Hoops Habit
Fansided

Latvia Advances, Puerto Rico Wins In Serbian Qualifier

By Matthew Hallett

BELGRADE, SERBIA - JULY 05: Dairis Bertans (R) of Latvia in action against Pavel Pumprla (L) of Czech Republic during the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying basketball Group B match between Latvia and Czech Republic at Kombank Arena on July 05, 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
BELGRADE, SERBIA - JULY 05: Dairis Bertans (R) of Latvia in action against Pavel Pumprla (L) of Czech Republic during the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying basketball Group B match between Latvia and Czech Republic at Kombank Arena on July 05, 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Latvia beat the Czech Republic to advance to the semifinals and Puerto Rico played Angola on day two of the Serbian Olympic Qualifier.

There were two games Tuesday in Serbia in the Olympic Qualifier. In Pool A Puerto Rico played Angola, taking their first win 91 – 81.

J.J. Barea played 25 minutes and scored 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting. He also made 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

The Puerto Rican captain also had five rebounds, a game high seven assists and a steal.

Carlos Arroyo also had a good game. In 19 minutes he had 18 points, two rebounds, five assists and one steal.

More hoops habit: 25 Best Players to Play for the Dallas Mavericks

For Angola, Carlos Morais, a shooting guard that got a look with the Toronto Raptors in 2013, had a great game, playing 32 minutes and scoring 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He also had one rebound, one assist and one steal.

More from NBA

Once again, where the game was won and lost was in the shooting. From the field the two teams were close, Puerto Rico shot worse than Angola, 47 percent to 49 percent.

From three, Puerto Rico were almost twice as proficient as Angola, 48 percent to 27 percent. From the free throw line Puerto Rico shot 80 percent to Angola’s 58 percent.

Angola stayed in the game through their offensive rebounding, winning the battle of the offensive glass 19-7, giving them more than double the second chance points of Puerto Rico 18-8 as well as more points in the paint 40-26. They also were better on the fast break 22-12.

Puerto Rico, led by Barea, had much better ball movement, getting twice as many assists as Angola 22-11. The Puerto Rico defense was also better, getting more blocks 6-0.

In Pool B Latvia took on the Czech Republic, beating them 71-59 and ensuring their place in the semifinals of the tournament.

To get through the group stages of the tournament it does not appear that they need their biggest name player, Kristaps Porzingis.

David Bertans, whose draft rights are currently held by the San Antonio Spurs, was again Latvia’s best player, playing 33 minutes and scoring 18 points on 4-of-12 shooting and handing out five assists.

Bertans has averaged 19 points and four assists per game in the round robin stage of the tournament. The 6-foot-10 player might be playing himself into trade considerations within the NBA.

The only other Latvian player on the team who has connection to the NBA is Janis Timma whose draft rights are currently held by Orlando. Timma scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and collected four rebounds.

More from Hoops Habit

For the Czech Republic, Jan Vesely played 17 minutes and scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting.

The other player on the Czech Republic team with ties to the NBA is Tomas Satoransky, who recently agreed to a deal with the Washington Wizards. Satoransky scored five points while also collecting eight rebounds and eight assists, almost completing a triple double.

The main difference between the two sides was free throw shooting. Latvia shot 85 percent from the line compared to 48 percent for the Czech Republic.

Players when they get to this level should not shoot less than 70 percent from the line, below 50 percent is unaceptable.

The final pool games are to be held Thursday with Serbia playing Angola in Pool A. If Serbia wins they they and Puerto Rico will go through to the semi finals.

More hoops habit: 25 Greatest Playoff Performers of All-Time

In Pool B, the Czech Republic is playing Japan, the winner will go through to the semi finals.