FIBA Franz Wagner Goes Worldwide
Breaking down every key play made by Franz Wagner in FIBA EuroBasket 2022
ESPN ranked him the fifth best international player heading into the tournament.
He does the little things like a vet, yet already hits pull-up jumpers like a pro.
coming this summer: FIBA Franz Wagner goes worldwide.
Through nine EuroBasket games, Franz shot 53% from the field, essentially joining the 50-40-90 club, only falling short by one missed free throw. Franz Wagner scored 15 PPG, making 58% of his 55 two-pointers, 46% of his 41 three-pointers, and 89% of his 18 foul shots. On the defensive end, Wagner racked up 24% of his team’s blocks, recording five officially.
While his efficiency jumped off the page, Wagner’s usage throughout the tournament would split sporadically behind a heavy dosage of Dennis Schroder ISO and P&R with Daniel Theis. Germany would win the third-place game, taking home bronze.
Chef Wagner slices up defenses with sound fundamentals, rotating and relocating with precision. Germany capitalized on these skills by putting Franz in motion, allowing him to make quick decisions on the move with a variety of defense-bending tools at his arsenal, to be in the best position to succeed before he touches the ball.
Halfcourt sets that freed up Franz Wagner throughout the tournament were most utilized in the Lithuania matchup:
• Horns Flare opened up clean 3PT pull-up looks for Franz as defenders went under screens, giving Wagner all the room he needed to operate from beyond the arc. In this half-court Horns P&R variation, the player who screens for the ball-handler comes off an immediate flare screen from the other Horns screener on the opposite elbow.
• Iverson cuts were a constant. Putting Franz (and his man) in motion, this set usually involved Wagner running through a stagger screen on the free throw line into a 2-on-2 clearout side pick-and-roll, aiming to gain a step on his man for a downhill advantage.
• Chicago action, another frequent play-call, features a pindown back screen from the corner into a handoff that breaks Franz free, pushing Wagner into an advantageous situation to score with his defender on the move as Franz gains a head of steam.
• This Elbow Backscreen Sidelines Out-Of-Bounds (SLOB) set was a go-to, especially in After Timeout (ATO) situations. Wagner starts from the top of the key, runs through a back screen at the elbow, and rolls through the paint for the lob or resets to the corner if the lob isn’t there.
Breaking down every marquee play made by Franz Wagner in FIBA EuroBasket 2022 with running thoughts throughout each game:
Game 9 - Poland (3rd Place)
Breakaway jam off his teammates’ P&R-icing forced turnover puts Franz on the board.
SLOB distracts everyone as Franz anticipates the backdoor baseline cut.
This Germany half-court set has Poland’s switch-everything defenders scrambling. Between the inbound handoff into P&R, back to a flare screen handoff into a second P&R, the ball is passed five times before reaching Wagner on the wide open cut to the rim.
Franz’ man steps in to help on the second P&R rim-roll, but with the next man’s rotation too late to disrupt Franz from cutting through the paint.
Great defense from Wagner and Germany. First, Franz helps contain and contest the initial drive and putback by deflecting the loose ball, then he switches onto the perimeter, forces his man left into help, and closes out the defensive possession by contesting the shot. (block #1?)
A.J. Slaughter whips a DIME around the blitzing P&R big (Theis), but Wagner breaks up the highlight by making one of his own, helping off the corner to protect the rim personally by contesting the roller’s shot himself. (block #2?)
Good defensive possession, though called for a questionable foul at the end. Wagner tags the roller, stopping him in his tracks, before closing out on the wing and contesting a third player’s shot at the rim.
Stepback triple in ISO; Franz making something out of nothing.
Wagner breaking The Luka out of his bag on a slow night is impressive.
Two clean kickouts into the shooting pocket made by Wager, one in the backdown post-up and one in P&R, but the open 3PT shooter misses both.
Even in a third place game that feels close to garbage time, Chef Wagner brings the heat. Attacks his man baseline, shows superb footwork to accelerate on drive and decelerate into full stop without stepping out of bounds. Spins back to see a cutting a teammate before launching a point-blank ROCKET into his chest for the assist.
Game 8 - Spain (Semi-Finals)
The buzzer-beating bailout stepback pull-up middy is always encouraging.
Franz holds position in P&R defense, closes out on wing, beats everyone to the other rim, posts up the mismatch in the paint until Schroder sees him with the halfcourt post-entry over-the-top lob for the layup.
Germany head coach Gordon Herbert constantly looks to start the action with Franz on the wing using variations of this Iverson cut.
The set runs his defender through two screens before Franz even sees the ball, usually with another on-ball screen after that.
This time, the screener slips after leading Chef Wagner into his kitchen, with Franz breaking a few eggs and whipping up a spanish omelette in ISO on his way to the rack.
Another favorite, the Chicago pindown/handoff set leading Franz from the corner to the top of the key draws primary attention from the defense.
With Hernangomez hard hedging in P&R coverage toward Wagner before retreating back to the roller, Theis is left open for the over-the-top post-entry pass from Wagner into the shooting foul.
Team defense into easy offense → Deflection/Steal, Tough Pass, Breakaway Franz Jam
Franz loses his defender with the fake-pass in the pick-and-pop give-and-go before launching the three-pointer.
Franz FLOATAAA after attacking the closeout with the pump-and-go.
SLOB sends Franz from setting an elbow screen to running off a flare screen into the wing C&S 3PT look.
Defenders look lost while attempting to switch everything, as Franz draws four defenders into the paint with the pump-fake and drive, euro-stepping his way into the kick-out corner 3PT AST to cut the lead to four with under twenty seconds to play.
Game 7 - Greece (Quarter-Finals)
Franz Wagner and Germany knock out Giannis and Greece in the EuroBasket 2022 Quarter Finals!
19 PTS in 26 MIN shooting 5/7 3P
After being listed as questionable: Ankle is good to go; Wagner plays.
Franz draws Giannis on the switch in P&R, creates spaces with crossovers, and drills his first shot of the game, a side-step pull-up triple.
Wagner starts in high P&R, draws the switch, is given too much space, and gains rhythm for the shot by stepping in and out into a second pull-up three.
(Clean backdoor passes over the top from Calathes to Giannis for the slam. Giannis on pace for two over-the-top-peak-Dwight-Howard-dunk-on-everybody jams per quarter.)
Franz drive-away FLOATA out of a fake Horns into a pindown screen for Wagner.
Wagner gains position on block for spinning driving baseline slam as Schroder calls out mismatch in the post.
(Halfcourt Halftime Buzzer-Beater by Greece?!?)
Wagner switches onto the initial P&R ball-handler who relocated to the corner, then blocks his closeout-attacking drive.
Franz drills his THIRD pull-up triple of the game after stepping back into just enough space in pick-and-roll, giving himself 13 PTS.
In the middle of a 20-1 run to open the second half for Germany, Wagner drills his fourth three-pointer of the game, a catch-and-shoot open look off the second chance offensive rebound and crafty kickout pass.
Franz Wagner knocks down his FIFTH triple of the game:
his second step-back pull-up three-pointer over Giannis Antetokoumnpo
to give Germany a 12-PT fourth-quarter lead over Greece in the Quarter Finals!
Game 6 - Montenegro ( Round 1 )
Wagner would roll his ankle as a defender ends up under Franz' feet while Wagner was shooting a three. Status unknown. Germany Head Coach says “a pretty bad strain". Franz walked around on it and stayed in the game to remain eligible for return, knocking down all three free throws, before subbing out.
(update: he would start the next game)
Before going down to injury, Franz scored by crashing the offensive glass once for a putback along with the help of motion cuts in ATO/SLOB sets, spreading the floor for a corner triple, while playing strong help defense.
Here, Franz snatches the offensive board in traffic and goes up strong for the putback lay-in after Wagner initally looks open cutting baseline.
Elbow Back Screen SLOB: Wagner cuts from the top of the arc, relocating to the corner.
Franz fakes handoff from corner to wing, this time resetting into a post-up on his mismatch, capitilizing for the easy jam after the ball swings for an easier entry.
(Wagner scored an alley-oop in the same sidelines out-of-bounds set against Lithuania where the big defender (Sabonis) didn’t switch, emptying the paint wide open)
ATO — Franz’ off-ball cutting skills utilized in face cut from corner, where the defender may be anticipating the action to go above the arc due to previous actions.
Wagner waits off ball in corner, Schroder finds Franz with nice kick in P&R after attacking right, slightly drawing Franz’ help defender towards the paint.
Franz switches from block to block onto post defender and contests the hook shot.
Wagner deflects the corner pass in P&R help defense.
Franz sprints through pin down, runs pick-and-roll, swings to wing, who attacks the roller-tagging closeout defender on the drive for a layup.
GAME 5 - Hungary
Franz Wagner closes out, blocks the drive from behind, runs the floor, finishes with the up-and-under reverse off the crafty bounce pass from Voigtmann in transition.
Wagner relocates to dunker spot, sets back screen to free up teammate in corner for postup kickout, and bails out the possession with the stepback middy pull-up.
BLOB leads to clean C&S corner trey for Franz off P&R slip screen kickout.
Second clean C&S 3pt look for Franz, this time in the other corner off the lookahead/extra passes by Germany off the turnover.
Third C&S triple of the half comes off an offensive rebound second opportunity and kickaround the arc looking for the open man.
Franz Wagner, The 6'10" Speed Skater
Draws the “show” from the big defender in P&R and sees the big turn his shoulder attempting to get back to the roller, freeing up the driving lane for Franz with the big defender setting a moving screen on his own man long enough for Franz to turn the corner and squeeze a layup in from beneath the basket when a reverse is expected.
GAME 4 - Slovenia
Shot deterrence and tight defense keeping Wagner from impacting this Slovenia game at the level he’s shown the rest of the tournament. Franz mostly having trouble creating space against Blazic, who is smothering Wagner at every turn.
Franz guarding Luka through two P&Rs and contests (blocks?) the shot on Doncic's decelerating drive.
Franz pokes ball away fron Luka, forcing the turnover and foul.
Wagner rebounds, looks ahead, rolls through paint, relocates to corner, pump-fakes closeout, and splashes the one-dribble sidestep triple through the net.
Franz reads Luka's pass, jumps the gap, forcing another steal for the turnover, before pushing the pace and nearly making it to the rack before getting fouled in transition.
Possibly too late in the game, Germany breaks out Horns Flare, the play that freed Franz for clean looks multiple times against Lithuania. With space to operate, finally free from Blazic’s pestering perimeter defense, Wagner scores with ease.
GAME 3 - Lithuania
BOX SCORE: 32 PTS — 8 REB — 2 AST — 2 BLK — 2 STL (1 TO)
SHOOTING: 8/13 FG | 4/7 3P | 4/4 FT
Germany-Lithuania serves as Franz’ strongest overseas performance thusfar. Wagner scored 32 points while making over sixty percent of his shots from the field. Anticipating drives with defensive awareness and the ability to use his length effectively, Franz blocked multiple shots to protect the rim in help defense.
Franz knocking down floaters and pull-up treys while slicin’ ‘n’ dicin’ defenses for foul calls, dishes, and smooth finishes at the rim. Chef Wagner’s back in his kitchen.
Franz grabs the board, brings the ball up, waits for the screen and rescreen, hesis past the drop defender, with soft touch for the silky smooth finish at the rim. As the game announcer says on the call, "Wagner just looks like he's floating out there.”
The Theis Elbow Back Screen SLOB frees up Franz for a cut to the rim for the Schroder-Wagner alley-oop.
Franz "Mini Mutumbo" Wagner DENIES Ignas Brazdeikis, former Orlando Magic teammate, at the rim.
Chicago: Franz gains a head of steam from corner with help from pindown and handoff before Wagner lures Valanciunas off his feet with the two-handed Rondo pump-fake-stop-and-spin move finish.
FRANZ FLOATA FRANZ FLOATA
1x off the nasty behind-the-back dribble after ignoring the screen in P&R
1x off the cut from block to top of key off stagger elbow split action
Franz Wagner drills two back-to-back pull-up triples over an outstretched Sabonis, upping his first-half scoring total to 18 PTS.
Germany takes advantage of Wagner's cutting ability to create off-ball motion looks for Franz:
1. fake handoff backdoor baseline cut
2. Horns variation - Horns Dip Under
Wagner helps off perimeter to swat Sabonis in post.
Chicago pindown handoff draws Brazdeikis on switch Chef Wagner goes to work with the tough finish going left while sneaking up the finger-roll with the right.
Horns Flare Franz for the deep pull-up three.
Going under Wagner's screen? Good luck.
While Up 1 and Up 4 in a close game in the fourth, Germany calls this Horns Flare set twice to create a clean pull-up look for Franz. Valanciunas is the big in both possessions; the first play, the big’s in drop coverage, leaving Wagner open. (above)
The next time, Jonas extends his arm up in ice coverage before committing for the full closeout. (below)
Too late. Give Franz an inch, he'll take a mile.
Franz fakes the re-screen, slips into short-roll, finds Theis in dunker spot with the look-away wraparound shuttle pass.
Franz turns up the defensive intensity as the game closes out. A few stops is all his team needs to secure the win.
Timing up his defensive rotation with the shot clock, Franz slides into the block on Jonas while standing straight up without jumping, as to not draw the foul, hyping up the crowd afterwards.
Wagner switches onto the big, holds his own on the block, and celebrates again after contesting another shot in the clutch.
Lithuania would tie the game up, taking two overtimes for Germany to finish the job. Oddly, touches became rare for Wagner as the game closes out.
Below, Franz runs through a variation of Iverson (Iverson STS), only this time he stays patient for the play to develop. Here’s the play’s break down, one action at a time:
Iverson STS
Play-By-Play: (assume Franz is the 2 for play description)
3 cuts to the block
4 and 5 screen for 2
2 Iverson Cuts
1 passes to 2
1 cuts to the opposite corner
3 screens for 5
4 screens the screener (3)
2 passes to 5 or 3
(2 passes to 4 here, since 4 is left wide open after defense overcommits extra defender to 3, who is streaking to top of arc)
GAME 2 - Bosnia and Herzegovina
Franz hits the corner with the live dribble pass in P&R.
Iverson Cut Elbow Stagger into Side P&R
Chef Wagner Look Off Special Crossover Finger-Roll Finish
Franz pump fakes the closeout and steps into the stepback three.
Franz absolutely REJECTS Jusuf Nurkic in the clutch.
GAME 1 - France
Franz BLOB backdoor sneak attack cut past Fournier from wing to rim.
1 lob over Fournier and Gobert
+ 1 blob corner flare
________________________
= 2 Franz Wagner German Assists
Chef Wagner welcomes Evan Fournier to his kitchen.
Today's Special:
Iverson cut
ignore-screen crossover
through-the-legs
hang-dribble crossover
finger-lickin'
finger-rollin'
fried chicken
Franz Wagner leaves Germany with the Dirk leg-kick fadeaway over Gobert in a blowout win over France on Dirk Nowitzki jersey retirement night.
Q: Personally, how much did you grow throughout this tournament?
A: “I think I learned a lot. Ups and downs throughout the tournament, I think how you handle that is very important; in that regard, I think I learned a lot as well. hopefully I can keep learning, keep growing.”
- Franz Wagner, (Q&A via Vasiliki Karamouza @karamouza_vas / @BNsportsGr)
All stats and film via FIBA.
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