The third season of the Latvian-Estonian joint basketball league will start on Saturday with the first three games. After the Jurmala and Valga / Valka teams ceased to exist in the spring due to financial reasons, Latvia will be represented in the championship by only six clubs. In the new season, spectators must also take into account the restrictions, and due to the epidemiological situation, the calendar and manner of the tournament have already been changed.
The main favorites from Latvia will be “VEF Rīga”, which was also crowned Latvian champion last season. Despite the budget reduction, the capital’s team this summer added several basketball players with experience from the Latvian national team, such as Aigars Skele, Artis Ati and Marcis Vitols. The team’s head coach Jānis Gailītis believes that the first game will show VEF’s readiness for the season.
The Latvian-Estonian basketball league season beginsMaris Bergs00:00 / 05:18
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Theoretically, “VEF Rīga” is ready to start, but the team did not have the usual rhythm pre-season test games. Therefore, Gailitis has no doubts about experienced players, but the readiness of other basketball players can be seen in terms of performance on the field.
In the first game of the new season “VEF Rīga” they will face their main competitors of this season in Latvia – BK “Ogre” basketball players. In recent years, the strength of the Ogrenians has been hidden in a well-played and also masterful team core. As of last year, there are eight players left, but the most serious reinforcement is Uģis Pinete, who has come from Jūrmala club. The head coach of the Ogre unit Nikolajs Mazurs thinks that it will take time for the team to really play.
Mazur explained that the players got into work at different times, so the team is still trying to adapt to the situation and find the best lines for successful cooperation. Although the core of the team has remained, four newcomers are many and they still have to find the right place in the team, added the coach of BK “Ogre”.
Ogre started the previous season with a series of 15 victories and was at the top of the Latvian-Estonian championship throughout the season. However, two losses in the spring shortly before the end of the season dropped the Ogre team to the 2nd place in the tournament table. In one of these lost games, “Ogre” also lost to “VEF Rīga” at the end of the match. Kristaps Dārgais, one of the leaders of the Ogre club, took the blame for this game, saying that he had to play better at crucial moments.
Dear, he believes that this season both of them have to play better in a duet with Rinalds Sirsniņš and they have worked on it before the season. “Let’s try not to repeat the mistakes of last season,” said Dear.
“VEF Rīga” and “Ogre” are clearly favorites on paper, but the remaining four teams BC “Ventspils”, “Valmiera Glass / Vidzeme University”, BC “Liepāja” and “Latvijas Universitāte” (LU) will try to bite domestic aces. Valmiera club head coach Roberts Zeile believes that this year, as the number of clubs decreases, the average level in the league could even have increased.
A derby against the University of Latvia awaits the people of Valmiera on Saturday, and Zeile is counting on a tough effort. Although LU may have a weaker team on paper, the field has to face a tough test, so be prepared to show the best performance, Zeile explained.
In the first match of the day, the relations will be managed by both Kurzeme teams BC “Ventspils” and BC “Liepāja”. Later, “Ogre” and “VEF Rīga” will play in the central match of the day, but in the evening LU will meet with “Valmiera”. Until December 9, Latvian clubs will play only with each other, without going to Estonia. The first international club matches are expected to take place in mid-December, but the match will largely depend on the epidemiological situation in both countries.
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