The European Basketball Championship in Latvia also took place in 2015, when Riga hosted the finals of the finals. Basketball players Marek Mayer and Dairis Bertāns were in the Latvian national team at that time and in the current finals, who does not consider playing at home as extra pressure in the national team.
Playing at home is definitely a plus, not pressure, says Latvian national team captain Dairis Bertāns.
“I don’t believe in pressure. We have said that there is a privilege to be in this situation. I have played for 20 years in the team. At this point, it can be no pressure. I’m happy and happy to have the opportunity to play in front of my spectators and enjoy it,” Dairis Bertans said.
Both Dairis Bertan and Mayer also lead Latvia to the highest goals in 2025.
The 22 -year -old team manager, currently head coach of the basketball club “Valmiera Glass/ViA”, entered the national team in 2015. He estimates that the pressure at home is felt, but does not have to influence it.
“My memories are that I had come back after a year and a half, because I had a break of cross -links twice in a row. So I was surprised to some extent. There was a championship at home, a great atmosphere, a lot of people came to watch, there were good games,” said Vecvagar. “You feel the support, the pressure is in any case. Each player must be able to cope with their pressure. Each we are at creating the pressure for yourself. Most likely, if you are in the team and one of the best basketball players in Latvia, it should not be that pressure is really influenced by you.”
Ten years later, the Latvian team began the European Championship as a tournament household against Turkey, which was quite convincingly beaten in recent years. This time the loss of minus 20.
Dairis Bertan estimates that home games in the arena are usually convenient, but it cannot be easy to rely on it.
“There have always been some games in the arena that leaves hand – both in qualifying and in the test games. We were a little waiting for it so easy to go now, but the Turks put us on the place and showed us that we couldn’t,” Dairis Bertan admitted.
Vecvagars, on the other hand, expects the Latvian team to show better performance in the tournament and will slowly move towards the main goal in the tournament with small steps.
10 years ago, the European Championship in Riga went on the mountains, but in the end, with three wins and two losses, second place was won in the group. The playoffs were already in France in the semi -finals victory over Slovenia and the quarter -finals against the French. The 8th place in Europe was reached and a good tournament was completed.
At that time, the team’s head coach Ainars Bagatskis had attracted mental preparedness coach Martins Martinson to the national team, and before the tournament the team had to perform various tasks to strengthen the collective.
Vecvagar welcomes Martinson’s contribution: “At that moment, as a young player, you may be more happy to be there and don’t think how it affects you and what it might give you, but in general, I think very valuable. Martins is a man who has done a very good job.
In evaluating the current European Championship, Martinson sees that
After the failure in the first game, the most important thing for the Latvian team was to recover in the next match against Estonia, where the fight between the two teams was sometimes like rugby.
Latvian basketball players were in the lead for a long time, but eventually won the heavy game.
“I think the second game was the one in which the players showed that the players showed that they were character, they can break themselves and go the way we heard, rugby or hockey play. Standing and going all the way – it was the most important,” Martinson emphasized.
In the final round of the match against Serbia, the Latvians fought for victory in the last minute until they lost by four points. Andrejs Grazulis left the field in the second minute – the European Championship was over due to a foot injury. Vecvagar sees that
A successful sequel will depend on the psychological preparedness of the basketball players.
“We have very good players – we have Marcis Steinbergs, Marek Mayer. I think these are players who would be one of the main players in any other team,” rarely the players on the field described Vecvagar.
Under the leadership of the team head coach Luka Banks, Latvia played a 16 -game round, which won 15 matches, but critic arrows have also flown in the Italian specialist during this tournament.
“In the first game to him [Banki] There was such a embarrassment. It seems to me more stress than the last game. In the third game, I saw banks as he could be. With confidence in how the team plays. He looks at the game very strategically and how to move, how to use the peak from each player, “Martinson revealed his view.
Most importantly, with each game, the Latvian team is getting better for players individually and the team as a whole.
“Experience, however, shows that teams that fight for high places in the championships still suffer one or two losses in group tournaments. It is better to lose earlier and to solve their problems in the tournament,” said Vecvagar. “If you don’t think everything is fine, then pay more attention to details, analyze and look.”
Vecvagar has seen a couple of things that have changed in the Latvian national team game.
“There is a more aggressive battle for rebounds – we are trying more to get the second chance situation. It is not always the shots to leave and there will be a game that everything will go out of hand. In such a championship, it is very important to make light points in this format,” Vecvagar emphasized. “If ours continue to go step by step forward and correct their mistakes, develop in terms of game, make some little things, then I think the result will be good and we will have something to enjoy.”
Dairis Bertan also sees improvements in every game, and he hopes that such dynamics will continue, as the best is yet to come.
The European Basketball Championship with medal games in Riga will end on September 14. We look forward to seeing the tournament hosts in these matches.
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