2024-07-08 19:07:20
Rihards Lomažs collected 15 points and five rebounds for the Latvian national team, while Rolands Šmits and Artūrs Žagars scored 14 points each.
Bruno Cabocl scored 21 points for Brazil, who made 12 of 13 free throws. 20 points and nine rebounds were collected by Leonard Meindl, who made four of seven long-range shots and eight of nine free throws. Giorginho de Paula had 14 points and five assists, while Marcelinho Huertas and Gi Santos had 12 points each, with seven assists and seven rebounds, respectively.
The Brazilians made more accurate long shots (13/24 against Latvia’s 8/29), two-point shots (13/28 against 15/33) and free throws (29/34 against 15/18).
The Brazilian team was superior in rebounding (37:30), assists (20:16) and blocked shots (3:1), but the Latvians made fewer mistakes (9:13).
The Latvian national team had to wait three minutes and 16 seconds for the first points, when Rolands Šmits made a long shot, making it 3:8.
Before that, Bruno Cabocl made a two-point shot, and Leonard Meindl and Lukas Dias each made a three-pointer.
After Schmidt’s hook shot, they managed to get closer to 9:13, but after Giorginho de Paula’s long shot, Brazil achieved the biggest lead up to that point – 20:11.
The Latvians did not succeed in the attack, but the Brazilians continued to throw in the basket. Even Kaboklu’s shot from the long-throw line on his side of the court in the last second of the quarter was accurate, as the guests made all eight long-range shots and made it 34:11 in their favor.
Kristers Zorik started the chase with a two-point shot in the second quarter, but after Rihards Lomaž’s long shot, Latvia got closer to 20:36.
In the 13th minute, the Brazilians missed the first long shot of the game, when Didi Louzad missed the basket.
In the 15th minute, when the score was 38:20 in favor of Brazil, Brazilian linebacker Jagu Santos was injured in the attack and did not return to the field.
The score then fluctuated between 16 and 19 points until Schmidt took the ball away from Marcelinho Huertas and made a three-pointer in a half-fast attack to make it 33-47.
In the Latvian national team, Lomažs scored 13 points, and Šmits scored 12 points at halftime. Meindl, who also had five rebounds, and Cabocl scored 13 points for the Brazilian national team, which made nine of 11 long-range shots.
De Paula again increased the lead by more than 20 points with a long shot in the 24th minute – 58:37, Vitor Benite restored the biggest advantage in the game with two free throws in the 28th minute – 68:45, but 57 seconds before the end of the quarter he achieved a 71:45 advantage with a long shot.
Already in the 25th minute, Latvia had collected the norm of notes, and the Brazilians threw 12 out of 14 free throws in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, when Artūras Strautiņas scored the first seven points for Latvia, the difference in the score fluctuated above the 20-point mark, as the Brazilians protected the advantage accumulated in the first quarter.
Brazil will play in the Olympic Games for the 16th time.
The group games of the Paris Olympic Games tournament will be held in Lille, and Brazilian basketball players will compete in Group B with France, Germany and Japan.
The Latvian men’s basketball team has so far only participated in the Olympic Games in 1936 in Berlin. The women’s national team competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games tournament.
Latvian basketball players started the tournament with a victory over Georgia (83:55), but lost to the Philippines 80:89 in the second match. Despite the loss in the second game, Latvia took the first place in the subgroup, as it had accumulated the best difference in points scored and lost (+19).
On the other hand, Brazil defeated Montenegro with 81:72 and lost to Cameroon with 74:77, taking the first place in the group.
On Saturday, in the semi-finals, Latvia beat Cameroon 72:59, and Brazil beat the Philippines 71:60.
Brazil have to do without one of their leading scorers, Raul Netu, who was injured in the first game of the tournament.
Last summer, in the second group tournament of the World Cup, Latvia defeated Brazil with 104:84.
Latvian basketball players defeated the Egyptian national team 84:63 in the two test games held in “Arena Riga”, but lost to Finland 84:90 in Tampere.
Brazil defeated Poland 91:75 in the test matches, and also lost to Croatia 81:91 and Slovenia 80:86.
Lukas Banki is assisted by coaches Jānis Gailītis and Artūrs Visockis-Rubenis in Riga.
The composition of the Latvian national team for the qualification tournament of the Paris Olympic Games:
Rodions Kurucs (Murcia UCAM, Spain), Mareks Mejeris (Cluj-Napoca U-BT, Romania), Dāvis Bertāns (Charlotte Hornets, NBA), Dairis Bertāns (“VEF Riga”), Jānis Timma, Jānis Strēlnieks (both – “Obradoiro” of Santiago de Campos, Spain), Rolands Šmits (“Anadolu Efes” of Istanbul, Turkey), Artūrs Strautiņš (“Derthona” of Tortona, Italy), Klaavs Chavars (“Yokohama”, Japan), Rihards Lomažs (“Virtus” of Bologna) , Italy), Kristers Zorik (Izmir Petkimspor, Turkey), Artūrs Žagar (Vilnius Wolves, Lithuania).
Brazil’s national team for the qualification tournament for the Paris Olympics:
Marcelinho Huertas (Tenerife, Spain), Cristian Felicia (Granada, Spain), Iago Santos (Crvena zvezda Belgrade, Serbia), Georginio de Paula (RatioPharm Ulm, Germany), Didi Louzada (Flamengo Rio de Janeiro “), Vitor Benite (“Palencia”, Spain), Leonard Meindl (“Tokyo Alvark”, Japan), Gi Santos (“Santa Cruz Warriors”, G-League), Raul Netu (“Fenerbahce Istanbul”, Turkey), Lukas Dias (Sao Paulo “Franca”), Bruno Cabocl (Belgrade “Partizan”, Serbia), Mauzinha Pereira (Mexico “Capitanes”, Mexico).
2024-07-08 19:07:20