Latvia coach Luca Banchi had nothing but praise for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The crowd in Riga was stunned after home team and world number six Latvia received a beating at the hands of world number 37 Philippines in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Luca Banchi, the Italian coach of the Latvian squad, was quick to congratulate Gilas Pilipinas.
"[Congratulations] with our opponent, who had a great game, I believe, excellent performance. From the very beginning, they were very sharp. They imposed their physicality, but also their sharpness to find every time a good solution in offense from our side," Banchi said during the post-game press conference.
Gilas started strong with an 8-0 run and never looked back, 89-80.
Banchi noted the Philippines was fresh since it was their first game, while Latvia was coming off a beatdown of Georgia.
Latvia panicked. And they lost the game right from the get-go.
"Tonight, they had the possibility to, from the very beginning, to use their all their weapons," Banchi began. "I would say I was expecting from our side to receive some boosters from the squad, but unfortunately this game [started] immediately bad and that [created] a sort of panic in a team."
"The feeling was that we were trying to bring back the initial of a game that, unfortunately we lost from from the beginning."
What happened to the squad that nearly eliminated FIBA World Cup 2023 champion Germany?
For one thing, the key playmaker in that tournament--Arturs Zagars--sat out the game against the Philippines.
It was a medical decision for an injury sustained against Georgia, Banchi explained.
"We went for images this morning, and [the] medical staff suggested to protect him," the coach said.
Meanwhile, Mareks Mejeris, who was efficient in the game against Georgia, had to be benched because of committing three fouls.
Banchi had to mix it up.
"I [decided] to go with different lineup, trying to stretch the floor more and try to go into some early action. So good or bad, unfortunately, the season was connected with injuries, with foul problems, and with the technical tactical situations," he said.
Still, Latvia will head on to the semifinals either way. The question is whether they would go as the Group A winners or as the second-best team of the group.
"For us, it's a matter just to reset and focus on on the next step of the tournament, being conscious that we need to elevate the quality of our basketball," he said.
"But also, let's say, mentally, stay, stay in a game. Because, as I told, for us, for everybody, tonight will be probably a turning point of our tournament to understand what we really need to to continue to believe in our possibility to win the tournament."