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.
As Helmanis admitted, the team lacked some confidence in its strength and had not played to the end.
“In the moments we hit, we lacked confidence in the attack and didn’t get points. It prevented the Estonians from approaching and passing them. We play much better in defense than against the Leis. The last two minutes were hard to do and the game didn’t work out. If we consider these two games , then the second 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.
“There are a lot of seven mistakes in one quarter. The second thing – we had to focus on the rebounds, because we knew that Raieste and Joesar were taking them. We did everything not to take them, but they did. At first we let them go, it can be considered In the second half we played well and made a good splash, after that we couldn’t throw the points we needed again. Also, Artyom Butyankov 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 with the national team coaches. We will 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 random model could qualify for a place in the national team before the upcoming battles in the winter.
“The best thing about this stage was that we had a chance to see the nearest reserves, because we played mostly with debutants. There were eight debutants in the team, which is a very unusual situation. I personally don’t remember that many debutants in the team. That was the biggest plus. Yes, some of them were not young, but in the context of the selection they were, “said Helmanis.
Members and candidates of the Latvian men’s national team have been training at the “Elektrum” Olympic Center since the beginning of June, preparing for the next season. The choice of line-up for the Tallinn tournament was influenced by the players’ commitment to clubs, health status and individual preparation plans.
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