The goal of the Latvian men’s 3 × 3 basketball team – the Tokyo Olympics – has not changed, in a conversation with the Latvian Basketball Union (LBS), one of the team’s players Nauris Miezis emphasizes.
Latvia’s best 3 × 3 basketball team “Rīga” won all five games in the fourth stage of the World Tour in Doha, winning the second “Masters” title this season and taking the first place in the overall ranking of the World Tour. The most valuable player of the tournament was Miezi, who named the whole team MVP.
In the final match with the main competitors, the Latvian team managed to play the Serbian team “Liman” between 13:19 and 15:20, winning with 21:20. Barley admits that this is not often the case in 3 × 3 basketball.
“I will not pretend to be a great optimist – at the end I don’t think we can save anything. It is good that there is an Edgars Krūmiņš who shook us at the last minute break that nothing has been lost yet. Indeed, we no longer had anything to lose in that situation, so we acted without undue stress. One successful attack, good defense, another attack… ”LBS quotes Barley.
According to Miezis, the Serbs wanted to secure the victory with a shot from a distance.
“It should be noted that the previous points had not come easily to them, and fatigue had accumulated. We had “finished” them, but we still had enough energy to “put in the second gap”. It was confirmed that in every game aggression must be maintained until the very end – then various turns are possible, ”emphasizes Miezis.
Winning the two stages of the Masters confirms that the training process was properly planned and implemented.
“In training, we have not given discounts to ourselves or to the boys of team B, with whom we regularly spar. It wasn’t boring. Of course, I would like to play more and participate in tournaments, but in this respect we are all in the same conditions, ”reveals Miezis.
The basketball player says the isolation regime in Doha was more draconian than before in Hungary.
“Immediately after arriving in Doha, we passed the Covid-19 test and, waiting for the results at the hotel, we could not leave our room for three days. Not a step – we couldn’t even visit the team members in the next room. The food was put at the door, ”Miezis recalls.
Basketball players have kept themselves in shape by contacting “Zoom” with the coach and doing everything that can be done in the room.
“When we met outside three days later, at first we were stunned by the fresh air. We practiced in the square for an hour and the feelings began to return. It was warm – the thermometer showed 35 degrees. But experience shows that we play well in hot weather. We are not any cool Latvians, ”says Miezis.
Covid-19 also affected the course of the Doha tournament, as the Haarlem team was found to be infected, and the Serbian team “Ub” was left without two players.
“The Harlemers stayed in the trio and involved the locals in order to participate. This affected the results. All our opponents were in full line-up, ”said Miezis.
The Latvians won all the games convincingly, including beating the leading Lithuanian team “Utenas” in the semifinals with 21:13.
“Maybe it is strengthened by previous experience, maybe the work done in trainings and the strengthened belief of previous results that we are going in the right direction. In addition, we wanted the Lithuanians to take revenge for the loss they had suffered in Hungary. The main character of the semi-final became Edgars Krūmiņš, who shot everything he needed from afar. I would have asked me – this time the MVP of the tournament would have been awarded to Edgar, ”Miezis explained.
The final stage of the World Tour is planned for the Latvian team on December 18 and 19 in Jeddah.
“According to the regulations in force in Latvia, what time must be spent in self-isolation. Then we will continue training and in the beginning of December we will go to a training camp in Saudi Arabia. Let’s change the environment, get new emotions, ”says Miezis.
However, he cannot answer the current process of preparation for the Olympic qualification.
“Only coaches or LOV specialists could answer this question. We are not looking so far ahead, focusing on the next tournament. But, of course, our Olympic goals have not changed, even though they have moved a year forward due to the pandemic, ”notes Miezis.
There are only five races on the World Tour during the Covid-19 pandemic season. Three of them took place in Debrecen in August and September, where in one of the stages “Riga” celebrated the victory, but in the other two they stopped in the semi-finals and the quarterfinals.
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