“TTT Rīga” will start in two tournaments in the new season – “Douglas” in the Baltic League and FIBA in the Euroleague. In addition, the home games of the local championship will be held in the “Daugava” sports house – a hall where the team played until December 2008, as well as in February and December 2009, but in the Euroleague – abroad, the club management informed at a press conference.
The existence of the club was threatened by debts.
“In the inter-season, negotiations took place about the existence of the club. The result is positive, and on Saturday the new season of the club will start,” said Gunta Baško, the chairman of the board of TTT Rīga.
“The team is staffed and ready for battle. Thank you to General Manager Artūrs Štālbergs and head coach Mārtiņš Gulbis for their work,” says Baško.
On the issue of debt repayment, the club reports that a schedule for debt repayment has been established in cooperation with creditors. About 40% of debts are currently repaid, but it is planned to settle the obligations in full by spring.
Due to costs and other reasons, the club also changed the gym, moving to the “Phoenix” gym in Champeterre.
“A lot of work has been done to ensure that TTT Rīga continues to develop and show high results. A new home, local and international situation, demands of epidemiologists – in the first month of the training process it went like mountains,” says Stalbergs about preparing for the season. “The team faced a series of obstacles and overcame it. If we pass the first months and stick together like a fist, success will not be missed.”
“The most important work done in the summer is to preserve the legendary club in difficult to predict conditions,” says Gulbis. “I’m glad the attitude of the girls – under my leadership they are not and will not be easy. I believe all 11 players – I will give everyone the opportunity to prove themselves. We do not think about next week and month, only about tomorrow.”
“It is a great pleasure that the team continues to exist. Thank you for the trust and the opportunity. Every day spent on the field allows you to feel better and better,” says the player Ieva Pulvere about returning to the team. “The team has a very good microclimate. The coaches and players are very much looking forward to the first game. We will continue to live day by day to do everything we can.”
The basketball player added that after the birth of the child, she was not 100% sure about returning to professional basketball.
“The situation turned out to be grateful – the son allowed him to sleep, in July I resumed participation in the training of the national team, and” TTT Rīga “gave the next opportunity,” says one of the most uncompromising Latvian players in defense. “I used to play basketball to the ends of my hair – I watched game recordings up to 15 times. Now I’m trying to do everything freely – with a fresh head.”
Due to visa and epidemiological restrictions, four scheduled test matches against Minsk “Horizont” and Vilnius “Kibirkštis MRU” were canceled. For the first time in history, four games were played only against the boys’ teams of Riga sports schools.
The club reports that the management of the club offered Matisse Rožlaps to become a Swan’s assistant, while continuing to work with the junior team “TTT juniores”. The coach chose the offer of the University of Latvia to become the head coach. Negotiations are currently underway with one of the Riga sports schools on the establishment of a farm club, which should end with the start of the Baltic League next year.
The unit reports that Megan Hafai is in need of recovery after a busy summer in America. He and other foreign players have gone to the mandatory self-isolation after arrival, so the full team will be in training only in the beginning of October. Although there will be a lack of games against strong opponents in October and November due to the current restrictions of Covid-19, it will be a good opportunity to improve mutual understanding on the field, the club reports.
Representatives of the club say that “TTT Rīga” showed interest in organizing one race in Riga, but it cannot be afforded financially. Euroleague requirements require that the gaming hall be available six days before the start of the “bubble”. Such an approach can be provided only in “Arena Riga”, and it costs too much.
As only two non-European basketball players can register at the Euroleague, it has been a laborious process to find players by choosing from the offers sent by 150 agents, calling coaches and players.
“We were able to keep two foreign players. In the end, we signed contracts with 11 players, within the planned salary budget,” the management of the club is satisfied.
The Rigans will have their first game in the new season this weekend, when in the match with “Liepāja / LSSS” they will start fighting in the Baltic Basketball League.
“TTT Rīga” will also play in the FIBA Euroleague main tournament this season, where Group C was drawn with Skio “Famila” (Italy), the starry Ekaterinburg UGMK and the winners of the Spanish team Girona “Spar Citylift” and Sfintu Georges “ACS Sepsi SIC” from Romania.
Last season, “TTT Rīga” took the last place among eight teams in the subgroup of the Euroleague main tournament and did not qualify for the elimination tournament. The Rigans later triumphed in the Baltic Basketball League and after the main tournament of the Latvian Women’s Basketball League was stopped, they were confirmed as the winners of the national championship.
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