The first of two test games before the start of the Olympic qualification tournament is scheduled for the Latvian national basketball team on June 26 in Arena Riga. Latvia will host Egypt in Riga, but the team’s head coach Luka Banki revealed that he could use a fairly wide range of players in both test matches.
True, the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) confirmed on June 25 that Kristaps Porzingis will not help the national team this summer, as he will undergo leg surgery in the next few days.
One of the potential leaders of the Latvian national team, Rihards Lomažs, outlined in a conversation with the media that the team should not think about the opponent of the specific test match, but rather about developing their skills and pleasing the fans.
“We don’t need to focus on Egypt. We have our own things that we are preparing. We just have to play our basketball and show in a beautiful game. The arena will definitely be full. Maybe it won’t be after the holidays either,” Lomazh pointed out with a laugh.
Artūrs Žagars, one of the brightest players of last year’s World Cup final tournament, did not hide that there is some pressure in front of his spectators after the last year’s tournament, but it is said that it is hype that professional athletes like.
Lomažs, who during the past club season was unable to stay in the rotation of Bologna “Virtus” led by coach Banki, admits that not playing helps to be physically “fresher”, but psychologically it is of course not the best scenario for a basketball player.
“Both the knees and all other parts of the body are happy about it, but mentally… It was definitely not an easy season. In some sense, maybe it’s even good that I had such a calmer season after the injury. I worked a lot on my body,” Lomaž said. , who returned from a cruciate knee injury last season.
During the preparation, two test matches are planned – on June 26 in “Arena Riga” with the Egyptian national team and on June 28 away with the Finnish national team. Banki hoped that both games could be played at home, but there was an agreement with the Finns that last year before the World Cup they flew to Riga, so the Latvian national team must fly to Finland this time. Candidates of the national team are allowed to celebrate St. John’s Day with their families.
The fight for the right to play in the tournament of the Paris Olympic Games will take place in “Arena Riga” from July 2 to 7.
The national team of Latvia will play in subgroup A with the national team of Georgia and the team of the Philippines. The two best teams of the subgroup will play one of the best teams of subgroup B (Brazil, Montenegro and Cameroon) in the semi-finals on Saturday. The winners of the semi-final matches will fight for the only ticket to Paris on Sunday, July 7.
Typo?
Highlight the text and press Ctrl+Enter to send the corrected text fragment to the editor!
Highlight the text and press the Report an error button to send the corrected text fragment to the editor!
Report a bug
2024-06-25 18:37:44
#good #injury #calmer #season #Article
