No alarms and no surprises, please: Brazil blow out Tunisia as Benite shines
SPLIT (Croatia) - Vitor Benite picked up his Basketball Champions League Final 8 MVP award just over a month ago, but he hasn't cooled off yet. The Brazilian guard had 15 points and sat out the entire fourth quarter in anΒ 83-57 win over Tunisia, building a lot of confidence within the team ahead of the duel against the hosts Croatia.
Coach Aleksandar Petrovic can be extremely happy with the way Brazil kicked off their campaign, winning while avoiding any kind of stress. He managed to give his biggest names a lot of rest while getting a solid contribution from the role players.
Turning point: The first four offensive sets of the game for Brazil. Marcelinho Huertas and Vitor Benite were involved in all of them, Huertas with two assists, Benite with an assist and a long two, sending a message straight from the tip-off that Tunisia are going to have a long day at the office guarding the Brazilian one-two backcourt punch.
The defense was also working, Brazil held Tunisia to 25 points in the second and third quarter combined, allowing them to open up a 30-point lead in the fourth.
There's a new general in town for π§π·
β FIBA (@FIBA) June 29, 2021
Vitor Benite scored 15 points, including 3/6 from deep to help Brazil coast to victory over Tunisia in Split π₯π₯π₯#FIBAOQT | @basquetebrasil pic.twitter.com/hkdghqCdlH
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Game hero: Vitor Benite is a perfect player for the system that Petrovic runs. The shooting guard can run, score, create for others, and be on the receiving end of passes, too. Benite scored 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc over the first three quarters. With the second unit staying in front, he had no reason to come back to the floor. Honorable mention: Yago Santos, author of 6 points and 8 assists off the bench.
Stats don't lie: Brazil dominated all relevant stat columns, but their three-point defense in the second half was crucial. They held Tunisia to 2-of-12 from beyond the arc after the break.
Bottom line: Both Brazil and Tunisia still have to face the hosts, Croatia. Tunisia also cleared their bench in the fourth quarter, maybe it turns out as a small victory for them if somebody from the bench unit can step up against Croatia in Split. As for Brazil, this was a perfect start to their quest towards the Olympics.
They said:
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