Brazil has a tough draw at the Basketball World Cup – 08/24/2023 – Sport

It is with confidence that Brazil arrives at the Basketball World Cup, which will start this Friday (25). Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines jointly host the competition, qualifying for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The recent performance has given courage to Gustavo de Conti’s charges, who, however, have a very complicated path in Asia. Reaching the quarterfinals is a possible task only with triumphs over some of the favorite teams.

The green-and-yellow formation is in the bracket headed by Spain, current champions. Overcoming Iran and Côte d’Ivoire to advance alongside the title defenders does not seem to be a problem, but then a new group will be formed with the top two placed in the bracket that has France and Canada.

Spain, even without point guard Ricky Rubio, who was away to take care of his mental health, has a good team led by Sergio Scariolo. France, led by Rudy Gobert, has won a gold, a silver and a bronze at the European Championships in the last ten years, in addition to an Olympic silver, and is looking for its third consecutive podium at the Worlds. Canada will miss the injured Jamal Murray, but will have relevant NBA names: RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort and the excellent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The Brazilian squad is not as star-studded, which mixes the experience of veterans like Marcelinho Huertas, 40, with the willingness of youngsters like Gui Santos, 21. But the recent results have been positive for the morale of the team, which was runner-up in the Cup America last year.

In the preparatory friendlies, the team beat Australia in Australia, bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, in 2021. They also won South Sudan and Venezuela. It lost to Serbia and Italy in even matches and landed in Indonesia willing to surprise.

“We had very tough rivals, and the way we played was very positive. We were able to do all the tests, analyze the group, and we have a very good balance of preparation. We are going strong for the World Cup, knowing the size of the challenge, the rivals, but with a lot of confidence, because the group has already shown what it can deliver”, said De Conti.

“Confidence is very high in a good participation in the World Cup. We want to start the tournament with everything”, added winger Léo Meindl.

The opening match is scheduled for the Brazilian morning of Saturday (26), at 6:45 am, against Iran, at the Indonesia Arena, in Jakarta. The duels with Spain and Ivory Coast are scheduled for Monday (28) and Wednesday (30) respectively. ESPN will broadcast the tournament, with games also available on the Star+ platform.

It is a tournament in which Brazil has historical relevance. Twice world champion, with triumphs in 1959 and 1963, the green and yellow team forms with the United States the duo of the only teams to participate in all 18 previous editions of the championship. No team scored as many points in a tournament game as Brazil in 1978, which scored 154-97 in China.

Wlamir Marques, the main Brazilian name in the sport, two-time world champion, entered the FIBA ​​(International Basketball Federation) Hall of Fame this week, in a ceremony held in Manila. At the age of 86, he participated in the ceremony via video, for health reasons, but recalled that his country has a history in basketball.

A story that Raulzinho, Georginho, Benite and Bruno Caboclo will try to live up to. The tri seems distant, and the Olympic vacancy is complicated, but the athletes did enough in the preparation to believe in the improbable.

The World Cup will give a place in the Paris Games to the two best countries in the Americas. The United States, Canada, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are in the competition. Those who do not obtain a direct classification, depending on their position in the Worlds, will still be able to try their luck in the pre-Olympic tournaments next year.

In the last edition of the Cup, Brazil survived the first phase, with victories over New Zealand, Greece and Montenegro, and fell in sequence, with defeats to the Czech Republic and the United States. He had to play in one of the pre-Olympic championships, lost the final to Germany and didn’t go to Tokyo.

These were results that provoked changes in the selection, again led by a Brazilian after almost a decade and a half. Gustavo de Conti, now 43 years old, was chosen to succeed Spaniard Moncho Monsalve (2008 to 2009), Argentine Rubén Magnano (2010 to 2017) and Croatian Aleksandar Petrovic (2018 to 2021).

Appreciated for his good performance at Flamengo, where he continues to work, the young man arrived seeking to restore the athletes’ identification with the national team, which was lacking during the period when the country had more relevant representatives in the NBA. The results, so far, have been satisfactory. Now comes a bigger challenge.