BRA/RUS – Surprising Russia, Brazil looking for a place in the semis

PUERTO MONTT (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) – Early on Wednesday afternoon, few would have been expecting to see Brazil and Russia meeting in the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women on Friday.

The Russians trailed Italy by 14 points at halftime in their do-or-die clash for fourth place in Group E, while Brazil needed to beat the undefeated Australia by 17 points or more later in the day to claim first place in Group F.

Funny things often happen in basketball, and they certainly caught Russia coach Olga Shuneykina by surprise. “Right now I haven’t thought about anything! I haven’t seen how their team is playing, but from this moment on I will be watching very closely,” she said of her prospective opponents Australia and Brazil.

After watching the Americas silver medallists dismantle Australia by 28 points, she will know her team has their work cut out stopping the fast breaking South Americans, who average nearly 12 points per game more than Russia.

The star of the show is superstar power forward Damiris Dantas, who is leading the tournament in scoring (21 ppg) and rebounding (12.5 rpg), as well as averaging almost two steals per contest.

With the defence focused on Dantas, Brazil’s supporting cast led by guards Tassia Carcavalli (11 ppg) and Carina Martins, and small forward Isabela Ramona play the traditional, up-tempo style of the South American powerhouse.
 
“We like to apply pressure,” coach Luis Cicchetto said. “Brazil likes to play the defence, then run and fast break, and take many shots from behind the three point line.”

Cicchetto added that the brilliance of Dantas makes it all possible. “Damiris is a very good player to play around,” he said.

Russia have a star big of their own in Ksenia Tikhonenko, who pulled in an amazing 22 rebounds against Italy and blocked four shots. She leads the team in scoring (11.8 ppg), rebounding (9.8 rpg) and blocks (1.2 bpg), and coach Cicchetto knows she must be a major priority for their defence.
 
“She is a tall girl, I need to watch her, study the DVD and find out what the best strategy is for Brazil (to take),” he said.

One of those strategies may be to target Russia’s guards who have been inconsistent all tournament, the team giving up 20.3 turnovers per game. They face a tough test in Brazil’s athletic and physical pressure defence, which grabs more than 13 steals per outing, second best at the world championship.

Cicchetto is not convinced that Russia’s inconsistencies truly reflect their capabilities however, and thinks their guards can be very dangerous. “I think Russia is a very good team. They have very good three point shooters, so I need to study who their better shooters are.”

The game tips off at 21:00 local time at Puerto Montt Arena. The winner will face the victor from the USA v France Quarter-Final.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA