The Rogerio Steinberg Auditorium at the Gávea headquarters hosted the press conference introducing the club's newest addition, Hakeem Rollins. The 33-year-old American athlete is from Phoenix and began his career in the NCAA, the American college league, with Washington. Rollins has played in the Argentine league for the past three seasons and will be playing in Brazil for the first time.
"This year we have a more diverse team, with many young players, and we're doing very well. I thank Hakeem for joining Flamengo, a club with 40 million fans. We're very proud to welcome him and I'm sure he'll bring a lot of joy to the fans," said Vice President of Olympic Sports, Alexandre Póvoa.
"The NBB has had eight editions, and only two clubs have won: Flamengo and Brasília. We can see how difficult it is to win a title. More than 20 clubs have competed for the trophy in these eight editions. We've won five. And our motivation is to keep winning. We've won the last four in a row and are looking for our sixth. This team is having a very good campaign. Our players have a lot of knowledge of the game, and I think we've never had so many young players playing with so much potential. We have eight players under 21. We have great confidence in them," added Marcelo Vido, Director of Olympic Sports.
Rollins once again praised the red-and-black basketball and compared the Brazilian style of play with the Argentine style.
"I'm very happy to be in Rio. I saw how the fans support the team. And it's great to be at a club that treats basketball with such importance. I saw some Brazilian league games and I'm excited to experience it all up close. In Argentina, I played for teams that were fighting for titles, for the playoffs, and even for teams that weren't fighting for the playoffs. And I've always been very consistent. I've never won a title, and that's definitely something I want to achieve here. Here, the game is faster, there's more... pick and roll, more three-pointers, basketball in Argentina is slower and more physical", said the pivot, who was asked by a journalist about another North American who defended the Sacred Mantle.
"I know Jerome (Meyinsse), I like him a lot, he's a nice guy. I'm also friendly (laughs) and I'm going to play seriously, I'm going to adapt to the culture here as much as possible. I don't talk as much as he does (laughs) but I'll do my best to get closer to our fans," he concluded.
The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo adult basketball team relies on direct funding from its sponsor Estácio, in addition to investments from Tim via the State Sports Incentive Law/State Secretariat for Sports, Leisure and Youth (ICMS).
"This year we have a more diverse team, with many young players, and we're doing very well. I thank Hakeem for joining Flamengo, a club with 40 million fans. We're very proud to welcome him and I'm sure he'll bring a lot of joy to the fans," said Vice President of Olympic Sports, Alexandre Póvoa.
"The NBB has had eight editions, and only two clubs have won: Flamengo and Brasília. We can see how difficult it is to win a title. More than 20 clubs have competed for the trophy in these eight editions. We've won five. And our motivation is to keep winning. We've won the last four in a row and are looking for our sixth. This team is having a very good campaign. Our players have a lot of knowledge of the game, and I think we've never had so many young players playing with so much potential. We have eight players under 21. We have great confidence in them," added Marcelo Vido, Director of Olympic Sports.
Rollins once again praised the red-and-black basketball and compared the Brazilian style of play with the Argentine style.
"I'm very happy to be in Rio. I saw how the fans support the team. And it's great to be at a club that treats basketball with such importance. I saw some Brazilian league games and I'm excited to experience it all up close. In Argentina, I played for teams that were fighting for titles, for the playoffs, and even for teams that weren't fighting for the playoffs. And I've always been very consistent. I've never won a title, and that's definitely something I want to achieve here. Here, the game is faster, there's more... pick and roll, more three-pointers, basketball in Argentina is slower and more physical", said the pivot, who was asked by a journalist about another North American who defended the Sacred Mantle.
"I know Jerome (Meyinsse), I like him a lot, he's a nice guy. I'm also friendly (laughs) and I'm going to play seriously, I'm going to adapt to the culture here as much as possible. I don't talk as much as he does (laughs) but I'll do my best to get closer to our fans," he concluded.
The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo adult basketball team relies on direct funding from its sponsor Estácio, in addition to investments from Tim via the State Sports Incentive Law/State Secretariat for Sports, Leisure and Youth (ICMS).