07 September 2007

In 2001 Latvia was crowned as the surprising team of EuroBasket.

With the young, and back then anonymous, powerful center Kasparas Kambala, they barely lost to hosting Turkey on opening night.

05 September 2007

Portugal beat Latvia 77-67 but failed to leapfrog them in the Group B table, leaving their hopes of reaching the next round hanging by a thread.

Needing to win by 15 plus points, the Portuguese stunned their opponents with a remarkable three-point shooting exhibition (nine of 18, 50%) and actually led 61-44 with 9:02 remaining in the game after a Paulo Cunha three-ball.

In the over 70 years since the first EuroBasket, only 10 nations have won a European Championship title and Latvia is proud to be part of that list.

In 1935, in Geneva, the Latvians won battles against Hungary (46-12), Switzerland (28-19) and Spain (24-18) to bring back the trophy to Riga.

At EuroBasket 2007, Latvia’s 21-years-old big man will likely be the youngest and most important member of the team. 

The 2.11 m center has the quickness of a perimeter player which blends in well with the traditional Latvian style of play.