Gailitis pleased with team's quality in qualifying wins

The Latvian men's basketball team has secured two important wins in the World Cup qualifiers, defeating the Netherlands and Austria. The team dominated Austria with a 112:66 victory, advancing to the second qualifying round, following a hard-fought win over the Netherlands on Friday.

Head coach Janis Gailitis stated during a press conference that he was pleased with the quality displayed in both games. He noted that against the Netherlands, the team struggled to capitalize on their advantage, especially in the final minutes, while the match against Austria was smoother. Gailitis emphasized the team's goal of playing fast, physical basketball with high energy and expressed satisfaction with the progress made over the four games.

For Gailitis, quality is more important than just winning. He was particularly happy with the 31 assists against Austria, contrasting with the previous game where the team relied too much on individual plays. Gailitis, who became head coach in late March, said the role is not entirely new as he had been an assistant for a long time. He enjoys speaking Latvian with the team.

Player Martins Laksa, who scored 20 points against Austria (6 of 7 from three-point range), expressed joy about the support from the fans. He stated that playing in a full arena with the Latvian flag on his chest is a great honor and that the crowd's energy pushes him to give his best.

In Group F, Poland leads with six wins from six games, followed by Latvia with three wins, the Netherlands with two, and Austria with one. The top three teams from Group F will advance to the second round, where they will face the top three from Group E (Germany, Croatia, Israel, Cyprus). The three best teams from this combined group of six will qualify for the World Cup final tournament in Qatar.