The young Latvian basketball players lost to the French with a score of 41:66 (13:18, 9:19, 11:19, 8:10) and will fight for fifth to eighth place in the tournament.
In the Latvian national team, Ričards Aizpurs was the top scorer with 11 points, Gustav Vilkškērst had six points and Krister Ozer, who won five rebounds, while Gunārs Grīnvalds collected eight balls.
Cameron Uindo had 22 points and ten rebounds for the French.
“There was a great desire to go further, but this time it did not materialize in work and ability,” Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) quotes Latvian national team head coach Edij Šleser as saying.
He says that in theory the tasks in the last match seemed simple. It was known that French basketball players try to be active in defense, and the plan was to protect the ball, avoid mistakes and try to compensate for the opponent’s superiority in athleticism with a decent fight.
“None of it worked. The opponents showed how we have worked in training, developing technique, physical strength, speed in actions and thinking,” says Schleser.
The coach emphasizes that the team has two more valuable games ahead of them, which can be used to learn while simultaneously fighting for victory and the highest possible place. He also says that the rest day will allow to restore energy and enthusiasm in the team.
Latvian cadets beat Turkey 90:85 on Friday, lost to Spain 59:89 on Saturday, and beat Finland 70:54 on Sunday, taking second place in Group A. On Tuesday, Latvia beat Germany 75:68 in the round of 16.
In previous matches, France defeated Georgia and Poland with the same score of 74:49 and Slovenia with 99:66 in group C, but in the round of 16 game on Tuesday, they beat Croatia with 90:59.
During the preparation stage, the Latvian team, varying the composition, defeated the Ukrainian team twice in the test matches (117:72 and 77:53), in the Baltic Cup in Kaunas, the Latvian team lost to Lithuania (77:105) and Turkey (75:79), but beat them with 82:67 Estonian cadets. The teams of Georgia (76:62), Israel (98:91) and Germany (82:76) were defeated in the test matches in Riga.
The European U-16 Championship will take place in Iraklia until August 17.
The head coach of the U-16 national team, Edi Shleser, is assisted by coaches Sandis Bushkevics and Normunds Lisiks, as well as physical training coach Ivars Iksten.
Latvian U-16 men’s basketball national team players:
Raivo Kudrajvcevs (“Riga”/DSN), Bruno Jēkabsons (“Riga”/DSN – “Barcelona”, Spain), Ralf Aleksandrovs, Niklavs Veselovs, Ret Eduards Weinberg (all – Gulbenes BJSS), Krist Kristers Ozers, Kārlis Aumeister (both – Bertānu VBS), Gunārs Grīnvalds (BJBS “Rīga” – Madrid “Real”, Spain), Richards Aizpurs (Gulbenes BJSS – “Stellazzurra Roma”, Italy), Markus Tebelis, Rihards Černievskis, Gustavs Vilškērsts (all – Mārupe NSS).
2024-08-16 05:51:04