Brazil NT 2008

[alermac]

SF Guilherme Giovannoni (personal matters) and PG Valtinho (injury) are also out of the Preolympic squad.

Also, coach Monsalve called Duda Machado (PG from Flamengo), Jonatan Tavernari and Ricardo Probst (PF, 32 years old, from Brazilian club Assis, hasn't played for NT in a decade) to replace some of the injured players.

Right now, the Preolympic list consists of:


PG Marcelinho Huertas, Duda Machado
SG Alex, Marcelinho Machado
SF Tavernari, Marcus
PF & C Batista, Splitter, Probst, Baby Araujo, Murilo

If Barbosa is ready, he'll be the other player. If not, another player will be called up.

[rikhardur]

Damn, Brazil is missing way too many players. Now that things seemed to be going the right way... This is terrible.

[alermac]

Leandrinho Barbosa is now officially out of the PreOlympic. The official cause is a knee tendinitis.

Coach Monsalve replaced him with PG Fúlvio, who plays for Brazilian club Paulistano. And also said "he won't play for the NT again, as long as I'm coaching it": Monsalve's furious because not only Barbosa didn't answer his calls or comunicate, he also expressed his decision through his agent and not personally. "it's disrespectful for this country, the Confederation and the players".

[rikhardur]

Could things go any worse I wonder? Everything is slowly going back to what it was before, i.e., awful.

[PRSURF]

Leandrinho Barbosa is now officially out of the PreOlympic. The official cause is a knee tendinitis.

Coach Monsalve replaced him with PG Fúlvio, who plays for Brazilian club Paulistano. And also said "he won't play for the NT again, as long as I'm coaching it": Monsalve's furious because not only Barbosa didn't answer his calls or comunicate, he also expressed his decision through his agent and not personally. "it's disrespectful for this country, the Confederation and the players".

WOOOWW, Monsalve have a good attitude, haha

[alermac]

Could things go any worse I wonder? Everything is slowly going back to what it was before, i.e., awful.

I think this team has been so weakened, it can actually become stronger.

[alermac]

WOOOWW, Monsalve have a good attitude, haha

Well, Monsale eventually backed off. He announced Barbosa won't be banned; but he also said that, if Brazil quailfies, the Olympic roster will consist of the very same 12 players.

[alermac]

Brazil beat Venezuela in its first two friendlies, 97-69 and 84-61, in Rio de Janeiro.
Scorers for game 2

BRAZIL (24 + 19 + 20 + 21 = 84)
Marcelo Huertas (16), Alex Garcia (13 6 5 rebs), Marcelinho Machado (13), Murilo (8 + 7 rebs), Tiago Splitter (4). Bench: Duda (0), Ricardo Probst (2), Fúlvio (5), Jonathan Tavernari (12), Baby (7 + 7 rebs), João Paulo (4 + 8 rebs). Coach: Moncho Monsalve.

VENEZUELA (21 + 20 + 10 + 10 = 61)
Bethelmi (4), Marriaga (2), Perez (11), Cedeño (0), Torres (19). Bench: Luis Julio (2), Sucre (2), Guevara (7), Centeno (4), Osorio (10), Marin (0). Coach: Nelson Solorzano.

[Genjuro]

I know this team might lack some potential without the NBA guys, but I like it. The axis Huertas-Splitter is just outstanding.

In Huertas, Brazil has finally found a real playmaker who takes good decisions. And that will only improve Splitter's role in the team, and we all know he's the best Brazilian player regardless who makes the team. Murilo is a nice complementary guy from the PF position, skilled and able to open the court so Tiago can enjoy more space in the middle. Alex and Machado are pretty inconsistent, but I expect them not the have such a big negative impact in their off games with Huertas having a bigger role than in the past. Besides, they should be able to get better looks with Huertas and Splitter around, therefore to improve their accuracy.

I'm not sure about the bench, though, as I don't know most of the players.

We'll see what finally happens. But we all know that addition by substraction sometimes work.

[SMKR]

looks like great forum!

do you guys know where i can find scores for todays, July 1 basketball game for Colombia/Brazil?

[JGX]

BRASIL (19 + 25 + 19 + 20 = 83)
Hélio (8 e 7 assistências), Arthur (7), Guilherme Teichmann (4), William Drudi (23 e 15 rebotes) e Coloneze (7 e 7 rebotes). Depois: Diego (5), Caio Torres (7 e 8 rebotes), André Stefanelli (13) e Manteiguinha (9). Técnico: Paulo Sampaio.

COLÔMBIA (22 + 09 + 23 + 21 = 75)
Moreno (15), Cañedo (5), Guevara (12), Aragon (16) e Londoño (15). Depois: Mosquera (7), Montoya (0), Divier (0), Barrio (4) e Arcila (1). Técnico: Hernan Dario Giraldo Correa.

[rikhardur]

BRA – Brazilian confidence grows each day

RIO DE JANEIRO (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men) – Brazil will travel to Greece full of optimism and very confident that they can claim one of three spots available for the Beijing Games.

The South Americans are in Group A with Greece and Lebanon and before going into those clashes, they will take part in the Akropolis Tournament – a warm-up event for Athens.

High-scoring veteran Marcelinho Machado feels the Brazilians, who are missing several high-profile players like Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao (injuries) and Nene (continued recovery from testicular cancer), are improving day by day.

"On offense, we are using spaces more and each player is positioning himself better, making it more difficult for our rivals,” he said.

“We are improving on team defense because that is key in order to not give away easy baskets.

“The Akropolis tournament will be a very good competition for us because we will face two rivals from the Pre-Olympic, Greece and Croatia, who we could meet in the semi-final round.

“The Greeks are playing at home with the support of their fans and have good and experienced players, but we will go out for the win.”

Brazil boss Moncho Monsalve, a Spaniard who was handed the national team reins in January, is also upbeat.

He has a very talented group that includes center Tiago Splitter, Marcelo Huertas, Marcelinho and Alex.

"Our aim is always to win,” Monsalve said.

“But our priority right now is the collective work on offense and defense.

“The team has been improving all the time since our first day of training and the players are giving their all with one aim in mind: to clinch a place at the Olympics.”

The final week of preparation, which includes games against the Greeks, Croatians and Australia, is vital for Monsalve and Brazil.

"Before we take on Lebanon in our first game of the Pre-Olympic tournament, we still need to polish certain details and these three games (Akropolis tournament) will be important, more so to give more international experience to players like Tavernari, Duda, Fulvio and Ricardo,” Monsalve said.

“In order to get good results, especially at the Pre-Olympic tournament,” the coach added, “it´s crucial that the team concedes (no more than) 72 to 78 points and gets 80 points."

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/26378/arti.html

[rikhardur]

BRA/AUS – Goorjian salutes Brazil coach Moncho Monsalve

ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men) - No matter what happens this summer to the Brazil men’s national team, the programme appears to be moving in the right direction under coach Moncho Monsalve.

That was the assessment of Australia coach Brian Goorjian, whose Boomers beat the Brazilians 89-84 on Wednesday night at the Acropolis Tournament.

“I have a lot of admiration for what coach Monsalve has done with Brazil,” Goorjian said.

“They get the most out of what they have.”

Australia beat Brazil two years ago in Japan, and Goorjian said: “Compared to the team we faced during the 2006 World Championship, I think that they play better together, they play harder, they are more efficient on the defensive end of the floor and they move the ball better.

“Everyone gets his touches. Every shot was a good shot.”

While Australia have already secured a spot at the Beijing Games, Brazil are trying to join them.

They will go after one of the three places still on offer for China at next week’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and take on Greece and Lebanon in Group A.

“Overall I have to admit that I'm satisfied with our performance, but admittedly we should improve in our rebounding and our man-to-man defense,” said Monsalve, a Spaniard who took the reins of Brazil in January.

“Hopefully, on the 15th of July, we'll get our first win."

That’s when Brazil face Lebanon – one day before their second group game against hosts Greece.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/26458/arti.html

[alermac]

Brazilian media agrees: maybe it's Monsalve's coaching, or Barbosa's absence, or Nené's and Varejao's, or Huertas' progress, or a different attitude, but the thing is, Brazil apparently looks much better now.

[rikhardur]

Brazilian media agrees: maybe it's Monsalve's coaching, or Barbosa's absence, or Nené's and Varejao's, or Huertas' progress, or a different attitude, but the thing is, Brazil apparently looks much better now.

Looks like you were right mate