Coach praises the strength of the red-black squad
Paulo Chupeta praises the defense and believes that the difference in his team is precisely the quality of the group
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
To be a national champion, you need a strong squad. To be a two-time national champion and reach a third consecutive Brazilian Championship final, you need, in addition to the quality of the group, hard work and dedication. Coach Paulo Chupeta believes these are Flamengo's key differentiators in yet another Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) final. The red-and-black manager believes the team further demonstrated its strength this Thursday.
"Flamengo showed today what we always say. They're a team that works together as a group. We played a fantastic game, with an advantage that was never threatened. That's why this group is different and why we're fighting for a third championship," he said.
Among the coach's standout players were the so-called "three shorties": Hélio, Fred, and Duda. According to him, the entire group rose to the occasion, and this was crucial to the victory.
"It was a gamble between João Batista and me that paid off. We spent sleepless nights studying and saw that Brasília is better positioned with Valtinho, Nézinho, and Alex. So, we decided to use our short players as well. They responded very well and were fundamental to the strategy," said Chupeta, who believes that defensive strength has always been the key to this team and once again made the difference against Brasília.
"Anyone who has followed this team since its formation knows that I strive for excellence in defense. This is what gives us the support to be able to produce well in attack. They average around 80 points and we reduced that to less than 75. Guilherme is the second leading scorer in the NBB and scored only 18 points, as did Alex, who scored 12. We undermined their strengths and our defense, which made the game easy," he added.
Help from Heavenly Father - Two-time national champion, South American champion, and five-time Rio de Janeiro champion, the coach believes Flamengo has already proven it can beat Brasília in the final game of this final. After all, in both matches it lost in the capital, the team from Gávea was defeated only in the final seconds and held the winning ball in its hands.
"It couldn't have been any different. You watched the other games. We did everything right, but we couldn't win. Today, God helped us, and we came out with the result. It was an excellent job by these boys," he analyzed.
"Flamengo showed today what we always say. They're a team that works together as a group. We played a fantastic game, with an advantage that was never threatened. That's why this group is different and why we're fighting for a third championship," he said.
Among the coach's standout players were the so-called "three shorties": Hélio, Fred, and Duda. According to him, the entire group rose to the occasion, and this was crucial to the victory.
"It was a gamble between João Batista and me that paid off. We spent sleepless nights studying and saw that Brasília is better positioned with Valtinho, Nézinho, and Alex. So, we decided to use our short players as well. They responded very well and were fundamental to the strategy," said Chupeta, who believes that defensive strength has always been the key to this team and once again made the difference against Brasília.
"Anyone who has followed this team since its formation knows that I strive for excellence in defense. This is what gives us the support to be able to produce well in attack. They average around 80 points and we reduced that to less than 75. Guilherme is the second leading scorer in the NBB and scored only 18 points, as did Alex, who scored 12. We undermined their strengths and our defense, which made the game easy," he added.
Help from Heavenly Father - Two-time national champion, South American champion, and five-time Rio de Janeiro champion, the coach believes Flamengo has already proven it can beat Brasília in the final game of this final. After all, in both matches it lost in the capital, the team from Gávea was defeated only in the final seconds and held the winning ball in its hands.
"It couldn't have been any different. You watched the other games. We did everything right, but we couldn't win. Today, God helped us, and we came out with the result. It was an excellent job by these boys," he analyzed.