The South American quintet put a stop to the Canadian team’s winning streak by defeating it with a score of 69-65 in the first match of the second phase of the tournament. The pass to the next phase will be disputed against the Latvian National Team, which surprised Spain, on September 3.
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The Brazilian Basketball Team managed to start the second phase of the World Cup with a 69-65 victory over Canada, which allows them to match up with the other three quintets in the group, and leaves the qualification to the next phase in their hands.
After just over 13 years with foreign coaches, the Brazilian Basketball Confederation appointed a native coach to take the reins of the South American team for international events.
Gustavo Contiwho had been training to take on the team after being an assistant in part of the process of the Argentine Rubén Magnano when he led the team between 2010 and 2016, took on the challenge in 2021. Although his process was not ideal in the qualifiers, since advanced as the seventh best five in the Americas, he knew that by adding experienced players to his style of play, which is characterized by intense defense and running the ball when the game allows it, the results would come.
And so did Brazil against Canada. The South Americans, who do not have NBA players in their squad, but do have a long history in European basketball, countered the Canadian offense with close markings on the main figures of the North American quintet.
The goal of slowing down the Oklahoma City Thunder guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was not met because he was able to score 23 points and maintain his average in the tournament over 22 units. But Brazil was able to counteract the association of this player with the rest of his teammates, since, separating Luguentz Dort who finished with 17 points, no other player could add double digits in the scoring section.
Another point in favor of Brazil’s defense was that it held Canada to 65 points, a drop from the first-round average of 108 points in three appearances. Likewise, those led by Gustavo Conti reduced the success rate of the Canadians from the three-point line, where Canada shot a percentage of 26.7% (8 of 30), from 42.9% achieved in the first phase.
Bruno Caboclo, the best; and Yago Santos, decisive
The game was played from start to finish, but very different from the analysis of the previous one, where the Canadians would take advantage of their athletic advantage to run and score from long distance.
Despite the fact that Canada was in front for a large part of the game, for just over 25 minutes and with a difference of 10 points towards the end of the third quarter, Brazil was able to lead the game offensively with three key aspects: points after the losses, where they dominated 17 – 4, the annotations in the paint —with 38 points to 22 for the Canadians— and the contribution of the substitutes who added 26 points compared to the 22 of the North Americans.
Bruno Caboclo he was the best for Brazil by getting a double – double in the game with 19 points and 13 rebounds. For his part, the base Yago Santoswho finished with eight points and 10 assists, hit two key possessions in the final seconds of the game.
As historical data, this was the sixth game between the teams of Brazil and Canada in a World Cup, all victories have been Brazilian since their first match played in 1954.
Latvia surprises another favorite and complicates Group L
For this same group, the teams of Spain and Latvia met at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta.
Latvia got the victory with a score of 74 – 69supported by the 16 points of the forward Davis Bertanswho went from Dallas to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2023-2024 NBA campaign, and 13 more added by the UCAM Murcia player, from the Spanish League, Rodions Kurucs.
For Spain the best was Willy Hernangomez at the end of the game with 14 units.
The triumphs of Brazil and Latvia, who had fallen in a presentation during the first phase, leave the matches on September 3 as a final, since the winners will be those who advance to the next phase of the World Cup.
Other results of the second phase of the World Cup
Group I: Serbian 76 – 78 Italy
Dominican Rep. 97 – 102 Puerto Rico
Group J: United States 85 – 73 Montenegro
Lithuania 92 – Greece 67
Group K: Germany 100 – 73 Georgia
Slovenia 91 – 80 Australia
Source: FIBA
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