Brazil looks to get back on track heading into Window 5

MIAMI (United States) - The last few months for the Brazilian national team have been a tale of two competitions.

On the one hand, Gustavo Conti´s squad emphatically won five consecutive games at home during this summer’s FIBA AmeriCup and only lost the gold medal game to Argentina in a 75-73 nailbiter.

On the other, the Brazilians dropped their last three games of the FIBA World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers, dating back to their shocking defeat at the hands of Colombia on July 3rd in the very last game of the first round. Up until that point, Brazil had a perfect 5-0 record.

 

So, in this Jekyll and Hyde story, which one is the real version of the verdeamarelha? Is it the squad who romped through the first round and crushed the competition in Group B? Or the one who dropped three straight, including a 10-point home loss to Mexico in late August? How about the version that came within a basket of winning the nation’s fifth AmeriCup crown?

 

The answer is probably a mix of all of them but leaning heavier toward the very last impression shown on September 11 in Recife against a loaded Argentinian side.

Brazil beat Canada twice (with Toronto Raptors’ Dalano Banton as their only NBA player), dismantled Colombia by 40 points and defeated Uruguay and the Dominican Republic to reach the final. They did it by leaning on the passing wizardry of Marcelinho Huertas and Yago Santos, Leandro Meindl’s shooting and the interior presence of Lucas Dias and Cristiano Felicio.

Conti’s challenge, as well as the majority of head coaches in the upcoming November window, will be constructing a winning squad without being able to rely on most, if not all, of their international stars.

That not only includes Huertas and Yago, but also Rafa Luz, Felicio, Vitor Benite and a pair of stars who are set play in the NBA G-League this upcoming season: Didi Louzada and Bruno Caboclo.

Caboclo’s potential absence is arguably the most sensitive for the South Americans. He’s Brazil’s most fearsome two-way player thanks to his ability to protect the rim, spread out defenses with his long-range stroke and dominate in the opposite paint.

And while Caboclo (22 points and 10 rebounds) was present in the loss against Colombia, his absence was strongly felt in Brazil’s back-to-back defeats at the hands of Puerto Rico and Mexico in late August.

But Conti has been here before and the Brazilian domestic league is teeming with talent at every position. A quick look at the rosters of França, Minas and Flamengo yields several players with a wealth of experience at the international level.

As Flamengo’s head coach, Conti is currently coaching Rafa Mineiro, Guilherme Deodato, Vitor Faverani and Rafael Hettsheimeir. Minas has Renan Lenz and Alexey Borges in their ranks, among others. Lucas Dias and Lucas Mariano make up a formidable duo at França.

Point guard Elinho is another known commodity for Conti and he’s still shining for 2021-22 Basketball Champions League Americas monarchs, Sao Paulo.

Because of this, Brazil should still be able to field a strong roster heading into a pair of risky matchups against the United States (November 11 in Washington, D.C.) and Mexico (November 14 in Chihuahua).

With a 5-3 record, Brazil is tied with Mexico and Uruguay in Group F, trailing only Team USA (7-1).

Their recent losses put the South Americans in a more precarious position than expected but winning at least one of these upcoming two road games would go a long way toward solidifying their spot in next year’s FIBA World Cup.

They would then host Puerto Rico and USA in February’s Window 6, knowing that the top 3 teams from each group and the best-ranked 4th place team will punch their ticket to Japan.

FIBA