Radović: We played well for 35 minutes, but there were some stupid moves in the finish

The basketball team of Montenegro was defeated today by Brazil (81:72) at the start of the Olympic qualification tournament in Riga.

Montenegro played well for more than 30 minutes and had a 13-point advantage in the first half. At the end of the match, our selection gave way, lost the advantage, and Brazil reached the victory through Bruno Caboclo and Marcelino Uertas.

"Congratulations to Brazil for the win. We played well for 35 minutes, and then in the last five minutes, I can safely say, we did a lot of stupid things. The defense in the first half was solid, we were smart in attack, the flow of the ball was good, as we have to play. The beginning of the second half was similar, but it didn't work at the end," said coach Boško Radović.

Tomorrow (14:30) Montenegro plays the second and decisive match against Cameroon in Riga.

"At this moment, Brazil has players with more experience than us. They have players who have experience playing these kinds of games. As I said, for 35 minutes we played good basketball, and at the end we didn't have energy, we were soft in defense and they reached We have to look ahead, we have a match with Cameroon. After this conference, we forget the match with Brazil and turn to Cameroon," said Radović.

The selector said that defense is the key segment of the game.

"We are not a team that can score a hundred points. We have to play good defense. When we have to play fast and in transition, then we have problems," said Radović.

Marko Simonović played a good role, he finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.

"We played well for 35 minutes, the way we prepared and agreed in the dressing room. The last five minutes didn't go the way we wanted. Tomorrow we have a new game. The match against Cameroon is important, just like the one with Brazil. We have to let's rest and prepare in the best possible way," said Simonović.