Mārtiņš Gulbis is excited about the energy shown by the women’s team

It has already been reported that the Latvian women’s basketball team beat Croatia in the fourth game of the 2021 European Championship (EC) qualifying tournament in Riga on Saturday, winning the second success in the group. Latvia beat Croatia by 83:69 (23:12, 21:15, 17:27, 22:15).

“Good game, but we lost concentration somewhere in the middle of the second quarter and played four attacks in a row carelessly. We were in control of the game, but we lost the first thread. We looked good, played aggressively. We warned the players that the opponents would try to knock us out of balance, “Gulbis told the post – match press conference.

The head coach of the national team also noted that it was his decision to leave Aneti Šteinbergs on the field after the fourth remark.

“We chose to play with three long players and at that moment she needed energy. Anete left, but other players came on the field, which complemented her well. In the end, we won with the team work in defense and attack,” Gulbis emphasized.

Although the loss would say goodbye to the prospect of the final tournament, Gulbis has only thought about the game. “I went with one thought to win, I didn’t think of anything else,” the coach said.

The Latvian basketball players did not stand out with precision behind the perimeter in these two games, implementing only two of the 24 “thirds” on Saturday. Gulbis attributed this to a play on the pitch, and they had other challenges which they did well.

“There were a lot of free throws. I have to work better as a coach, maybe I need to motivate more on throws. I hope and believe that they will throw in the next race,” Gulbis noted.

On Saturday, one of the national team leaders was Karlīne Pilābere, who stayed on the reserve bench in a match with Germany on Thursday. Zenta Meļņika played against the Germans, who did not leave the pitch this time.

“Today, the players of the center were a little smaller, and we wanted to go on top of the ball when it was with Ivan Dojkičs. This style feels much better for Karline, who did a fantastic job today,” Gulbis concluded.

The coach also emphasized that in the first 15 minutes Latvia dominated and did not give the opponents easy points.

“If you see that the match is going according to plan and the opponent’s mistakes, then confidence grows. I think everything is related to protection and will. I had never seen such energy from the players of the Latvian national team. Today they were all ready and I have to thank them,” Gulbis explained. .

Dojkiča threw 20 free throws on Saturday. Although the leader of the Croatian national team scored 25 points, Gulbis was satisfied with the Latvian work in defense.

“We had a plan for her to give up and the other players to play with the ball. Of course we wanted to win with a bigger advantage, but in general we didn’t lose control of the game at any point. There were ups and downs, like in any basketball game. We tried to vary with defense and won, apparently the game plan was correct, “noted Gulbis.

In the last four minutes, the Latvian national team played with the press, trying to win with a 20-point advantage.

“We wanted to get very tired of Dojkič. Of course, our basketball players were also more tired. But the character, desire, fighting spirit, energy and confidence were much better,” said Gulbis.

The coach also found that for some time he had not felt the emotions and adrenaline offered by the national team games.

“Maybe there were some mistakes in the first game, because there was a lack of national team practice. I would like to take the best of these games. In the next matches in February, we will have to take responsibility, be even more brazen and fight. outcome, “admitted Swan.

After four rounds, Germany and Croatia have three victories, Latvia has two successes, but Northern Macedonia has no victories.

The last two rounds are scheduled to be played in early February (organizers will be named in December). In June 2021, the winners of nine qualifying groups and the top five runners-up will be able to compete for medals and tickets to the World Cup in Spain and France.

At the end of this year and the beginning of next year, the games organized by the FIBA ​​national team will take place in one place, not at home or at guests, as usual. The new rules stipulate that the games are not played away or at home, but in one venue, as previously agreed by FIBA ​​with the country in question, which undertook to host the matches. Covid-19 tests had to be performed at the venue, as well as a strict movement regime, as the teams lived in a “bubble”.

Composition of the Latvian women’s basketball team for participation in the qualification tournament of the 2021 European Championship:

Elīna Babkina (“Nadezhda” from Orenburg, Russia), Ilze Jākobsone, Ieva Pulvere, Kitty Laksa, Karlīne Pilābere, Kate Krēsliņa (all – “TTT Rīga”), Paula Strautmane (Pecs “Pecs”, Hungary), Luīze Šepte (“Latvian University “), Anete Steinberga (Istanbul” Galatasaray :, Turkey “), Zenta Melnik (Uppsala” KFUK-KFUM “, Sweden), Kristine Vitola (Miskolc DVTK, Hungary), Laura Meldere (Venice” Umana Reyer “, Italy).