Brazil Beats Canada

[George O'Brien]

This is taken from 940 Radio out of Canada. Leandro had a quiet game shooting, but it would be interesting to know how he did running the offense.

Canada trounced 105-81 by Brazil at FIBA Americas world qualifying tournament at 0:39 on August 29, 2005, EST.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (CP) - Leo Rautins' first major tournament as head coach of the Canadian national men's basketball team ended in disaster Sunday.


Marcelo Machado scored a tournament-high 42 points as Brazil downed Canada 105-81 in the FIBA Americas world qualifying tournament, eliminating the Canadians from the competition. Canada (1-3) finished at the bottom of its five-team group, with the top four teams advancing to the quarter-finals.

The loss also means Canada will not play in next year's world basketball championships in Japan. It's the first time Canada has failed to qualify for the world championships since 1967.

"We got off to a rocky start against Venezuela, and that seemed to set the tone for the tournament," said forward Carl English. "We were stuck between a rock and a hard place in a must-win situation against Brazil. We played hard, but they were making their shots."

The Canadians, playing their fourth game in as many days, couldn't keep up with the high-octane Brazilians, who feature guard Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns and forward Tiago Splitter, who is expected to be a 2006 NBA lottery pick. Splitter scored 13 points and Barbosa added 12 as Brazil (3-1) clinched first place in Group A.

Rautins said his team simply couldn't match the veteran poise of their Brazilian counterparts.

"We played Brazil in a desperate situation, and our youth and inexperience showed," said Rautins, who took over the coaching reins from Jay Triano in February. "We came here to win, but we also came here with a young group of players, and the experiences they learned here will bode well for the future."

Canada hung tough in an entertaining first quarter, trailing 30-26 after 10 minutes. But Machado, a six-foot-seven shooting guard, torched the Canadians for 25 first-half points to help the Brazilians build a 53-39 lead at halftime.

The Canadians reduced the deficit to 71-63 on a Denham Brown three-pointer at the end of the third quarter, but they could get no closer. Machado made sure of that with a pair of three-pointers early in the fourth quarter that expanded Brazil's lead to 83-66.

The 30-year-old, who plays in the Brazilian national league, finished 10-of-18 from beyond the arc and added 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Rautins was quick to credit the Brazilians, who also beat Panama and Venezuela on their way to the top of the group standings.

"Brazil is a very good team with experience and poise," said Rautins. "That was the difference in the game."

Brown finished with 25 points, English added 19 and Juan Mendez and Levon Kendall had 13 apiece for the Canadians.

Despite the disappointing effort, English said the team remains upbeat.

"Overall, we have to get used to playing with each other," Coach Rautins is leading this team in the right direction. Now we just have to regroup and prepare for the Olympic qualifiers."

Elsewhere, Venezuela (3-1) earned a 71-70 win over Panama (1-3) to conclude round-robin action in Group A.

Puerto Rico (1-2) routed Mexico (1-2) 94-74 and the host Dominicans (3-0) lost 84-60 to Argentina (2-1) in Group B action later Sunday.

 

[elindholm]

If only they'd had Magloire.

 

[George O'Brien]

I wish there was some way to see these games. It sounds like Brazil is doing a good job of pushing the ball. Is this due to Leandro? If he's finding a hot shooter, that would be a huge improvement over what we are used to seeing from him.

 

[PetryJr]

I wish there was some way to see these games. It sounds like Brazil is doing a good job of pushing the ball. Is this due to Leandro? If he's finding a hot shooter, that would be a huge improvement over what we are used to seeing from him.

It's not solely due to Leandro, but he's helping it, pushing the ball at every opportunity. I wasn't able to watch the entire game, but I saw Leandrinho make some surprisingly good passes to open shooters. He's been looking to pass first in the last couple of games and has not been as agressive (that's possibly because he's suffering from food poisoning).

One good thing is that Brazil's offense also relies a lot on the pick and roll, so that should be helpful for Leandro. One thing they also do quite a bit, when he's playing SG, is make him run through screens. It's been working well - he's usually so much quicker than the guy trying to guard him that the screens often leave him open.

 

[SunsTzu]

(that's possibly because he's suffering from food poisoning).

Hasn't he had a couple bouts of food poisoning each of the last 2 seasons?

 

[PetryJr]

Hasn't he had a couple bouts of food poisoning each of the last 2 seasons?

I don't know, but more players from the Brazilian National Team are having the same problem.

 

[Joe Mama]

I don't know, but more players from the Brazilian National Team are having the same problem.

maybe they had some bad Brazilian barbecue.

Sometimes I think we forget just how hot Barbosa could get at times. If we remember to his rookie season he had some big games when he would get going from outside. In fact I believe his first game as a starter he scored 20+ points.

Joe Mama

 

[Arizona's Finest]

maybe they had some bad Brazilian barbecue.

Sometimes I think we forget just how hot Barbosa could get at times. If we remember to his rookie season he had some big games when he would get going from outside. In fact I believe his first game as a starter he scored 20+ points.

Joe Mama

I believe it was 26 against Chicago....i remember being excited but I can only imagine how this message board must have been blowing up at the time.....

 

[DaFlogger]

Hasn't he had a couple bouts of food poisoning each of the last 2 seasons?

The beer is great, but don't drink the water!!!