Marcelinho Huertas talks after Brazil's loss about his team's result, France defense, labeling his floater over Victor Wembanyama "a miracle".
Brazil did everything in their power to cause the first upset of the Olympics, but it was not meant to be, as host France beat them 78-66.
Marcelinho Huertas
| Team: |
Brazil La Laguna Tenerife |
| Position: | PG |
| Age: | 41 |
| Height: | 190 cm |
| Weight: | 84 kg |
| Birth place: | Sao Paulo, Brazil |
One of the main protagonists for South American representatives was Marcelinho Huertas. The 41-year-old point guard had 11 points and 5 assists.
He explained why France turned around a 12-point gap so quickly.
"They changed their defense, they put big man to defend me and switched ball-screens, and that left us stuck for a moment in creation," Huertas said after the game. "We kind of let emotions take over and it resulted in a lot of turnovers."
"We gave a lot of easy baskets, and that hurt us during the third quarter. We tried to keep fighting until the end. We were within four with three minutes to go, but 30 minutes of playing well is not enough, especially not in a tournament like this," he added.
Huertas also analyzed France's defense and what is the best way to exploit it:
"You have to be able to find a good spot and open the court; lots of times they [France] try to put two guys on the strong side so they don't collapse the paint with their sizes," Huertas highlighted. "You try to move the defense, attack close-outs, they cover so much ground.
"It is so hard to play static against them. We have to keep them in motion and force them to be aggressive on the ball in pick-and-roll situations like when you overcome one player and another one is already waiting for you," he continued.
Talking about his floater over Victor Wembanyama, he admits it was a bit of a lucky situation.
"I don't know. I just started running in the open court, and when I saw he was by me, I started praying he did not smack that on the last floor of the arena. I just tried to throw as high as I could with a soft touch, and it was a miracle.
That is the shot I feel comfortable with, and if I went for a regular lay-up, it was always going to be a disaster!" Huertas described the play.
Brazil will play their next match on Tuesday against Germany.
Game highlights
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