Flamengo needed a victory like Tuesday's to get going in the Novo Basquete Brasil. The team defeated the strong Paulistano team—which was, admittedly, shorthanded—by 35 points at the HSBC Arena. With a stellar second-half performance, the red-and-black team, which had fallen behind, proved its strength and ended the first half of the competition with a flourish. For forward Jefferson, this victory was crucial.

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The number 18, who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, believes the result came at the right time. According to him, the team gains morale for the start of the second round of the 2009-2010 New Basketball Brazil season. The current two-time champion, Flamengo, dreams of a third national title, and to achieve this, they know they'll have to work hard and avoid repeating mistakes they've made in previous games.

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"The result was important because it rehabilitated us in the competition, having lost to Universo in the last round. The group talked a lot before the game, as they wanted to correct the mistakes that occurred in the previous duel, and this had the expected effect," said Jefferson.

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Regardless of the opponent's absences, the red-and-black winger highlights the strong performance of coach Paulo Chupeta's team. According to him, the important thing is to do their homework. The player believes the Gávea team can't afford to drop any more points at home, and therefore values ​​a victory over the São Paulo team.

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"Our opponent came to Rio de Janeiro with several absences and had a very young squad, but we tried to play our game without thinking too much about it. We respected Paulistano and tried to play normally, imposing our own pace, since home court advantage is always important in a competition as evenly matched as this one," he added.