It was the biggest success in German basketball: Germany won the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023. While the team was able to win the title without losing a single game, the victory was the result of a constant process. Talking about process leads us to Stefan Weissenboeck.
Five players of Germany’s World Cup winning team have been working with Stefan during their career. While Maodo Lô, Andreas Obst, Johannes Thiemann and Daniel Theis all played for Bamberg, Niels Giffey has been working with Stefan individually during the summer. But how did Stefan impact their game? Two World Champions told us.
NOT ONLY A SHOOTER
“I was only 16 or 17 years old when I started working with Stefan”, says Andreas Obst. “And it really helped me a lot. Stefan is great at focusing on details.” Andreas Obst is one of Europe’s best shooters who hit one of the most iconic three-point shots in the semi-finals against the United States. “With Stefan we focused more on my driving and finishing though. Of course, he helped me with details of my shot, but he saw that it was more important to improve other parts of my game.” And it’s the ability to put the ball on the floor and create various types of shots that sets Andi Obst apart from other great shooters.
“Stefan has a great eye for the details.” – Johannes Thiemann
On the other side: “Most of the time, Stefan and I worked on my shot”, explains Johannes Thiemann who agrees with Andi Obst: “Stefan has a great eye for the details. That is because he knows about all the technical aspects of a shot and how to improve them.” Johannes Thiemann is not only a World Champion but also one the EuroLeague’s most improved players during the current season. He has a big bag of skills that he can use to be effective on offense. Working with Stefan “was always fun”, Johannes remembers. “He is the type of coach who makes you believe in yourself and pushes you in just the right way with his positive attitude.”
Examples like Andreas and Johannes show how individual player development can be. But it also shows that hard and constant work pays off. As Andi’s case showed, some players already have one strength that they can rely on. If they are then able to strengthen even more parts of their game by individual workout like the ones Stefan offers, they have the chance to play at the highest level and even end up with a World Championship.
