Our teams are paying too small tribute to being ready to win. Yes, simply winning a lot of games, positive experience, is the best way to boost your self confidence, but it only will take you far when you are on the winning strike. But then, white line is changed by the black one, and you need to be ready to get back on the white line. At the top level games, lady luck will be important to have by, but she will come to pay you a visit only if you are ready and confident, you are ready...
I do not have sports education, and I do not know, if there are positive changes taking place in Latvian sports education system, but I do see that there is an opportunity. For 2 million people that we are, we have great talents in basketball, football, tennis (Gulbis does have coach for psychology.. in individual sports it is simply impossibly to ignore the hard work on winning attitude)..etc. Probably, we are not rich enough country to recruit best psychology trainers in the field, but for sure, we are good enough to devote time and some resources to this important area of winning. We can get more positive emotions from the limited resources that we have, if we do make sure we are ready to win.
I do think this was great Championship for Latvians, and we deserved to play in quarter-finals. It is just that we were not ready for it. Saying goes: every system delivers results it is designed to deliver. Now we will see how far our braliukas Lithuanians will get, but apart from their mastery in basketball, they have winning psychology in basketball risen to level of religion. What people think (as in Bible: " where there will be 3 of you, I will be there.."), what society thinks and believes in, has higher chance to materialize. Partially, each of us can be blamed too :)
Thank you Latvia for great performance! Go Lithuania!