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The Latvian men’s basketball team played better in defense against Lithuania in the match of Sunday’s “Baltic Way” tournament than on Saturday, the assistant to the head coach of the national team Robert Štelmaher concluded in a conversation with LETA. Uvis Helmanis.
On Sunday, in the tournament dedicated to the centenary of Estonian basketball “Baltijas ceļš”, the Latvian men’s basketball team gave in to the home team Estonians, and in the three-team tournament, the overcrowded team ranked third in the three-team competition. Latvia conceded to Estonia with 67:84 in the Saku Suurhall arena in Tallinn.
We hear 100% accuracy, Latvia marks the beginning of the game and loses to the Estonians as well
As Helmanis admitted, the team lacked some confidence in its strength and had not played to the end.
“In the moments when we hit, we lacked confidence in the attack and we didn’t get points. This prevented the Estonians from approaching and passing them. We play much better in defense than against leis. The last two minutes were hard to do and the game didn’t work for us. If we take into account these two games, then the second one was progress – it is a positive sign, ”Helmanis noted.
The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that FC had solid organization. At the beginning of the game, the Latvians, by their mistakes, allowed the Estonians to run in quick attacks.
“Seven mistakes in one quarter are very many. The second thing – we had to focus on the rebounds, because we knew that Raieste and Joesārs were taking them. We did our best not to take them, but they did. At first we let them go ahead, it can be considered as homework not done in the first half. In the second half we played well and made a good spurt. Then we couldn’t throw the points we needed again. We did not throw free throws from the bottom of the basket a couple of times, nor did we hit long throws. The positive news is that Artūrs Ausējs made a good series with several long shots. Artyom Butyankov also played well in the fight against the baskets and also scored points, ”explained Helmanis.
The Latvian national team will return home and continue training at the Olympic Center in Riga for another couple of weeks.
“Those who do not have to leave will have the opportunity to prepare for the season together with the national team coaches. Let’s meet next week, talk about the tournament and then we will know more, ”said Helmanis.
The next games for the Latvian national team could be only at the end of November, when the qualifying matches of the 2022 European Championship are planned. Some players from this tournament’s national team could qualify for a seat in the national team before the upcoming battles in the winter.
“The best thing about this stage was that we had the opportunity to see the nearest reserves, because we played mostly with debutants. There were eight debutants in the team, which is a very unusual situation. Personally, I don’t remember that many debutants in the sample. That was the biggest plus. Perhaps one of these debutants will also take part in the selection cycle. Yes, some of them were not young, but in the context of the sample they were like that, ”said Helmanis.
Since the beginning of June, members and candidates of the Latvian men’s national team have been training at the Elektrum Olympic Center in preparation for the next season. The choice of line-up for the Tallinn tournament was influenced by the players’ commitment to clubs, their health and their individual preparation plans.
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