Anžejs Pasečnik Photo: Real Betis of Seville
Latvian center Anžejs Pasečņiks, who joined the Spanish Basketball League (ACB) club Seville “Real Betis” yesterday, believes that his new team has good players and great potential. “I like the city, I like people, and I’m very happy to be here,” the 218-centimeter-long Latvian center player is quoted as saying on the team’s website. “I do not think so [komandai] there are big problems right now. ACB is a tough league. ”
Seville’s basketball players, with two victories in nine games, are currently in last place among the 18 ACB teams. “All teams are at a high level and this happens at the beginning of the season,” says Pasečnik about the current situation. “Of course we have to focus on winning, but I don’t think we should worry about that. We have a good coach, good players and good potential. ”
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— Coosur Real Betis (@RealBetisBasket) November 9, 2021
As you know, Dairis Bertāns, another Latvian, also represents Real Betis, and Pasečņiks did not deny that he had contacted his compatriot before joining. “Of course I’m talking to Dairi. He helped me a little bit to take that step, ”said Paschnik. “He called me and told me to go here to play. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. “
The contract with the 25-year-old basketball player has been concluded until the end of this season, but it can be terminated if the player receives an offer from the National Basketball Association (NBA) or ULEB Euroleague units. For Paschnik, this will be his return to the ACB, where he once represented the Herbalife team in Gran Canaria.
The player of the Latvian center has been without a club so far. This summer, he scored an average of 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in the NBA Summer League against the New Orleans Pelicans.
In mid-January, the NBA club, the Washington Wizards, broke its contract with Paschnik. Paschnik made his NBA debut in the 2019/2020 season, spending an average of 16 minutes in 27 games on the court, scoring 5.8 points and bouncing 4.0 rebounds. Last season, the Latvian basketball player had only one game in the ranks of the Wizards with one rebound and six assists in six minutes.
Last year, Wizards signed a three-year contract with Paschnik, but before that he had a two-way contract. In the first round of the NBA’s new player draft in 2017, Orlando “Magic” was selected in the first round with a total number of 25, who immediately replaced him with the “76ers” of Philadelphia. Last summer, the Philadelphia Club withdrew from Paschnik.
Pasečnik spent four seasons with Herbalife before joining the NBA. Before that, he represented the Latvian team “VEF Rīga”, where he earned some playing time. In the Latvian national team, Pasečņiks scored an average of 8.0 points in 14 matches and won 4.1 rebounds. Kristaps Porziņģis and Rinalds Mālmanis also played for the Seville club.
