It's been a very long time since Brazil had a team in the men's tournament at the Olympics. Not since 1996, when the great FIBA Hall of Famer Oscar Schmidt, international basketball's scoring machine, have the Carioca men taken part in one of the most glamorous sporting events in the world. That drought is thankfully come to an end for the good people back in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Brazil booked their place in the London Games by reaching the FIBA Americas Championship Final in Argentina this summer. "It was a dream that we all had, and not just the players,” point guard Marcelo Huertas told FIBA.com. "I think the country needed it because we were out for three Olympic Games.We had the chance, we were right at the door a couple of times but lost crucial games and then finally this year, we got this passage to the Olympic Games and it's like a dream for us. I hope that next year, we can get there excited and do a great job."
The 28-year-old Huertas, who led Brazil's balanced scoring attack in Argentina with an average of 11.6 points per game and had 19 along with seven assists in the crucial 83-76 Semi-Final victory over the Dominican Republic, remembers the last time Brazil competed in Atlanta."It was 1996 when Oscar played his last Olympic Games," he says. "It was great to see him play, the maximum scorer of all time in the Olympic Games. Maybe we didn't have the best team, but they did a good job.”
That Brazil had the toughest of all Quarter-Final opponents, a United States side full of NBA All-Stars, and lost.
They rebounded with a victory over a very good Croatia that had Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja and a host of other outstanding players, but then fell to Greece in the battle for fifth place. "Now, maybe it's time for the new generation to gets its own recognition. We'll be as hungry as ever," Huertas says.
"I know that for some players, it will be the only opportunity to be there, so there is no such thing that gives you more confidence, or will to get what you want. For sure we're going to be hungry, maybe hungrier than anybody else there. Maybe we're not as experienced as other teams, but the hunger we're going to have will be bigger for sure."
Jeff Taylor. FIBA