Flamengo's basketball team still hasn't fully digested Friday night's loss to Franca. The team, which had been inactive for a month, accepted the result but knows the outcome could have been very different. Coach Paulo Chupeta's team performed well and even had one possession with five seconds remaining. A single basket would have been enough to secure victory, but it didn't come. Despite this, the players emphasized the team's fighting spirit.

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In a game filled with emotion, fighting until the end, even without the rhythm of the game, is a feat to be commended. Especially on an atypical night for star Marcelinho Machado, who attempted nine three-point shots and failed to convert any. That's why point guard Hélio, an individual standout for the Red-Blacks with 19 points, praised his teammates.

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"I think the team outdid itself quite a bit in today's game. We hadn't played in a month, so it was worth the will and dedication of each player to overcome the lack of rhythm. We had the last ball of the game, but we were unlucky. Unfortunately, that happens, and it's part of the sport. We have to know how to lose too," explained the number 5, who believes that, even though Flamengo is a multi-champion team and accustomed to winning, it also has to know how to deal with setbacks: "we need to know how to lose too."

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If the match against Franca was a tough one, the player doesn't expect much of a difference in Flamengo's next match, on Sunday in Araraquara, against the home team. For Hélio, this will be another decisive match and a great test for the team from Gávea. Current two-time national champion, South American champion in 2009, and five-time Rio de Janeiro champion, Flamengo remains in fourth place in the 2009-2010 NBB, behind Brasília, Joinville, and Franca.

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"We have to keep working. We ended up losing a game we could have lost, because it was against a strong team and away from home, but we're going to go into it with a lot of determination again against Araraquara on Sunday, who are another opponent of ours in the fight for a good spot in the playoffs," said the player, before revealing that, for him, the championship is still very open: "everything will only be decided in the second half, and we face these teams at home again."