RIGA (Latvia) - Less than a year ago, Latvia was making its presence felt in the global basketball scene like never before. Now, it appears that the Baltic nation is experiencing the highest peaks in the sport: qualifying for the Olympic Games at home would be the sweetest icing on the cake.
The Roster
Never change a winning team." And it looks like Luca Banchi will continue trusting the same core of players who delivered at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, first in Indonesia and then in Manila.
Out of the 12 players who participated in last summer's duties for the Latvian national team, every single one was included in the 24-man preliminary extended roster for this year's FIBA OQT by head coach Luca Banchi. It screams continuity after praising them days before the end of a glorious run, in which they finished only two steps off the podium in their first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup participation.
They are doing an amazing job to promote basketball in the country," said Banchi after the game against Italy at the World Cup. "In a few games, they became role models. Because it's not the big names, but the values that make people special.
Role models need to inspire people. It’s not a matter of win, but it’s a matter of attitude - Luca Banchi
It's going to be a variegated group, with versatile forwards like Rolands Smits and magicians in the playmaking positions. Despite suffering a dramatic injury only a few weeks after breaking the all-time record for assists in a FIBA Basketball World Cup game (17 vs. Lithuania), Arturs Zagars is ready to display his point guard skills again.
Earning a call of confirmation after delivering in Italy, Rihards Lomazs, who followed Luca Banchi to Bologna, and Arturs Strautins will be present. Andrejs Grazulis, who decided to skip the last part of the season to deal with some injury problems before heading back home, will also join them. In Asia, he led the team in scoring with 14.4 points per game.
Experience won't be missed with guards like Aigars Skele or the returning Janis Strelnieks, who could play his last official tournament representing his country after missing last year's action. Moreover, in a group that feels like family, there must be space for brothers: the Bertans (Davis and Dairis) and the Kurucs (Rodions, who led the team in rebounds in Asia with 6.1 per game, and Arturs).
Unfortunately, Kristaps Porzingis won't return to action with the national team this summer. After missing last year's Latvian hoop mania but closely following the team on their trip to the other side of the world, the 28-year-old, who became the first-ever Latvian player to win an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics, announced he would undergo surgery to end the long-time pain he endured this season.
The Question
Kristaps Porzingis' absence naturally leads to the unanswerable question: Could Latvia fly again without its Unicorn?
Since Luca Banchi took over in 2021, there have been only two encounters in which the naturally gifted and undoubtedly best Latvian basketball player of all time played under the Italian head coach.
It was the summer of 2022, late August. Dominating both in Riga and in Newcastle upon Tyne, he put up 25.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per game between the two victories against Turkey and Great Britain.
However, without his presence on the court, Latvia is still on a 21-3 dominant run, losing only to Serbia (101-100 in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers), Canada (101-75 in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Group Phase), and Germany (81-79 in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Quarter-Finals).
It looks like they could survive once again. It hurts, but Latvia will be fine.
The Hope
Always led by a different player, the uniqueness of this group stands in its versatility. In a landscape full of one-dimensional squads, national team basketball always provides scenarios in which responsibilities on both ends of the floor are shared. In this aspect, Latvia has made everyone aware that focusing only on one figure is a mistake, as any player could take over in any game. The examples are endless.
Arturs Zagars, for instance, shocked the world with his consistency and playmaking in Latvia's control room at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. To achieve 17 assists in a game, though, you need teammates who can convert passes into points. In that sense, Rihards Lomazs certainly hasn't failed to deliver. Experiencing his country's outstanding performances last summer with a bittersweet taste, as he was sidelined by a serious knee injury, the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers leading scorer for Latvia (15.6 points per game with 43.1% from deep) is now revenge-ready.
The Italian mastermind on the Latvian bench can only hope to see another one of his players shine under the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament spotlights.
The Fear
The last time Latvia qualified for the Olympic Games, it was a whole different world. In 1936, the first Olympics in which basketball was introduced as a sporting competition, they didn't even play indoors. Since then, the Baltic national team has not participated in the Games again.
In their only FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in 2016, held in Belgrade, Latvia lacked the home-crowd support. After easily getting past Japan and Czechia in the group phase, they faced Puerto Rico in a rollercoaster 40-minute showdown and ultimately crashed out.
An apparently fearless Latvian national team could only fear encountering dark shadows despite the 20-hour daylight expected in the country at the beginning of July.
Hopefully, driven by thousands of fans in Arena Riga, this time things would culminate in a completely different outcome.
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