According to media reports, the German Basketball Association has found a successor for Gordon Herbert. The supposed new national coach is an unknown quantity in Germany.
As a player, Álex Mumbrú was part of the golden Spanish generation. Now the former world and European champion is to succeed successful coach Gordon Herbert and establish the German basketball players further among the world’s elite. According to consistent media reports, the 45-year-old will be presented at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday. This was reported by the “Hamburger Abendblatt” and “Bild” as well as Spanish media. The association, which invited people to the five-star hotel on Steinplatz in Berlin-Charlottenburg on Tuesday, did not comment on the reports.
Mumbrú, who? While the name may only be known to absolute basketball experts, the top management of the German Basketball Association (DBB) seems to be convinced of the qualities of the Catalan, who has not yet made an international name as a coach. Mumbrú knows how to be successful. As a player, the 2.02 meter tall Catalan won World Cup and European Championship gold alongside Spanish basketball legend Pau Gasol and won Olympic silver in 2008.
Successful like Herbert?
But Mumbrú is following in big footsteps. In the three years under Canadian Herbert (65), who will take over the German double winners FC Bayern Munich after the Summer Games, Dennis Schröder & Co. experienced an almost unbelievable high with the World Cup title last year, European Championship bronze in 2022 and fourth place at the Olympics in Paris.
Coaching experience at Spanish clubs
As a professional, Mumbrú was only active in his home country and played for Real Madrid for several years, where he became Spanish champion. After retiring in 2018, Mumbrú initially coached Bilbao Basket before moving to Euroleague club FC Valencia in 2022. His tenure there ended in April after clearly missing the playoffs for the European premier class. This also made Mumbrú an option for the DBB, because it rules out a dual role as club and national coach.
Mumbrú would now prepare the German national team in the medium term for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Before that, the European Championship with the final round in Riga next year and the World Cup in Qatar in 2027 will take place. The new national coach will be in the spotlight for the first time in November in the European Championship qualification, where he will probably have to do without the NBA pros around Schröder and the Wagner brothers as well as most of the EuroLeague players.
Mumbrú must form new squad
Herbert’s successor must first convince the players of his philosophy in many personal discussions and drive the change with a view to the upcoming highlights. It remains to be seen who will play alongside captain Schröder in the coming years. Herbert had demanded a firm commitment from the players for three years. That expired with the Olympics. It is conceivable that players such as Daniel Theis (32) and Niels Giffey (33) will end their careers in the national team.
The core of the current team is around 30 years old, so they could be part of the Olympics in Los Angeles again. It is quite possible that Franz Wagner (22), for example, will take a break next summer and then rejoin the team later.
The DBB has enough players with great potential at its disposal. Maximilian Kleber (32) and Isaiah Hartenstein (26) from the NBA were not even there under Herbert. There are other interesting players in Oscar (25) and Tristan da Silva (23), Justus Hollatz (23) and Kevin Yebo (28). In the future, the U18 European champions also offer a lot of talent.
Source: Stern
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