Breaking down Kentucky's first GLOBL JAM matchup: Team Germany

The 2023-24 Kentucky men’s basketball team will take the floor for the first time in less than 24 hours. As part of a mid-summer event called the 2023 GLOBL JAM Tournament in Toronto, Canada, the Wildcats are set to face off against international opponents over the coming days (and yes, all games will be available for your viewing pleasure).

To kick off the tournament, Kentucky will first match up against Team Germany. Tipoff is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. EST on the CBS Sports Network. The competition level is capped at U23, so while there won’t be 10-year veterans roaming the opposing rosters, they will still be filled with professionals who have plenty of experience playing alongside each other and against other pros.

This isn’t going to be a walk in the park for Kentucky by any means. At the very least, it will provide valuable experience (especially for the six freshmen making the trip) and a team bonding opportunity. At best, the Wildcats exceed expectations and look like a team in the mix of contending for a national title. The reality will likely be somewhere in between — a fun and exciting trip for the team and fans that give an early glimpse of what’s to come this season.

So what should Kentucky expect when it takes on Team Germany inside Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre? Let’s comb through the roster and see what we can find.

Team Germany’s GLOBL JAM roster

Head coach: Gordon Herbert
Assistants: Klaus Perwas, Daniel Herbert

(1) Joshua Obiesie, 6-6 G | Fraport Skyliners
(3) Elias Baggette, 5-11 G | HARKO Merlins Crailsheim
(4) Johannes Patrick, 6-0 G | MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
(6) Malte Delow, 6-5, G | Alba Berlin
(8) Jordan Samare, 6-7 F | Fraport Skyliners
(9) Jonas Mattisseck, 6-3 G | Alba Berlin
(12) Nicholas Tischler, 6-7 F | Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
(15) Bent Leuchten, 7-0 C | UC Irvine
(19) Kay Bruhnke, 6-8 F | medi Bayreuth
(22) Brandon Tischler, 6-7 F | Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
(28) Norris Agbakoko, 7-1 C | EWE Baskets Oldenburg
(77) Simas Lukosius, 6-6 G | University of Cincinnati

Coaching staff breakdown

Team Germany will be led by head coach Gordon Herbert, who also serves as the head coach for the German national team, a title he’s held since September 2021. He’s coached the likes of current NBA players such as Dennis Schröder (Lakers), Franz Wagner (Magic), and Daniel Theis (Pacers). Most recently, Herbert guided Germany to a bronze medal in the 2022 European Championships. The 64-year-old is a native of British Columbia and played his college ball at North Idaho (’77-79) and Idaho (’79-82) before embarking on a 12-year professional career in Finland.

From there, Herbert got into coaching and has found constant success since getting into the profession in 1994. He’s won multiple Coach of the Year awards throughout his career and helped Skyliners Frankfurt to a German League title in 2004. Herbert made one coaching pit stop in the NBA, suiting up as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors in 2008-09.

Herbert will be joined on the sidelines by Klaus Perwas (52-year-old German native, coaching since 2000) and his son Daniel Herbert (28 years old, coaching since 2021).

College player breakdowns

We’ll start with the two Team Germany players who suit up for college teams in the United States: 6-foot-6 guard Simas Lukosius (Cincinnati) and 7-foot center Bent Leuchten (UC Irvine).

Lukosius spent his first two seasons of college ball at Butler, coming into his own as a scorer this past season. The native of Lithuania averaged 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists for the Bulldogs in 2022-23 before entering the portal and transferring to Cincinnati during the offseason. Lukosius developed into an outside shooter in year two, improving his three-point percentage from 28.6 percent to 37.8 percent on higher volume.

Meanwhile, Leuchten also came into his own during his second college season at UC Irvine. The seven-foot German native averaged 9.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in 26 starts this past season, shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and flashing some outside shooting chops. Expect these two to play major minutes.

Skyliners Frankfurt player breakdowns

A pair of teammates from Germany’s Skyliners Frankfurt (part of the Basketball Bundesliga, Germany’s top division) will take the floor against Kentucky: 6-foot-6 guard Joshua Obiesie and 6-foot-7 forward Jordan Samare.

Obiesie is a 23-year-old German native who has been playing professional basketball since 2018. He went unselected in the 2019 NBA Draft but has made a name for himself in Germany and is familiar with playing for the national team. He averaged 12.1 points on 41.9 percent shooting overall and 34.7 percent shooting from deep for Skyliners Frankfurt this past season.

Samare is a couple of years younger at 21 but has been a member of Skyliners Frankfurt since 2020. This past season, he put up per-game averages of 14.6 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor and a respectable 33.8 percent from distance. Samare has been playing for Team Germany since 2018. Both he and Obiesie will also expect to receive plenty of playing time next to Lukosius and Leuchten.

Basketball Löwen Braunschweig player breakdowns

Obiesie and Samare aren’t the only pair of professional teammates for Team Germany though. Twin brothers Nicholas Tischler and Brandon Tischler, both 6-foot-7 forwards, play their professional basketball for Basketball Löwen Braunschweig, which is also a member of the Basketball Bundesliga. The 22-year-old Germans (turning 23 in August) have been playing professionally for years now.

While neither has put up eye-catching numbers for Löwen Braunschweig, they have improved statistically year over year. This past season, Brandon averaged 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds on 46.9 percent shooting with a 34.3 percent mark from deep. Meanwhile, Nicholas averaged 4.9 points and 2.5 rebounds on 49.3 percent overall shooting but just 22.0 percent from distance.

Alba Berlin player breakdowns

Our final batch of professional teammates are 6-foot-5 guard Malte Delow and 6-foot-3 guard Jonas Mattisseck of Alba Berlin, another member of the Basketball Bundesliga. Alba Berlin won the 2019-20 and 2021-22 German League Championship with Delow and Mattisseck on the roster. Like most of Team Germany, both have been playing at a professional level for years.

Delow is a 22-year-old native of Berlin who entered his name into the 2023 NBA Draft but was not selected. The lengthy guard saw moderate production this past season against Germany’s top competition, averaging 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists on shooting splits of 51.3/36.8/57.1.

As for Mattisseck, the 23-year-old just wrapped up his sixth season as a professional. He’s been mostly a role player for Alba Berlin, averaging just 2.5 points on a poor shooting clip of 36.8 percent from the floor. However, Mattisseck is a career 35.5 percent three-point shooter on nearly two attempts per outing.

Remaining player breakdowns

Eight down, four to go. We’ll go in order of jersey number to break down the remaining Team Germany players, starting with 5-foot-11 guard Elias Baggette, who suits up for Basketball Bundesliga’s HARKO Merlins Crailsheim. Another native of Berlin, the 21-year-old has played his entire professional career in Germany. However, he’s yet to break out as a major contributor. This past season, he averaged 3.0 points and 1.2 assists per game for HAKRO.

Next up is 6-foot guard Johannes Patrick of Basketball Bundesliga’s MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg. Also 21 years old, he went unselected in the 2023 NBA Draft. Patrick has not yet been a significant contributor to Germany’s top basketball league either.

Moving right along, we’ll quickly talk about 6-foot-8 forward Kay Bruhnke of medi Bayreuth, another Bundesliga team. Like many of the 21-year-olds on Team Germany, he also went unselected in the 2023 NBA Draft. But Bruhnke has been able to at least produce at the top level in Germany, contributing 5.2 points on 36.5 percent outside shooting last season.

The final player on the roster is 7-foot-1 center Norris Agbakoko of EWE Baskets Oldenburg (and yes, they are also in the Bundesliga). At 23 years old, he should provide a decent threat in the paint against Kentucky’s bigs. Agbakoko averaged 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds against top German competition this past season while shooting nearly 64 percent overall.