RIGA (Latvia) - Opening things up at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Brazil and Montenegro squared up for just what everybody was expecting: a balanced and physically tough clash.
Despite trailing for the vast majority of the game, Brazil brought an 80-72 win home. Both teams will now seek a win over Cameroon.
Turning Point
With 3:23 minutes on the clock in the opening quarter, Aco Petrovic made four changes. Yago Santos, Vitor Benite, Leo Meindl, and Bruno Caboclo entered the court.
Despite Brazil earning its first lead only at 8:17 in the fourth, that was the turning point of the encounter. Making presence-felt plays in the paint and attacking the rim with ease, the 28-year-old Caboclo made his team bounce back into contention.
Ultimately, the green-and-gold national team went all the way to success also thanks to a 3+1 play by Leo Meindl with 5:24 left on the game clock.
TCL Player of the Game
If you are only one rebound away from a winning double-double in the competition's opener, being named TCL Player of the Game could only be consequential.
That's what Caboclo brought to the table for Brazil, showing off his natural athleticism and verticality to power up his team with 25 points and 9 rebounds.
Stats don't lie
The impact of the Brazilian national team's bench made a big difference. In points off the bench, the green-and-gold side dominated 45-28.
At the end of the day, both Caboclo and the Meindl-Neto duo (16 points off the bench) didn't start. Marcelinho Huertas had some big plays down the stretch - including a huge three-pointer in the game's final minute, providing 17 points as a starter.
Bottom line
Brazil definitely needs to approach the game better against Cameroon. Coach Petrovic's starting lineup couldn't contain Montenegro, who got an early 10-point lead (19-9) with 2:51 minutes on the clock in the first.
With Caboclo and Santos joining the party, things changed for Brazil. You could have noticed by hearing "Vamos" being shouted after concluding the alley-oop on the Brazilian brotherhood's line.
Another takeaway from Brazil's victory is that Neto is surely ready to play. Some 10 months after his long-time severe injury at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, he had an immediate impact on Brazil driving the lane. He ended with 7 points and 3 assists.
Nikola Vucevic (14 points and 13 rebounds) and Kendrick Perry played the first 9:20 minutes of the encounter and looked comfortable at the beginning of the game. However, when Brazil seemed hopelessly down by 13 points, the rest of the Montenegrin national team didn't follow.
They said
"We had a gameplan. Unfortunately, some of their non-shooters started off hitting big shots in the first half. They punished us a lot. Offensively we know we have weapons, but we just have to stay patient. They're competitors, we knew it was going to be like this." Brazil guard, Marcelinho Huertas
"It was very difficult to come in and be prepared. We focused on the best part of the team, Kendrick Perry and Nikola Vucevic. We did a great job of that. But in the first twenty minutes, everything was in favor of Montenegro. It was a very difficult game for me and my coaching staff, as we needed to pick up players who could play tough. I'm happy we won the game a non-Brazilian way." Brazil head coach, Aleksandar Petrovic "It was a good game, we were up all the time for almost 33 minutes. But in the last six to seven minutes we didn't play well on defense, they scored open points. We have to rest tonight and prepare the game well for tomorrow." Montenegro center, Marko Simonovic "We played great basketball for 35 minutes. In the last five minutes, we did a lot of stupid things. In the first half, we were playing very solid defense. At this moment, Brazil has a better roster than us, more experienced to play in this kind of competition. We were really soft on defense in the last quarter" Montenegro head coach, Bosko Radovic
FIBA