BRA - Brazil boss José Neto in confident mood

NOVI SAD (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Brazilian Coach José Neto expects to face very tough opposition from teams in Europe but he believes his players ready to make an impact at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Novi Sad.
The South Americans will take on Lebanon on July 14 - the opening day of the tournament.
Harder games will follow as Brazil must take on France and Lithuania, but Neto believes his team will be one one of three teams from Group A to advance to the elimination round.
He spoke about his team to FIBA.

FIBA: Coach, what can we expect from Brazil in the FIBA U19 World Championship?

José Neto: The best 16 national teams are at this competition. We cannot choose our opponents; they are all very good teams, specially the Europeans, who are physically strong and have had a great tactical development. The competition system gives us a good chance to qualify to the quarter-finals and fight for the top places. In this category, the players change a lot from one year to another, the teams grow technically and new talents come up. We have a strong, competitive group. It is a very homogeneous team and with great potential to achieve our goals. The Brazilian players have talent and they are making a very good work in their clubs and in the national team.

FIBA: What insight into the Brazil team can you give us?

José Neto: The players are getting stronger as a group each year because they have played together on the national team for a long sequence of games. The have played the South American Championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005; the FIBA America Championship in 2006, where we qualified for the FIBA World Championship; and now we are together again to fight for a medal in Serbia. During these years, the group has created its own identity. They have grown in every way: physically, technically and tactically, learning to use all these elements during the game. They have strong personalities and the strength needed to overcome the obstacles. During the FIBA America Championship 2006, the team made a very good defensive job and was very effective in the paint. We hope to use all these ingredients to surprise our opponents in the competition.

FIBA: Does your team have an outstanding player?

José Neto: Talented individuals are doing outstanding jobs at their clubs and in the national team like center Paulão, who plays in Spain, and the forward Betinho - one of the top scorers in the FIBA America Championship. But I believe that the secret of the team is the team itself, which uses the individual talents for the group.


FIBA: What was the thought process in getting ready for the U19 World Championship?

José Neto: We divided the preparation into three parts. The first part took place in January and included 18 players. The main goal of this phase was to see the evolution of those who played at the FIBA America Championship 2006 and observe the new athletes who took part in the state championships and national championships for youth categories. During this time, we have made the medical exams and physical evaluations. We also began to introduce a few tactics in training. The second part was in May and it was a very important phase for the preparation. We continued from where we stopped in January and we could work almost everything related to the tactical training. Our daily plan consisted of technical and tactical exercises in the morning, and in the afternoon, we applied what we learned in the practice. And, at night, we watched the videos to analyse our opponents of the FIBA World Championship. The last phase of the preparation began on June 4. Up to beginning of July, we made the final adjustments and saw how each player can be useful technically to the team, so we can define the 12 players for the Championship.

FIBA: What do you think about the other teams taking part?

José Neto: We were drawn in Group A with France and Lithuania, champions and silver medalists at the European Championship 2006. Both teams have similar styles of play. They are very organised and play well as a group. The players are really good at their positions. Lebanon have a Brazilian coach and he knows our game. His players are short, but they are good on the perimeter. We will face the teams from Group B in the second phase. China have strong and tall players. The US always have a great team in any category. Serbia are playing at home and Mali are the weakest team in this group. We need to win at least two of the three games in this round to assure us at the quarter-finals. Group C is the most balanced. Australia are the current world champions. Canada have excellent individual talents. Nigeria are very strong physically and Turkey have the fourth best team in Europe in the category. In Group D, Argentina and Spain are the favourites and they will probably fight for the first position in the group. Puerto Rico have great players but they ended in fifth at the FIBA America Championship 2006. Korea have the weakest team, but can still surprise us.