Graphic: Mārtiņš Zaļūksnis
Keila Coolbet is the tenth team which will start the 2023-2024 ENBL season as the Estonian club will host CSO Voluntari on Tuesday, October 24. Tipoff at 19:30 local time.
Series history: Keila Coolbet and CSO Voluntari will face each other for the first time.
Key matchup: Keila point guard Kevin Anthony Johnson leads the Latvia Estonia league in steals made, with 4.8 per game. University of Illinois at Chicago standout (2022) is also Keila`s best scorer with 16.6 points per game.
Big man Luka Majstorovič averages 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Estonian club. Meanwhile, a Lithuanian power forward Denis Krestinin stepped on the floor on October 18 and immediately showed his impact, finishing with six rebounds, four assists and one block.
Trevon Litrell Allen averages 15.0 points for CSO Voluntari. A formed Idaho Vandal guard scored 22 points against Eurocup team Cluj-Napoca on October 7.
Keyshawn Maklik Feazel cements the front court with 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. A former Mississippi State, McNeese State and Creighton power forward averages 12.0 points.
National championships: the sixth season of the Pafbet Estonia and Latvia league started on September 21. Keila Coolbet opened season three days later with a 90-72 road win at Viimsi.
Three losses followed, including a 66-83 defeat against the 2022 Estonian champion Parnu Sadam and a 74-89 loss at the hands of the 2023 Estonia-Latvia league champion Prometey.
Keila Coolbet rebounded on October 18, defeating Latvian team Ogre, 80-71. One more game awaits on Sunday night as Keila host TalTech Optibet.
Liga Nationala de Baschet Masculin – LNBM – feature 18 teams, split in groups A and B. The regular season took off on Friday, September 22.
CSO Voluntari is 2-2 in Group A. Ainars Bagatskis men posted two victories in September against ABC Laguna Bucuresti, 75-40, and CSM Corona Brasov, 93-88.
First half of October was much harder. CSO Voluntari dropped the home game against Eurocup team Cluj-Napoca, 73-86, and then lost at Rapid Bucuresti, 83-89.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Rainis Vārv (Estonia) – Pafbet Estonia and Latvia league referee from 2018, FIBA referee from 2023.
Umpire 1: Vlad-Theodor Cotrobas (Romania) – Top division in Romania from 2021, FIBA referee from 2023.
Umpire 2: Hendrik Laas (Estonia) – Pafbet Estonia and Latvia league from 2018, had worked at the 2023 Pafbet Final 4.
Observer: Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA5bcu0vsys
Format
Four best teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs (A1-B4, A2-B3, A3-B2, A4-B1).
The 2024 playoffs – home and away, best-of-two series – will take place from February 1 until March 20.
The 2024 Final Four will take place on April 9-10.