How the interdisciplinary work of doctors, physiotherapists and fitness trainers makes a champion team
The team of professional basketball players from the red-and-black team tells how they kept the athletes flying in the playoffs until they won their fifth championship.
By Isabela Abirached and Raiana Monteiro - in
Everyone knows the five-time NBB champions, but behind the team that holds the record for the most titles in the competition, a team of experts in medicine, physiotherapy, and physical training also plays a fundamental role in all of FlaBasquete's achievements. Alongside coach José Neto and his assistant, Rodrigo Carlos, the incredible team also includes physical trainers Diego Falcão and Rafael Bernardelli, physiotherapists Ricardo Machado and Domingos Trece, and physician Claudio Cardone. Thanks to them, the Pride of the Nation arrived prepared to win its fifth NBB CAIXA title, after two fiercely contested playoff series until the fifth game, and even gave a dance on the court in the grand final, winning 100 to 66.
Ricardo explained how physiotherapists act to avoid casualties in José Neto's team.
"Injury prevention encompasses a wide range of aspects. From the kinetic-functional assessment (used to detect muscle imbalances) that I perform, Cardone's assessment, all the medical evaluations performed with various pre-season tests that the team performs, as well as the assessments by the physical trainers at the gym, strength tests, and others... The more data we have on a given player, the more foundation we have to base balance work on that athlete. In the exercise test, we check oxygenation, in the cardio test, the heart. And based on what the tests reveal, we see what we can do to improve, rebalance the athlete for the season, and thus reduce the incidence of injuries," he explained.
Since winning the first NBB title in 2009 against Brasília, when the Rubro-Negro won 3-2 (81x74 F; 71x81 C; 99x78 C; 78x82 F; 76x68 C), Flamengo had not played a best-of-five final series. In this edition of the tournament, after easily beating Rio Claro 3-0 in the quarterfinals, the team faced a tough series against Mogi, in five games played until the last seconds, which was repeated in the finals.
In the series against Bauru, which ended with a trophy for Rubro-Negro this Saturday (11), there were five more games of great excitement. The Pride of the Nation opened the series with an 83-77 away victory, then lost Game 2, in Rio, 85-80. The recovery came in the third duel, also at home, with another tight score: 89-84. In Game 4, Bauru entered the court with a very high efficiency and opened a large advantage in the opening minutes, but Flamengo, first place in the classification, had the right to decide against Nação and made the home factor count, guaranteeing another trophy.
Relive Flamengo's journey to their unprecedented fifth championship title.
Behind this multi-champion team, which has won state and Brazilian titles and reached the top of the continent and the world, the interdisciplinary work of FlaBasquete's physical trainers and medical team is worthy of recognition. All of their combined efforts are aimed at preventing injuries and keeping the team afloat in the long playoffs.
Fitness coach Diego Falcão explains that the most important part of the preparation happens long before the finals.
"There's a plan from the beginning of the season to our goal, which is the title. We prepare the team throughout the season to reach the playoffs with all the players injury-free and able to play at their best, but in the final stage of the championship, there's nothing left to train, only to play. We have two options: either we arrive prepared and ready, or there's no time to train any physical capacity at the end of the season," he explained.
For Falcão, the biggest challenge in tough matches like the semifinals and finals is maintaining performance throughout the 40 minutes of each match.
"Without a doubt, it's about playing with the greatest intensity and quality for as long as possible and having the best recovery possible to be ready for the next game. But for that to happen, all the planning for the year has to be aligned, or we won't be successful in recovering after the stimuli of the games. Certainly, the help of the interdisciplinary team of physiotherapists (Domingos Trece and Ricardo Machado) and doctor (Cláudio Cardone) improves the recovery process for all athletes between games," he concluded.
Ricardo explained how physiotherapists act to avoid casualties in José Neto's team.
"Injury prevention encompasses a wide range of aspects. From the kinetic-functional assessment (used to detect muscle imbalances) that I perform, Cardone's assessment, all the medical evaluations performed with various pre-season tests that the team performs, as well as the assessments by the physical trainers at the gym, strength tests, and others... The more data we have on a given player, the more foundation we have to base balance work on that athlete. In the exercise test, we check oxygenation, in the cardio test, the heart. And based on what the tests reveal, we see what we can do to improve, rebalance the athlete for the season, and thus reduce the incidence of injuries," he explained.
Since winning the first NBB title in 2009 against Brasília, when the Rubro-Negro won 3-2 (81x74 F; 71x81 C; 99x78 C; 78x82 F; 76x68 C), Flamengo had not played a best-of-five final series. In this edition of the tournament, after easily beating Rio Claro 3-0 in the quarterfinals, the team faced a tough series against Mogi, in five games played until the last seconds, which was repeated in the finals.
In the series against Bauru, which ended with a trophy for Rubro-Negro this Saturday (11), there were five more games of great excitement. The Pride of the Nation opened the series with an 83-77 away victory, then lost Game 2, in Rio, 85-80. The recovery came in the third duel, also at home, with another tight score: 89-84. In Game 4, Bauru entered the court with a very high efficiency and opened a large advantage in the opening minutes, but Flamengo, first place in the classification, had the right to decide against Nação and made the home factor count, guaranteeing another trophy.Relive Flamengo's journey to their unprecedented fifth championship title.
Behind this multi-champion team, which has won state and Brazilian titles and reached the top of the continent and the world, the interdisciplinary work of FlaBasquete's physical trainers and medical team is worthy of recognition. All of their combined efforts are aimed at preventing injuries and keeping the team afloat in the long playoffs.
Fitness coach Diego Falcão explains that the most important part of the preparation happens long before the finals."There's a plan from the beginning of the season to our goal, which is the title. We prepare the team throughout the season to reach the playoffs with all the players injury-free and able to play at their best, but in the final stage of the championship, there's nothing left to train, only to play. We have two options: either we arrive prepared and ready, or there's no time to train any physical capacity at the end of the season," he explained.
For Falcão, the biggest challenge in tough matches like the semifinals and finals is maintaining performance throughout the 40 minutes of each match.
"Without a doubt, it's about playing with the greatest intensity and quality for as long as possible and having the best recovery possible to be ready for the next game. But for that to happen, all the planning for the year has to be aligned, or we won't be successful in recovering after the stimuli of the games. Certainly, the help of the interdisciplinary team of physiotherapists (Domingos Trece and Ricardo Machado) and doctor (Cláudio Cardone) improves the recovery process for all athletes between games," he concluded.