(Photo courtesy/Huskie Athletics)

By Ben Tompkins

Building a Contender

Thomaidis leads Germany past expectations in Country’s Olympic debut

Aug 16, 2024 | 3:56 PM

The 2024 Paris Olympics marked Germany’s debut at the Games, when it came to the sport of Women’s Basketball.

The Germans had never been on that stage before in 5×5 hoops, so for a majority of their squad, they had never played in something so big.

For their coach, however, who also so happens to be the leader of the University of Saskatchewan Women’s Basketball program, the Olympics were nothing new.

Lisa Thomaidis had already been to three Olympic Games, prior to 2024, but they were all with her home country of Canada.

After being tasked to lead Team Germany, last April, Thomaidis helped the country through EuroBasket tournaments and Olympic Qualifiers to book their ticket to France.

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Now, as she returns from Paris 2024, she reflects on how far the German program has come and how many people’s expectations they blew past.

“It was an amazing experience to get there for the first time in history… no one expected us to even win a game. To go there and win our first two games, put ourselves through to the quarterfinals and beat two of the top 10 teams in the world, it was just a historic Olympics for us,” Thomaidis told HuskieFAN.

“The team was fantastic. I just thought we showed a ton of poise playing against some of the best teams in the world on the biggest stage in the world. It was truly a great experience.”

As Thomaidis put it so clearly, Germany was put in the ‘group of death’, as they were placed in a pool with USA (number-one), the number-sixth ranked team in the world and the number-ninth ranked team in the world.

During the group stage, the Germans beat both Team Japan and Team Belgium, earning a spot in the quarters with a 2 and 1 record.

Unfortunately for Germany, they would have to face host team France in the quarters, as they lost to the eventual silver medalists.

So, the Germans only two losses of the summer in their Olympic debut year, the Americans and the French, who duked it out in the Gold Medal match, which ended by a score of 67-66.

“It wasn’t until a week before the Olympics that we added our three WBNA players. We had a ton of illness, some injuries, and players that weren’t with us for a period of time. It was very challenging but again, super rewarding because of how well the team performed,” added Thomaidis.

“What we really wanted to do was to be able to play our best on the biggest stage. It sounds like a simple goal, but it’s extremely difficult to actually go and do, but I thought we did that. I knew at the end of the day if we were able to play our best against those teams, we would give ourselves a chance to win, and that’s exactly what ended up happening.”

So what then does this experience mean for Thomaidis, as she comes back from a gruelling, yet rewarding summer, just in time to coach her powerhouse Huskie team, which always has the highest of expectations?

According to the coach herself, it’s about learning from the best of the best and trying to incorporate those things into the collegiate level.

“Anytime you get a chance to coach in the Olympic Games, you get to see what the best teams in the world are doing. You get to see what some of the current trends are, what the best players in the world are doing and witness their skill sets. Bringing that back is always a huge positive for our team,” concluded Thomaidis.

“Anytime you just get a chance to experience something different and bring back some new ideas, it’s super helpful. I think it really has paid dividends with our team over the years.”

So for now, Thomaidis will shift her focus to the upcoming USport season, as she tries to guide her Huskies to another Canada West and National title.

In the future though, her goals already remain set, as she hopes Team Germany, with her at the helm, enters the year 2026 as a top-10 basketball squad on the planet, when they’re scheduled to host the World Cup.

Just over a year ago, they were 36th, then they jumped to 25th, before being ranked 19th entering Paris.

Another jump is likely, following their 7th-place finish in France.

“We want to be in that top 10. We want to be one of those countries that are in the conversation of being a world power or an up-and-coming world power. That’s our goal, just keep climbing.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8