As announced, Alex Mumbru took over from Gordon Herbert at the helm of the German national team. It will not be easy to follow the new coach of Bayern Munich, who has won two medals (bronze at Eurobasket 2022 and gold at the 2023 World Cup), but the federation had one idea in mind: to bet on the youth of the Spaniard, who is only 45 years old.
“We were looking for a coach who was hungry, competent, highly motivated and who showed that he really wanted to work with the team,” explains the president of the federation, Ingo Weiss, in a press release. “Alex Mumbru quickly convinced us of this. […] He had an impressive playing career with great success and also gained experience at the highest European level as a coach at Bilbao and Valencia.
Germany are U18 European champions
For his part, the new coach is delighted to be the coach of a ” of the best national teams in the world”. Moreover, he looked “a lot of matches in recent months and years, including the Olympics,” but also those of the German U18s, European champions.
What is his playing philosophy? “Basketball depends on the players, the coaches are there to make the players shine,” believes the former player of La Roja. “I like defense and I want to continue the team's success. […] I don't want to change anything about team cohesion because it is an essential element of success.”
Alex Mumbru will have some time before his first game on the bench for Germany as he will have to wait until November, with two games against Sweden in the Eurobasket 2025 qualifiers.
