Author of his best match of the competition against France (22 points, 5 assists) then author of 17 points against Brazil to validate the accession of Latvia to the quarter-finals for his first participation, Arturs Zagars took the time to savor the moment and realize the significance of this feat.
“It’s crazy, I have no words to describe it”, did he declare. “The Top 8 is huge for our country. A small country with a big voice, as I said before. It is obvious that we must be happy with what we have done”.
The leader of Nevezis-Optibet in Lithuania (LKL) is one of the elements who have raised their level of play to allow this feat, as well as Roland Smits or Andrejs Grazulis, author of 24 points and 5 assists against Brazil .
Among Latvians, danger comes from everywhere
“It is also one of the most dangerous weapons. Anyone can speak in any game, score, pass or whatever, offensively and defensively. I believe we had a different player who stood out every time we won. That says a lot about the versatility of our team.”he added.
The appetite coming with eating, Arturs Zagars will however not dwell too much on this first accomplishment. The rest comes very quickly with this quarter-final against Germany on Wednesday. As Kobe Bryant said after Game 2 of the 2009 Finals when the Lakers were leading 2-0: “Job is not finished”.
“After midnight, one o’clock in the morning, we will have to forget this victory and focus on the next opponent. There comes a time when you have to forget what happened and see what happens next.underlined Arturs Zagars after Brazil. “As Kobe said, the job is not done.”
