Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman were not included in the initial roster for Germany’s training camp for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. German national team coach Dirk Bauermann however did have some surprises as Chad Toepper, Christopher McNaughton and Johannes Strasser were invited to the first camp, which begins on July 12 on Mallorca.
Here the list of invited players (current/most recent club)

Steffen Hamann (ALBA Berlin), Demond Greene (Larissa/Greece), Heiko Schaffartzik (New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig), Per Guenther (ratiopharm Ulm), Lucca Staiger (ALBA Berlin), Philipp Schwethelm (Eisbären Bremerhaven), Chad Toepper (Albuquerque Thunderbirds, D-League/USA), Konrad Wysocki (Turow Zgorzelec/Poland), Robin Benzing (ratiopharm Ulm), Elias Harris (Gonzaga University/USA), Jan-Hendrik Jagla (Asseco Prokom Gdynia/Poland), Tim Ohlbrecht (Telekom Baskets Bonn), Yassin Idbihi (New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig), Tibor Pleiss (Brose Baskets Bamberg), Christopher McNaughton (EWE Baskets Oldenburg) and Johannes Strasser (Telekom Baskets Bonn). On call: Patrick Femerling (Antalya BSB/Turkey)

Bauermann and his coaching staff will welcome Nowitzki and Kaman to the team should they decide to return following the NBA season. The Germans will be playing against Angola, Argentina, Australia, Jordan and Serbia in Group A in Turkey.

Toepper’s real name is Chad Toppert and the 24-year-old shooting guard has a German grandfather and took on his original German name. He played at the University of New Mexico and averaged 11.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 48 percent from three-point range for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA D-League.

His selection by Bauermann was a true shocker among the German basketball scene. Here a selection of the responses in the forum of the biggest German basketball site Schoenen-dunk.de (posts are translated)

“Chad Toepper? did i miss something?”

“Chad Toppert? does he have a german passport? stats are really okay”

“I think chad is an amazing selection. should that only be for a test? how strong is here. was never really on my radar?”

“Nobody needs chad toepper. he will probably be another one like julian sensley. what happened to nick schneiders?”

“Who the fXXk is Chad Toepper? have to get a bit more informed but still not excited. blocking such great talents for an underaverage d’leageu ami (american). sensely or greene would be 1000 times better”

As for the other two surprises…

McNaughton is only an option if Nowitzki and Kaman do not decide to play in Turkey. And Strasser is a surprise considering he decided against even being considered for nomination last summer.

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2 Comments

  1. nmme says:

    I CAN speak for Chad Toppert (Toepper), as I have seen him play both last year in the Dleague, and 4 years at New Mexico. He is not the flat out star that everyone expects, he is not a numbers kind of person…he is a percentage person. Look at his percentages and you will be amazed. I can tell you this…you will not find anybody who puts in more time, and works harder than him. And also, which is probably why he was picked, you will not find anybody else who shoots the long ball better than him. This man can flat out shoot the rock. He works best off of double screens and passing him the rock, and popping it.

    Let’s put it this way, if I were given a choice between Dirk shooting the 3, and Chad…I would want Chad to 11 times out of 10.

    Pressure also does not bother him…he loves pressure…he thrives in it.

    In my opinion great choice.

 
 

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