On the afternoon of this Sunday (25), FlaBasquete lost its first game of the Super Four Rio-Nordeste Basketball friendly tournament to Vasco, by a score of 84 to 80, after overtime. The multi-champion coach of Mais Querido, José Neto, assessed the defeat.

"When Flamengo goes out to play, they always go out to win. Defeat is not part of what we expect, of our expectations, but it can happen, as it did today. What we can't do is lose focus on what we came here to do. We know very well what we want. The tournaments we have to win are still to come, which are the State Championship, the NBB (Brazilian Basketball League), and the Liga das Américas (Americas League). We will work towards that. Of course, other mistakes will happen, and we will have the possibility of minimizing them more and more with these friendly games. Now we have a very strong focus on the next match to continue our evaluation process, training, and preparation for these upcoming championships that we have ahead of us," comments Neto. Regarding the absences of Rafael Mineiro, Ricardo Fischer, and Pedrinho Rava, and the arrival of young players in Fortaleza, the coach explains.

"If we set out to have a slightly smaller squad than in previous years, giving opportunities to younger players who have never had the experience of playing in derbies like this... All of that comes into play. But I think the winning mentality is independent of that. That's something I demand from them: a winning mentality. Our team is built to win. We had that kind of mentality here. We came back from a 15-point deficit, we had the chance to tie the game and go to overtime, we opened up a lead, and then credit to them, they ended up winning the game, and that's why we need to improve for the next game and continue our preparation."

Flamengo faces Vitória this Monday (26), at 17 pm, at the Arena do Centro de Formação Olímpica.