Eurobasket Update: How Will Magic Forward Franz Wagner Fare Without Top Two Options?
ORLANDO - While his national team suffered just one loss in its exhibition run, Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner could head into qualifying week without multiple key players.
In his first outing for Germany on August 10th, a friendly against Belgium, Wagner looked like the best player on the floor, finishing with a team-high 23 points on 7/13 shooting along with five rebounds in the narrow victory.
And on August 19th, the 6-10 forward erupted once more, this time a 26-point performance against the Czech Republic in a double-digit victory.
However, heading into their final exhibition game against Serbia, Wagner and his team would be without Dennis Schröder and Daniel Theis and it showed on the scoreboard in a 83-58 demolition.
Going into World Cup Qualifying this week, Germany could be without Schröder, Theis and Magic center Mo Wagner due to various injuries.
“I’ll tell it like it is, this one hurts,” [Mo] Wagner said. “For years I was looking forward to this tournament and this opportunity to play in Germany in Cologne and my city of Berlin with my brother at the home European championship is something that I dreamed of for a long time.”
Going into the Eurobasket match-up on September 1st against Sweden, Wagner could be forced to carry the workload without his main offensive weapon in Schroder.
The second-year forward will hope to use Eurobasket and World Cup Qualifier to build momentum for the Magic this season.
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