Pic credit: Armin Cicic

Daniel Doerr is a former German professional player that enjoyed a 15 + year career in Germany retiring in 2018. He played most of his career in Lich, but also played in Crailsheim and for the Giessen Pointers playing 380+ pro games. He recently took part at the Fiba Masters open and won the Gold medal. He spoke to germanhoops.com about his experience in Greece.

Thanks Daniel for talking to germanhoops.com. You recently took part at the Fiba Masters Open. You retired 8 years ago. Do you still keep in shape? In what kind of shape did you go into the tournament?

I still try to stay in shape. I work out 2-3 a week and never really stopped doing sports . In think my condition was pretty ok for my age

The tournament was in Greece. Did it feel like a little vacation at the time?

Sometimes it felt a little bit like vacation but we didn’t really had time off. We only had 2 off days out of 10. Most of the times we were practicing, doing yoga or lifting weights to keep our focus .

With guys 40 or over, how did Germany prepare for this tournament? How much can one prepare when guys are 40 or over?

We had a 3 day training camp in May to prepare a little bit , all guys play in over 40‘s league so they basically stay in shape the whole year . More than half of the players are from Bayern Munich who won the German Championship 3 years in a row. So they know each other pretty well which helps a lot.

The conditions were state of the art. Talk a little about how nice everything was? There was featuring wooden flooring, and air conditioning, Did it compare to first league conditions?

The conditions were pretty solid , I wouldn’t say first league standard but pretty good.

What was it like for you playing 3X3? Was this something you have done over the years?

I didn’t play3x3 in a lot of years

Talk a little about the competition. How good were the other countries in general and were there some notable players from back in the day?

Thr competition was really good. I was surprised . A lot of former First league players from Greece , Italy , Georgia etc. Georgia even had an former NBA player ( Tskisvhli) on their team .

Talk a little about your teammates. There were some known guys like Steffan Hamann, Dirk Madrich Moritz Wohlers Omari Knox and Daniel Lieneke. What was it like playing with them? Were you ever teammates with any of them?

Just a great group of guys , we really had great chemistry. I only knew Dirk Mädrich from the under 20 National team . And I played against Hamann , Wohlers and Lieneke in the Pro A.

Who was in best basketball and physical shape between Hamann, Madrich Lieneke and Wohlers?

I would say Hamann and Lieneke were in the best shape.

You never played in the BBL. What was it like being teammates with 2005 Euro Silver medalist Steffen Hamann? He still seems to be in good shape isn´t he?

Actually not true . When I played for Lich I a had a double license for the BBL team 46ers and played a couple of minutes in the 2003 BBL playdowns and in some cup games as well. But I never was a BBL player, I was a solid 2 league player . It was a great experience to play with a basketball legend like Steffen. He still got serious game .

How did you present your game? How content were you with your game?

I really struggled offensively and I was a little disappointed in the beginning. But then I started to focus more on rebounds and defense to help the team and give Moritz and Dirk some rest . The longer the tournament went on , the more I adapted the role of getting rebounds and playing defense . We had enough scorers anyway. I really enjoyed this role after a while because since I struggled offensively I think this was the best way to help the team

What was the biggest challenge for a guy your age in this tournament besides the in shape aspect?

The biggest challenge probably was that you had 5 games in 7-8 days with workouts in between. Even for a 25 year old , that’s not easy to handle for the body

Germany won the final against Italy 69-66. How exciting was this game? Was there any doubt that Germany wouldn´t win this game?

I knew Italy gonna be a tough matchup because besides us they were in the best shape . But I also knew if we play hard from the beginning, we were going to win it

Talk a little about the last play. Omari Knox made the last shot. How exciting was that play?

Omari last two plays were some of the craziest things I ever saw live on a basketball court . He was ice cold crazy, I went nuts on the bench

What was your own personal favorite play on the court during the whole tournament?

My favorite play definitely was when Omari stole the ball in the finals against italy with down by 3 points . Instead of making a wide open layup, he stopped on the 3 point line a swished the 3 with 50 seconds on the clock . That was Jordanesque

What does the Fiba Masters Open Gold Medal mean to you? Where do you rank it in your whole career?

The Gold medal is probably the biggest achievement in my career along with my jersey retirement . For me it is really really special

When you look back at this experience in 20 years, what will you remember most from it?

What I will remember the most is probably the special group of guys. So many different characters working for one goal . It really was a great time and we all enjoyed the time we spend together .It was special

Do you think like you will take part in more of these kind of tournaments down the road?

We will see, if my body feels good i’ll probably play in some more tournaments.

Who wins a 1-1 on the court in 2026, you or Daniel Lieneke?

One on one i’ll probably win because I’m the better low post player, which helps a lot in one on one games.

Thanks Daniel for the chat.