Everything is ready for the NBB semifinal debut! This Sunday (9), the FlaBasquete squad started Mother's Day with a lot of work at Maracanãzinho, the venue for all the matches in the best-of-five series. Tomorrow, the team takes to the court against Paulistano, at 20:45 pm, with live broadcast on ESPN and Dazn. Minas and São Paulo duel before, at 18 pm, in search of the other spot in the final.

One of Flamengo's standout players in the NBB qualifying phase, in his first season with the club, center Rafael Hettsheimeir spoke about the activity and analyzed the opponent.

"We've finalized the final details, and we know it won't be an easy series. Paulistano had an excellent season; they're a very tough team, so we have to go in focused. We have the opportunity to start off on the right foot, which is important for us. We need to put in a great performance against them. As I said, it won't be easy, but we're prepared to face them, so we'll go all out to win the first match," said the number 30.

Flamengo and Paulistano have faced each other in the NBB playoffs. In 2013/2014, both teams reached the final and competed for the title, which went to Flamengo. In the 2020/2021 season, the clubs faced each other twice in the qualifying round, both times with victory for Flamengo.

The basketball teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo rely on resources from their sponsors – BRB, TIM, AmBev, Rede D'or, IRB Brasil RE, CSN, Brasil Plural, EY – via the Federal Incentive Law/Ministry of Sports (IR) and State Incentive Law/State Secretariat of Sports, Leisure and Youth (Seelje) of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to support from the Brazilian Club Committee (CBC).