The players of the National Basketball Association (NBA) will have to quickly enter the rhythm of the games in the closing tournament of the season, emphasizes the Latvian star of Dallas “Mavericks” Kristaps Porziņģis.
During the break of the NBA season, Porziņģis had gone to Liepāja, where he spent individual training.
“There was more time to heal what hurts,” the team quoted Porziņģis as saying after Wednesday’s training. “I also came to a small holiday season. I had the opportunity to go home and be with family and friends. It’s always a pleasure to spend time in the homeland.”
Porziņģis and the team Orlando have already participated in five trainings.
“He has been great and is doing a good job at both ends of the field,” comments Mavericks head coach Riks Karlails commenting on Liepāja’s performance training. “I like the way he chooses a position in an attack and works with his teammates.”
Kārlails also hopes that Porziņģis will keep his game on the defensive level – the Latvian has blocked an average of 2.1 shots in one game this season.
“In defense, he is one of the best guards of the basket, which is also confirmed in his performance training,” Carlisle emphasized.
Porziņģis also revealed that at the beginning of the season he was not worried about his debut in the “Mavericks” team, but after 20 months of rehabilitation there was a lot of unknowns.
“I think it took me a while to keep up with the teammates, the new coach and the system. In my mind I think I’ll jump into the rhythm quickly and everything will go on track. I felt from others that they were trying to reassure me for moments when things don’t go as planned, I wouldn’t be angry, “revealed the Latvian basketball player.
He admits that everything did not go as he had hoped, but over the course of the season he gained confidence that he could return to the previous level.
“However, when it comes to health, I had no worries at any time, and I felt good from day one,” Porziņģis emphasized.
Orlando basketball players have a lot of free time, and Porziņģis uses it to focus on reading.
“I have started reading more books,” Porziņģis said. “I look a lot smart, I try to read when I have the patience to do it, and I relax with my teammates. This is a good time to get to know each other better and have dinner together.”
The Mavericks season will resume on July 31 with a duel against the Houston Rockets.
“It will be a quick restart. We need to refresh our minds, throw ourselves into the game and do what we love,” Porziņģis emphasized.
The NBA season will resume on July 30 with 22 teams meeting at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
The closing of the season’s tournament in Orlando has caused concern for many, as more than 15,000 new cases were diagnosed in the state of Florida on Sunday, the highest number since the pandemic began.
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