Opinion – Gustavinho Lima: Basketball is regaining its second place in the country

If in football the glories of the São Paulo tricolor come from the past, in the present we can say that the anthem goes well with basketball.

Set up to compete for titles in all championships, since returning to the sport in 2019, São Paulo basketball reached at least the semifinals of all competitions it played.

In the 2021/22 season, he already won the São Paulo champion trophy, took the runner-up of the NBB Super 8 and, last weekend, he became BCLA champion (Basketball Champions League Americas), the “Libertadores do Basquete” in an undefeated and with flawless basketball.

Playing at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Arena, they beat the runner-up of the previous edition, Real Estelí (Nicaragua), in the quarterfinals they beat 123 Minas –which had eliminated the hosts and defender of the Flamengo title– and in the great final surpassed Biguá (Uruguay).

If we Brazilians don’t have many good memories facing Uruguayans in Rio de Janeiro since the 1950 Soccer World Cup, this time Brazil was tricolor and had no pity or pity for the charrua aggregate.

Forgive me for the boastfulness, but it was a basketball class at São Paulo.

Getting to open more than 20 points of difference still in the third quarter, the São Paulo team only managed the score in the remaining ten minutes and won by 98 to 84.

The Morumbi team played for music!

Orchestrated by maestro Elinho, with an expressive double-double, 16 points and 12 assists, the tricolor hit an incredible 18 3-point balls (51% success) and saw its five holders score above the double digits.

A very solid quintet, in addition to point guard Elinho, is made up of versatile players like the North Americans Bennet and Tyrone, very athletic, who run very well on the court and are capable of defending athletes who play in any position. The team also has one of the greatest talents in the history of the NBB, the star Marquinhos, who at 38 years old still exudes class and coolness to kill decisive balls. And, to close, simply Bruno Caboclo, elected MVP (most valuable player) of the competition.

Caboclo is playing at a level that is totally off the charts, with a plastic game with lots of dunks, stumps and three-pointers. He averaged 23.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.6 blocks, 53% on three-pointers (3.8 / 7.1) for a staggering 32.8 efficiency rating in the championship.

With a previous stint in the NBA, I believe that the forward / center will have a guaranteed place if he wants to return to the best basketball in the world.

Still little celebrated, coach Bruno Mortari, son of the legendary and multi-champion Cláudio Mortari, won his first title as a coach.

After many seasons as his father’s assistant, he took charge of the Morumbi team just over six months ago and has been doing an impressive campaign.

He won 34 of the 41 games played, has a silver medal (NBB Super 8) and now a gold medal.

In the final stretch of the classification phase of the NBB, with a lot of balance, São Paulo occupies the fourth position.

Playing a lot of ball, Franca’s team led the competition from top to bottom and remains at the top of the table, followed by Flamengo, very well managed by Gustavinho de Conti – also coach of the Brazilian team, in addition to the current Brazilian champion, has already won the Cup Intercontinental this year. Minas, in third, maintains excellent regularity: It won the NBB Super 8 and won bronze at BCLA for the second time in a row.

Other teams may surprise, like the traditional Bauru, which counts on the star Alex Garcia, who at 42 years old still impresses, as he does a little bit of everything on the court. “Brabo”, as he is known, averages 12.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds. Still in the fight for the G4, the team from the interior of the state of São Paulo is one of the four that have already won the Novo Basquete Brasil.

In its 14th edition, the tournament has only four champions.

Flamengo, in addition to defending the title of the 2020/21 season, is the biggest holder of cups, with seven. Behind appears Brasília, with three. Bauru and Paulistano have one each. In 2019/20, due to the worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic, the competition did not end.

At the bottom of the table, the fight for a spot in the NBB playoffs really is breathtaking.

Of the 17 teams that compete in the competition, the top four teams advance to the quarterfinals (best of 5 games) in advance. The ranked 5th to 12th play a best of 3, in an Olympic cross (5th x 12th, 6th x 11th, 7th x 10th and 8th x 9th) to see who advances. The clashes are not defined yet.

With games being broadcast more and more and athletes performing at an excellent international level, our basketball is gaining space again on television screens, cell phones and in day-to-day reviews.

Little by little, basketball has regained its place as the second sport in the country, demonstrating that glories are not just from the past.