The Latvian U18 girls’ team lost to the Finnish U18 team (63:79), beat the Finnish second team (73:66) and the Estonian U18 national team (76:69) in the Baltic Sea Cup tournament in Tallinn. Enija Vīksne received the award for the best player in our team.
The results of the tournament and the main findings are commented by the head coach of the Latvian U18 girls’ national team Aigars Nerips.
Did the U18 national team in Tallinn start in the optimal composition?
Luīze Sila remained at the disposal of “TTT Rīga” and on Tuesday participated in the Baltic League game. Another 4-5 basketball players can compete for a place in the team.
What did you do during the preparation process?
We organized the game according to tactical guidelines. Some players are used to it on a daily basis, some have new information and additional stress in non-standard situations. Needless to recall seemingly simple things, some did not find it easy to switch to another position.
Who succeeded and who failed in the tournament games?
With this year’s Finnish team, it was already two years ago in the U16 group. The opponents had a predominance of height and weight, which caused great problems both in the fight for the best position near the baskets and in the fight for the rebounds. We were childishly passionate about the attack, allowing our opponents to get to the easy points, passing our last defenders with one pass. And we misused our chance to score from the penalty area, often missing the last pass.
These problems were reminiscent of the following games, but we gradually reduced them, our ability to play and win. The most stable and productive were Enija Vīksne, Raina Tomašicka (especially in the attack) and Katrīna Ozola, but it was positive that even more players were able to take the initiative and contribute more to the team’s game than before.
What to do and what to do in the run-up to the season in preparation for the European U18 Summer Championship?
Hopefully, the club season will continue and the girls will be able to train and play in their clubs. I will follow the development of all the candidates of the selection even more closely, so that the selection work would be as productive as possible in the summer.
