Following injury, Xavier looking to have a great season

PORTO (FIBA Europe Cup/FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Cape Verde international Jeff Xavier feels there is no reason for disappointment after the Portuguese champions F.C. Porto missed out a place in the upcoming Regular Season of the inaugural edition of the Basketball Champions League.

Porto lost to Juventus Utena 160-140 on aggregate last week, and as a result have been drawn in Group D of the FIBA Europe Cup, in which they will open their Group D campaign against Belgian side Antwerp Giants.

Xavier, who played three minutes in the first-leg 83-81 home defeat to the Lithuanian side through a hamstring injury, remains upbeat.

The 31-year-old shooting guard has recovered and looks pretty confident. 

"I am ready to go now," he told FIBA.com. "I am being treated well right now, I am practising well, and I am getting better day by day. I am really excited about that."

Signed by Porto during the off-season, the 1.89m guard is expected to spark the team's offence when they take on rivals S.L Benfica on Sunday in a local SuperCup contest.

Every competition he enters, the Cape Verdean-American says, he does everything to win.

"I am very confident the way I play, and the way I help teams out," Xavier offered. "I feel I can help this team in any situation."

“Maybe we were a little overconfident. We thought we were better than we really were. It happens, but I will definitely be ready for next summer." - Xavier

AfroBasket experience

With two FIBA AfroBasket appearances under his belt, Xavier believes the islanders can do a lot better than they did at AfroBasket 2015 in Tunisia, in which they fell abruptly in the Final Phase after dominating Group D with three wins in as many games.

Xavier points to lack of consistency as the reason for the 10th-place finish in Tunisia.

"We can't come out, play well in the Group Phase, and go down in the next round," he warned. "It has to be all about getting better every single game, that’s what we didn't do in Tunisia.

"Maybe we were a little overconfident. We thought we were better than we really were. It happens, but I will definitely be ready for next summer."

In order to play at the 16-team FIBA AfroBasket 2017 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, Cape Verde will need to succeed at a FIBA Africa Zone 2 qualifier early next year.

"I am just looking forward for next summer," Xavier said. "Hopefully, next summer I will go a little earlier, work out with the team. I feel that will help us all. Last summer I went late. When the team was in Senegal. I joined the team a week before the AfroBasket.

"I hope that [Edy] Tavares comes and plays with us. The goal is always to finish the best possible. For me, any tournament I play I always play to go to the title game."

FIBA