Latvian national team defender Arturs Zagars, after the victory over the Netherlands with a score of 72:69, admitted that the team did not play its best match, although it managed to achieve an important result. According to one of the team leaders, the performance of the Latvians was far from the desired level. "We definitely showed ugly basketball. We understand that ourselves. We have many new players, we haven't played together much yet, but that's definitely not an excuse," Zagars said in an interview with LTV7. The basketball player emphasized that the current national team must win primarily through dedication, not individual skill. "We must win not because of talent, but through hard work, that 'dirty' work and energy." According to Zagars, the start of the match was extremely unsuccessful. The Latvians were trailing, faced problems with mutual understanding, and looked insufficiently energetic. However, in the second half of the match, the team managed to turn the game around thanks to character and persistence. The player also noted that the gap in the level of European national teams is gradually narrowing, so there are no more easy matches. As an example, he mentioned the leader of the Dutch national team, Keye van der Wurst, who, according to Zagars, confidently leads his teammates and is capable of making three-pointers from almost the center of the court. Despite the victory, the team does not consider the task accomplished. Zagars emphasized that the team must maintain a working attitude and use the successful segments of the match as a foundation for further preparation. "We must stay grounded, continue to work hard, and take with us into the next match those 10–15 minutes that we played well today. This is what we need to build on." The victory over the Netherlands was the first official win for the Latvian national team under the new head coach Janis Gailitis and allowed the team to maintain good chances of advancing to the second stage of the World Cup qualifiers. The next match for the Latvian basketball players will be on Monday at home against the Austrian national team. This match will conclude the first stage of the qualifiers.