BRA - Nogueira happy with Brazilian progress

VALMIERA (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Following their devastating loss on the buzzer to Russia on Thursday, Brazilian Nike Hoop Summit attendee Lucas Nogueira was not about to experience the same heartbreak again.
 
FIBA: Congratulations on the win tonight. Were you getting nervous near the end?

Nogueira: Thank you so much. Every game we have played in the championship has been like this and we know that every game will be difficult and yesterday we only lost when the last shot went in from the middle of the court so we were nervous because of this. I also play basketball in Spain and I know some of the players so that was helping me.
 
FIBA: With five minutes to go and with scores once again close, what did coach Neto tell you to do different tonight?

Nogueira: The coach told us that we have a chance to win the game and so we refocused to play the way we did.
 
FIBA: You did not start tonight. Was there any reason for that?

Nogueira: The coach told me that I play fast and not physical. Today we wanted to start with someone who is more physical and strong and then play the rest of the game with someone who is faster and more dynamic.
 
FIBA: What do you and your team need to do tomorrow to get past Tunisia in your final pool game?

Nogueira: The team does not necessarily need to get better in anything because we played the same or even better today than we did yesterday and we only lost yesterday because of the last shot.

FIBA