By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
LILLE, France – Tiago Splitter hopes to live days like this in the upcoming 2024-25 season on French soil, being named head coach of Paris Basketball to replace Tuomas Iisalo.
But for now, he can celebrate with Brazil after getting the huge 18-point win (102-84) to keep hoping about making it to the Quarter-Finals of the Olympic Games.
Stopping by at the mixed zone in the post-game, the Brazilian national team’s assistant coach spoke about today’s clash. “Coming to these Olympic games, we knew the first two games would have been very tough. We knew this game was very important for us. Getting to see the points, we needed to win this game by a lot to try to get to the Quarter-Finals”, he opened.
Then, he started praising his team’s effort. “The guys were very concentrated, they knew what to do. Offensively, we could find our shots. Bruno [Caboclo] had an amazing game, a monster. Shooting, under the rim. We missed him in the first two games with foul problems. It was a big difference tonight having him”, Tiago Splitter continued on an astonishing night by the Brazilian center.
He also had time to speak about Marcelinho Huertas. “They had this drop defense, and he’s probably one of the best in the world attacking the drop defense and shooting the midrange. Eventually, they had to change that and then create open shots for us in different ways”, he first said.
“I’m happy for [Marcelinho] Huertas, these are his last Olympics. That’s what I guess”, he laughed. “He’s my friend and he deserves all the good things about him. Hopefully, now we’re gonna go to the Quarter-Finals. Of course, we still gonna wait for some results, but I think we have a good chance”, he said.
Down the line, Tiago Splitter believes they stand a good chance to advance to the next round. “We’ll see what’s gonna happen. When you win one game is about points differential, but I think today we did a good job”, he ultimately said, satisfied.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA Basketball