Jece Leite backs Corinthians defence before historic NBB semi-final | OneFootball

Corinthians is continuing the best campaign in its history in the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB). Having qualified for the competition’s semifinals for the first time, Timão will face Pinheiros in a best-of-five series for a spot in the national tournament’s grand final.

Amid the team’s historic moment, head coach Jece Leite highlighted the balance built by the roster throughout the season, especially on the defensive end. Although he acknowledged Corinthians’ offensive potential, the coach said the team’s collective growth came from improvements in its defensive play.

Photo: Beto Miller / Ag.Corinthians

“There are some signs of that. In basketball, even though statistics come into play at times, people always talk a lot about offense. We know the potential of our offense. I think we’ve always been among the top spots in the offensive stats, but we are a very brave, intelligent team with great defensive quality. Even though there are games with 90-something points, we’re also playing against very high-level teams,” he said in an interview with NBB’s social media channels.

Even while praising the defensive performance, Jece admitted Corinthians is still looking to improve in some fundamentals, especially rebounding and protecting the paint.

“So it wouldn’t be a game where we could hold them to 50 points; that’s not the reality. But defensively, we have been putting in good performances. We still make some mistakes on the boards, but I think the turning point came when we managed to make our offense and defense more balanced and consistent. The offense will happen, but we’ve worked seriously and hard, just as they have been doing,” he added.

The campaign’s numbers show exactly the balance mentioned by the coach. So far, Corinthians has scored 3,937 points between the regular season and the playoffs, averaging 85.59 per game, one of the best marks in the league. On the other hand, it has conceded 3,682 points in the same span, an average of 80.04 per game.

In rebounding, the black-and-white team is averaging 39.17 per game throughout the competition.

The challenge now will be against Pinheiros, owner of one of the best records in the NBB. The first semifinal game takes place next Monday (18) at 9 p.m. at Ginásio Henrique Villaboim, with the opposing team hosting.

After that, Corinthians will play two straight games at Ginásio Wlamir Marques. The second matchup is scheduled for Wednesday (21) at 8 p.m., while the third game will be played on Saturday (24) at 6:10 p.m.

If the series needs more games, the final two will again be hosted by Pinheiros, which finished the regular season ahead of Timão in the overall standings.

Whoever wins three games first will secure a place in the NBB Finals and face the winner of the series between Sesi Franca and Brasília Basquete.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.