No Unicorn, no problem

Kristaps Porzingis, known as the Unicorn, isn’t playing for Latvia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in his home country this week but his absence doesn’t seem to be a cause for concern with coach Luca Banchi. It would’ve been quite a test for Gilas’ 7-3 center Kai Sotto if he matched up against Porzingis, who’s 7-2, when the Philippines takes on Latvia tonight (midnight, Manila time). But that duel will come in some other platform if ever their stars align.

The Boston Celtics went 21-4 in the NBA regular season and 10-2 in the playoffs without Porzingis so they hardly missed his services in capturing their first championship since 2008. With Porzingis injured so often, teams aren’t too dependent on the Unicorn to win – they’ve learned to be resilient just like Latvia.

In the 1936 Berlin Olympics where basketball was introduced in the Summer Games, Latvia and the Philippines were among 21 countries that participated. But they never crossed paths. In the first round, the Philippines drew a bye while Latvia beat Uruguay. In the second round, the Philippines defeated Mexico by two and Latvia lost to Canada by 11. Latvia then bowed out of contention with a five-point loss to Poland in the repass round. The Philippines went on to beat Estonia, lose to the US then repulse Italy and Uruguay to place fifth, the highest finish ever by an Asian country in Olympic basketball.

Latvia’s OQT squad is missing four players who saw action on the team that took fifth spot at the FIBA World Cup last year. The biggest loss is 6-8 Andrejs Grazulis who led Latvia in scoring with a 14.4 clip in the World Cup. Grazulis is out with an injury. Also struck out of the roster are 6-4 Kristers Zoriks, 6-4 Arturs Kurucs and 7-2 Anzejs Pasecniks. Replacing the four are 6-8 Janis Timma, 6-3 Janis Strelnieks, 6-4 Rihards Lomazs and 6-9 Mareks Mejeris. Timma was the Memphis Grizzlies’ second-round pick in 2013 while Lomazs shot .431 from deep at the World Cup European qualifiers last year.

The tallest Latvians are Davis Bertans and Klaus Cavars, both 6-10. Bertans, 31, is an eight-year NBA veteran who has played for San Antonio, Washington, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Charlotte. His older brother Dairis, 34, is a 6-4 guard who’s also on the team. Dairis played only two games in the World Cup before suffering a partial tear in his left hamstring. He played in 12 NBA games for New Orleans in 2018-19. The shortest players are Strelnieks and Arturs Zagars, both 6-3. Zagars is coming off surgery in his left knee and looks ready to go. He averaged 12.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists with a team-high plus 15.3 efficiency in the World Cup. Against Lithuania, Zagars registered a World Cup single-game record of 17 assists.

Since the World Cup European qualifiers, Latvia has registered a 24-4 record under Banchi. Last Friday, Latvia lost a 90-84 decision to Finland in a friendly that snapped a five-game winning streak dating back to the World Cup. It’ll be a tough challenge for Gilas to bring down Latvia but if coach Tim Cone’s troops play like they did in the Asian Games final last year, nothing is impossible.