MANILA -- Latvia head coach Luca Banchi sent his players a video of children watching the men's national team compete against Germany on Wednesday night.

With Manila and Riga having a five-hour time difference, the Latvia-Germany quarterfinal matchup of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 tipped off just as lunch time was about to approach the Baltic state that day.

As heartbreaking as the loss -- which boiled down to a missed Davis Bertans triple at the buzzer -- was, Banchi made it a point to remind the Latvian side who they play for.

"I wanted them to see these kids sitting in a room and watching them play. It means in a few games, they became role models. And models need to inspire people," Banchi said on Friday after Latvia edged Italy, 87-82 to move to the fifth-place game.

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Latvia has barely started its school year, and some schools apparently allowed the showing of the debutants' World Cup games. Banchi said he received a lot of pictures from locals watching back home.

"The people were expecting them to give one more demonstration, to have special values, and that's what they did," he said.

"They deserve to become role models. It's not a matter of wins, it's a matter of attitude. It's not the big names but the values who make the people special."

An Italian national, Banchi accepted the Latvian head coaching post three years ago, when he was convinced by the only Latvian player he's ever coached prior: Kaspars Cipruss.

Cipruss saw action for Italian club Pallacanestro Trieste and made the call in 2020 to his former coach, just when the COVID-19 pandemic gave everyone a feeling of uncertainty.

Banchi was then an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets' G-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, and had always wanted a shot at coaching in the NBA.

"I was in (the United States), being assistant coach with a vision that I can enter into the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff. Bubble, COVID, and everything, nothing was working as I was expecting," Banchi recalled.

The 58-year-old tactician admitted that he had not been following the international game that much as he was focused on his coaching career with the Nets.

That was when Cipruss told Banchi that Latvia was looking for a new head coach.

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"I was kind of surprised, shocked, whatever. I asked a few hours to think about that," Banchi said.

"A country where I’ve never been before, language that I don’t know at all, no players that I coached in my career from Latvia ((other) than Cipruss in 2000. It was a jump in the dark."

Ultimately, Banchi accepted the job. He helped lead the Latvians to a European Qualifiers-best 9-1 record that earned them their first-ever World Cup stint.

The mentor shared that the start of his tenure was rocky, but captain Dairis Bertans assisted in his transition.

"At the beginning, it sounds crazy, but I approached this experience with all my energy. I realized from the very beginning that there was some kind of empathy between me and this environment," Banchi said.

The two-time Italian League champion coach persevered from the start of his journey with Latvia. He spoke with domestic club coaches; he traveled around the country to get an idea about the "Latvian style" of play, and maintained a solid connection to everyone.

Banchi was not alone in his endeavor. He bared that at least five Latvian coaches working with club teams lend a hand in the preparation and scouting process up to the group phase of the World Cup.

"They were helping to share this experience because I have to, this is my mission, I have to improve basketball in this country," Banchi shared.

"It's not because I need to win games, because my career doesn't need extra wins, but Latvian basketball needs to stay in the level it deserves."

Opposite Banchi along the sidelines was his countryman, instant Filipino crowd favorite Gianmarco Pozzecco.

His Italian colleague mentioned that their collective accomplishments atop the FIBA stage are a good sign for Italian basketball.

"We were talking before the game that we were unlucky. They lost because they missed the last shot (against Germany) and we played against America," Pozzecco said.

"But we're so proud because we're two Italian coaches here in the top eight. And miss for nothing, the third one is (Spanish head coach) Sergio Scariolo."

"Most of the time, I talk about my players. This is the first time I have something for my category, of course," he added.

Latvia faces Lithuania on Saturday for a chance to improve on its already respectable finish as World Cup first-timers.

It's easy for outsiders to dismiss the remaining consolation games as without bearing. But for Banchi, how his players have been approaching the last few matches is a reflection of the current state of Latvian basketball culture -- and one the country's aspiring young stars can emulate growing up.

'We go through the big names because we have an identity, we have a style, and as we proved (versus Italy), we have values," he said.

"Everybody wants to play and everybody wants to win. It’s a matter of value. We’re doing an amazing job to promote basketball in the country."

For more stories on the FIBA World Cup, click here.

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