It has already been reported that the Latvian national basketball team defeated the Slovak national team in the second World Cup qualifying game in 2023 with a result of 82:74 (18:11, 17:23, 21:20, 26:20).
The head coach of the Latvian national team Luka Banki repeatedly emphasized that this was an important victory, with which he will be able to start the next national team window.
“Very exciting game. After the game in Belgrade, the result showed that our team is difficult. We play well on defense and our attack was excellent. Lots of free throws, but unfortunately we didn’t throw up. “At the end of the game, the team played well at both ends of the field, we won the rebounds, we attacked one on one. We got the first victory in the group. Good feeling for the next window,” said Banks.
Unlike the game against Serbia, Latvia did not do so well with the accuracy of the shots. Banks pointed out that you can’t always throw with 50% accuracy if there are so few games in a short period of time.
“While playing in Belgrade, everyone paid attention to the defense, but here to the attack. Very good first quarter, the quality of the game was high. But we did not throw the shots thrown in Belgrade. “We managed to turn the game in our direction tonight,” Banks said.
When asked why Anžeja Pasečnik was not given more playing time, the head coach said that was the style of play tonight.
“I had to combine attack and defense, but I think the attack was good. He needed more time. I had a place in the national team last summer, but he had a different plan. It’s hard to get a player with such specific physical and technical skills so fast. I need to know “My players get better and the players need to know me better. He made his contribution and played as he should – for the victory,” said Banks.
“It is difficult to adapt to changes, because the players are also changing. Some players met me and the team members for the first time. We do not look for a team that spent a little time together,” the head coach praised the Latvian national team.
Meanwhile, the defender of the Latvian national team Kristers Zoriks said in a conversation with the agency LETA after the game that after a good performance at the end of the first quarter, the home team started to play more defensively. “After that we gathered, we threw in the second half of the shots, which was more needed and in the end the others fell,” Zorik said.
“After the game with Serbia, we were preparing to defend the Slovak area, which they covered today,” the basketball player noted. “There was a lot of success that had to be done in the game, the key was to win.”
The head coach of the opposing team, Oleg Meļeščenko, told the post-match press conference how experienced and new players are in the Slovak national team, but everyone is trying to show the best game. “Everyone helps each other with the goal of showing good basketball. Everyone wants to be better,” the coach added.
“Thanks to my team, we fought to the end. We improved our game after the previous match. I believe we will get better from the game. We have to gain experience and that is what we gained from this game,” Melchechenko said.
The Latvian national team started the qualification cycle on Thursday, when Serbia lost to Serbia in the last seconds with 100: 101. Lomažs stood out with 33 points. Slovakia conceded to Belgium at home with a score of 57:83 on Thursday. On Sunday, Belgium unexpectedly beat Serbia with 73:69.
In group A, after two games, Belgium is the leader with two wins, Serbia and Latvia have one success, but Slovakia has suffered two losses.
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