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One of the most memorable moments of Germany’s FIBA Basketball World Cup victory came immediately after the team’s shock 83-77 win over Serbia in the final earlier this month.
Head coach Gordon Herbert sat on the floor, slumped against a wall, seemingly unsure what to do.
“I was actually looking for a chair to sit down on and I couldn’t find a chair,” Herbert recalled of the moment to DW. “So, I just sat on the floor and my whole body kind of went a little bit numb.”
“I just didn’t want to stand anymore for some reason. The emotions of everything being over, it was just kind of hard to comprehend everything.”
“To be honest, I really don’t know what happened. I just had to gather myself a little bit and I wanted to really enjoy the moment because it was a lifetime moment. I was trying to gather my thoughts and enjoy the situation.”
There is an “I’ in team
Herbert’s reaction, as the German team celebrated wildly in Manila after clinching the title in their first-ever World Cup final, was understandable.
A semifinal loss in 2002 was the furthest the German team had managed in their previous World Cup history and as the team pulled off shock victory after shock victory on their path to glory in the Philippines, the support at home grew.
Around 4.6 million people watched the final on public broadcaster ZDF, with the win coming hot on the heels of a 113 – 111 win over the United States, in the semifinals, which caught public imagination but was only available on a streaming platform.
For Herbert, born and raised in Canada, putting the focus on the players as individuals rather than just focusing on the team as a whole, was a key to the side’s success.
“I worked with a sports psychologist in Canada named Peter Jensen, and he really helped me when I was coaching the Canadian team,” he explained. “I always said there’s no I in “team” but he told me there is an I in team.”
“We need the individuals. I’m a big believer in setting a goal, creating performance goals, which are daily but also bigger.”
“It’s important for to create a team identity which is something we feel as a team. Our team identity was, toughness, communication and togetherness, those three things.”
“And the players made all of these things happen. To me, creating this is one of the most important things we did.”
Eliminating pressure key to success
Having been a professional coach since 1994, Herbert is no stranger to taking charge of pressure moments at the helm of a team.
The 64-year-old was only 35 when he took on his first coaching job in charge of Finnish club Korihait. While it was a natural career progression for the former forward, he admitted that it was not one he relished to begin with.
“When I started coaching and I was younger I didn’t really enjoy it,” he said. “It was just the pressure to win that was a lot. I still put more pressure on myself than anybody else.”
“Now I try to enjoy the process and make it enjoyable for the players. I talk about enjoying the situation, enjoy the moment, live the moment.”
“I keep reminding myself I need to do that too. I really focus on the process of how I want to coach. I don’t focus on the product. I try to eliminate as much pressure as I can.”
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