Latvians will be without Kristaps Porzingis, Rolands Šmits, Davis Bertāns, Rodions and Artūrs Kurucs, and Andrejs Gražulis in this national team window.
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From this list, at first glance, only K. Porzingis, who cannot play due to NBA matters, and R. Kurucs, who will miss the window due to health reasons, have irrefutable excuses. Meanwhile, Davis Bertāns decided to say goodbye to the national team, A. Kurucs simply agreed so with the national team management, A. Gražulis does not want to risk his health after an injury last season, and R. Šmits just wants to focus all his attention on preparing for the new season.
Dairis Bertāns, giving an interview to Sportacentrs.com, implied that he does not justify all the players.
“First of all, thanks and great respect to those who have been training and working well for the past two weeks,” said one of the national team leaders. “My recommendation would be to pay more attention to those who are with us, not those who are not here. There are definitely players we wanted to see in the national team and thought they would be. Unfortunately, they are not here and will not be in this window.
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We need everyone to want to play for the national team and come in the future. From my perspective, the reasons given by players are not always understandable. But that probably does not mean that those players do not understand them either.”
The Latvian national team has 3 wins and losses each after the first stage of the World Championship qualifiers. In the second stage in Group K, the neighbors will face the national teams of Croatia, Israel, and Germany.
In the upcoming national team window, Latvians will play against the Croats and Israeli basketball players.
