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31 August, 2017
17 September
Silins excited about Latvia's future potential
31/05/2017
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Silins excited about Latvia's full-strength potential

RIGA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - After a long season with Telekom Baskets, Ojars Silins is getting some well-deserved rest in his hometown of Riga before joining Latvia's preparations for FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

The 23-year-old, who made his debut for Ainars Bagatskis-coached senior side in last year's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade, will be looking to cement his place on the potentially much-improved Latvian squad.

"It will be really interesting to see what we can do this summer and in the years to come with the national team."Ojars SilinsOjars Silins

"Last year was my first experience with the men's national team and I would like to think it was quite successful, even though the team did not get where we wanted," Silins told Latvian media. "I will, of course, have to prove myself this summer once again, but the most important thing is for the national team to ultimately achieve a good result."

Although coach Bagstkis is yet to announce his preliminary squad, Silins is likely going to have to compete for minutes with some of the country’s best players in Davis Bertans and Janis Timma in an extremely talented frontcourt. But the prospect of having all the best Latvian players, including New York Knicks star big man Kristaps Porzingis, in the national team has Silins excited.

"I am very happy about it. It will be really interesting to see what we can do this summer and in the years to come with the national team,"  he said.

Having acquired precious European experience in Bonn's extended run in the FIBA Europe Cup, where the German side went all the way to the Semi-Finals, Silins is satisfied with how the season went in general.

"I started the season very well, but then my role started to decrease marginally as the year went on. However, I'd still rate this season positively – I got invaluable experience and showed that I can be counted on to make big plays," reflected Silins.

After qualifying to the German League Play-Offs as the seventh seed, Telekom Baskets were eliminated in the Quarter-Finals by Brose Bamburg, featuring Latvian scoring ace Janis Strelnieks in spite of a tough challenge.

If Strelnieks, Silins and all other top players are healthy come summertime, you can expect the men in carmine red to be the dark horses in FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

In the tournament, Latvia will play in the Istanbul-based Group D, having been drawn to the same group as the national teams of Belgium, Great Britain, Russia, Serbia and the hosts Turkey.

FIBA