The Basketball Nation created a tremendous atmosphere in the Arena Riga – singing, chanting – all together, helping their team propel to the title.

I literally had cold chills down my back every time I was present at one of the Baltic neighbors’ matchups, let alone the title game.

It was a full house, with loud and proud Lithuanians – the most fantastic fans in the world – and this Championship truly belongs to them.

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And guess who buried the hopes of a small Baltic nation? The refs.

Coach Jansons, who got T’d for nothing during the matchup said it best after the game:

Welcome to Latvia

“For the 1st half of the game, our team should be ashamed. For the 2nd half though, officials should be ashamed”, he added.

The Three-Starred Jerseys got into real foul trouble after some ridiculous calls down the stretch and ended up with 3 key players fouling out. Janis Timma, Arturs Bremers and Davis Bertans all were warming the bench when team needed them on the floor most.

Hands down, the squad battled even without them, but apparently could not execute in the clutch.

I asked recent NBA Draftee Davis Bertans at the presser, what did they say to each other in the post-game greeting with his Nike Hoop Summit 2011 teammate and Poland’s leading scorer with 26 points Mateusz Ponitka.

Davis replied that they exchanged congrats and some friendly quotes aand..

and of course some things about referees that I’m not gonna repeat

You figure.

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The host team has shown poor performance in all three of these categories in the preliminary round.

Latvia is next to last in assists – just 10.3 dimes per game – which is equal with Tunisia and only Chinese Taipei is worse with 8 APG.

Steals were also not the strongest side for the hosts: next to last all-tournament in this category too with 5 steals per contest.

It all could be alright but if we look at turnovers, Latvia is 2nd place all-tournament with 17.7 TOPG and only China is worse with 18.7.

This is NOT a good look.

Both Assist/Turnover and Steal/Turnover ratios are just ridiculous for Team Latvia are amongst the worst in the Championship.

Coach Jansons gotta pay attention and urge his young’ns to take care of the basketball and work hard on D.

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Liepaja catering hasn’t been all good for the US team though..

Anthony Brown tweeted a couple times complaining about the quality of food and drinks they’d been served. Jahii Carson and James Bell agreed by retweeting.

Bells tried to think positive and came up with some kind of a diet plan lol:

Seriously though, having to drink just orange juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner has got to suck. I can only add my own SMH on this one.

But later on, Jahii Carson discovered European French Fries – and things started to seem not so bad anymore.

And things got even better when A Brown got his hands on some cookies.

Patric Young thought it was James Bell who ate them (but all we’ll ever know is that cookies were gone by morning)..

Just like the cookies, the preliminary round was finished too. It was time to move to Riga for the main games of the event.

And the American squad took advantage of what Latvian capital has to offer – they stopped by for the annual Independence Day Family Picnic held by the U.S. Embassy.

Read: hamburgers, hot dogs, cokes, McDonald’s apple pies and a variety of deserts.

Not exactly an athlete’s meal but it’s Independence Day Picnic after all..

Happy celebration and hope y’all gonna enjoy your next course – Team Canada on 4th of July.

pic screened off the USA Basketball vid

UPDATE: Jeremy Lamb wants to EAT!! lol

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Just got home from Valmiera where I spent a basketball-filled afternoon yesterday.

And media reception at the event is perfect, I tell ya. Everything is in tact, organizers working like a swiss clock.

Nice and smooth registration (check out my media pass, what!), personal locker, laptops free to use, wi-fi for media, printers (box score sheets freshly printed at the half), some insider info (full rosters, players report, practice times), FIBA branded folders, notepads, pens. Not to mention free snacks, tea/coffee – and spring water – which seemed the most valuable thing in the 28°C heat..

Yes, the venue in Valmiera is not air-conditioned, so you can imagine how sultry it is inside.

The games were cool though. Russia knocked out Brasil w/ a 3-point buzzer beater in a tough one. Australia beat Argentine (yo the few Australian fans were crazy!! we need to be louder than them today). And of course the home team Latvia showed Chinese Taipei how to hoop in the tournament opening game.

I am excited and looking forward to next week, when games shift to Arena Riga.

But until then – Latvia vs Australia tonight, let’s get it!!

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As the U19 World Championship approaches, people here in Latvia are wondering: “What in the world is the host’s first opponent?”.

Easy googlin’ and we got it – Chinese Taipei is Taiwan.

Looks like that’s what most of Latvian reporters did – googled. Or rather, google-translated it. A bunch of media just used Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei and thought it’s cool. Well, it’s not.

Taiwan’s sports teams use the Chinese Taipei name for a reason.

Kinda dumb that despite of Taiwan’s efforts, most of Latvian mainstream media are still using the wrong country name for the Chinese Taipei U19 hoops squad.

What adds up to the mystery of Chinese Taipei, is that our coaching staff doesn’t know anything about the team basketball-wise.

Edgars Šneps, the secretary-general of Latvian Basketball Association said this:

I don’t know what really the Taiwan team is, and God help us to win them..

I guess reading Asian scouting reports written in Chinese characters is no easy task.

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In a recent interview with FIBA, Young D said he’s real excited to play in the Worlds in Latvia.

“This is going to be really special, because all of the relatives, friends can come and watch, so we’ll have to show them that we’re fighting all the time, that we just won’t give up.”

After last night’s win over Canada U19 at the Global Games Competition in Panevezys, this sounds great! Next up: Russia U19 on Monday in Valmiera.

In the interview, Davis also touched on his NBA Draft success and on the fact that he was picked by the Spurs:

“I’m really happy that it was the San Antonio Spurs, because it’s a great team for international players and they always try to get the players, who they draft, into the team.”

Well looks like my man is all set!

Fear, World!!

Love this pic from The Basketball Jones post: DB @ Nike Hoop Summit 2011 in Portland, OR.

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The email from FIBA has arrived confirming that I have been accredited as a blogger for the 2011 FIBA U19 Basketball World Championship that’s taking place here in Latvia June 30 to July 10.

Yup, I’m gonna cover the event here on Riga Talk, it’s official!!

I have mentioned on Twitter back in Winter that it’s gonna be hot this July in Riga, now imagine how excited I am to be part of that!

Especially while I can’t play hoops myself (the ankle is good tho, I’m rehabbing)..

So stay tuned and expect some exclusive insider scoop!!

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Actually, I’d been thinking to run a marathon for a while now. I kinda postponed it all of the years before, but this year Team Bite offered an opportunity and I couldn’t resist.

Even though I chose the 5k, I’m still happy to be a part of the crowd that’s running through the city, happy to wear the official number and receive the medal at Finish.

Oh yeah, and did I mention Team Bite invited me and my Boo over for a river-cruise-slash-picnic? Way worth it.

Pondering for a longer run next year.

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Well, with a lil bit of delay, a snowstorm is taking over the area throughout Sunday. I just came over from a basketball game and man it’s snowing like crazy. There was like 5 or 6 car accidents on our way to Daugmale and back.. Some of them are scary – makes me wanna remember my own New Year ’08 ride to Daugavpils – thanks God I wound up alright..

And yeah, the snowstorm is on and poppin’! There are various reports of power outages in Riga. Let me post my own tho, quite funny one, the one that don’t happen every day..

We had a real hard hoops game today. 5-on-5, run & gun type stuff. I tell you what, I even got prepped for this one – watched last night’s Celtics @ Wolves game, listened to Mobb Deep on my way, to get to the battling mood, you know.

And check this out, my team’s in possession, right. I’m a playmaker, trying to see the court.. The ball was not in my hands at the moment though but face it – suddenly the lights go out! Total darkness, you don’t see shit!!! Can you imagine that! I was around midcourt, somehow found my way to the sideline, but some of us didn’t even know where to go, totally disoriented, you know what I’m saying =))

Everybody screaming, but in about a minute or two we started seeing the gym’s windows. It was dark outside too so still – it was kinda hard to find the way.

The lights went back on when we were in the lockers. The game had to be cancelled..

Memories again. Last time I suffered a blackout I was on board LPGC Havpil. Captain’s mate, on the bridge, alone, I was in charge of navigation and all the stuff. Quite a piece of an action, really..

Aaight then, I’m out like power, wishing y’all who’s in Riga to stay safe. And yeah, hopefully you don’t have to light up the candles due to the power outage tonight – save’em for a romantic dinner, would you.

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