“Ogre” head coach Uldis Švede: We are waiting for additions every moment

Uldis Swede

Head coach of “Ogres”.

“I will say that until Monday, we felt very stable while preparing for the season, but some news completely changed the whole concept of the team. One basketball player who we want to base our game on has still unofficially left. Now we have to completely change our preparation for the first opponents.”

He did not hide that the team currently has problems with the players in the center position, but a solution is being actively sought for it.

“We are waiting for an addition every moment. At the start of the pre-season we had five tallies. Dāvis Rozītis had also joined us, but left for Spain. Now there are two or three tall players left, so it is quite problematic,” said Swede. “The situation at the moment is that we will consider anyone who comes. If it’s going to be a foreigner, that’s fine too, because it seems like all the locals are already under contract. There will probably be a legionnaire.”

Unlike the previous season, the team currently consists of only Latvian basketball players, and the head coach stated that the goal was really to form a team from local players, but the problem was caused by the position of the center player.

“After the season, we wanted to start a new path with only local players, but due to financial circumstances we could not pull it off. Now, step by step, we are also looking for additional funding, sponsors that could help us attract a legionnaire,” revealed the coach. “In principle, we wanted to form our own local team of patriots, which we succeeded in earlier.”

Meanwhile, when it comes to funding, the Swede was not afraid to say that there are still many uncertainties and the team is in a kind of waiting stage, as many financial issues have not yet been fully resolved.

During the off-season, “Ogre” experienced changes not only in terms of the composition, but also in the organization, as Rinalds Sirsniņš, the leader of the previous years’ team, took the position of chief manager.

“(Jānis) Laganovskis did a good job so far. He has passed on the nuances and information to Rinalda, who is currently performing his duties perfectly,” the Swede was not afraid to praise Sirsniņu. “We work well with him and we don’t interfere in each other’s work either. Together we go towards one goal. The players are formed by us and the assistants, but we consult with Rinalda about whether we can even afford the basketball player in question. He has a lot of experience as a player, which is very useful.”

In the last season of the Latvian Basketball League (LBL), “Ogre” recognized the superiority of “Ventspils” in the fifth game of the series in the semi-finals, and the head coach emphasized that the team’s goals have not changed this season – they must win medals.

Uldis Swede

“Ogre” head coach

“Of course, in the Latvian league, they are definitely medals, because last year we were also close to the final. It is known that we had never played such a series with “Ventspili”, and in the end we were just a little unlucky. Speaking about the Latvian and Estonian league, the goal is to stay among the eight best teams. Then it’s a matter of two games in the “play-off”, and if we reach the “Final 4″, then everything is conditionally possible.”