As Bertans said during the club’s pre-season meeting with journalists on Wednesday, the “Dubai” team has gathered very skillful and experienced players, and such a unit can beat any opponent.
“I’m pretty excited,” Bertan said, about the upcoming season in which the Dubai outfit will play in the Adriatic (ABA) league. “I really want to play basketball, and this is a place where I can do it.”
The Latvian basketball player pointed out that the team will have to be able to develop and become better with each game in order to get as many victories as possible.
The team is represented by players from the Philippines, USA, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Latvia, but the Slovenian Klemens Prepelić was named the team captain yesterday.
“It is a great privilege to captain the team in its first season,” said the 31-year-old Slovenian. “It’s an important job that will require a lot of responsibility, but I’m ready for it.”
“As professionals, we understand that there won’t be any easy games, but we have a great team spirit and a good understanding, which will be the most important thing to get the desired victories,” added the club’s first captain.
The Dubai team was established this year and will play its first season in the Adriatic (ABA) league. In the first match on September 22, “Dubai” will host Belgrade “Crvena zvezda” from Serbia.
The 31-year-old Bertāns spent the last eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), starting last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but at the beginning of February he was traded to another NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, who refused the Latvian’s services in the summer, and Bertāns became a free agent.
Last season, the Latvian played in 43 games, averaging 6.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Bertans, who has been playing in the NBA for eight years, made 38 percent of his three-point shots last season.
Last summer, Bertans was traded from Dallas “Mavericks” to “Thunder”, in whose ranks he started his eighth season in the strongest league on the planet. He has also represented the Washington “Wizards” and San Antonio “Spurs” in the NBA.
In 475 NBA matches, the Latvian averaged 7.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. He has made long shots with 39.6% accuracy.
In the summer of 2011, Bertan was selected by the Indiana “Pacers” team with number 42 in the NBA draft, but immediately after that he was traded to the “Spurs”. At that time, he became only the second Latvian basketball player to be drafted into the NBA.
During his career, Bertans has twice returned to the field after rupturing the cruciate ligaments in his knee, and on both occasions he was treated by Spurs specialists.
2024-09-20 19:49:41