Gulbis: national team played better against Ukraine than against Slovenia

Latvia's men's national basketball team is continuing preparations for the second round of 2027 World Cup qualification. As part of that buildup, the team played an exhibition match in Riga on Sunday against Ukraine's national side, coached by Ainars Bagatskis. The match ended in a loss for Latvia.

On Tuesday, following a national team training session, head coach Mārtiņš Gulbis spoke to journalists and assessed the team's performance. He said Latvia played better against Ukraine than in its previous exhibition game, an away loss to Slovenia's national team.

Preparation process

The two exhibition matches — first away against Slovenia, then at home against Ukraine — form part of Latvia's planned preparation for the upcoming official World Cup qualification games. Playing the matches in this order allowed the coaching staff to directly compare the team's performance from one exhibition game to the next.

In his comments to journalists, Gulbis focused on in-game performance rather than the final result alone, noting visible progress compared to the previous opponent, even though the match against Ukraine itself ended unfavorably for Latvia. The coach did not go into further detail about the course of the game or its final score during the conversation.