The Latvian basketball club “VEF Rīga” celebrated its victory in the fifth match of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Champions League group tournament on Tuesday in Riga and kept its chances of entering the next stage. Riga defeated the team of Tenerife with 77:72.
“I liked the spirit of the team and how we played together. Several players took on leadership roles. I think that the last couple of games in the Champions League are a big step forward,” said Gailītis at the post-match press conference.
“I don’t think we should underestimate ourselves so much that this victory is something special. The teams here are quite similar, especially in away games they don’t play so well,” continued the coach.
At the end of the group tournament, the Riga players will meet Istanbul’s “Darushşafaka” as guests, and in case of victory, they will secure a place in the “play-in” phase. Due to financial problems, the Istanbul team said goodbye to several leaders, including the Latvian Jānis Timmas and the former Riga player Kaila Olmen.
“They don’t have that many skillful players anymore, but there are still quite good local players. There is never an empty spot. It will be like a playoff game for both teams,” concluded Gailītis.
Meanwhile, the captain of the Riga team Dairis Bertāns admitted that this game was probably the team’s best in the season, considering how the basketball players worked according to the game plan and with what energy they played.
“Opponents like to play aggressively, even a little dirty, but when they play against them, they get emotional and start acting. We played well in defense and communicated with each other almost the entire match,” Bertans said.
In group C, after five games, Tenerife basketball players and “Cholet” have three victories, Istanbul “Darushšafaka” and “VEF Rīga” have two victories each.
