<p><a href="/index.php/ZnVzZWFjdGlvbj1nYW1lcy5tYWluJmdfaWQ9ODUx"><strong>First game:</strong></a> 2007-03-29, 18:30 in Valmiera.</p><p><a href="/index.php/ZnVzZWFjdGlvbj1nYW1lcy5tYWluJmdfaWQ9ODUz"><strong>Second game:</strong></a> 2007-03-31, 19:30 in Riga.</p><p><br /><table style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; WIDTH: 100%; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff; TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; cssFloat: none" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" rules="none" border="1" frame="void"><tbody><tr><td><img src="/images/gallery/small/riga.jpg" /></td><td><p><strong><a href="/index.php/ZnVzZWFjdGlvbj10ZWFtcy5tYWluJnQ9NTU=">ASK Riga</a></strong>                  </p><p>Division I, 5th (3-7)</p></td><td><img src="/images/gallery/small/valmiera_2.jpg" /></td><td><p><strong><a href="/index.php/ZnVzZWFjdGlvbj10ZWFtcy5tYWluJnQ9NTY=">Lacplesa Alus Vamiera</a></strong></p><p>Division II, 2nd (10-4)</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><p><br /><strong><u>Preview</u></strong></p><p>The Latvian play-off pair will be particularly interesting. Many could see ASK Riga as clear-cut favorites, but you can’t count Valmiera out. They have been playing magnificent basketball as of late. Finishing the regular season with five wins in a row, Lacplesa Alus has lots of ambitions to do a damaging work in the post-season. Also, the fact that these teams haven’t met each other yet brings even more intrigue. <br /><br />Speaking of ASK Riga, they probably expected to get a bye in the first round of the play-offs. So their psychological preparation is in question. Siauliai's win against Lietuvos Rytas on Tuesday meant that ASK Riga dropped to fifth spot in the standings, thus having to play in the first round of the play-offs. Riga’s team has a lot of weapons especially at guard position, but after a serious injury to A.J.Bramlett, only Raitis Grafs is the true center in this club. <br /><br />In contrary, Lacplesa Alus has an emerging powerful center in Vladimir Stimac. He has been firing on all cylinders by averaging 19 points and 13.5 rebounds for Valmiera. In addition, he was named the MVP of the February month by the Baltic journalists. Can depleted ASK Riga front line stop V.Stimac?<br /><br />Another interesting match up could be between the American combo guards Curtis Millage and Rashad Phillips. The latter is averaging 21.7 points per game and in team’s last game of the regular season displayed his long range shooting abilities. R.Phillips made nine three-pointers setting an all-time SEB BBL record.<br /><br />Lastly but not the least should be mentioned a coaches match up. Ramunas Butautas and Ainars Bagatskis will surely bring their best tactics. Which one will prevail we will find out rather soon.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong><u><br />ASK Riga head coach Ramunas Butautas</u></strong></p><p><strong><br />About Lacplesa Alus:</strong> Valmiera’s team is very dangerous. I specially watched them play and we have their video tapes. We can’t make jokes with them because I’m sure they can beat ASK Riga if we are not prepared enough.<br /><strong>About ASK Riga:</strong> we started to prepare for the game only today because we didn’t expect to play in the first round of the play-offs. We already have all the information about the opponents and now what’s left is to create the plan for the game. <br /><strong>About A.J.Bramlett’s absence:</strong> his injury is a big loss for us because he is a good player. But we have other players in his position and the team is motivated for the game. The atmosphere in the team is really good and I hope we will achieve our goals.</p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong><u><br />Lacplesa Alus head coach Ainars Bagatskis</u></strong></p><p><strong><br />About ASK Riga:</strong> we played them several games in Latvian league but we don’t have much time to prepare. However, both teams know each other very well so I don’t expect any kind of surprises. We are going to try to fight for a win.  <br /><strong>About Lacplesa Alus:</strong> quite frankly we have no emotions before the game – we just have to do our job. We were planning to play against Siauliai and it was a big surprise for us that they were able to beat Lietuvos rytas.<br /><strong>About the style of play:</strong> both teams play the same style. We prefer fast tempo, more attacking basketball. Riga’s team has more experienced players who are self confident. We are young and ambitious. We can show something more if opposition does not take us seriously enough.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><font size="4"><p align="center"><br /></p><strong><p align="center"><u>Regular season series</u></p><p align="left"><br />Teams have not met during regular season</p></strong></font><strong></strong></td></tr><tr></tr></tbody></table></p>

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Teams: ASK Riga
Teams: Lacplesa Alus