Nauris Miezis believes that Edgars Krūmiņš deserved the Doha “Masters” most valuable player award

Latvia’s best 3×3 basketball team “Rīga” won all five games in the fourth stage of the World Tour in Doha, winning the second “Masters” title this season and taking the first place in the overall ranking of the World Tour. The most valuable player of the tournament was Miezi, who named the whole team MVP.

In the final match with the main competitors, the Latvian team managed to play the Serbian team “Liman” between 13:19 and 15:20, winning with 21:20. Barley admits that this often does not happen in 3×3 basketball.

“I’m not pretending to be a big optimist – at the end I don’t think we can save anything. It’s good that there is Edgars Krūmiņš who shook us at the last minute break that nothing has been lost yet. Indeed – we had nothing to lose in that situation, so we worked without One successful attack, good defense, another attack … “LBS quotes Barley.

According to Miezis, the Serbs wanted to secure the victory with a shot from a distance.

“It should be noted that the previous points had not come to them easily and fatigue had accumulated. We had” finished “them, but we still had enough energy to” put in the second gap. “It was confirmed that in every game aggression must be maintained until the end – then various milestones, “emphasizes Miezis.

Winning two Masters stages confirms that the training process was properly planned and implemented.

“In training, we have not given discounts to ourselves or to the guys of team B, with whom we regularly play sports. It has not been boring. Of course, I would like to play more and participate in tournaments, but in this respect we are all in the same conditions,” reveals Miezis.

The basketball player says the isolation regime in Doha was more draconian than before in Hungary.

“Immediately after arriving in Doha, we passed the Covid-19 test and, waiting for the results at the hotel, we could not leave our room for three days. Not a step – we could not even visit the team members in the next room. The food was at the door,” Miezis recalls.

Basketball players have kept in shape by contacting “Zoom” with the coach and doing everything that can be done in the room.

“When we met outside after three days, we were stunned by the fresh air at the first moment. We practiced in the field for an hour and the senses started to return. It was warm – the thermometer showed 35 degrees. But experience shows that we play well in hot weather. We are not any cold Latvians,”

Covid-19 also affected the course of the Doha tournament, as two teams – NY Harlem from the USA and Ub from Serbia – had positive cases.

“The Harlemers stayed in the trio and involved the locals in order to participate. This affected the results. All our opponents were full,” said Miezis.

The Latvians won all the games convincingly, including beating the leading Lithuanian team “Utenas” in the semifinals with 21:13.

“Maybe it is strengthened by previous experience, maybe the work done in trainings and the belief that previous results have strengthened the belief that we are going in the right direction. In addition, we wanted to take revenge on the Lithuanians asked me – this time the tournament MVP award would have been given to Edgar, “explained Miezis.

The final stage of the World Tour is planned for the Latvian team on December 18 and 19 in Jeddah.

“According to the regulations in force in Latvia, we have to spend some time in self-isolation. Then we will continue training and go to a training camp in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of December. Let’s change the environment, get new emotions,” says Miezis.

However, he cannot answer at the moment what the process of preparation for the Olympic qualification will be.

“Only coaches or LOV specialists can answer this question. We are not looking so far ahead, focusing on the next tournament. But, of course, our Olympic goals have not changed, even though the pandemic has moved a year forward,” notes Miezis.

There are only five races on the World Tour during the Covid-19 pandemic season. Three of them took place in Debrecen in August and September, where “Riga” celebrated the victory in one of the stages, but in the other two it stopped in the semi-finals and quarterfinals.

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