Germany's Fleming remains upbeat despite loss of Kleber
BERLIN (EuroBasket 2015) - Rising star Maxi Kleber has been ruled out of Germany's squad for EuroBasket 2015 after having foot surgery.
The German Basketball Federation (DBB) has announced the news of the 23-year-old's operation.
Maxi Kleber musste operiert werden und kann leider nicht an der EM teilnehmen. Kopf hoch Junge! #EuroBasket2015 #DBB https://t.co/gifTjkQLZf
— Dt. Basketball Bund (@DBB_Basketball) July 3, 2015
"This is bitter news for both Maxi [Kleber] and for us," Germany coach Chris Fleming said.
I was planning a major role for Maxi in the team but we must and will deal with this loss. - Fleming
Kleber, a power forward, averaged 11.8 point and 6.8 rebounds in the EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualification Round.
After those games, his first with the senior team, Kleber moved to the Spanish Liga Endesa with Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro and had a strong campaign.
His performances caught the eye of German powerhouse Bayern Munich, who signed him last week on a two-year deal.
Germany will nevertheless have a very good team at the EuroBasket, especially with the most famous player in the country's history, Dirk Nowitzki, deciding to play this summer.
The national team will play a total of six warm-up games on home soil, starting with a friendly against Czech Republic on 7 August.
Fleming's men will take on Croatia in Bremen on 16 August and then host the ERGO Supercup 2015 in Hamburg from 21-23 August, where they will face Latvia, Poland and Turkey.
The Germans will conclude preparations with a warm-up encounter with reigning European champions France on 30 August in Koln.
EuroBasket 2015 tips off on 5 September, with Germany playing against Iceland in the their Group B opener in Berlin.
The group hosts will then go up against Serbia, Turkey, Italy and Spain in a pool characterised by fierce competition for a top-four finish which leads to the Round of 16.
Fleming has announced a 16-strong list of players for Germany's first training camp to be staged in Bonn 19-25 July.
Germany's two NBA players, Nowitzki and Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder, will join the team's preparations in August.
Germany 16-player squad for Bonn training camp: Danilo Barthel, Robin Benzing, Bastian Doreth, Niels Giffey, Alex King, Konstantin Klein, Maodo Lo, Tibor Pleiss, Bogdan Radosavljevic, Heiko Schaffartzik, Maurice Stuckey, Karsten Tadda, Akeem Vargas, Johannes Voigtmann, Maik Zirbes and Paul Zipser.
Go to eurobasket2015.org for complete coverage of EuroBasket 2015.
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