Nobody expected Latvia to be in the top eight, Davis Bertans said. Now, it has a chance to finish fifth for the entire tournament.
Just 22 hours ago, Latvia absorbed an emotional loss against Germany in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, with Davis Bertans missing what would have been the game-winning three.
On Thursday, Latvia took to the floor again. This time it took on Italy for a shot at fifth place.
The Latvians willed themselves to victory against a Simone Fontecchio-less Italy, 87-82. They will be the second debutant team to play in a fifth place game in the FIBA World Cup, after the Czech Republic did the same in 2019.
"We were just keeping the promise to our fans when we left Latvia. We say we're gonna fight every single game, no matter what game it is," Bertans told One Sports after the win.
"Coming out, that was the message we relayed to each other," he added.
With Bertans and Arturs Zagars, Latvia's main man against Germany, largely contained by the Italians, the FIBA World Cup debutants needed someone to step up. Someone had to carry the fight. That someone was Andrejs Grazulis, and he sure came up big.
The 30-year-old forward, who plays professionally for Italian club Aquila Basket Trento, erupted for 28 points. He made all three of his three-pointers, and only missed 1 of his 13 two-point field goal attempts.
"Grazulis is unbelievable," Bertans said. "He's already getting a nickname, Andres 'How do you want it' Grazulis. He can score every way—right, left, midrange, threes. I don't even know, bank shots, everything."
The chance to take fifth place is huge for this Latvian squad, which lost star Kristaps Porzingis to injury even before the start of the FIBA World Cup. Then, the team lost captain Dairis Bertans at the beginning of the competition.
"Coming here, nobody expected us to be in this spot. Nobody expected us in the top eight. I think some didn't expect us to be in the second round, in the top 16," Bertans added.
Latvia's coach, Luca Banchi, knows exactly how important this is for Latvian basketball.
He is an Italian, and at first he didn't know the language, he didn't know the culture. It was a "jump in the dark."
"It's not because I need to win games, because my career doesn't need extra wins," Bachi said in the postgame press conference.
He is right. He had already won the Italian league twice and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 2019. His legacy is practically secured.
"But Latvian basketball needs to stay at the level it deserves. And we need a night like this, like the night against Spain, against Turkey, Serbia, Greece, France to show everybody that we are alive, that we exist, and we go through the big names," Banchi added, the passion palpable in his every word.
"Because we have an identity and as we proved tonight, we have values."
Bachi pointed out how incredibly tough it was for anyone to find the will and energy to play after such a dramatic loss in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals and after playing multiple games over the span of 10 days.
But last night, he showed the players how schools in Latvia allowed televisions in classrooms for three hours, just to watch the basketball team against Germany.
"It means in a few games, they became role models. And models need to inspire people. And the people tonight were expecting them to give one more demonstration. And that's what they did," Banchi pointed out.
"They deserve to become role models. It's not a matter of wins, it's a matter of attitude. They are not the big names, but it's the values who make people special."
On Saturday, Latvia will take on the winner of the battle between Lithuania and Slovenia for fifth place.
Expect the team no one expected to be here to fight like crazy. That's what role models do.
(MDB)