MURCIA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) - Brazil kicked off the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers with two victories and shooting guard Vítor Benite was essential for the team that debuted Aleksandar Petrović as coach during the Qualifiers’ first window.

“The experience was very good. The coach has a lot of background and knows how important it is to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. We had little time to train, but our initial impression was very good and incredible. Now we must improve,” said the Sao Paulo native.

“I like the Qualifiers because many teams that would generally not have officials at home will now have the opportunity to do so more frequently. We saw it in Chile, with a packed arena that had a great energy for the sport and for the games. But the Qualifiers will also help to improve basketball in our country and will allow people to be even closer to their players and those aspects will be very important for the growth of basketball,” said the UCAM Murcia player of the Spanish Endesa League.

Brazil began their qualifying campaign for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 at Osorno, Chile, where they defeated the local team 86-73.

“Chile was very difficult; we knew we had a very hard game ahead, but we had an advantage with our experience, and because many of our players have been playing for a long time in the National Team. It was important to start the Qualifiers with a victory, because that relieved some of the pressure we had, and gave us more confidence to continue in the competition,” said Benite. 

The Brazilians were then visited in Rio de Janeiro by Venezuela, for their second match.

“The defense was the key and we showed since the beginning the drive and energy we had to win. It was quite a physical game since the beginning and in the offense, we moved the ball to find free throws, but the defense was the key,” added Benite.

The Brazilians overpowered and defeated the Venezuelans, 72-60.

“I've lived very important moments in my career during the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Being able to go back, to see the arena full of people and cheering the team all the time was a truly great feeling and something that's very important for basketball in Brazil right now. We need that all of our fans support us all the time, because with them we're much stronger”, said the player that also was part of the Brazilian National League’s Flamengo Basketball Club.

“Now we must work at our pace and adjust to what our coach wants. We must include and get to know better the players that have just arrived at the National Team. That always takes some time, but we must keep improving in the defense and in intensity. We have to keep working hard to improve,” Benite concluded.

In the next window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers, the Brazilians served as hosts for both games, when they welcome Colombia and Chile on February 22 and 25, respectively.

FIBA