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Latvia have the advantage in terms of experience

Latvia played alright yesterday but they had no chance against Italy yesterday. Today they need a win very badly and they believe they have the quality to get it

FIBA Europe / Martins Silis

Latvia didn't much of a chance against Italy yesterday. They fought hard and did alright for some time but they were unable to get their perimeter shot going, and it's clear they have no solutions once you take their three-pointer away. Latvia scored 5 out of 25 long-range shots and they didn't do well against Italy's aggressive defense, as reflected in 19 turnovers that their opponents converted into easy points.

- We started off well and then we missed a few open shots and lost confidence, we started making mistakes and that's when the Italians got the lead. There's no tragedy in losing against one of the favorites to win here and we will focus on the following games - said the Latvian coach Vecvagars.

A positive thing for Latvia lies in the fact that they have already done their game against the strongest team in their group and now they can be calm in the remaining two games, although Vecvagars has a high opinion of Poland and Belgium:

FIBA Europe / Martins Silis

- Both Poland have good squads and play a very organized game, as we saw in their head-to-head. Belgium were closer to a win there than the result shows and we know we're in for a tough task.

Latvia's front court should do much better tonight. Their power forwards Meznieks and Malmanis did great against Italy and now they should be joined by Cavars  who didn't do so well in the opening game. The battle in the paint will be crucial against Poland as both teams are physically strong and the aerial battle could decide the winner.

The Poles opened this tournament by confirming what we knew before. They're a very powerful team whose power and athleticism could make up for their absence of their most talented attacking players - Zywert brothers. Without them, this is primarily a team of hard workers who use their defense and domination in rebounds to look for their chance, which is what they did against Belgium.

Poland had 17 rebounds more than their opponents and their defense did a great job. It all yielded good results and the Poles had a 61-47 lead with 5 minutes to go and they seemed to have had this game in the bag. However, that's when Belgium's show started as they get back in the game with a 14-2 run. They had a few attacks to tie the score or even take the lead but they didn't use them and Poland eventually won.

This lackluster approach could be very costly tonight as Latvia have shown they're a very solid team. Poland won't dominate the rebounds against them as they did yesterday and it's hard to expect this game to be settled before the last period where Latvia's experience could prove to be vital.