RIGA (Latvia) - During the first six or seven minutes of Brazil's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 opener in Riga, Montenegro had no problems attacking their opponents and enjoyed all the early momentum.
The green and gold head coach Aleksandar Petrovic needed something better from his non-starters - and urgently. He decided to turn things around by switching four players and Bruno Caboclo was one of them.
Everybody would soon get to see the difference it would make.
Even the rims of the Arena Riga, as the 28-year-old scored his first eight points with four resounding dunks after making his way to the paint with an impressive sense of purpose.
His clutch ability then became clear when he went on to give Brazil the first lead of the night entering the fourth quarter.
Delivering a show up the air, he also made sure to slow down Nikola Vucevic and his teammates by putting his body on the line close to the basket.
(Caboclo) He is so gifted physically and is a talent. He can do everything - Marcelinho Huertas
He stepped off court having come close to a double-double with 25 points and 9 rebounds - making 12 of 16 from the field. Naturally, he was TCL Player of the Game having dragged Brazil to a hard-earned 81-72 success.
In the encounter's aftermath, he was praised by both his head coach and the 41-year-old magician Marcelinho Huertas.
"That's what he does. He is so gifted physically and is a talent. He can do everything, put the ball on the floor, shoot, post or rebound.
"He has got amazing skills with or without the ball. Defensively he covers so much space. Blocks shots, gets rebounds and deflections."
Although while the praise flowed, there was also a pointed note from the veteran guard who was keen to press upon his colleague that it can't merely be a one-off.
He added: "Whenever he is fully focused like today, for us he is definitely the most important player on both ends and we depend a lot on him." "We need to be on him all the time so he can give performances like this every night."
Coach Petrovic stated: "I'm satisfied with how his teammates used him because his physical condition is unbelievable. He was the initial player around whom I finally found the five who could break Montenegro's spirit."
As for the player himself?
"I think we need to play more our style from the beginning until the end of the game - that's how we have fun," he smiled.
And there was absolutely no doubt that every Brazilian had a huge amoung of fun watching him.
FIBA