in Hanover and trained together. So during the summer of 2023, Marie Reichert actually wanted to play in Australia. Suddenly she said ‘Samir, I'm kind of available for the summer, if you could still use me, I'd think that would be great.´ And then I said: "Yes Marie, let's go all in." We knew that she was an incredibly good player, but it's also difficult to get into a team where the three of us always had our roles. At the beginning I was a little bit shy but it got better with time and now we're like a little family. And at the end the X-factor. Of course we didn't know that at the time, but in the end it crystallised quite clearly that she was X in our equation. So at the beginning of the year, our plan develops first. FIBA only publishes dates during the course of the year, so you really have to react flexibly in planning with perhaps different algorithms, i.e. we have go that way or this way We've been to Azerbaijan, China and Mongolia. These are always completely different time zones combined with very, very long travels. It was extremely rainy, it was cold but that shouldn't be a factor and I think 3x3 somehow grounded me a bit in a lot of things. W.... 38 hours somehow across the Pacific with a date jump and that bonds you together. If you have the willingness to do it and these four players had the maximum willingness to get through it. I think that was also my biggest improvement over the years because I used to find something in the best five-on-five halls that bothered me and now I think to myself ‘Ok, wow’. We've also had to learn from it over the years and optimise how we deal with this additional stress in order to be able to perform on these two tournament days. We've also spent so many hours together at the airports, where we've played, I don't know how many rounds of rummy or cards and just stayed together. I also think at the European Championships and World Championships, you can tell whether teams really get on well or whether they've been thrown together because they're the four best players or because they're the best team. It's also atypical for a women's team, even if you hang out a lot We've never had any stress, we've never had any arguments and I think that speaks in favour of our team. Above all, when there's such good chemistry as there is with us, then that can take you even further and push you forwards. Even the dynamic is different in such a small group. Give everything right from the start and Tayfun has a message for you to get hyped up. Hands together. Well, first of all: I'm very happy to be here and I'm also very happy that the Saritas family will be even bigger in November. 1, 2, 3 GERMANY Utsunomiya, Japan - the qualifying tournament is the first chance to get a ticket for the Olympics The good thing about this whole thing was that we had two chances right from the start We knew how difficult this tournament in Japan would be. It was so well filled, the respective continental champions, the best from the World Cup so you knew that all these 8 teams had a reason to hope for this ticket. After a hard-fought preliminary round, Germany will face top favourites Canada in the semi-finals Canada, yes, for me one of the best 3x3 teams in the women's section. We haven't beaten them for a long time either. Well, we were all frustrated after losing to Canada in the semi-final. Of course, that was our first chance to get an Olympic ticket. I think we learnt an incredible amount from those last 1-2 minutes. The lesson from Utsunomiya is that we need to be a bit tougher, even smarter in end-of-game decisions. I think we had a good mindset for Hungary pretty quickly and knew, Hungary can really be our tournament. I think we had two days off straight after we came back from Japan to get over the jet lag and so on, and then we met up again after two or three days and from then on it was just two training sessions a day, strength training and then we were really looking forward to play in Hungary. We rehearsed tactical things from our group opponents, especially Poland but also Ukraine. We scrimmaged a lot. There were a lot of girls here in Hanover again, so huge respect to all the girls who went all the way with us and are always there when you need them and we needed them in those 10 days and they were all there and we were all able to just play and that was the big key for me. DEBRECEN, HUNGARY The last chance to get a ticket for Paris. Debrecen was on the market square, the central square of the city and it was a real 3x3 flair again. There was a larger German delegation there. It was all a bit more professional. Somehow it all felt very, very right for me. Germany wins its first two games in the preliminary round. Against Poland it's about the groundbreaking group victory. It was the path. So the Poland game was the path to the big goal. We saw how Spain played. They were extremely good in Debrecen and we would have lost if we played against them. For me, the Poland game was also one of the most important games in this tournament, because it would have completely changed the game tree for the final game. The big difference was just knowing mentally, that we were going to win this game and we didn't have that clarity in Japan yet. We're actually 1st out of the group and we went there for a very specific goal. Germany beats Japan 16:14 after overtime in the quarter-finals. The ticket for Paris is at stake against the Ukrainian hosts. We need one more step. We have two chances in theory but we need one more step. Completely full stands and I think to myself: This time, we can do it. We'll beat Hungary in Hungary. I love playing in full arenas. Where of course the people are mainly against you. It really motivates me. We were in the tunnel and said: ´Come on, let's spoil this party for them.´ Enjoy it to the fullest. Leave everything you have on this court until the last second. We had the momentum. The things we tried worked out. I thought: ´If we just play it down now, we'll end up leaving here with this ticket.´ As it happens, things turned out a little differently of course. In Debrecen we were the team that was tough to beat. The one that just wouldn't stop, that wouldn't give up and above all: that wanted to prevail. Then it's 17:16 in Hungary's favour Time-out with 23 seconds as I remember. And as a coach you're just standing on the sideline. Of course your head is spinning. From top to bottom, from right to left. And at the end it's all about trust. It stands at the beginning and at the end. Trust in the team. Trust in our preparation. Trust that they will make good decisions. We wanted to go with Sunny. That's why you ask her: ´Ok, how do you feel? Which play should we play?´ Sunny has the green light, if she says I need the ball she will get the ball. I would say that I had a bit more problems defending than Marie and I was really happy that she was the one in that position. During the game we had a few situations where I had to switch on her . Sometimes it went well for her, sometimes well for me. At that moment I was just really locked in and I was like: ´ok, she can't score and you can't foul under any circumstances.´ I already had a few foul calls before that I wasn't so happy with either. Marie blocks this ball into the court and I thought: ´Svenja is right there.´ I saw that there was still time and from then on I just tried to get out of there as quickly as possible. I'm sitting out there, first I see this great block from Marie and how the ball rolls to Svenja and as I remember I startet screeming at her that she should shoot. In the morning I took Svenja out of the shootaround and said: "Let's do another 15 to 20 shots from transition." On the same side and on the same spot. 3 steps, so 1 step before the line, one two and up. And that's why I have both hands up, because there was no reason for me why Svenja would miss that shot. Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Yes, thank you very much to everyone at home. The base in Hanover, what we've built up there is unbelievable. We've been trying to get this ticket for three years and what an incredible year it's been for women's basketball in Germany. It's another historic ticket. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year, that we will be sitting here with two tickets I would have said: "I'll sign it" and I would already be in your arms. It's still unbelievable it's so beautiful, it's just so much hard work that has finally paid off. I think we deserve it and we've more than earned it over all these years that we've put everything into it. I also think for Sunny, Svenja and Lu, who have put so much time and energy into this program over the last few years, I'm even happier that it's all paid off. It has also shown that if you commit to something and really believe in it and it was a small project, there are only a few people who were involved in some way and just to see that we are one of the 8 best teams in the world and participating at the Olympics. For 3x3, for the German 3x3, it`s a huge step. When you have a plan like: 2024 women, 2028 men. Boom here we go and then somehow it becomes reality, is really cool. Qualifying for the Olympics means the world to us. All four of us moved to Hanover so that we could train together every day. We put everything on hold just to be able to perform at the qualifiers, to achieve this big goal. What Samir has done for us, for the whole female section, is incredible. You can't even put into words what he has given up just to be in this situation. I take my hat off to him for everything he has done for us. I put everything into it. It was also a choice, we all wanted it. That's why it means everything to us. It means the world to us, because we think it's important for our lives. It just goes through the roof in myself because, I've put everything I have into it. That's why it was so a relieve. And I think anyone who sees this video will feel that thru the screen. 28 players invest in a year-long process with the DBB-3x3. On 30th of June, the DBB 3x3 women will compete for the first time at the Olympic Games in Paris.