Brazilian shooting guard Vitor Benite spoke with Basketball Sphere about the upcoming FIBA World Cup 2023.
Vitor Benite talked with Basketball Sphere about ambitions, favorites, the path to the big competition through very demanding qualifiers and more.
Benite was born 33 years ago in the town of Jundiai, and started his career in Pinheiros. The next chapter was Franca, then Limeira, and in 2012 he signed for Flamengo, whose shirt he wore for three seasons and was the champion of Brazil three times.
His first experience in Europe was with Murcia, where he played for three seasons. Later, the road took him to Cedevita Zagreb. Then he returned to Spain, where he won the FIBA Champions League twice with San Pablo Burgos. Last season he moved to Gran Canaria and immediately won another european competition – Eurocup!
Along with the United States, Brazil is the only national team that has participated in all World Cups so far. The tradition continued this year as well.
However, this time Brazil qualified for the FIBA World Cup 2023 in an extremely difficult way. The qualifiers first phase went according to plan. The opponents were Uruguay, Chile and Colombia, and they advanced from first place with only one defeat.
The drama followed in the next phase where not everything went according to plan. They put themselves in a situation where all was decided in the last game against the United States. The victory led them to the World Cup, and the defeat meant elimination. Fortunately for Benite and his teammates, they won by 83:76.
“It was not easy at all. It was hard, because all the teams are competitive today. There are many good teams in our qualification zone. United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Venezuela… So many good teams and it was not easy to get to the FIBA World Cup 2023.
I want to say that it was a great pleasure to play at home in front of our fans during the qualifiers. We had great support constantly. People love basketball more and more in Brazil and it’s great to be a part of it.” – Vitor Benite told us at the beginning of the conversation.
Brazil will open the FIBA World Cup 2023 in Group G. Iran, Ivory Coast and Spain await them there. On paper, they have a great chance to qualify for the second round. However, there are no easy opponents today.
“We know the group can be tricky. The characteristic of all teams is that they are talented and they all know how to play basketball. We have to be focused because anyone can beat anyone. Before each game, we need to think as if it is our last and try to get through the group to begin with. We have a lot of information for now and we are studying the other teams.”
This South American national team depends a lot on point guard duo: Marcelinho Huertas – Yago Dos Santos. The legendary Huertas has not missed a single World Cup since 2006. He played with great success for Tenerife last season and became the second best assistant in the history of the Endesa League.
Crvena Zvezda signed Dos Santos after his best season in career. With Ulm, he won the historic first title in the Bundesliga. This marked his path to the EuroLeague.
Another player from Ulm is someone from whom much is expected this summer. Bruno Caboclo was one of the best Brazil’s during the qualifiers. He averaged 15 points and 7.2 rebounds.
In addition to the mentioned power forward, Brazil also have Granada center Cristiano Felicio under the rim. Another option at center position is Lucas Mariano.
Benite is always a great danger for the opponents in shooting. He averaged 10 points, 2.8 rebounds and three assists in the qualifiers.
“It is true that we have a lot of talent. As for the opponent, we see that Spain plays a lot of games lately. They have the same head coach and it is always interesting to watch those teams during their preparations. I think we can handle all opponents, but as I said, all teams are good and anything can happen. I think we can play against every national team and different types of players, and I believe it will be interesting.“
Benite has been playing for the Brazilian national team since 2011. He won a silver medal at the 2011 FIBA AmeriCup, a bronze medal at the 2014 FIBA South American Championship and a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Now he is preparing for the FIBA World Cup 2023. Benite says that he is satisfied with the situation in the team and can’t wait for the championship to start.
“As I said before, I am satisfied. It is important that we are all healthy and that we practice good. We know each other very well and we started playing preparatory games. For now, everything looks as it should and I can’t wait for the FIBA World Cup 2023 to start.” – Benite concluded.