In addition to the Estonian-Latvian championship, Keila Coolbet’s team is also playing in the Northern European basketball championship for the first time and this motivates the young players a lot.
“It definitely adds motivation,” one of the team’s leaders, Kristen Kasemets, told ERR. “It’s a bit different and with it you can show yourself a bit in Europe too. I think these matches will be watched more.”
Together with the American Kevin Johnson, the 21-year-old shooting guard is the most successful scorer of Keila’s team in both leagues. According to Kasemets it is necessary to show better defensive play in order to collect more.
“Defensively we played a really bad game all season,” he said. “The positive thing is that the people in the team are well. The internal climate is good, we have to improve this defense and then I think it will be good.”
This season, Kasemets averaged 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in the Estonian-Latvian championship. In the Northern European League the corresponding numbers are 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Keila beat Brno 93:73 (20:20, 29:20, 20:18, 24:15) away from home on Monday night. Kasemets contributed 22 points and Johnson 24 points.
In the Northern European League, Keila’s team won two out of four matches in their subgroup. Six out of 16 matches were won in the Estonian-Latvian championship. Kasemets, who became a basketball player in Keila, enjoys the support of the home crowd: the team plays loudly.
“The way people are behind makes the game much more interesting,” Kasemets rejoiced. “Especially if you’re Keila’s boyfriend and you know a lot about these people too. You get some feedback from people and there’s always a lot of gossip.”
2023-12-18 20:42:00
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