17.09.2005

Spain Edge Latvia In Overtime

If anyone still doubted whether the Spanish national team could play well without Pau Gasol, they got the answer from Juan Carlos Navarro and Jorge Garbajosa tonight in a 114-109 overtime win over Latvia.

Navarro scored 35 points and Garbajosa added 31, both of them spending considerable amount of time at the free-throw line as Spain made 51 of 63 foul shots.

The Spaniards opened the game much the same way as they did against Serbia & Montenegro, by taking an early lead and looking likely to make it a blowout.

Latvia got into early foul trouble and struggled to make shots as they fell behind by as many as 14 points by the end of the first quarter.

		Jorge Garbajosa

But as they did against Israel in their first game of the tournament, the Latvians made a strong run, with Sandis Valters, Kristaps Janicenoks and captain Roberts Stelmahers scoring at will from three-point territory.

Latvia outscored Spain 30-19 in the second period to cut Spain’s lead to three points by halftime.

They then tied the game several times in the second half, but could never take the lead as Navarro, Garbajosa and Jose Calderon answered every run they made with some timely baskets.

Latvia relied on their three-point shooting and it paid dividends for much of the game, but they were let down by their inability to make the few free-throws they were awarded late in the game and in overtime.

The game went into overtime when Valters made a three-pointer from the left wing in the closing seconds of regulation but it was to be his last basket of the game.

But again, Latvia could not capitalise on Spain’s rare mistakes and Stelmahers’ bad decisions and missed free-throws in the extra session swung the game in Spain’s favour for good.

“I am satisfied with the way the players played tonight. We fought hard to stay in the game and make it close until the end. But it’s one thing to keep it close and a completely different one to close it out. We couldn’t close it out,” said Latvia’s head coach Karlis Muiznieks.

“I can say that it was an entertaining game to watch, but it’s disappointing too because we had several chances to win and in the end luck was on Spain’s side. They did well to win and certainly got a lot of free-throw practice!”

Spain did not expect the game to be this close and were glad to win in the end.

“Latvia shot very well from outside and we found it hard to defend them a lot of the time. I think maybe we relaxed a bit too much after the first quarter and gave them a chance to get back in the game,” said Spain’s coach Mario Pesquero.

Spain attempted 20 free-throws in the first quarter alone as Latvia’s starters Aigars Vitols, Armands Skele and Martins Skirmans all picked up two fouls early, and the latter two even got their third still in the first period.

Navarro shot 22 of 24 from the free-throw line and Garbajosa was perfect going 14 of 14.

Sandis Valters led the way for Latvia with 28 points and Janicenoks added 25.

Felipe Reyes had a strong all around game for Spain with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Calderon chipped in with 15 points.

17.09.2005

Spain Look To Maintain Momentum Against Latvia

Spanish coach Mario Pesquera has warned he wants his players to forget last night's thrilling 89-70 win over hosts Serbia Montenegro and not take for granted the remaining two games against what some would call 'lesser competition' in the form of Latvia and Israel.

"I think we must forget last night's game and focus on today's. We won against a very strong team last night and now we must keep playing the way that brought us success."

Spain have shown they can play without NBA star forward Pau Gasol. The question that was asked yesterday though was for how long.

		“	We have to win the last two games against Spain and Serbia & Montenegro	„
		Karlis Muizineks

"I don't really want to answer questions about Pau Gasol. If he could play, of course we'd be happy to have him on the team. But right now he can't play, so I'm doing what I can with the players that I have. And when our players perform the way they did last night, I think that's all we need to be dangerous in this tournament."

Latvia will try its best to bounce back from a shock 74-65 defeat to the hands of Israel, the last team to qualify for this year's European Championships.

Head coach Karlis Muiznieks said his side are in a tough spot.

"We have to win the last two games against Spain and Serbia & Montenegro. It's as simple as that. It won't be easy to do obviously because they are the favourites in each game we are playing against them, but we can't give up after the first game. There is still some hope."

Both Karlis and team captain Robert Stelmhaers pointed to their side's lack of experience as the factor that hurt them last night.

"We have quite a few players who are taking part in their first EuroBasket competition and obviously it's different to any other games we play. But we must try and forget that and play the best we can."