Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Gordon Herbert in Frankfurt

Gordon Herbert is a Canadian/Finnish coach who is currently in his 27th year coaching and is head of the German national team. He has a long coaching resume that includes having coached in Finland Austria, Russia and in Germany he coached Wurzburg, Alba Berlin and was with the Fraport Skyliners for more than a decade. He also coached the Canadian national team and was active with the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets. He spoke to germanhoops.com about leading Germany to the 2023 World Cup title.

Congrats Gordie on winning the 2023 World Cup. About how many congratulatory messages did you get and who were some of the more known people that reached out to you?

I would say something around 200 people. The German chancellor congratulated me. I got a lot of text messages from Finland and people from Germany. I also heard from many coaches throughout Europe.

When you look back to the first days in 2021 when your named German national coach, how great is your feeling then that you could actually accomplish something like this after only 2 years on the job?

In year 1 we tried to build relationships with the players. That was around 40 guys. You developed each others trust. We came a long way. We lost our first qualifying game in Nurnberg to Estonia. You have to give a lot of credit to the players that played in the windows. They were part of it

How high can you rate this World Cup title not only for Germany but for basketball? After a disastrous 2019 World Cup to win like this is phenomenal?

This was the biggest accomplishment in German basketball. Giannis from Greece said it best today that Germany is the world champion. It was nice to read that from one of the best players in the world.

The win over the United States was an incredible feat. Was this win in a way greater for you personally than the final simply because you beat the greatest country in the world in basketball?

No the final was the best win. The win over USA was very emotional. We came off that win and didn’t slip up against Serbia, but won the title.

You said that a statue should be put up in Braunschweig for Dennis Schroeder. Tyrone Ellis said Germany wouldn’t have beat USA without Dennis Schroeder. How much did he grow as a player in this World Cup?

Dennis was instrumental from day 1. He was a huge part of the success. He embraced the captain role and being that leader. He took on a lot of responsibility and really matured a lot as a player. For him it was a great honor to represent his country. He had a tough game against Latvia, but bounced back. He came back greater. That is what great players do.

Did you get any special words from Steve Kerr? Do you feel like the NBA really knows who you are now?

I have no idea. You would have to ask people in the NBA. Steve always comes over as very polite and down to earth. He just said congratulations. I have a lot of respect on how he carries himself.

The final against Serbia was so exciting. After Germany led by 12 points, Serbia made a comeback. What were you thinking as Serbia released a pretty open three to tie?

They made a couple big three’s before that. They never gave up. We had a good 15 minutes and they had a good 3 minutes at the end. When you want to win a world cup title, you have to be good and also a little lucky. We were 8-0 and deserved the title. It was earned and not given to us

My favorite play of the final was the quick bullet pass from Joe Voigtmann in the fourth quarter from the three point line. What was your favorite play in the whole tournament?

It is hard to say just 1 play. There were so many great plays. Jow had an outstanding final. You have to give a lot of credit to him. He sacrificed his offense for the sake of the team. He was the glue guy at both ends of the court. He was instrumental game by game.
You coached Johannes Voigtmann and Isaac Bonga for years in Frankfurt. What was most special for you during the World Cup being able to coach them as national trainer?

Joe is an outstanding person, family guy with life values. I thought Isaac’s game grew when Franz Wagner was out. He got more involved on offense. Guys like Nils Giffey, Justus Hollatz and David Kramer didn’t play much but were tremendous teammates. Their time will still come.

Tyrone Ellis said it best saying you were the perfect leader and you had 12 guys that played with so much pride for Germany. What did you respect and cherish most from your players?

Just how much they cared about each other and supported each other even when they were on the bench.

Tyrone Ellis said you deserve to be in the NBA. He said there is do difference between NBA coaches and you. Could a NBA team even defend the way you want to?

I don’t know. That is a tough question to answer.

What did you learn about yourself during the World Cup?

I thought that we let our game slip at the Euro 2022 after the win against Greece. That didn’t happen this time. We all learned from that and didn’t allow it to happen again.

You celebrated until 7:00am. I saw a picture of you, Klaus Perwas and Sebastian Gleim. Have you ever seen Klaus smile?

He smiled in the locker room after we won the title. He has a great relationship with the players. They all like him. The assistant coaches did a hell of a job. They really worked their butts off.

How did you enjoy the celebration in Frankfurt. What was the nicest thing you heard from fans?

It was nice seeing so many happy people. When I saw the energy and support of the fans, that was the first time where it really sunk in that we had won. It was pretty surreal.

Who wins a 7 game series the German national team or the Denver Nuggets? Tyrone said Denver 4-0 or 4-1.

I have no idea. I’m just really proud of our team. USA had great young players. Canada had good players as did Australia. We were simply the best team with Special individual talent.

Thanks Gordie for the chat.