Fla bets on the strength of the squad to advance in the NBB
Rubro-Negros expect tough games, but want to close out the series against São José at the HSBC Arena
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
Balance was the keynote of the first game of the best-of-five series between Flamengo and São José in the NBB playoffs last Friday night (24.04). And in the matches this Sunday (26) and Monday (27), at the HSBC Arena, it shouldn't be any different. The players and coaching staff of the Rubro-Negro are aware of the difficulties they will face in the series against the current São Paulo champions. But, even so, they hope to win the next two matches to advance in the competition.
Fred, who came out on top in the 78-71 victory in the first leg of the match, praised his opponent and warned that what could make the difference in favor of the Gávea team, current two-time national champion, is the strength of the squad.
"It's a tight-knit team, the São Paulo state champions, and they've been together for a long time. They started the Brazilian Championship poorly because they were playing in the State Championship, but the team is complete now, at its best, and the series will be very difficult. It will be important to use collective play, as we did in the third quarter of the first game, when we built the victory," he analyzed.
Coach Paulo Chupeta agrees. According to him, Flamengo demonstrated that it has much more than just five starters in the match against São José. The coach hopes this will be repeated in the next two matches and that the team will confirm its qualification in Rio de Janeiro.
"Flamengo can count on all its players. On Friday, the bench showed what it was made of. Everyone who came on contributed, especially Fred, who came on well, opened up the São José defense, and got the whole team playing. Now, we expect two tough games, but the first step has been taken to maintain the home advantage," he added.
Flamengo and São José face each other this Sunday (26.04), at 20:30 pm, at the HSBC Arena. SporTV will broadcast the match live.
Fred, who came out on top in the 78-71 victory in the first leg of the match, praised his opponent and warned that what could make the difference in favor of the Gávea team, current two-time national champion, is the strength of the squad.
"It's a tight-knit team, the São Paulo state champions, and they've been together for a long time. They started the Brazilian Championship poorly because they were playing in the State Championship, but the team is complete now, at its best, and the series will be very difficult. It will be important to use collective play, as we did in the third quarter of the first game, when we built the victory," he analyzed.
Coach Paulo Chupeta agrees. According to him, Flamengo demonstrated that it has much more than just five starters in the match against São José. The coach hopes this will be repeated in the next two matches and that the team will confirm its qualification in Rio de Janeiro.
"Flamengo can count on all its players. On Friday, the bench showed what it was made of. Everyone who came on contributed, especially Fred, who came on well, opened up the São José defense, and got the whole team playing. Now, we expect two tough games, but the first step has been taken to maintain the home advantage," he added.
Flamengo and São José face each other this Sunday (26.04), at 20:30 pm, at the HSBC Arena. SporTV will broadcast the match live.