Skuja and Kondratavičs agree: Rīgas zeļļi attack stalled in third quarter

Latvian basketball club Rīgas zeļļi lost 65:71 at home to France's Le Mans in round six of the EuroCup, the second-tier European club basketball competition. Le Mans is a direct rival for a place in the top four of Group A. After the game, a player and the coach named the third quarter as the decisive problem.

Player and coach assessments

Guard Toms Skuja told the LETA news agency that the team began to play too slowly in attack in the third quarter and only looked for shots in the final seconds. According to him, that forced them to shoot hastily. Skuja played just under 18 minutes and scored 13 points; late in the game a leg cramp kept him off the floor.

Head coach Roks Kondratavičs said at the press conference that the team stopped moving the ball, made risky passes and did not carry out the game plan. In his view, the opponents took the initiative in that period. The plan had been to play slower in order to limit the faster, more athletic opposition. The coach described the defence as good throughout the game.

Injuries and roster

Starting player Ivan Tkachenko, a Ukrainian basketballer, was injured and did not train for three days before the game, so his minutes were limited. Kondratavičs said he might miss a week or two. Newcomer Odiy Oguama joined last week; the coach is pleased with his performance, although the player is still operating at 50–60% of his ability after being injured for most of the summer.

Workload and standings

This season the club competes in two tournaments. Skuja said the workload is noticeable, but the team knew about it beforehand, and in December there will be three game days in one week. In his view, the EuroCup is played at a higher level than in Germany: bigger, more physical players and bigger budgets.

Rīgas zeļļi, with three wins in six games, are fifth in Group A, while Le Mans, with the same record, are third. The club is the first Latvian side in the EuroCup since 2015.