Davis Bertans calls win over France 'the biggest in Latvia's basketball history' / News - Basketnews.com

Davis Bertans and Luca Banchi represented Latvia in the postgame presser following the Baltic side's big win over France. The NBA forward named the elements that helped his team come back in the game, while the Italian coach explained why the night was the end of some stereotypes about Latvian players.

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Davis Bertans scored 15 points on 4/10 3-point shooting and contributed significantly to Latvia's win over France that marked Les Bleus' elimination from the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Player of the Game EFF 22 Rolands Smits Points 20 Accuracy 8-10 Rebounds 2 Assists 2

At the same time, Latvia remained unbeaten in the competition in their maiden participation in the big event. Bertans, who saw his brother get sidelined, called the result "the biggest win in Latvia's basketball history since 1935."

"I'm happy we had this many fans in the building making the long trip, beating one of the best teams in the world, and feeling we're playing at home," the OKC forward continued.

"We were down by 11 in the third quarter at one point. Some teams would put their head down, knowing that the other team's stronger. But we kept pushing, having our crowd behind us. We knew we needed an opportunity and it came 37 seconds before the buzzer," the 30-year-old added.

"Win or lose, we have the motivation. We didn't come here just to participate. The more wins we can collect, the better the chances we'll have to do something special," he concluded his statements.

On the other hand, coach Luca Banchi had a lot more to say. The Italian tactician celebrated his most important accomplishment to date with the Latvian NT and explained the reasons that led to the positive result.

"It's tough to comment on a game and night like that," he started the presser.

"It's just 'wow'. We made an amazing effort for 40 minutes, trying to continue to follow our plan. Regardless of the numbers, we did an amazing job and our players need to take some time and appreciate the taste of such a task," Banchi said.

The 58-year-old expert underlined that Latvia respected France and knew their level of motivation.

Latvia / Schedule

Latvia Lebanon109-70 France Latvia86-88 Canada LatviaTue13:30

"We played with the personality, initiative and bravery of the team that really belongs to this level," he stressed.

"There was a mission to destroy stereotypes of Latvian players not being able to play defense, to play with effort and how personality in clutch moments. We had that monkey on our shoulders. But we had a common desire to destroy those stereotypes.

Now it's a good opportunity to create a good identity. This night will make everyone more conscious, better players, teammates and people. I'm thinking about the new generation of guys, Rodi and Arturs Kurucs, who didn't score much but were the keys to our task."

Banchi doesn't think his team needed to change anything the last two minutes, when the game was decided.

"We didn't change anything, there are no magicians," he responded.

"Sometimes you can be lucky, sometimes you cannot. What we did is what we're used to doing, trying to play with effort and devotion, simple and aggressive basketball. That's what we did in the last two minutes.

Our life is a kind of rollercoaster. The most important is to stay calm when you're at the peak or at the bottom because mountains will arise. We're just fastening our helmets."

Latvia have already advanced to the next round and it seems that there's more for them to achieve in the next few days. Banchi believes that the element that ties the group together iscommon trust.

"I had never been to Latvia before I took this job and the only Latvian guy I had coached in my career was the federation's General Secretary," he admitted.

"I didn't know anything about the country and the language. I cannot speak the language at all, even though I call the sets in Latvian. It's a country of two million people. We have two couple of brothers (Rodions and Arturs Kurucs, Davis and Dairis Bertans), people growing up in the same generation.

My job is to put together those guys. Kristaps Porzingis really wants to be here and participates actively in our job. Janis Strelnieks as well. They asked to be here. Because the guys on the court are a part of themselves. I'm building a strong personal connection with them, something that will stay forever," he argued.

Banchi prefers to feed the confidence of his players who are experiencing an amazing opportunity and help basketball's popularity in the country grow, as he said.

"Days like that are useful to our mission. Such emotions are priceless."

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